Pro's & Con's

[derek]

Howdy all. I am going to be making a homemade smoker in the bear future. My dad showed me a cool site that had fridge's as big smokers and I wanted one. I hadn't had any luck finding one because i read somewhere that the fridge had to be at least made prior to a certain year because of the type of insulation used after that. I hadn't found any old enough... Yesterday, I say a poster here who had posted a qview and saw his setup and that it looked awsome. His was made out of wood and looked and the setup looked easyenough for me to replicate and tweak to my ideas. I spoke with my dad today to show him the pics and he told me he had an old fridge for me and that it would be about the same amount of money to convert the fridge as it would be to build my wooden box.

So, here's the question. Does either have any advantages over the other? Does one produce better consistant results or is it just personal preference? Any input would be a help. Thanks in advance...

 

[mulepackin]

The big advantage I see to using a freezer is that most of the work has been done for you, inasmuch a building the cabinet goes. Just a little finish work so to speak. A nice wooden one looks much nicer though. My freezer is kinda trashy looking, but I keep it hidden in an part of the back yard that doesn't see a lot of traffic. As you touched on, they are already insulated too. I don't think the end result of the product smoked is going to be any different one to other, unless you use an engineered lumber that will outgas from adhesives (OSB, particle board, some plywoods, etc), and don't take steps to protect against that. I suppose the potential is the same from certain types of foam insulation in freezers.

 

[doctor phreak]

i would use the fridge instead of doing a plywood smoker....the fridge would be insulated and easy to convert and the plywood are nice but they can have the tendecy to catch on fire since it is made out of wood plus im not sure about the glue toxins that would come out of plywood when heated....

 

[derek]

thanks guys. I think I'm gonna do the fridge. It was my grandfathers fridge and has been inside the house or garage the whole time so it doesn't look all beat up. Thanks for the info. I'll put before and after pics up when I start on it...