New build

[mike35549]

Started working on my smokehouse this weekend. I am going to use a rather large wood stove that I already have that I use to heat my old house with. It will be about 6 feet away on the left side looking at the door under a shed that was already there. I am going to build a wood frame for the top. I am going to use some tin I have for the outside. And unless I change my mind I am going to cover the inside with plywood is there something better. Walls and roof. My question is what can I use under the plywood to insulate the walls with. As far as vents I was planning on using a couple forced air vents like in your house on top right under the roof edge. I am hoping to be able to cold smoke and hot smoke hopefully the stove will not be to far away, insulating pipe may help that. Other than the insulation for you guys that have done this is there anything else you tell me that would help, maybe keep me from screwing up.

 

[mike243]

Instead of plywood which contains glue and may fall apart when heated I would use cedar if your billfold can afford it, I'm sure there are other materials that will work well but you want something that will last a lot of years , if you plan on electric to it a fan in the ceiling to push the air down/around would help keep temps more stable.

 

[SmokinAl]

From the way you started this smokehouse. I bet it’s going to be a beauty.
Can’t help with your build questions, however I know Pops made a smoke house out of plywood, it lasted for years!

Found a burner for smokehouse

I'm planning on building my own wooden smokehouse week after next, provided my vacation coverage allows me to go on vacation 2/13-19. I'm winging it on the design, modeling it after the smokehouses my dad used in his store (Koch) in a scaled down version. But, the one thing I've struggled with...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

 

[HalfSmoked]

Interesting. Watching there are several guys on here that can come forward with some help.

Warren

 

[HalfSmoked]

Thanks for the like JC in GB it is appreciated.

Warren

 

[JC in GB]

Rockwool board is a good fire safe insulation.

I would not use plywood for the inside panels. I would probably use white oak boards or something of that type.

My $0.02

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

JC

 

[mike35549]

Rockwool board is a good fire safe insulation.

I would not use plywood for the inside panels. I would probably use white oak boards or something of that type.

My $0.02

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

JC

I feel like I can get a more air tight build using plywood, and also ensure that the insulation is completely encapsulated in the walls and ceiling. Unless you use tongue and groove boards you will eventually have cracks. I know quite a few people do use plywood. For the people that are against it what are the reasons.

 

[JC in GB]

I feel like I can get a more air tight build using plywood, and also ensure that the insulation is completely encapsulated in the walls and ceiling. Unless you use tongue and groove boards you will eventually have cracks. I know quite a few people do use plywood. For the people that are against it what are the reasons.

You can get a good seal with tongue and groove boards.

 

[mike35549]

You can get a good seal with tongue and groove boards.

That is true not sure where I could source some 1” tongue and groove hardwood boards, that wasn’t oak flooring which would be rather expensive. Will check around and see what I can find.

 

[mike35549]

What do most people use for gasket material around the door. Everything I seen on line was peel and stick or glue on, which seems not ideal for attaching to wood.

 

[JC in GB]

That is true not sure where I could source some 1” tongue and groove hardwood boards, that wasn’t oak flooring which would be rather expensive. Will check around and see what I can find.

You should be able to get them in varying widths.

 

[JC in GB]

What do most people use for gasket material around the door. Everything I seen on line was peel and stick or glue on, which seems not ideal for attaching to wood.

For a wood cabinet seal, I would probably go with fiberglass rope and screws. That is how the seal on my cabinet smoker is done and it works great. It is also replaceable if it gets grease soaked or worn out.

JC

 

[mike35549]

For the inside walls anyone have any thoughts on using concrete board/Hardie backer then covering it with sheets of aluminum roofing. I have several sheets of aluminum roofing. It looks like regular galvanized roofing tin except it is aluminum.

 

[mike35549]

For a wood cabinet seal, I would probably go with fiberglass rope and screws. That is how the seal on my cabinet smoker is done and it works great. It is also replaceable if it gets grease soaked or worn out.

JC

That should work great with a compression latch.

 

[mike35549]

When you build a smokehouse with a firebox on the outside do you still need vents on the bottom. I am planning on putting toe vents at the top one in each corner on the same side as the door. This will be the highest place in the smoker since I am going to build a flat roof slanted Away from the side the doors on. Was thinking I could put one in the bottom of the door if it needs one.

 

[archeryrob]

I don't have any low vents on mine. If you want it to "breath" why are you trying to seal it? Sealing it and having lower vents sound contradictory of each other in application.

Mine is quite a bit smaller than yours, but it works fine. I used old reclaimed barn wood that is pine and ran the boards vertical to get better run off with rain. There are some cracks between the boards, but I fitted them as tight as possible.

You can see all mine here on my blog posts building it.

 

[mike35549]

I don't have any low vents on mine. If you want it to "breath" why are you trying to seal it? Sealing it and having lower vents sound contradictory of each other in application.

Mine is quite a bit smaller than yours, but it works fine. I used old reclaimed barn wood that is pine and ran the boards vertical to get better run off with rain. There are some cracks between the boards, but I fitted them as tight as possible.

You can see all mine here on my blog posts building it.

I am going to put white oak boards on the inside and outside. I am going to put a 1/2” lap on each board so they will not have any cracks and should be pretty tight.