Looking for constructive criticism and suggestions. New to smoking and smokehouse. I wanna be able to make summer sausages and also to smoke a brisket in same smoker. Here is a pic of my build. Its 18" deep 30" wide and 40" excluding the gable , center height to roof peak would be about 50". Havent done a chimney or air vents yet.
Little smokehouse
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phathead69
Smoking Fanatic
I can envision sausage, bacon, jerky, hams, fish, turkey, more sausage.... but brisket might require higher heats and could be messy.
bill1
Master of the Pit
- Apr 25, 2015
- 1,910
- 883
And WHERE is the heat source?
If you want to do a brisket, you're going to want to get to at least 180F inside. That's not "cold smoking".
No problem for wood to handle 200F temps. But to get to even 180F in the bulk of that volume you're going to have a heat source that is much higher than that.
You could support an electric filament near the bottom in a way that provides good thermal insulation to the wood...and for sure you'll want to use a "heat shield" between the element and the bottom...and then you could put a pan on the electric heating element with chips or chunks for smoke generation. But if you were planning on building a fire from charcoal on the bottom of that nice wood box, well the whole thing will soon go up in smoke on you.
If you want to do a brisket, you're going to want to get to at least 180F inside. That's not "cold smoking".
No problem for wood to handle 200F temps. But to get to even 180F in the bulk of that volume you're going to have a heat source that is much higher than that.
You could support an electric filament near the bottom in a way that provides good thermal insulation to the wood...and for sure you'll want to use a "heat shield" between the element and the bottom...and then you could put a pan on the electric heating element with chips or chunks for smoke generation. But if you were planning on building a fire from charcoal on the bottom of that nice wood box, well the whole thing will soon go up in smoke on you.
I think what I'm saying is the big barbecue meats ↑↑↑ need a smoker, and the home-made craft items need a smoke house.
- Jan 9, 2014
- 29
- 23
Dude. Make that hole quite a bit bigger. That ply will catch on fire eventually (especially with accumlated drippings - a grease fire would burn the whole thing down right quick). )
Yes.
I missed the internal photos. Larger hole, probably with some metal flashing on both top and bottom, and maybe some fire retardant material under the flashing. Might as well over design the safety portion of the design now, rather than later.
Doing some tests with the propane burner in it, was able to get it up to 225. And ran it for 30 mins or so just testing. The wood near the burner was around 140. The wood at the top was higher, I know heat rises.. as you can see I havent finished the inside as I havent decided which route yet. I may never do a brisket. In it. But would like the capability. Mainly want to do summer sausage and some Jerky
I don’t know anything about smoke houses but hay thing looks great. I’m jealous. I can’t build 2, 2x4’s out of a 2x8. Haha
Interesting approach to the heat source. That set up would make me very nervous. My smokehouse is 3x3x7’ so I have more room for my heat source( also propane) but I have more space to heat and it takes a lot of btu’s especially in cold weather. If I were you with you’re smokehouse, I would seriously consider a electric burner. That would be the perfect setup in that small area, maximizing the smoke area, minimizing fire danger as well.
Looks great so far.
Looks great so far.
bill1
Master of the Pit
- Apr 25, 2015
- 1,910
- 883
You have a nice box you've invested effort in. Consider this:
1. Temporarily remove all the gas apparatus and enlarge the hole by just 3-4 inches
2. Temporarily screw a board on from the bottom that fully covers this hole
3. Screw the bottom of a 3# coffee can onto the center of this board, facing up. This will form a mold for your final inner grease/oil drain.
4. Cut a small hole in the far left or far right, whichever way you'd like grease to exit and fit a 3/4" close pipe nipple in it, sticking up.
5. Generous place steel "wire cloth" (chicken coop wire) of .5" grid across the entire bottom of your box. Make it fit tight to the circular coffee can and the pipe nipple drain. Using nuts or washers as spacers, attach it to your existing bottom so it's suspended ~.5" from the bottom. This is your "rebar".
6. Mix a half sack of Red-e-crete, just a little soupier than normal, and trowel it onto the bottom. It looks like your front lip will allow you to make it ~1" thick. Work it so the entire bottom slopes to the pipe nipple "drain".
