Smokehouse Design Advice Needed

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bob95065

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 19, 2013
21
14
I spent some time this morning reading through build threads and am looking for advice.

I want to build a smokehouse that will use wood or charcoal. I see that most builds use propane or electric heat. I use lump charcoal in my barrel smoker and I have an endless supply of oak firewood. I would like to build a smoker that uses either charcoal or firewood for heat.

Is there anything I need to do differently for these heat sources? I see old wood stoves for free often. Could I use one for a firebox and use wood? Any help is appreciated
 
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Below is a drawing I put together that shows several methods to control heat and smoke in a free standing smokehouse...
When using a separate firebox, which is the best method due to controls, something needs to be designed into the build for these controls....
The upper air inlet in the firebox is a necessity to move smoke and heat, from the FB to the smoker.... It also reduces the "suck" on the lower air inlet that feeds air to the fire controlling the heat...

SMOKEHOUSE SMOKE PIPE TEE.jpg
 
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Allan Benton of Benton hams uses 2 old wood stoves setting out side with the flue running into the building,nice guy and he gave me a tour, ,lot of different ways to control the temp
 
I use a wood fire and have an offset brick firebox similar to what Dave showed in his drawing. You could use a metal stove, but my metal pipe rusts all the time and I eventually will replace it with clay or something else. You can read my build process on this link.

Charcoal could be inside your smokehouse but wood fire outside of it.
 
hello all. first time poster. Im also wanting to build a smoke house. Im very new to this and have a couple of questions. Can you have a dual purpose wood smoke house. I want to be able to cold smoke things at around 170 degrees and also be able to smoke big cuts of meat at a max of 225 degrees. Im in the planing process and want to do a firebox away from the smoke house and use a pipe to get the smoke in. How far away from the smoke house do i need to put the firebox. Im thinking 10 feet. Also i have seen the smoke house higher then the firebox. I have read 30 degrees is ideal. Whats the best material to use for the smoke house itself. Wood? concrete block. Im open to any and all suggestions. My goal is to make an old time smoke house. thanks for all the help
 
A smokehouse can be block stone or wood. The solid material may take longer to heat up. The link in my previous post shows how I did mine. I like the wood and it heats up well.

BTW, 170 is not cold smoking. It is more like warm/hot smoking and I cook hot dogs and bologna just about that hot, sometimes 180 to get the 2.5" ones to 145 easy. To get to 225 you are going to need to have the fire closer and to cold smoke it is better farther way. You can cold smoke with a heat bypass, but releasing the heat releases smoke too. I have not messed with cold smoking, but smoke well at 120 when I first start it and don't let the fire box get really hot.

To get to 225 or more I need a huge bed of coals and lots of wood. Might need to have a lower door in the smokehouse to do high heat and a far fire box to do cold smoking. 225 - 250 is more like a metal grill with a direct attached fire box. I am thinking of eventually rebuilding my fire box to have an oven over it for doing the same thing you are speaking about.
 
thanks for the advice. whats the best material to use if you are going to use wood. Do you need to insulate it. Ive seen them covered in some kind of metal looks like some kind of sheet metal. If i went with the above choice of firebox could i use a propane burner for if i wanted to get hotter.
 
You need to use standard wood and no pressure treat and I am not sure about plywood because of the glues. I did not insulate mine as I have a fire exhausting in it. A smokehouse need air flow, so, IMO, Insulation is kind of a useless issue. I would not line the inside as it will just get dirty. Maybe with propane you could insulated it. You can do anything you want on the outside. I installed my planks vertical to shed water and stain oiled it.

You can do propane but Dave has posts on here about the correct burner to use so you don't blow yourself up. If you burner goes out the smokehouse will fill with propane and that's not good. That is why grills are so open. But you'll need him or someone else for the gas questions.
 
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