Newbie - smokehouse build

[buglefever]

Hiya Folks,

I found this Forum a couple months back and it has been a really great resource. My hunting partner and I are starting a smokehouse build and I am sure I will have questions along the way as the build gets further along. The design is similar to smokehouse builds I have seen on here, I ordered the burner and hose kit from northern tool this morning. The firebox portion of the smoker will be made up of three courses of cinder block and I have a concrete pad already poured. The dimensions of the smoker are 4' x 4' x 60". The cinder blocks are only going to be on three sides and it will have a full length wood door on the front.

The question I have right now is about the venting - how many vents in the bottom should I install? I've seen other builds on here where a heat register vent as used on the firebox and two of the same vents used near the top of the smoker. Since I am using cinder blocks on three sides I dont have the luxury of being able to add extra vents after the fact. Do the experts think I can get away with one heat register in the door of the firebox and have that be the only vent in the firebox and doing solid brick on the other three sides or should I find a way to incorporate another vent in the cinder block? Or is there a formula that you can use to calculate this similar to doing an RF build?

Thanks everyone and once I have more than a concrete pad to show off I will post pics

 

[smokein man]

dont have any answers on the build but good luck on your project

 

[daveomak]

Jason, morning...... Foundation vents that close would work when building the block short wall....   One on each side... or one in the door will work...  2 closing vents near the top of the side walls for exhaust will be good....   I recommend vents in the side walls so condensate doesn't drip on your food.....  Make sense ??  Chimneys aren't necessary as the smoke house itself acts as the chimney.... Dave

 

[buglefever]

Dave,

Thank you for your reply. Yes that does make sense. I will opt to put a large heat register in the bottom of the firebox door and two vents near the peak of the roof on either wall. I guess my real question is if that would be enough venting for a smokehouse of that dimension and my question is answered. After lurking around on the build forums I figured that would work but wanted to make sure there werent considerations I was not considering.

Thanks

 

[wazoo]

I have a Northern Tool burner in my smoke house and it can still burn well with the two side vents totally closed and the front vent mostly closed.  I think while you have to have some venting for the burner the vents have more to due with controlling the temperature.  The 4 x 4 x 60 is a pretty large box so it should work great with even one large vent in the front and the two vents at the top.  You said that your are going to use a full length door in the front.  You may want to consider making it a two piece door so that you can play with the burner and add wood for smoking without opening the main smoke chamber door.  This will help you avoid the temperature drops that occur if you open one big door.  I finished my build about a month ago and I am really enjoying a lot of smoked food.  My smoke house is smaller that yours and built a little different but I would be glad to pass on any help that I can.

Good luck with the build.  Look forward to seeing pictures.

Wazoo

 

[buglefever]

Wazoo,

Thank you for the response, its nice to get some feedback from someone running the same burner config. I kinda figured the venting had a lot to do with temp control as well and we kinda figured we would have to build it and then learn how to run it as with anything. But with as many folks on here that have experience building these houses how can you go wrong asking. The smoker will have a full length door on the front but it is going to be one big door with a firebox door and a smoke chamber door inside of the big door.. The smoker is being built on a concrete pad that slopes out the front as we figured that would make cleaning out a little easier. We poured the pad two weeks ago and we set three courses of block tonight and I will take pics tomorrow and post them. This weekend we are going to start framing. Sorry for no pics yet but we were setting the last course of block by candle light tonight. I believe you had your build posted on here? I will have to look it up and see if I can steal any trade secrets.. Thanks again for the help.

Jason

 

[buglefever]

Folks,

As promised here is the start to the build. Concrete poured and three courses of blocks set.. Not much yet but I appreciate the help - Dave - Wazoo.... I was hoping to frame this weekend but the weather is going to continue to be wet and blustery here on the oregon coast through the weekend. So we shall see what kind of progress we make.. I will post pics when we get more done..

Jason

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• buglefever
• Apr 4, 2013

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• buglefever
• Apr 4, 2013