1st Clucker in my homemade smoker!!

[mohntr]

Here it is... I'm not very good at photography - Bird was GREAT!



Here is a pic of my homemade smoker. I use part of my turkey fryer for heat, and a dutch oven bottom for wood.

 

[msmith]

Looks pretty dang good to me.

 

[dgross]

The smoker and the chicken look good and I love the idea of using the turkey fryer/dutch oven combo for heat and smoke-very innovative! Would love to see some interior pics if you have any. Happy smoking :D .

 

[mohntr]

Thanks for the replies. Here are a few pics of the inside. The smoker is 24" square on the outside, and is almost 6' tall in the front, some 3 or 4 inches shorter in the back.

The racks we bought on clearance at Wally-World for 7 bucks each. They are heavy duty. I bought 3 racks but only installed 2 of them. I still need to add the other one.

I monitor the heat with instant read thermometers installed in the door right at the grill levels. They are not in the pics. I take them out and clean them after smoking. You may see one in the first pic at the top of this topic. Not sure. I have a taylor digital, I hang the probe near the meat when smoking to monitor the internal temp of the smoke house. The remote pager hangs on my belt and lets me know if the temps are where I want them. About an hour or so before I think the meat should be done I stick the probe in the meat and monitor the internal temps. I really need to get another one.

The smoke has really started changing the color of the wood. Never really noticed until I took the pics tonight. I used 3/4 plywood for the shell and 2x4's for everything else. My table saw is in storage or I would have ripped the 2x4's in half. I put a frame on the inside of the door because the plywood I used was warped pretty bad. I'm sure the frame also keeps the door from warping from the heat.

In a couple pictures you can see a 2x4 with hooks on it. I made several of them before I found the grills. I plan on using them to hang my summer sausage by the string. Since I now have grills I could have used "S" hooks. .....hind sight! :roll:

You can see 1 1/2" holes for air flow. I put 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom on each side. I have no problem keeping the temps in check. The jerky I smoked at about 150 f and everything else I smoked at about 225 f - 240 f. I have noticed the temps come down 10-15 f when I run out of wood in the pan. I guess the embers help keep the heat flowing. I use chunks if I can find them.... if not I use chips.

Hope the pics are okay - I took them in the dark with the flash.

 

[cheech]

Love it,

I really like seeing a wood smoker that is a great idea and looks like it works good for you.

Thanks for sharing the pictures

 

[coz]

Very nicely done!I wish I had even the tiniest skill with wood.Metal no prob.

 

[dgross]

Beautiful! May have to get the handy hubby to construct something similar :) . Thanks again for the pics!

 

[mohntr]

GoFish - I monitor the temps at both racks. The lower rack averages about 6-7 degrees warmer that the top rack. Seems like it would be the other way around doesn't it?


dgross - Thank you. I can't really compare it to anything else... since it's the only one I have ever used.

MoHntr