Smoke generator and smoking meat

[kallud]

So I'm new to smoking and I'm building a smoker out of an old fridge. I thought about pipping in a smoke generator for the main purpose then I don't have to open the door and loose heat to add more wood chips. Obviously when smoking I would be cooking at higher temps I don't know if this is something other people use or is it not a big deal?

 

[SmokinAl]

I moved this to the fridge build section.

Hopefully you'll get the answer your looking for here.

Al

 

[carnivalman88]

Kallud, There are several different stand alone smoke generators that you can buy or build if you chose to go in that direction. Both Bradley and Masterbuilt make electric units but they are not your only choices just "Google" "smoke generators for smokers" The advantage to going with a stand alone smoke generator is they produce smoke with very little heat so you can use your box for "cold smoking" items like cheese, fish, jerky ect.and there is no need to open door to add wood. Keep in mind these are different than an external firebox that does produce heat and smoke, but based on your question it sounds like you already have a heat source inside the box, if not you will need one, again you have several options When smoking whether it be traditional "low and slow" or cold smoking make sure you have good air flow thru the box which may require dampers on the bottom as well as the top due to the air tightness of most refrigerators/freezers. Good luck!! Keep us updated as to your progress 

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!

I've been smoking for about a month now and I did a bunch of research before hand and like many came to the conclusion that an external smoke generator is the best way to go.  There are tons of pros and only 1 con.

Pros:

• You don't need to open the smoker to add more wood or manage that portion of the process
• You can avoid adding additional heat to the smoker
• You can ensure smoke generation no matter the smoker temp, (cold smoke with no heat, or hot smoke at full blast heat)
• The smoker heating mechanism will not affect smoke generation (For example an electric smoker at 160F for smoking sausages may often have problems generating enough heat at the element to burn/smokder the wood and produce smoke)
• You can avoid or better manage situations where burning/smoke generation stops or wood flames up
• You can better increase smoke or cut off smoke at will without opening the smoker

Cons:

• You have to build or buy and attach an additional piece(s) to your smoking setup

Many here, including myself, use the simple and extremely effective Mailbox Modification with the A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) smoke generator.  It should be able to be easily applied to a refridge smoker.   The AMPNS is amazing and in my opinion is the way to go.  See a long thread here http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127770/mes-mailbox-mod-for-use-with-amnps

AMNPS Pros:

• It is a set and forget smoke generator that uses wood pellets or saw dust
• You can fill it to desired smoke time once you figure out burn rate to choose to smoke for 1hr or up to approximately 10-14 hours
• It produces Thin Blue Smoke (TBS) from the start so no fighting with the burn of your wood to get the desired smoke to start with
• Wood pellets/dust can be lit at both ends to produce double smoke if you need heavy smoke
• It uses wood pellets or dust so you can better mix and match your wood smoke for desired blends
• As long as you follow directions you should have little or no trouble with flare ups or smoke dying out from failure to burn
• It is compact and simple

Here is what my setup looks like

2zflemo.jpg

• tallbm
• Jan 8, 2017

See the AMNPS below getting ready to put into the black mailbox.

33fbwvn.jpg

• tallbm
• Jan 8, 2017

Here are some other examples:

016.JPG

• tallbm
• Jan 24, 2017

image.jpg

• tallbm
• Jan 5, 2017

DSC00280.JPG

• tallbm
• Jan 5, 2017

I hope this sparks some ideas :)

 

[kallud]

I've already decided that I was going to go with a smoke generator and as I'm doing all this on a low budget I will be building it. I do like the mailbox and I'm might think about using something like that on my build I'm trying to keep my build low profile to Jeep the fridge shape intact. My one real problem now is what heating element type I want to use? Gas seems the easiest but electrical sounds better for controlling temperature.

 

[ab canuck]

Kallud, You should check out the fridge/smoker builds in the forum. They are packed with the info you are looking for, Element sizes, PID controllers, sizing, etc. Even for budgets, That was the reason I came to this site. To build a smoker.  

 

[jusjimi]

Awesome post thank you.