Yup, I’m sick and tired of babysitting my little Bradley smoker! So I’ve decided to build a new smoker out of an old fridge.
I’ve been searching and reading post on the SMF for about a month and a half, researching you might say. There are a TON of awesome smokers that have been built here! Thank you for all the ideas!
I found an old Frigidaire (mid to early 50’s I think). It’s all metal inside anyway. Actually one of my customers is a Hazardous Waste management company that handles fridge collection and disposal of the gases and metal. So it didn’t take me long to find one, in fact, I maybe should have been a little more selective and not taken the first one that was available. This one is only 6.5 cubic feet. But it is 3 times as large as my Bradley and should be able to handle a 25 lb. batch of sausage easily. Besides, for my First build and to gain some experience at this it will do just fine.
My plan is to use a PID to control the burner and I have a Smoke Daddy (Big Kuhuna) on order to generate my smoke.
Here are a few pics.
I have already gutted it and stripped out any plastic and rubber. I’ve sanded the exterior with 220 grit and cleaned up all the rust. I’ve patched and sealed all the holes on the inner liner with fire-place cement. The same stuff I’m going to use on the stove rope that will seal the door. I’ve blocked all the holes on the back of the unit where there were vents and access to the motor compartment.
I had to remove the door panel because the rubber seal on the fridge actually is what held the inner panel in place. I’m going to put a piece of sheet metal back in its place. Like a lot of these old fridges I’ve seen on the SMF, the strips that held the inner liner in place were plastic and have to be removed and replaced with sheet metal.
Also utilizing some of the round vent holes I made an adjustable air vent at the bottom for air flow.
I’m going to use a 220 volt range element for my heat source. So I built a make shift support for it out of the old motor stand that was in the bottom of the fridge.
I’ve added wheels to it by cutting off the little stands that held the height adjusters.
That’s about it for now. This weekend I’m working on the chimney, rack supports, the door and sealing off the bottom of the fridge.
I’ve been searching and reading post on the SMF for about a month and a half, researching you might say. There are a TON of awesome smokers that have been built here! Thank you for all the ideas!
I found an old Frigidaire (mid to early 50’s I think). It’s all metal inside anyway. Actually one of my customers is a Hazardous Waste management company that handles fridge collection and disposal of the gases and metal. So it didn’t take me long to find one, in fact, I maybe should have been a little more selective and not taken the first one that was available. This one is only 6.5 cubic feet. But it is 3 times as large as my Bradley and should be able to handle a 25 lb. batch of sausage easily. Besides, for my First build and to gain some experience at this it will do just fine.
My plan is to use a PID to control the burner and I have a Smoke Daddy (Big Kuhuna) on order to generate my smoke.
Here are a few pics.
I have already gutted it and stripped out any plastic and rubber. I’ve sanded the exterior with 220 grit and cleaned up all the rust. I’ve patched and sealed all the holes on the inner liner with fire-place cement. The same stuff I’m going to use on the stove rope that will seal the door. I’ve blocked all the holes on the back of the unit where there were vents and access to the motor compartment.
I had to remove the door panel because the rubber seal on the fridge actually is what held the inner panel in place. I’m going to put a piece of sheet metal back in its place. Like a lot of these old fridges I’ve seen on the SMF, the strips that held the inner liner in place were plastic and have to be removed and replaced with sheet metal.
Also utilizing some of the round vent holes I made an adjustable air vent at the bottom for air flow.
I’m going to use a 220 volt range element for my heat source. So I built a make shift support for it out of the old motor stand that was in the bottom of the fridge.
I’ve added wheels to it by cutting off the little stands that held the height adjusters.
That’s about it for now. This weekend I’m working on the chimney, rack supports, the door and sealing off the bottom of the fridge.
