My diy cold smoker idea

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xcountryx

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 4, 2014
59
10
Bowling Green, Ohio
So ive been kicking around this idea of making my self a cold smoker. I do have the amaze n pellet smoker but end up running out of cheese mid summer. So im gona pick up a mini fridge with 2 racks in it. The make my smoke generator out of a cocktail shaker and fish pump. Pump the smoke into the fridge from the bottom and out the top some where. Anyone else do this before? Any concerns with this or what ever would help me out. I plan on starting this this weekend some time so i can post pics as i go
 
So ive been kicking around this idea of making my self a cold smoker. I do have the amaze n pellet smoker but end up running out of cheese mid summer. So im gona pick up a mini fridge with 2 racks in it. The make my smoke generator out of a cocktail shaker and fish pump. Pump the smoke into the fridge from the bottom and out the top some where. Anyone else do this before? Any concerns with this or what ever would help me out. I plan on starting this this weekend some time so i can post pics as i go
Whoa friend, let's think this thing out. First, if building a cold smoker, why would you want to pump warm smoke into an insulated box? Consider a remote firebox and cool the smoke on the way to the food box, you will have much cleaner smoke with less bitter products.

T
 
Well thats what im wondering. What would be the effects of pumping warm smoke into a cold fridge? And whats the difference in how i plan and what your talking? What would cool the smoke on its way? Longer tube to the fridge? Any little bit of info would help a bunch
 
So basically im looking to have a pipe long enough to collect the creosote and cool the smoke before it gets to the smoe box? How would a copper pipe coiled up work? Or should the pipe be bigger like your stove pipe setup? I appreciate all of your help! Thanks

This is what i was thinking of using to put my cheese or anything i will cold smoke.

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Sorry, I am unable to download your links. Copper is a wonderful conductor but very expensive. A length of three inch single wall stove pipe is what you are looking for. It will provide the cooling area desired at a much less cost. Coiled pipe would be very hard to clean, which would be needed in time.

T
 
The links are just photos of the fridge i planed on using. If you just google jagermeister mini fridge its pretty much what im looking at. Whats your thoughts on making my self a smoke generator with the cocktail shaker? The pellets would burn in the bottom i would have an adjustable aquarium pump plumbed at the top at a T pushing the smoke into the pipe and into the fridge. I saw somewhere in those links someone said something about any smoke coming in contact with a cool or cold surface would cause creasote. So would that happen inside the fridge if its cooled before it gets to the fridge? Again thanks for all your help
 
 If your mini works as a cooler it can be used as a cold-cold smoker. I use one in the same manner for short heavy smokes only, my handheld smoke generator is generally used in its place.

Yours or any smoke generator will work just fine. It sounds yours is similar to the Smoke Daddy’s. Yes the longer your run the cooler and cleaner the smoke will be. Most likely with a long run the deposits on the inside of your cooler will be like a lacquer finish on the walls, not tacky as most of the nasty’s have been deposited on the pipe walls before reaching your product.

You will not only need an inlet but an outlet as well.

T
 
What do you usually make in your cold cold smoker? This whole idea started when i cant keep cheese from reaching 100% so i figured the fridge will keep it around 60 degrees while i pump smoke in from another source. I agree im gona need an out. Im thinking of different ways to do this
 
LOL The list of what I don't smoke would be shorter than what I do. If it can be consumed, it can be smoked, water to Water Buffalo.

If you can’t keep your cheese temps below 75°-80°, we need to do something different.

Before drilling holes in your fridge, let’s build a prototype cold smoker. This can be done by using a cardboard box in place of your fridge. Simply get one the size of your fridge, place a couple dowel rods in it to hold a rack and set your piping system up to it. This will give you an idea of what to expect. You may find a larger container would be more desirable.

T
 
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Not to step on what Mr T has you going towards, but reinforcing it. Check out the first link for the /techniques you can use to cool the smoke. Mr T gave me guidance on how to set it up and it worked like a charm. Cheese was delicious right out of smoker. The extra cooling time running the pipe, expanding in a larger chamber, then moving up towards the final cooling chamber made all the difference. Ambient air temp was only 1 degree cooler than the smoke box.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/243838/epic-fail-redemption

This how I'm set up now. I use it for both hot smokes (no cardboard box) and cold smokes (box used for cheese/nuts). I plan on making the cardboard something more permanent by next year.

Also check out this link for doing something similar, but using a pellet burner. Setesh took a more scientific approach to explaining than I did, but same results for cold smoking.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/243936/cleaning-up-your-act-clean-smoke-is-delicious-smoke

I know Mr T has you covered, but let me know if you have any questions!
 
I guess my next question should be is what if i dont have the space like what i see in both your threads? I live in a trailer in a trailer park. My masterbuilt sits on my front porch deck. I have a shed that i may be able to come up with a lil more room. But thats why i was thinking of mayb a coil. I won't be able to do a 12' pipe setup. So should i just scrap my idea or do yall have any ideas from here?
 
I think the second thread (Cleaning Up Your Act) would be ideal then. He created a huge amount of surface to cool the smoke without taking up anymore than about 6 inches immediately around the smoker. At that point if you want to add the extra smoke box for product it would go straight up as far as your area can handle.
 
I havnt tried the cardboard box yet but i know inside my masterbuilt it could be almost 100 without turning it on. I have been able to smoke cheese so far but end up from a block to a blob by thr end so i started thinking about using a fridge. I can keep the cheese at 60 degrees the whole time. I must have missed the second thread i think i dont remember reading cleaning up your act ill have to go back to it
 
I havnt tried the cardboard box yet but i know inside my masterbuilt it could be almost 100 without turning it on. 
Ah Ha, you have something else that can be used for cold smoking, an MES. Even though they have different models, both bauch and setish have converted their MES’s to become very efficient cold smokers at a minimum cost. You may want to contact them to see how they converted them. I only suggested what they do, they did the mechanics. We can get your smoke to within a few degrees’ of ambient so, you will be fine.

 Suggest you use the mini to store products rather than using it as a smoke collector.

Of course, I will be around if you have any questions or concerns.

T
 
Yes i do have a mes not sure what model it is. It only has a small hole at the bottom and a small hole at the top back right corner for smoke to come out. I use the amaze n pellet smoker thing to do my cheese right now. Temp starts around 60 and shoots up to 95 100 inside. So mayb your right i just think about injecting the smoke into my smoker. Idk just thought i had a great idea goin
 
Sounds like you have the same model as setish. Don't give up. With a little help from your friends, we will have you up and going in no time. If you are tight on space we can make one that can be  disassembled for later use.

 
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