Question about smoke house build idea

[maynard rowley]

First off: apologies if this is in the wrong forum.  Wasn't sure where to put it and thought this seemed like the most likely place.

I've been wanting to build a sausage smoker for quite a while but haven't started anything yet.  Just recently I came across an old bread proofer that I was able to snag for free.  The heat/humidity unit is shot but the rest of the proofer is there and looks like it'd make a good basis for a sausage smoker.  Below is a pic of the same model proofer (not mine but it's identical).

USD-CM2000(4).jpg

• maynard rowley
• Nov 29, 2016

Now I'm trying to figure out how to supply heat.  I have a few ideas but haven't settled on anything yet.  I was just in my garage looking at an old natural gas furnace that I have and I started wondering if I could use some of the components for a smoker.  Has anyone done this/tried this?  Or is this a stupid idea?  I know I can definitely use the gas valve & pilot (I did this on a brewing system that I built a few years ago) but I'm not sure if the burner or any of the rest of it could be used.  Anyway a couple pics of the furnace below.

20161129_202308[1].jpg

• maynard rowley
• Nov 29, 2016

20161129_202312[1].jpg

• maynard rowley
• Nov 29, 2016

For smoke I was thinking I'd just use an a-maze-n pellet smoker.

Just looking for ideas/feedback.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

That proofer will make a great sausage smoker.

That burner looks overkill for the size of the box. I'd go electric with a PID controller so you can set n forget and also so you can program the temps to ramp up every hour.

 

[maynard rowley]

Agreed; all 4 furnace burners would be overkill. But I could modify it to be single or dual burner pretty easily. The PID is a great idea but I don't necessarily have to go electric to use one. My brew system uses PID's to control when the gas burners fire. Electric is definitely an option though.

Thanks for the input!