Mini Fridge Cold Smoker Build

[big lew bbq]

I was browsing this site and came across Pop's Mini Fridge Build, and I remembered I have a Mini fridge buried in the garage that no longer works, so I have to give Pop's credit for this build I am doing.  Here are a few pics I took yesterday.  These pics are of the start of the build aka gutting all the components and compressor.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 22, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 22, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 22, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 22, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 22, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 22, 2012

I will have more pics of the build as I go.

Big Lew BBQ

 

[big lew bbq]

Here is day 2 of the build.  Today I went and bought a 1 1/4" Ball Valve, One 2-foot long 1 1/4" PVC, One 1 1/4" rubber sleeve, One tube of silicon high temp sealant. 

I took the door off, to cut the shelves out that are located on the inside of the door (you can leave the shelves but it takes up un-necessary space.  I used a Dremel with a cutting blade bit to slice through the thin plastic and the foam.  I order a roll of high temp woven silica and aluminum material. I am going to cover the entire inside of the smoker with this stuff in case I want to use hot smoke with a single burner later down the road, but it won't hurt during cold smoke.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

Here is the Door after about 5-mins worth of work with the Dremel. I Left about an inch of plastic around the edges so I can adhere the Heat Material all the way to the seal.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

I cut a 1-foot piece of PVC and then glued the 90* bend on for the Chimney. I put the rubber sleeve on to the right depth I wanted the PVC chimney to stick down into the smoker. Then I sealed the hole and the pipe with the silicon sealant.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

Next I drilled a hole and sealed the ball valve to an 8" piece of PVC, for the air intake/damper.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

Here is everything after the second day of the build. 

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 23, 2012

I plan on lining the inside of the fridge tomorrow, More Build Pics to follow.

Big Lew BBQ

 

[mneeley490]

Wow, you've been busy. Thanks for the pics!

 

[big lew bbq]

So here is just a few pics I took after lining the door of the fridge.  Amazon let me down and did not ship my entire shipment so I only had enough material to line the door.  The rest of the material should be delivered soon and I will complete the smoker.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 27, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 27, 2012

I did fill one row of my AMNS with mesquite dust, just to give the smoker a trial run,  The AMNS burned great, however I was easily reaching temps over 100* which is not good when trying to cold smoke.  I think I need to add some ice to the smoker to try and keep the temp down below 100*.  This is the temp of the smoker after 30 mins of burn time.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 27, 2012

If anyone has any suggestions to how to keep the temp down I would greatly appreciate any tips or recommendations.  

Thanks,

Big Lew BBQ

 

[big lew bbq]

Here is the Cold Smoker completely lined and the first smoke with some salmon.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

And the Salmon.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

3-Hours into smoke, Smoker temp @ 64.

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• big lew bbq
• Aug 28, 2012

The build was a lot of fun and time but the things worked like a charm and the Salmon o so delicious!!!

Big Lew BBQ