After lots of reading and picking up ideas from the forum I decided to build my own smokehouse and add a couple of ideas of my own. The above photo shows the basic box design (34" x 34" x 6' high). Paver lined bottom with a slope shed roof. Exhaust vent on top is simply an old AC register with thumbwheel adjustment. I am simply using whatever is laying around from old projects or jobs.
The above shows a rack system for hanging meats and sausage. Using the front the back design for easy loading and unloading.
Here is a pic of the doors attached. Note that I have installed two.....one for easy access to the firebox which is simply an old charcoal grill and the other for access to the meat racks. Also, you can see on the side the access holes for the temp and meat probes and one of the twists I spoke about. That red gadget with an air tube leading to the bottom is a Pitmaster IQ 110 that I will be using for venting and temp control. Also note the large dial therm on the door....5" for my old eyes to see.
Here's a pic of the connection from the Pitmaster hose to the charcoal tray using iron pipe and coupler. The rest of this smoker is going to be fairly tight so that all (or most) air is thru the IQ 110.
You can see the high temp gasket material that will help keep unwanted air out...... and heat in.
The smoker racks are courtesy of a friend at the local steel supply. He had enough scrap of 3/4 9 expanded in the right size to supply me with six pieces that would fit the smoker. He cut them for me on the shear to the right size, but that leaves them with razor sharp edges.
Above we are using some old 1 by that I cut to 2" width to surround the 3 sharp sides and so the racks would slide nice and easy off the smoker rails on the sides of the box.
Here's another little twist I thought would come in handy. This is solid plate steel that I can use as a divider to reduce the size of the smoker area to be heated in case I am using only one or two racks, which is most of the time. I will install a smoke vent on the back at a lower level so that I can vent when I use the divider. This piece was surrounded by wood on all sides and gasket material attached so that when the door is closed and this is in place, heat cannot escape into the upper areas of the smokehouse.
Four racks in place and some rails installed just above the charcoal pan to hold water pans, drip catchers, AmazeN Pellet Box and heat deflector.
Some stain left over from somewhere puts on the finishing touch and weather protectant. Getting ready to give it a test smoke any day now and, as long as temp control works, my first try at some Q View. Thanks to all for all the great ideas and Happy Smokin'.
PS Damn, I thought I'd never figure out how to post these pics.
Last edited:
