Smoke House Conversion

[sausagesmokerjacob]

I’ve been using a smoke house we have for about 3 years and I feel it’s time to do some changes on it. It is 6’x6’x7’ and it is spray foam insulated. The insulation is protected with wood. My heat source is a smoke box that is piped out of the side of the smoker and is located on the outside. I don’t like the inconsistency of temperate since we are smoking meats at all times of the year.

I’ve been looking into relocating my smoke box approximately 4’ from the smoker like shown in this picture to get more of the smoke and not so much the heat. For the heat I was thinking originally about putting a propane burner with a thermostat. I did some digging on that and some were saying it gives the meat a weird taste. I saw on one thread that some use a sauna heating element. I only need it to be 175-200 degrees. I have plenty of power to run a 220v. That is what a sauna heating element requires to be able to heat something like the size of smokehouse we have.

Am I going about this all wrong? And if so I would love to hear other people’s input on how they keep their heat consistent in their smoke houses.

 

[mike243]

At just a quick look I wouldn't be able to pay to heat it, 336" of exhaust looks to be over kill x2.5 . you probably have a issue getting it to draw with 2 vents at the top, a single round stack in the center might do a better job if any wind is going. Just my .02

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

It would seem like nasty stuff will condense in that buried pipe.

By the way, nice drawing.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

My sauna heater is designed to heat to 120 deg. Don't know if it would work to heat higher than that without damage to element.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I’ve been using a smoke house we have for about 3 years and I feel it’s time to do some changes on it. It is 6’x6’x7’ and it is spray foam insulated. The insulation is protected with wood. My heat source is a smoke box that is piped out of the side of the smoker and is located on the outside. I don’t like the inconsistency of temperate since we are smoking meats at all times of the year.

I’ve been looking into relocating my smoke box approximately 4’ from the smoker like shown in this picture to get more of the smoke and not so much the heat. For the heat I was thinking originally about putting a propane burner with a thermostat. I did some digging on that and some were saying it gives the meat a weird taste. I saw on one thread that some use a sauna heating element. I only need it to be 175-200 degrees. I have plenty of power to run a 220v. That is what a sauna heating element requires to be able to heat something like the size of smokehouse we have.

Am I going about this all wrong? And if so I would love to hear other people’s input on how they keep their heat consistent in their smoke houses.
View attachment 705097

This is an odd design on the piping and I wouldn’t recommend this design. It is listed in Marianski’s book of Smokehouses but the only reason it works is because the house is 8’ tall which in theory creates enough draft. Most all fire pit designs have a pipe from the fire box to the house on an incline up to the house.

That said, you have a large smokehouse at 6’ square by 7’ tall. Mine in 3’ x 3’ x 7’ and maybe easier to control temps. Unless you are smoking 300+ pounds of meat at a time, you may want to think about dividing the space in half vertically and have two separate smoke chambers that could possibly run two separate temperatures and smoke different things even at the same time. Or you could run only one side at a time. By dividing it vertically into two separate spaces you will have a much easier time heating or keeping cool each chamber.

Tell me a little more about what you use the smoker for, meat wise but also temp wise. Be glad to help all I can.

 

[JckDanls 07]

So your saying the side firebox is only gonna be for smoke, no heat ? How are you planning on generating the smoke ?

I don't think the "smoke" box would really need to be that big. Also the grating would not need to be a whole foot off the floor... 4-6 inches underneath would be plenty for cleaning of ashes and air from underneath...

 

[sausagesmokerjacob]

This is an odd design on the piping and I wouldn’t recommend this design. It is listed in Marianski’s book of Smokehouses but the only reason it works is because the house is 8’ tall which in theory creates enough draft. Most all fire pit designs have a pipe from the fire box to the house on an incline up to the house.

That said, you have a large smokehouse at 6’ square by 7’ tall. Mine in 3’ x 3’ x 7’ and maybe easier to control temps. Unless you are smoking 300+ pounds of meat at a time, you may want to think about dividing the space in half vertically and have two separate smoke chambers that could possibly run two separate temperatures and smoke different things even at the same time. Or you could run only one side at a time. By dividing it vertically into two separate spaces you will have a much easier time heating or keeping cool each chamber.

Tell me a little more about what you use the smoker for, meat wise but also temp wise. Be glad to help all I can.

Good morning. We make venison sausage typically once to twice a year. We make about 500-600 lbs at a time. That’s why I have a larger smoke house. We use oak and pecan wood. We smoke it for about 5 hours at a temperature around 150 degrees.

The picture is more for a reference. I am going to add a chimney stack that sits well about the smoke house for good ventilation. I agree with running the fire box up hill to the smoker itself. I don’t need excessive temperatures. I would be happy with 150 degrees consistently. The problem I am having now is that the forebox is on the back side of the smoker. It’s only about 2 ft from the wall and it creates a lot of heat on the backside and that sausage gets done a lot faster
Hope this helps.

 

[slavikborisov]

I’ve been using a smoke house we have for about 3 years and I feel it’s time to do some changes on it. It is 6’x6’x7’ and it is spray foam insulated. The insulation is protected with wood. My heat source is a smoke box that is piped out of the side of the smoker and is located on the outside. I don’t like the inconsistency of temperate since we are smoking meats at all times of the year.

I’ve been looking into relocating my smoke box approximately 4’ from the smoker like shown in this picture to get more of the smoke and not so much the heat. For the heat I was thinking originally about putting a propane burner with a thermostat. I did some digging on that and some were saying it gives the meat a weird taste. I saw on one thread that some use a sauna heating element. I only need it to be 175-200 degrees. I have plenty of power to run a 220v. That is what a sauna heating element requires to be able to heat something like the size of smokehouse we have.

