smokehouse questions need some help please

[pure havoc]

Heres what I have to start with. For the last few yrs my buddies has used a setup like this and the food is phenomenal that comes out of it. I have few questions as this will mainly be for cold smoking stuff . Do I need a eternal firebox? I believe they light a fire in their setup in the corner of the building. And add wet wood to when needed to produce the low heat smoke. Chimney? Do I need one or just let it self vent between the walls and roof gaps? Lower vent holes necessary? This is really all new to me so any help would be appreciated . Its on a rough concrete slab

 

[pops6927]

The greater the draft the higher the temp will be to the fire; you will have to experiment a little at a time without blowing it up, lol!  Start out with building a small fire and see how it goes; determine 1) does it need a chimney? 2) does it need greater air input?  3) can you keep it smoldering but not flaming?   Second, you may just want to try a couple Amazen AMNPS units on a couple bricks for cold smoking... they work great!  One in my smokehouse fills it with smoke, just lit on one end.  www.amazenproducts.com

 

[JckDanls 07]

first thing I would do is go and check out your buddies set up and see how they are doing it... ask questions.. look for vents (exhaust, intake)... look for insulation... try to get over there when they are smoking so you can see how big of a fire.. see if it's internal or external... Myself I would think it would be external.. as any heat inside is going to be to much for cold smoking... start there and then experiment on your own... thinking it's going to take a lot of smoke to fill that size of a smoke house....

 

[pure havoc]

His smoke house is 3.5 hrs away. .No chimney and he said they wait until Nov. Dec. When its real cold and they just make a small fire in a steel bucket on the floor. I think I'm going to build a fire box and pipe it in to keep the heat down and make the temp more controlled. I ordered all my casings etc yesterday so I need to get on the ball it was 34 deg here this morning. Were going to put our first test fire in it this morning to see what else we are going to have to do to it . Wish me luck

 

[JckDanls 07]

where is HERE... please update your profile so WE don't have to ask where HERE is... makes life much easier when giving suggestions...

 

[pure havoc]

IL. I now have my profile updated. Here's a little update. Got the craftsman fire box mounted up with stainless hardware and a 4" alum pipe pumping in the smoke. Started a little fire in it with some sugar maple to get the box good and hot the shed was full of smoke down about 3 ft from the ceiling with what little bit of wood I threw in it . Very little heat coming from the tube and basically still cool in the shed. I think this is gonna work out pretty good and hopefully my stuffing goods show up Monday or Tuesday so we can get the ball rolling :grilling_smilie:
I do need to use some alum tape to seal the top door on the box as it can't be opened very far anyway and it has a few small leaks and let's some smoke out

 

[bbqonice]

youve got an inny...but now you need an outty....plus with that large a area....you might need a fan to move the smoke around to get fresh smoke in...you should always be exchanging old for new.

 

[pure havoc]

youve got an inny...but now you need an outty....plus with that large a area....you might need a fan to move the smoke around to get fresh smoke in...you should always be exchanging old for new.

It seems to vent pretty well out of the roof gaps. I had originally thought maybe too much but I'm not sure its enough. There are 24 1x1.25 roof holes between it and the walls. Is that enough venting?

 

[bbqonice]

It seems to vent pretty well out of the roof gaps. I had originally thought maybe too much but I'm not sure its enough. There are 24 1x1.25 roof holes between it and the walls. Is that enough venting?

yes I am sure like you say smoke is coming out...but with that large an area...do you have dead zones inside.  like ac or heating a house or room...you have dead zones and without some circulation.  your tell tale is after smoking if it dont smell or taste bad...then smoke on.  good luck.