First smoker build need some guidance

[A.Strybel]

I have been doing a bit of researching over the past couple days on building myself a cold smoker and was looking for some help to finalize any thought so I can start buying materials. I'm primarily going to be smoking Keilbasa and occasionally cheese, ribs or a butt.

For the heat source I was wanting to use electric with a Auber AW-1520H or something similar and a pump style cold smoke generator, I'm still not sure on the brand yet or what size heating element to use. I see no use to sustain any temps over 250. Where I live daytime temps are usually above freezing in the winter.

One of my main concerns was the size of the box. I was thinking of something around 24" X 24" x 36" ID lined with wood then 1.5" Rockwool board and wood exterior. I'd use the 1.5 Rockwool just because I have it laying around from another project. One of my biggest concerns comes with how far minimum should the heating element be from the meat? On the floor I wanted to use a course of brick for heat retention. For the roof I wanted to have an open gable on a 45 degree and I was thinking of using a chimney cap from a Kamado Joe because it is an adjustable umbrella vent. As for the floor vent I'm not positive on what size or how many.

I love to hear some feedback and hopefully I'm heading in the right direction.

 

[Fueling Around]

No help personally. I'm still working on mine.
Bumping up so some of the others that have built can chime in.
I will tag Keith JckDanls 07 as I have seen his in person and it works great with a butt load of meat sticks.

 

[JckDanls 07]

A A.Strybel ... Yes... You are on the right path... Thinking your going to need as big of an heat element (120v) that you can get to reach 250 in that size of a box... I believe the biggest is 1800W ... I don't cook that high of temps as I only do sausage/snack sticks in mine... So I only need 170 degrees max... I use 2 elements, 800W (from a Masterbuilt MES 30) and a 1500w... My smokehouse is 36" x 36" x 48" ... The reason I use two is for a quicker recovery after opening the door...

For smoke I use a pellet tube as I never really cared for the pump style smokers as it looks like the smoke is too white to me instead of the thin blue smoke we strive for...

Vents... The exhaust vent sounds good... Intake/bottom vent would only be necessary to create a draft to dry the casings on the sausage since you will be using a pump style smoker... Once dry then you will want to close bottom vent since you will be using forced air from the pump smoker...

Hope this helps some...

 

[JckDanls 07]

Found this one for ya...

Amazon.com : Smoker Heating Element 1800W for Masterbuilt MB20077618 Analog Electric Smoker, Replacement for MB 20077618 Element Parts, Grill Heating Element : Tools & Home Improvement

Amazon.com : Smoker Heating Element 1800W for Masterbuilt MB20077618 Analog Electric Smoker, Replacement for MB 20077618 Element Parts, Grill Heating Element : Tools & Home Improvement

www.amazon.com

 

[Fueling Around]

You can get coil burners from Walmart for less money. Yes smaller watts, but double up for more power arh arh arh. Think Tim the Toolman

Robot or human?

I got one to use in my Big Chief conversion, but got sidetracked.

 

[A.Strybel]

JckDanls 07 Your thoughts on the smoke are interesting. I watched alot of different builds on YouTube almost all of them from Poland and they seem to use the pump smoke generators. I wonder if it is because as you stated you don't need a bottom vent due to ambient temps.

Do you know of any guidelines as for the distance of the heating element to the hanging meat? Do you think it is wise to have a heat shield there as well?

Out of curiosity how many pounds of sticks can you fit in your house at a time?

 

[JckDanls 07]

I also lined the bottom and up the sides some with something like these ( https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pavesto...ed-Square-Concrete-Step-Stone-71251/100333084)...

Then I made a defuser plate to put over the top of the the heat elements... You can see it in the bottom here... It sits on top of the stones that are against the walls (which are only about 6" tall, whole ones cut in half)

I don't crowd the smokehouse with to many sticks... I'd rather run a couple of batches... If they touch each other then they kinda turn white where they are touching when smoked... So I really don't have an answer for the max amount I can put in at one time...

As far as how high above the difuser plate... I try to keep them about 10 -12 inches above it...

As for the vents... this is the exhaust... The intake is the same thing down at the bottom in the back.. You can kinda see it in the picture above...

This is just an overall picture of the smoke house...

This was just a really quick build (about an hour) as I had planned on doing a better/bigger one...

Anymore questions and I will be glad to answer...

 

[A.Strybel]

I also lined the bottom and up the sides some with something like these ( https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pavesto...ed-Square-Concrete-Step-Stone-71251/100333084)...

Then I made a defuser plate to put over the top of the the heat elements... You can see it in the bottom here... It sits on top of the stones that are against the walls (which are only about 6" tall, whole ones cut in half)
View attachment 728195

I don't crowd the smokehouse with to many sticks... I'd rather run a couple of batches... If they touch each other then they kinda turn white where they are touching when smoked... So I really don't have an answer for the max amount I can put in at one time...

As far as how high above the difuser plate... I try to keep them about 10 -12 inches above it...

View attachment 728196

As for the vents... this is the exhaust... The intake is the same thing down at the bottom in the back.. You can kinda see it in the picture above...

View attachment 728199

This is just an overall picture of the smoke house...

View attachment 728198

This was just a really quick build (about an hour) as I had planned on doing a better/bigger one...

Anymore questions and I will be glad to answer...

You know what they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Thank you very much! After seeing yours I'll more than likely add an extra foot in height to 48" I was honestly thinking myself for a foot above the heat source. If I go a little taller it will just give me more flexibility in how I can hang or put racks in.

One more question is where did you source the side rails you put your dowels on? They seem like they would be a pain to make even with a drill press and a hole saw.

 

[JckDanls 07]

drill press and a hole saw.

That's exactly how I made them (almost)... Used a butterfly/spade bit instead of a hole saw... Then just ripped it in half after drilling...

I have a mag drill (portable magnetic drill press) that I used to drill all the holes (some 1/2" others 3/8" I believe) in the difuser plate...