Am I going about this all wrong? And if so I would love to hear other people’s input on how they keep their heat consistent in their smoke houses.

so you need a way to get less heat on the backside. option one add a fan to the inside to disperse the heat or option two extend the distance from 2 ft to maybe 4 or 6 or add a second pipe to you fire box with a flue damper to vent off some of the heat as you see fit.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Good morning. We make venison sausage typically once to twice a year. We make about 500-600 lbs at a time. That’s why I have a larger smoke house. We use oak and pecan wood. We smoke it for about 5 hours at a temperature around 150 degrees.

The picture is more for a reference. I am going to add a chimney stack that sits well about the smoke house for good ventilation. I agree with running the fire box up hill to the smoker itself. I don’t need excessive temperatures. I would be happy with 150 degrees consistently. The problem I am having now is that the forebox is on the back side of the smoker. It’s only about 2 ft from the wall and it creates a lot of heat on the backside and that sausage gets done a lot faster
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the clarification.
If you are happy with the current set up, minus the hot spot from the firebox, it seems the easiest fix is to just move the firebox back another 4’ or so. You could also set up a fan at the back of the smokehouse to move the air between the firebox and house but I would also add a steel deflection plate about midway between the two, that with a fan blowing should work as well.

If you add a pipe for exhaust on the roof make sure it exits out the gable wall and not straight up out of the roof. Straight up the condensation can build on the rain cap and drip creosote back down on the meat. So if you use a pipe exit out a wall and elbow up, or screen vents in the gable itself. Running 5-600 pounds at a time will produce a lot of moisture and will need good air flow.

If you change the heat source you will likely need elements from an electric oven, two I would guess. With that much meat you could have one heck of a temperature stall in the meat and need some horsepower to keep things running smooth. You could set that up with a PID controller for very consistent temperature control. Then just figure out a smoke generator.

I run propane in mine and have no taste issues at all. Propane is universally used in food prep and nobody stops going to a restaurant because the food was cooked over gas and tastes funny. Additionally, Southern Pride is one of the most used commercial bbq smokers, they burn wood for smoke but use gas for heat, very popular, so don’t buy into the hype of “gas makes meat taste funny” that’s just silly talk.

 

[sausagesmokerjacob]

T

Thanks for the clarification.
If you are happy with the current set up, minus the hot spot from the firebox, it seems the easiest fix is to just move the firebox back another 4’ or so. You could also set up a fan at the back of the smokehouse to move the air between the firebox and house but I would also add a steel deflection plate about midway between the two, that with a fan blowing should work as well.

If you add a pipe for exhaust on the roof make sure it exits out the gable wall and not straight up out of the roof. Straight up the condensation can build on the rain cap and drip creosote back down on the meat. So if you use a pipe exit out a wall and elbow up, or screen vents in the gable itself. Running 5-600 pounds at a time will produce a lot of moisture and will need good air flow.

If you change the heat source you will likely need elements from an electric oven, two I would guess. With that much meat you could have one heck of a temperature stall in the meat and need some horsepower to keep things running smooth. You could set that up with a PID controller for very consistent temperature control. Then just figure out a smoke generator.

I run propane in mine and have no taste issues at all. Propane is universally used in food prep and nobody stops going to a restaurant because the food was cooked over gas and tastes funny. Additionally, Southern Pride is one of the most used commercial bbq smokers, they burn wood for smoke but use gas for heat, very popular, so don’t buy into the hype of “gas makes meat taste funny” that’s just silly talk.

Thank you for the reply. I didn’t think gas would give it a funny flavor either. I just saw it in a few different threads that I was reading on. How do you run propane to yours? Do you have a plate over your burner to disperse the heat more evenly?

 

[SmokinEdge]

T

Thank you for the reply. I didn’t think gas would give it a funny flavor either. I just saw it in a few different threads that I was reading on. How do you run propane to yours? Do you have a plate over your burner to disperse the heat more evenly?

I’m high tech, so I use a turkey fryer for a burner and a 12” cast iron skillet on to as a deflector plate. In cold weather I can put wood chunks in the skillet to produce smoke. But in warmer weather I use a smoke generator burning a mix of pellets and chips.

Some don’t like my setup because of the chance of flame out and filling the house with gas and potentially making a bomb, I get that but I’m not much of a set and forget guy so I’m pretty attentive with my smoking and this setup works for me, but could easily be improved upon.

If you are interested in gas I can post you a link to a company in Texas that builds all kinds of gas burners specifically for cooking and smoking, they can set you up with everything you need including safety shut off.

 

[sausagesmokerjacob]

I’m high tech, so I use a turkey fryer for a burner and a 12” cast iron skillet on to as a deflector plate. In cold weather I can put wood chunks in the skillet to produce smoke. But in warmer weather I use a smoke generator burning a mix of pellets and chips.

Some don’t like my setup because of the chance of flame out and filling the house with gas and potentially making a bomb, I get that but I’m not much of a set and forget guy so I’m pretty attentive with my smoking and this setup works for me, but could easily be improved upon.

If you are interested in gas I can post you a link to a company in Texas that builds all kinds of gas burners specifically for cooking and smoking, they can set you up with everything you need including safety shut off.

Yes that sounds great. Thank you.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Yes that sounds great. Thank you.

Contact Tejas Smokers. Tell them what you have and what you want to do. They are very nice and knowledgeable and will get you set up for gas.

https://tejassmokers.com/