Concrete smoker - anyone done it?

[greechneb]

Thinking of making a concrete (ferrocement) smoker. Anyone ever made a smoker out of something like this before.

Here's what I'm worried about:

Is concrete going to be a problem with offgasing/chemicals/etc while cooking?

Would ferrocement hold up to the heat (I see some pizza ovens used it, but they typically had a clay or brick liner)?

Would I need a cover to protect it from the weather?

I've got ideas floating around in my head, and I'm just trying to work out any potential flaws before I get too far.

 

[fftwarren]

Only thing I would see causing a problem is with the fire box. if it got too hot the concrete could start sparring and cracking, but as long as it wasn't a raging inferno, I think itd work great. I actually would like to build a concrete firebox for my smoke house

 

[smoke 2 geaux]

A friend of mine bought a house that had a large covered patio detached from the house.  In the patio there was a monstrous cinder block smoker.  It had a segregated fire compartment on on end and a full blown chimney on the other end. There was about a 6" opening to let heat and smoke through.  They had it covered with window screen to keep ashes out of the cooking box.  It had two lids that were made of steel and operated on a cable and pulley system they were so heavy.  One of the coolest things I ever saw. 

 

[hookup]

I've cooked on home-made (usually south of the border) concrete smokers allot.

They really know how to smoke meat down south.

Another buddie has one at his house that's about 9,000 feet above sea level and was built around the early 1900's.  Still going strong.

 

[indyadmin1974]

I would consider using some sort of metal for the firebox or metal lined firebox.  If concrete gets too hot, it can not only crack but explode because of the water content.

 

[cowgirl]

I'd go with a metal firebox too. I use my block pig pit a lot but it's for low/slow cooking. I wouldn't want to use a hot fire in it for long periods of time.

 

[dick foster]

Sounds like a good idea to me. If you plan on doing smoking large quantities of food.

I think lining the firebox at least with fire brick and getting some clay or steel flue lining for the stack would be good ideas. I'd probably brick line the cooking chamber too. Maybe a decent surface for cleaning grease and drippings from like steel plate for the bottom of the cooking chamber.

After it's finished, building a few fires in it to season it before using it to cook food should do the trick.

I imagine it would hold nice steady temps as there would be a lot of thermal mass from the materials and construction involved but because of that, getting it up to cooking temp may take some extra time and fuel. That's why the large quantity of food comment.  

Nothing ever comes for free so what you get in one area you always wind up paying for in another. In the end it's always a game of compromise. 

 

[biomeded]

I am in the middle of a Concrete Block smoker build, I have posted the Pictures in my Profile.  Hope they give you some Ideas.  I would/did use fire brick in the fire box.

 

[mikeythai]

I built a concrete smoker with AAC blocks, or Hebel blocks. It's extremely well insulated and effecient, and I'd recommend this material to anyone.