Nor-Lake Freezer Build

[mjoe79]

Hello, first time poster but long time looker to the forum. This will be my second smoker build. Last year I built a smoker out of a old International Harvester fridge. With this new smoker build, I am looking for additional features that I don't have or didn't put in with the first smoker build.

Additions I want in this new smoker build.

1. No babysitting, I would like to be able to set the temp and walk away without have to keep checking it.

2. Be able to smoke with it in the middle of our cold northern Minnesota winters.

3. Larger smoking chamber.

Any and all opinions will be appreciated. Thanks Joe

pics.....

 

[mjoe79]

 

[mjoe79]

 

[mjoe79]

The smoking chamber dimensions are 37" wide x 51" high x 21" deep with 3.5" thick walls. I think with the thicker wall, this will allow me to use the smoker during the winter.

 

[pops6927]

Welcome to SMF!  Your pics were held briefly for moderation then released, sorry, it takes a few posts to get past that.

Would you kindly go to Roll Call and introduce yourself and a brief history so we may properly welcome you?

Thank you for displaying your location!

 

[mjoe79]

My first task is to take out the cooling unit.

bottom.jpg

• mjoe79
• Jul 19, 2012

 

[mjoe79]

Freezer smoker pics 002.jpg

• mjoe79
• Jul 19, 2012

Had to take the base off in order to pull out the interior freezer box. When I laid the unit on its back there was a puddle of liquid starting to drip on the concrete floor. Maybe its water but I'm guessing it could be freon. Either way I'm going to replace all the fiberglass insulation as most of it was pretty soaked.

 

[mjoe79]

Here is the outside of the freezer box and all the coils, before and after pics. The freezer box looks to be galvanized, I have read other post on that and am not too worried about cooking food inside of it as its not going to get that hot. But could there be other toxic things with this material that I am unaware of? If anyone knows?

Freezer smoker pics 004.jpg

• mjoe79
• Jul 19, 2012

Freezer smoker pics 001.jpg

• mjoe79
• Jul 19, 2012

 

[mjoe79]

I was thinking of making the smoker electric. Does anyone have some input as to what wattage element I would need for my situation? I already have outlets for 240v hookup, so it could be a 120v or 240v element.

I am starting to lean more about these PID's (I don't know what that stands for either) but can someone post some links for what I will need for my setup? I do know how to wire a little bit.

 

[ryno]

Remove and replace the old insulation with new 3 1/2 inch insulation you buy at lowes/home depot. Put the liner back in. The liquid must be water. Freon is a gas.There are various ways to vent the unit. I drilled 2 holes for 1" electrical conduit pipe and held them in place with conduit connectors.the inside the pipe is as flush as the connectors allow. out side they stick out about 4-5 inches. I have no vents at the bottom. The system works! a few of my friends did it this way too.

Once you have a sealed box you will not need a lot of power. I have 2, 110VAC, 850 watt elements I found in a resale shop. They were from old hot plates. If you buy new a 1200 watt hot plate is enough. PID controls are an industrial control P (proportional)  I (intergral) D (derivitive) senses the temperature and controls that temperature to a tight tolerance that can be set. You oven has a version of that but does not hold it tight. +/- 15° for the oven, +/- 2° for the PID controller.

To wire the system you need a in oven thermocouple, (T or J type). a relay for the controller and the heater lement. WW Grainger sells the parts, the PID controller. A brand name is Omeron. use a solid state relay and a heat sink They usually have instructions to wire the thermocouple, hot plate to the relay to the controller.  If you buy a hot plate with a control I suggest using that. Remove the control and mount it in a box on the outside.

You say you can wire "a little bit" what I described takes some detailed knowledge of electrical controls and is costly. So much unless you find parts free and cheap. I say go buy electric smoker online or at a sports department or store.

Good luck!
 

 

[mjoe79]

You say you can wire "a little bit" what I described takes some detailed knowledge of electrical controls and is costly. So much unless you find parts free and cheap. I say go buy electric smoker online or at a sports department or store.

