Hello All,
Just signed up on your fine forum, but have been reading lots here to learn for a month or so. Seems like there is a lot more to learn than I thought!
I have an Oklahoma Joe BBQ pit w/ side firebox, but I'm thinking about something a little easier to use for cold smoking sausages. The pit works great for briskets, pork, etc., but it's pretty time- consuming to try to keep temps stable at low temps for smoking sausages. My first thought, after reading here, was to get an MES40 as it seems more of a set-and-forget type deal. After looking at the cost - and knowing I'm mostly looking for a sausage smoker - I started thinking about making my own.
I have a good bit of woodworking experience, and have built several sets of cabinets in the past, so I think I have average or above-average skills in that department. My thought was to build a cabinet out of 3/4" plywood approx 28" x 28" x 4 foot tall with a 1000w electric hotplate as a heat source. I would probably put some bricks/tile/metal on the bottom to protect the plywood, plus maybe sheet metal on the bottom half or so to help eliminate the chance of the whole thing catching fire. I also have an extra cast iron skillet (12" diameter, 2" tall) that I was thinking could be placed on top of the hotplate w/ woodchips inside for some smoke, then a driptray/waterpan above, then racks/dowels so that I can smoke up to 20 to 30lbs of sausage at a time. Seems lIke I'll need a small air intake near the bottom, some sort of venting near the top plus a thermometer to monitor inside temps (already have a meat probe thermo).
Suggestions on this? Am I missing anything building this at $150-200 versus buying a $400 unit?
Any input is appreciated.
Just signed up on your fine forum, but have been reading lots here to learn for a month or so. Seems like there is a lot more to learn than I thought!
I have an Oklahoma Joe BBQ pit w/ side firebox, but I'm thinking about something a little easier to use for cold smoking sausages. The pit works great for briskets, pork, etc., but it's pretty time- consuming to try to keep temps stable at low temps for smoking sausages. My first thought, after reading here, was to get an MES40 as it seems more of a set-and-forget type deal. After looking at the cost - and knowing I'm mostly looking for a sausage smoker - I started thinking about making my own.
I have a good bit of woodworking experience, and have built several sets of cabinets in the past, so I think I have average or above-average skills in that department. My thought was to build a cabinet out of 3/4" plywood approx 28" x 28" x 4 foot tall with a 1000w electric hotplate as a heat source. I would probably put some bricks/tile/metal on the bottom to protect the plywood, plus maybe sheet metal on the bottom half or so to help eliminate the chance of the whole thing catching fire. I also have an extra cast iron skillet (12" diameter, 2" tall) that I was thinking could be placed on top of the hotplate w/ woodchips inside for some smoke, then a driptray/waterpan above, then racks/dowels so that I can smoke up to 20 to 30lbs of sausage at a time. Seems lIke I'll need a small air intake near the bottom, some sort of venting near the top plus a thermometer to monitor inside temps (already have a meat probe thermo).
Suggestions on this? Am I missing anything building this at $150-200 versus buying a $400 unit?
Any input is appreciated.