My First Build

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mike49107

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 26, 2014
30
20
Buchanan, MI
I've always wanted a smoker, but I was having a hard time getting off of the money.  Approximately $140. for something that a turkey probably wouldn't even fit in.....don't think so!!

So, after cruising YouTube and the internet for a while, I decided to jump in and build my own.  I will say that this forum has been a great inspiration.

I am hoping to have this build done within the next few days, and will try to post pictures as things progress.  So far, I have the base/foundation finished and the framing finished on the smokehouse.  I just need to finish the outside, roof, and decide what I want to do for the door.

As you can see from the attached picture, I'm kinda impatient.  After finishing with the base, I just had to check it out with a test burn!

 
Hello.  Welcome.  I see this is your first post.  Please take some time and swing over to Roll Call and introduce yourself so that we may give you a proper "Hello".  GREAT lookin start.  Looks like you will get many a fine meal from that.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
Ok, so I was going to start cutting boards to get things finished up. I guess I should have checked out the saw blade before I started. That thing wouldn't cut through hot butter. So, here it sits.


And, the more I looked at it, the more my ideas for the finished product were changing. I decided to make another prototype out of a "re-purposed" crate from work. I figure this way, I can try some different things without it costing any $$$. I think I have a total of around $10 into this one!!



I'm getting it seasoned now. I'm just not sure what I want to throw in there first!
 
I decided to do some chicken halves this afternoon. But, I seem to be having a problem with temperature control. I'm getting some crazy temp spikes depending on fire location, size, wind, etc.

I'm assuming that I need to somehow close off and regulate the intake?  Would I have better luck using charcoal or lump and then just tossing in an occasional piece of wood for smoke? 
th_dunno-1%5B1%5D.gif
 

Any suggestions would be great.
 
I decided to do some chicken halves this afternoon. But, I seem to be having a problem with temperature control. I'm getting some crazy temp spikes depending on fire location, size, wind, etc.

I'm assuming that I need to somehow close off and regulate the intake?  Would I have better luck using charcoal or lump and then just tossing in an occasional piece of wood for smoke? 
th_dunno-1%5B1%5D.gif
 

Any suggestions would be great.




That should do it...... Thumbs Up
 
That seems to be doing the trick!  It took about a half hour of "tuning", but seems to be holding pretty good.
 
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