Good luck!

 

I say little bit cause I'm not a licensed electrician but I did do the wiring when I built my house and the wiring for my cabinet shop. As long as I have a diagram to follow i will be good to go. Thanks for your input.

 

[ryno]

If you can do the house wiring you can do this. If you get a controller you do not need PID. Actually if you can find a appliance repair that fixes and sell old electric stoves that will work. Need the thermocouple/temp sensor out of the oven, the oven control and a small stove top burner. Use high temp wiring in the box. I said a hot plate because you'll need a small fry pan to put the woos shavings in. it's simple the  on/off switch and control is in series on the hot leg to the hot plate. the return leg  goes back to the plug. the thermocouple is tied to the control. insert a long dial thermometer through the wall into the upper portion of the box. I have a multimeter fro sears that has a temperature function so I have a digital readout.

I get branches and logs of various woods. mosty oak, cherry hickory. I have a setup where I use my chainsaw for the wood shavings. Lay out a tarp, my cutting block on on end and the wood shaving go onto the tarp. O use old vegetable oil from my deep fryer for chain oil. don't use anything else you get a motor oil flavor if you use chain oil. Don't wet the shavings use them dry in the pan.

Hope this all helps
 

 

[shoneyboy]

 

[mjoe79]

Lots of good info ryno!

 

[mjoe79]

I was planing on working on the smoker this weekend but was called in for overtime at work. I'm still going over some of the layout and placement of things in my head and still doing research on PIDs. I think I will enclose the area where the compressor was located and place the heat element there. I was also thinking of laying fire brick in the bottom of the smoke chamber to help with recovery time when opening the door. If I leave a gap between the bricks, I'm wondering if that will help diffuse the heat evenly. For the smoke generator, I could just set a pan on the element or have a second element for the pan. But I've read many good reviews on the AMNS and im thinking how this would work in my setup.

 

[ryno]

No! No! No! fire brick!!!!!!!!!!!!!! first don't be concerned with heat loss. Re-assemble the fridge with new insulation and seal it up as was going to be used for keeping thing cool.  Drill the holes for the piping as I said and install. Mount a control box on the side with holes drilled for passing the wiring into the box. If you use a hot plate remove any plastic parts the heat is in the box, not outside. My system works! I make Jerky, sausage, bacon, all kinds of things. Just got back from Alaska and time has been tight and would like to dig out my GE Fridge smoker. It works. I've been thru the research phase you are doing. I live around Lake St Clair MI. and my fishing/hunting/trapping friends helped me with this.

Back to heat loss.  I get my smoker to 185°. when I see the smoke not coming out of the pipes I open the door, dump the old ashes, add new wood and close the door. takes maybe..90 seconds. heat loss is minimal maybe 20 degrees. you are doing low and slow anyways.I don't open it much. learned by trial and error. maybe a couple iterations.

I will try to get some detailed pics for you. Don't get too involved in PID. Too sophisticated. Too costly!  My control came from an industrial immersion heater. Sounds big but it was from a lab device used to heat maybe a quart or 2 of liquid to boiling. perfect range. here's a reference for a control. Grainger.com  Omron temp control 4A482 and you need the socket holder, 5X852. and you need a SSR 6C903, the J-type T/C is 3AEZ9. Check them out. Controls only handle low current (wattage) so the SSR is needed as an interface between the High current heater (800+ wattage).

Electrical Info. the contol can only handle 3 amps (3 X 110 = 330Watts)  lets say you have a 1500 watt hot plate(MORE than enuf)  the math is 1500/110=13.6 amps.. Low valtage side of the relay is to the controller, High voltage side to the hot plate.

Like I said I will try to get pictures. I am enjoyin' this discussion

ryno
 

 

[ryno]

send me an email - [email protected]
 

 

[mjoe79]

send me an email - [email protected]
 

emal sent