Newbie smoker build

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Nevermore

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2020
19
4
First of all I just wanted to say Hello and thank you for this forum. I've been lurking for awhile and have found some great information on smoking meats. builds, thermometers etc.
I have never smoked anything in my life however with the help of my buddy Austin, who is an avid smoker, we decided to take on the creation of a cedar smoke house. I will say up front that in addition to not knowing anything about this, I am also not a craftsman so be honest but be kind lol.

This is what I started with, a Facebook Marketplace wood stove listed for $150 that I ended up getting for $130. A real brute and beaut.

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We carefully selected a spot on my property and laid down the foundation. I then painted the wood stove, good as new!
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We decided to build a table top above the smoke house, one long enough that we're able to set down a platter and a cold one (7.1% hazy IPA pictured).

You will see that we also started the construction of what eventually turns out to be a bohemoth of a cedar smoke house. My initial thought was a 3x3x3 box and although the box ends up being 3ft high (not including the roof) the actual dimensions are more like 24x27x36.

You
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I was stuck on wanting a large door however in retrospect likely should have just designed the front in a uniform way. The stacked 2x4's on the left will certainly offer us plenty of strength for the hinged door. I should have done the same on the right side and just gave up my dream of having a gloriously large opening.
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Next comes the fun part in placing the Western red cedar tongue and grove planks on. We found that we were losing width at the top and used some old pressure treated 2x4's to keep everything level.

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You'll see in this picture how the front does not look uniform which bothers me however I am hoping that once the door goes on this will be less noticeable. The other issue is that I ran out of 2x4 and the closest lumber yard to me that carries it is 40minutes away. I consider cutting the small pieces along the right side the same as the left while only having the one 2x4 behind it but knew that would affect the stability of the door latch and over time would just end up coming loose.

Either way, this baby is coming together.
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My plan for the pipe between the wood stove and smoker is to reduce the 7" opening to 6" and place a 6" double wall damper kit in. Again, never done this before and hoping it does the job. I currently have this on order and am impatiently waiting it's arrival.

I also ordered this bad boy thanks to some of the advice from this forum. It shipped same day.

 
Having never built much other than an Ikea futon a few times in my life I was fairly intimidated by the roof and although my notches didn't seem to work out as well as I wanted, I am satisfied with how strong it feels.


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This is how it currently sits. I am hoping to have this completed by weeks end but we well see. Thanks for your comments and advice in advance.

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Hi nevermore,
I like you am no expert craftsman but what you have started looks pretty good. My only thoughts would be the use of pressure treated wood near food and how close the wood table is to the woodstove. I know they can get hot when used for heating a home but not sure how hot you will be getting it for smoking. Just my 2 cents.
 
Hi nevermore,
I like you am no expert craftsman but what you have started looks pretty good. My only thoughts would be the use of pressure treated wood near food and how close the wood table is to the woodstove. I know they can get hot when used for heating a home but not sure how hot you will be getting it for smoking. Just my 2 cents.

Great point my friend. I am concerned about the amount of heat this will give off but wanted to wait until I connected the piping before getting a good idea of what I am looking at. I may have to turn this into a side smoker build or build a cedar table. Definitely want to keep the carcinogens out of here.

Thanks for the comment and compliment.
 
I’m doing a very similar build right now myself. First build for me. Relatively new to the game. Found an old fire box too. Building a cedar house above it too. The only difference is I used steel poles and plan to weld them to the fire box. Otherwise very similar. I’ve almost got it framed. I’m planning the same siding as you - cedar car siding.

Best of luck to you. Hoping this turns out!!!
 

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I’m doing a very similar build right now myself. First build for me. Relatively new to the game. Found an old fire box too. Building a cedar house above it too. The only difference is I used steel poles and plan to weld them to the fire box. Otherwise very similar. I’ve almost got it framed. I’m planning the same siding as you - cedar car siding.

Best of luck to you. Hoping this turns out!!!

Looks great Nick! I think you're gonna be happy with how this bad boy turns out. I'll post a few more pics of the progress I've made.
 
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So, I've had the chance to try this out and I was definitely not steered wrong by this forum. Everything about this purchase was incredible. It was shipped same day and delivered within 3 days to Canada.
 

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So we decided to close in the top of the box to contain the smoke in a smaller space and limit smoke from seeping out. A bunch of unused space in the top now, which is essentially decorative but I'm still pleased with how it looks.
 

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You will recall in a previous post that I wasn't happy with the look of the front as the left and right side were not equal. We changed it and added a door stop to the right side by ripping an unused piece of cedar.

You can also see that we added shelves using pine as I had run out of cedar 2x4's and honestly was just getting eager to smoke some meat.
 

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Either our measuring and cutting skills have improved or the gods shone upon in this instance allowing us to fit this chimney in perfectly. I still plan to put a small roof on the chimney to prevent snow and rain from getting in.
 

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Chew mentioned earlier about having pressure treated boards so close to the fire source. I wasn't overly concerned about it but nonetheless, changed out the boards that are directly underneath the firebox to untreated. Better to be safe than sorry in this case for sure.

Added door stops to the top and bottom and attached the door with ease. Damn, we're getting close!
 

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This was quite the task as we didn't really have the proper tools and didn't want the additional expense. We eventually got the hole the proper size to fit the 6" piping and were able to fit it in flush on top of the stove.
 

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Time for the first smoke!!
 

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We smoked some salmon and a chicken on the first day. My wife, who is my biggest supporter and biggest critic, said the salmon was the best she had ever tasted. We are using apple wood to add to the flavor. A pretty awesome way to cook.

The smoker is just outside the frame of the picture of the yard. Off to the left side of the property nestled in a nice shady spot.

Hoping we can enjoy this for years to come!

Cheers all!
 

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