Looking fo advice on smoker size

[kbeyer]

I thought I had my mind made up but I'm starting to re-think the size of the smokehouse I want to build. Mainly because of sticker shock after pricing it and partly because I think it might be too big (if that's possible). Here's why I want to buid a smokehouse and issues I want to avoid. Like I said in Roll Call I'm fairly new to smoking and have only used a small electric smoker from The Sausage Maker.It does what it's supposed to do I guess but it requires ALOT of my attention. And even then the results were only OK. The problem was the shelves were directly over (and close to) the burner and I had to keep rotating them and turning the meat. When the sawdust pan burned down the heat would skyrocket and would burn the meat on the lower shelf unless I caught it fast. I bought a Johnson Controls PID but I still had to rotate the shelves several times.I also wanted to be able to smoke 50-60 lbs at a time and with this one I could only do 15-20 lbs of sticks. I pretty much quit smoking because I wasn't getting the results I wanted for the amount of time I put into it. So I thought I'd build a 6x8 smokehouse 7' tall with shelves on one side and the heat source on the other. I assume that it would heat evenly and I wouldn't have to rotate the shelves.With a PID and outside smokesource it seemed like it would be close to a set-it-and-forget-it unit. When I hit $1000 and still wasn't done pricing, I started re-thinking. I'll go that route if that's the best option but if I can save some money and still get good results I'm all for that. So here's my questions. Does 6x8x7' sound too big? If I go with a 4x4x8' smokehouse with a bottom burner is there a way to circulate the heat evenly (I'd still use the PID to control the temp)? How far above the burner should the first shelf be? Would electric be a better option than propane for 4x4x8'? I won't be offended with opinions so let me know what you think.

 

[pops6927]

I built my own smokehouse based on working the ones my dad had.  His were 8' tall, 8' x 4' width and 3' depth; they were in a pit so you would lift up a walkway to go down a couple steps to open the bottom door to add fuel (propane fired, with Iron pan on angle iron above it and feeding crushed corn cobs into the pan every ½ hour), then put down the walkway to be level with the upper door where you would put in and take out meats, usually hams, bacons, shoulders, turkeys, etc.  It was made by Koch:

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• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

That's it on the right, "Insulated Smokehouse Gas or Electric" (1940's prices, lol!-original brochure from when dad bought his!).

Here's my reproduction built in 2010:  Closed:

smokehouse closed.jpeg

• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

Open:

smokehouse open.jpeg

• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

w/Current mods:

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• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

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• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

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• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

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• pops6927
• Aug 10, 2012

This is the smoke generated by the little AMNPS; as you can see is more than sufficient to fill the entire smokehouse; the smoke generated by the propane burner/iron frying pan is just as, if not more, robust; I only add a couple chunks at a time but have to re-feed every 30-45 minutes; with the AMNPS it is continuous for hours, no hands needed!

That's with the addition of the external mailbox enclosure for the AMNPS.

I have two rows of smokesticks that double as shelves (when I steal the grates from my oven, or lay pans or sheets across the smokesticks, lol!).

This arrangement has suited me fine for everything i need or want to smoke, from hanging cheeses in stockinettes or laying on trays to hanging a 30lb. ham or 28" Turkeys or several chickens, buckboard or slab bacons, hanging dried beef, you name it, even trays of vegetables and nuts for a vegetarian party!  As you can see, I have drip pans between the heat source and the product, deflecting direct heat.

See my thread on my sig line for how I built it for the details titled "Smokehouse" below.

 

[frosty]

Gotta say, Pops' smoker makes me want to go nuts!  What a great smoker, and it can hold a ton.  I would build his if I had enough room.  However, the home boss  

   has veto power on many of my ideas.

 

[chuckles47]

Veto power can be handled by asking for forgiveness rather than asking for permission!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Veto power can be handled by asking for forgiveness rather than asking for permission!

 You must be Newly Married as well as a Newbie here...Because what you can get away with in the first 5 years of marriage...Has no relationship to the HELL you will pay for pulling the same stuff after 25 Years!!!...JJ

 

[chuckles47]

Don't think so  - 31 years married and I rarely ask - just do what I want.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Don't think so  - 31 years married and I rarely ask - just do what I want.

 God Bless You...You are a braver man than me...Most of the time I do get my way but it is the discussion that keeps the Peace...and Peace and especially Quite is what I value most...JJ