7. As the concrete starts to "set", remove the coffee can and round the concrete edge so it's less likely to chip.
8. After at least a 24 hr cure, you can remove the bottom board of step 2.
9. Replace the underboard (that retained the concrete) with flat steel sheet (of just about any gauge) with a hole 1" dia smaller than the coffee can mold. If you don't have anything handy, a roll of steel flashing from a hardware store roofing dept can be used and attached with a staple gun. Snip the .5" annular area of steel with a tin snips in a couple dozen places radially, then fold them all in to further retain the weakly-reinforced concrete.
10. Let it cure at least a week before reinstalling the gas burner. Bring the temp up slowly (you'll always want to do this to avoid cracking your concrete) to outgas the concrete. You may want to make this burn-in a several-hour process since concrete can have an unpleasant smell.
Then you're ready for cooks up to 275 or even 300F. Beware of grease splatters on the inner wood sides. As others have said, it can ignite quickly and consume the rest of the box. At the first sign of grease on the lower sides (within ~8" of the bottom, where temps will be considerably hotter than average) staple some steel flashing along that lower boundary as well. Then I think you can both cold smoke Thuringer and cook a brisket with minimal fire hazaard. As with any cooker, inspect after each cook.
1. Temporarily remove all the gas apparatus and enlarge the hole by just 3-4 inches
2. Temporarily screw a board on from the bottom that fully covers this hole
3. Screw the bottom of a 3# coffee can onto the center of this board, facing up. This will form a mold for your final inner grease/oil drain.
4. Cut a small hole in the far left or far right, whichever way you'd like grease to exit and fit a 3/4" close pipe nipple in it, sticking up.
5. Generous place steel "wire cloth" (chicken coop wire) of .5" grid across the entire bottom of your box. Make it fit tight to the circular coffee can and the pipe nipple drain. Using nuts or washers as spacers, attach it to your existing bottom so it's suspended ~.5" from the bottom. This is your "rebar".
6. Mix a half sack of Red-e-crete, just a little soupier than normal, and trowel it onto the bottom. It looks like your front lip will allow you to make it ~1" thick. Work it so the entire bottom slopes to the pipe nipple "drain".
7. As the concrete starts to "set", remove the coffee can and round the concrete edge so it's less likely to chip.
8. After at least a 24 hr cure, you can remove the bottom board of step 2.
9. Replace the underboard (that retained the concrete) with flat steel sheet (of just about any gauge) with a hole 1" dia smaller than the coffee can mold. If you don't have anything handy, a roll of steel flashing from a hardware store roofing dept can be used and attached with a staple gun. Snip the .5" annular area of steel with a tin snips in a couple dozen places radially, then fold them all in to further retain the weakly-reinforced concrete.
10. Let it cure at least a week before reinstalling the gas burner. Bring the temp up slowly (you'll always want to do this to avoid cracking your concrete) to outgas the concrete. You may want to make this burn-in a several-hour process since concrete can have an unpleasant smell.
Then you're ready for cooks up to 275 or even 300F. Beware of grease splatters on the inner wood sides. As others have said, it can ignite quickly and consume the rest of the box. At the first sign of grease on the lower sides (within ~8" of the bottom, where temps will be considerably hotter than average) staple some steel flashing along that lower boundary as well. Then I think you can both cold smoke Thuringer and cook a brisket with minimal fire hazaard. As with any cooker, inspect after each cook.
Thank yall for all your input on this. Kinda why I havent gone any further then I did on the interior. So far I have $10 invested in this. Hinges and a thermometer. To check out the temp of electric heat source I took out the burner, cover the hole and put an electric griddle I have in there and let it warm up for about an hour. Temp only got to 125. Not sure if its just the griddle cant do it..
I can enclose the bottom have that is open, I have some aluminum I can use on the inside for a barrier bottom and all sides to to a couple feet high. Maybe even use some tiles i have. The propane burner still a no go?
I planned on putting some drip pans under any meat regardless.
I can enclose the bottom have that is open, I have some aluminum I can use on the inside for a barrier bottom and all sides to to a couple feet high. Maybe even use some tiles i have. The propane burner still a no go?
I planned on putting some drip pans under any meat regardless.
What wattage is the griddle? You would need 1000w or more. You can also run two hot plates to get the temp you need.
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