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Dishwasher Smoker

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fagesbp

fagesbp

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Oct 23, 2012
351
18
South Lousiana
While I was spending the week at the in-laws' house I found this old dishwasher in their back yard. I stripped it down to just the steel tub and found some old racks that I could use for a door.

 
Y1NON.jpg

Y1NON.jpg


I'm going to use this smoke generator I made.

KIjbk.jpg

KIjbk.jpg


Once I got it home I framed it up the following weekend.

OJQeh.jpg

OJQeh.jpg


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1no6j.jpg


I ordered a finned strip heater and pid, etc to provide heat. I plan to insulate inside the frame and close it up with 1/2" plywood.
 
Thanks Dave. It's my first try at making any kind of smoker.

Can anyone with an electric smoker tell me if I need an air intake vent in the bottom? It's about 8cf, would a 3" exhaust work well? I'll probably just put a 1/2" nipple through each side for the smoke generator connection and an air vent if needed. I'll just experiment with the intake plugged or open. I'm baffled about putting a baffle (haha) in the exhaust to control it. I have a 3" duct rain cap I'm planning to use for the exhaust.

e1967b2b-e97e-48de-940d-11e3204dbdea_300.jpg

e1967b2b-e97e-48de-940d-11e3204dbdea_300.jpg

 
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fagesbp said:
Thanks Dave. It's my first try at making any kind of smoker.

Can anyone with an electric smoker tell me if I need an air intake vent in the bottom?  Yes an air intake is needed.... I would go with 2 each 1" pipe nipples and probably 2 each 1 1/2" pipe nipples for exhausts.... put the exhaust on the sides near the top of the smoke chamber...   No need for adjusters.... consider elec. conduit nipples... they have straight threads and the locking nuts work better on them... don't worry about the galvanizing.... Not a problem on the intake and exhaust...

It's about 8cf, would a 3" exhaust work well? I'll probably just put a 1/2" nipple through each side for the smoke generator connection and an air vent if needed. I would plug the smoke gen into it's own opening.... You could use a third 1" nip and just slide the gen. in the nip when needing smoke and slide it out when enough smoke had been applied.... Generating smoke and air flow are two totally separate animals...  independent of each other.....

I'll just experiment with the intake plugged or open. I'm baffled about putting a baffle (haha) in the exhaust to control it. I have a 3" duct rain cap I'm planning to use for the exhaust.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah I didnt mean the smoker inlet would be the air intake as well. I just meant one of the 1/2" pipes I could screw my smoke generator on and the other I could leave open for air. I plan to get an amnpts when I can to try. Just not sure how it would act with the heater right down there too.
 
 I plan to get an amnpts when I can to try.

The tube smoker puts out WAY too much smoke for a smoker the size you are planning to build....  

I'm concerned your smoke gen will put out too much smoke for that size smoker also...

One 1/2" inlet for air is marginal... Good air flow and thin smoke is necessary for quality, good tasting Q...... 
 
I'm going to go with all your suggestions Dave. I'll make a smaller smoke generator or use a green bean can for smoke. I couldn't find 1-1/2" conduit nipples so i got regular galvanized pipe nipples. The conduit nuts still lock on them. I'll use 2 to lock the nipples in place with some high temp silicone between to seal it. Same principle on the 2" on top. Hopefully work leaves me alone this weekend and I can get all that done.

Mr. UPS brought me this yesterday. I plan to mount it about 6" off the back wall and maybe 4" off the bottom then use the drop piece from the door to make a drip cover/heat disperser to cover it.

otNNk.jpg

otNNk.jpg


This smoker will primarily be used to smoke sausage, rarely above 180* probably.
 
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Got it most of the way done this weekend. Just have to insulate the door and hook up the electronics to control temp now. I also need to put some racks. Probably just angle iron to put dowels on for hanging sausage.

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5RrCM.jpg


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R99cd.jpg


I got it up to 325 in about a half hour even with the door just being thin steel. 
 
Thanks Dave. I had actually just read that thread and was thinking about doing just that, connected the way jrod hooked his up on the uds. I spent all my allowance on this project already so I'll have to wait to get the amnps and mail box. I'm trying to figure how the smoke will be forced into the smoker and not out of any air vents. I guess its the same principle as with the cook chamber itself right? Air inlets in the bottom of the mailbox or whatever container and the exhaust leading out of the top into the cc. Looks like on yours the air vents are on the front and the exhaust vent on the back. Is it just the difference in hole sizes that makes it flow properly?
 
The smoker acts as a chimney and sucks the smoke through it...  The holes in the door are fresh air supply to the pellets.... and a carrier for the smoke...    Dave
 
Here's my trial with the PID and SSR til I get to radioshack to buy the rest of the parts to put it together properly. 

I wired it up to the instructions on the sticker on the side of the pid and hooked the ssr up to the lamp. The thermocouple went inside the bulb where the heat was produced. Everything worked great. It turned the light on when it needed heat and off when it was hot enough.

uMMRu.jpg

uMMRu.jpg

 
I need a way to mount a bracket on the side of the smoker and snap the pid project box into it so I can remove it easily. Any ideas? I have been looking at window hardware, electrical box mounting stuff, cell phone holders... anything. I could just cut some aluminum angle to hook the bottom but I still need a way to latch the top.
 
Well I have it just about finished. Insulated the door, put in some rails for racks or rods, and hooked up the temp controller. I ran it most of the day today seasoning. Smoke was intermittent using a few unsuccessful methods. I used a chip box directly on the heater which made alot of smoke very fast but was spent in a half hour, I used chips on a cookie sheet a couple inches off the heater but they caught on fire being loose in the open. I tried the chip box in several other places but never got smoke from that. 

QGNOa.jpg

QGNOa.jpg


You can see I never did come up with a mounting system yet (As eveidenced by my sophisticated vertical lift and hold contraption, yeah it's an ice chest and a hamper)

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dupED.jpg

 
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