Just the beginning of my fridge smoker project

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I finally got a piece of suitable material to line the inside of the smoker door. It is SA240 stainless steel 1/16 inch thick. This is probably much thicker than necessary and adds a lot of weight to the door, but the price was right (free) so I can't be too picky about it.

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Without the proper tools for the job I had to improvise and made a jig with some steel bars and clamps. Then I made my cuts with a side grinder using a thin blade. And yes, that is a ladder I'm using as a saw horse. It actually cut easily and only needed a little cleaning up with a hand file afterward.

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Here is the test fitting of the door with only four screws holding it. I thought I was never going to get the holes drilled until I realized I needed to run the drill at a slow speed and use very little oil. I don't have any experience with stainless so I'm learning as I go.

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Oh, you may have noticed in the above photo that the chimney has been installed. The outer shell of the box was not too bad to cut with the hole saw, but the inner liner which is enamel coated was considerably more difficult.

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I fabricated the stainless steel drip shield out of scrap left from the door panel.  I made shelf brackets with the same pitch as the shield so it simply sits in place and can be easily removed for cleaning.  In this photo you can also see the heating element permanently mounted and the wiring in place ready to hook up.

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I took this photo just before the first test run.  I brought it up to 275 degrees and other than a little oil burning off the element I didn't notice any problems.  I'm going to season the inside this weekend and everything goes well I'll be ready to throw some meat in this bad boy!

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Looks good, let us know how the maiden voyage turns out!

Where did you get the grates?  I found replacement grates at Home Depot that fit my fridge perfectly and they were fairly cheap for what I needed.
 
Thanks, I'll post some qview as soon as I can.  The grates are generic replacements from Lowe's.  They are the prefect fit both directions.  On the bottom shelves I can either add another rack or a drip tray if I have something that drips a lot.  Or when I need to smoke sausages, I will take out all the racks and put dowel rods on the top shelves. 

How is your fridge conversion coming?  Did you get the replacement SSR and sort the problems out?
 
Looks good, let us know how the maiden voyage turns out!

Where did you get the grates?  I found replacement grates at Home Depot that fit my fridge perfectly and they were fairly cheap for what I needed.
 
Well I still want to paint the outside and finish a few minor details, but that is going to have to wait until this winter probably.  I have ran the smoker three times now with no problems.  The PID controller works like a charm and the little Smoke Daddy puffs away with whatever I fill it with, though I find the pellets to be a little better than bigger chips.  Here are a few photos and a link to some queview of the birds I smoked for father's day.

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I'm glad I didn't bother with polishing this stainless steel door panel.

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Seeing this thin blue smoke from my pecan wood pellets makes me happy.

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Spare ribs and baby backs, and a shiny new drip pan.

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Father's Day chickens

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/fo...alder-smoked-chicken-with-queview#post_512965

Spare ribs and baby backs

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/fo...ribs-in-my-converted-refrigerator#post_514002
 
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Iam setting up my old BBQ for smoking, how to select the good size element? How much heat do you get from you 1900W element?

Thanks nice work
 
Iam setting up my old BBQ for smoking, how to select the good element? How much heat do you get with your 1900w element?

Thanks
 
Awesome build!!! I've just found an old fridge for free and will be copying this system. Already have the heater strip and controls on order, picking up some metal later today. Just want to say thanks for posting this up!!!
 

Your cold smoker is exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. I was looking at the Grainger heat element, and I'm wondering if I need more than one. This S/S Steel commercial fridge is a double door (actually Quad door), so I'm curious if one heating element is enough?
I've already purchased/used a Smoke Daddy Big Kahouna smoke generator in a smoker half the size of the one I'm currently building.
 
The toggle switch should always be installed on the hot conductor, not the neutral. An unsafe condition is created by switching the neutral. Just my 2 cents.
hoity_Toit
(Master Electrician)
You are completely right and I changed it a long time ago. I'm overdue to post an update on my build with the improvements. Thanks for weighing in.
 
I am currently doing a build myself.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/144576/newbie-cut-case-smoker-build#post_1146955

I was wanting to do propane as I didn't think electric would work.

But looking at your build I am wondering if this would work.

The interior is going to be 20x28x56. I believe this is about 17.3sq/ft and it will be well insulated on 3 of the 4 sides.  Difficult to insulate the door other than a piece of wood.

I am curious if you guys think this would get me up to 250+ or if I would be better off sticking to propane...

Also would this relay work?  http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_30&products_id=9

Great build and write up.

Thanks. 
 
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