diy smoker- anyone done it?

[Boycey]

i'm looking at making a smoker for our yard and have checked out a few designs, most based either on steel rubbish cans or terracotta pots. anyone ever had a go at this? horror stories welcomed as much as great triumphs.

we're going to be doing lots of work in the yard over the summer so we'll be able to tend it and we've just had a tree surgeon move in who can get us more woodchip than can shake a tree at.

 

[Onket]

Bloke in the office has got a smoker (I think he bought it). The food he brings in now and again is FANTASTIC without exception.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Only in the chimney where the only thing burned was wood (no firelighters, just a bit of newspaper and kindling). I smoked home-made cheese but I know people who have smoked hams and the like.

 

[BoatieBird]

I haven't done it (yet), but it's something we keep talking about.
I was going to use some kind of steel bin, but the bloke wants to actually build something.
I'll be interested to know how you get on.

 

[stuff_it]

I've got a smoker who's good at DIY if that's any help.

 

[TitanSound]

My brothers friend built a wood fired pizza oven and smoker in his back garden. Was amazing.

 

[sim667]

Im tempted to build a pizza oven in mine....... they're not hard to build at all really

Ideally Id like a bbq cum oven.

 

[BoatieBird]

We've also got a tree surgeon friend who is willing to supply the woodchip.
I was chatting to him about it the other day and he reckons beech, apple and oak are the best woods to use.

 

[Boycey]

cum oven.

not sure i like the sound of that

as for pizza oven, i thought the fire bricks were quite expensive?

 

[sim667]

not sure i like the sound of that

as for pizza oven, i thought the fire bricks were quite expensive?

I'd imagine its a bit like a cum dumpster, but with more class.

You can make pizza ovens out of clay, it doesnt have to be firebrick I dont think.

All the ones ive seen have been clay.

 

[telbert]

I made one a few years ago(well pushed a few things together really).Just put a 1500mm length of 600x800 galvanised duct on a rack on top of the brick BBQI used shavings from a cherry tree that i cut down on the allotment.Soaked the shavings first and hang the meat from the top of the duct.I got a mate thats a butcher so he does the brinning for me.So far done chicken,duck,ox tongue(mistake) mackeral, sausages and bacon.The bacon was the best by far,never had streaky bacon like it.
A mate has got a metal double locker for me about 2000mm tall by about 800 wide(salvaged from a derelict factory) and im gonna make a more permanent one with that.Probably make a seperate fire box and use Riga flex to link them up.

 

[BoatieBird]

I made one a few years ago(well pushed a few things together really).Just put a 1500mm length of 600x800 galvanised duct on a rack on top of the brick BBQI used shavings from a cherry tree that i cut down on the allotment.Soaked the shavings first and hang the meat from the top of the duct.I got a mate thats a butcher so he does the brinning for me.So far done chicken,duck,ox tongue(mistake) mackeral, sausages and bacon.The bacon was the best by far,never had streaky bacon like it.
A mate has got a metal double locker for me about 2000mm tall by about 800 wide(salvaged from a derelict factory) and im gonna make a more permanent one with that.Probably make a seperate fire box and use Riga flex to link them up.

A metal locker sounds like the perfect thing. I'll keep my eyes open for one (or something similar).
Is the brining (brineing? brinning?) really necessary?

 

[ViolentPanda]

i'm looking at making a smoker for our yard and have checked out a few designs, most based either on steel rubbish cans or terracotta pots. anyone ever had a go at this? horror stories welcomed as much as great triumphs.

we're going to be doing lots of work in the yard over the summer so we'll be able to tend it and we've just had a tree surgeon move in who can get us more woodchip than can shake a tree at.

Q1:
Hot smoker or cold smoker?

 

[ViolentPanda]

A metal locker sounds like the perfect thing. I'll keep my eyes open for one (or something similar).
Is the brining (brineing? brinning?) really necessary?

Brining (you spelled it correctly. ) isn't absolutely necessary on most stuff you smoke, but it does make a difference for some of the denser fleshes.

May I, for at least the 2nd time this year, recommend Paul Peacock's "THe Smoking and Curing Book". Excellent "beginner's guide" to smoking and curing meat, fish, poultry, cheese and veg.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I made one a few years ago(well pushed a few things together really).Just put a 1500mm length of 600x800 galvanised duct on a rack on top of the brick BBQI used shavings from a cherry tree that i cut down on the allotment.Soaked the shavings first and hang the meat from the top of the duct.I got a mate thats a butcher so he does the brinning for me.So far done chicken,duck,ox tongue(mistake) mackeral, sausages and bacon.The bacon was the best by far,never had streaky bacon like it.
A mate has got a metal double locker for me about 2000mm tall by about 800 wide(salvaged from a derelict factory) and im gonna make a more permanent one with that.Probably make a seperate fire box and use Riga flex to link them up.

Uncle uses a filing cabinet. Firebox in bottom drawer, smokables hung in top drawer.

 

[BoatieBird]

Brining (you spelled it correctly. ) isn't absolutely necessary on most stuff you smoke, but it does make a difference for some of the denser fleshes.

May I, for at least the 2nd time this year, recommend Paul Peacock's "THe Smoking and Curing Book". Excellent "beginner's guide" to smoking and curing meat, fish, poultry, cheese and veg.

Cheers VP, that looks like an excellent book

 

[ViolentPanda]

Cheers VP, that looks like an excellent book

It is. I was massively impressed with it. My dad and uncle, both of whom are self-confessed "non-readers" were really impressed by the way it's simply written but still detailed. I also own his sausages book, and have tried out a few of the recipes (including the black pudding one) with a fair degree of success.

 

[telbert]

Uncle uses a filing cabinet. Firebox in bottom drawer, smokables hung in top drawer.

Excellent idea.

 

[Edie]

My dearest husband is OBSESSED with smoking, curing and drying meat. You can learn from his endeavours!

Attempt No. 1: The Biltong Box. This was constructed out of an old cardboard box, lined with tin foil. It had an electric bulb put in it (to simulate the african sun) and a fan ripped out of a kids UFO toy (to simulate the african wind). Pieces of cut up raw beef (in place of antelope or whatever the fuck) were then laid over bamboo canes...

It was in our bedroom cos it didn't fit anywhere else. He turned the bastard thing on at bedtime and it sounded like a light aircraft trying to take off! I was like, the fuck? how long does this have to go ON for??! 3 DAYS!!! That was the end of that.

Attempt No. 2: putting said meat in the oven on 50o overnight with the oven door open. Inedible. Don't bother.

Attempt No. 3: The Prostitutes leg. This was an attempt to dry an entire pigs leg, trotter and all, in the bike shed. He'd packed it in salt for a few weeks beforehand. It hung in that shed for nearly a year, with this weird white fluffy mould all round it. He then gave it to my step Dad as a Christmas present (I wouldn't let the kids eat any).

Attempt No. 4. Modified BBQ smoker. The ONLY successful one. He somehow modified a cheap B+Q bbq into a smoker, with a little container for wood chip and a chimney. This actually works ok, it's outside, and it doesn't involve trotters, so it's 'allowed'

Make of that what you will.

 

[Cid]

I've built a pizza oven in an oil drum before, we just used standard bricks... This was in Norway, so not sure what quality, but you're not getting it anywhere near kiln temperatures (fire bricks are made to withstand around 1300c) - I think the main problem with using basic house bricks would be them burning away over time. Fire bricks are £2-3 each btw.

I wish I had a place of my own, so many gardens are left free of contraptions, it's a terrible waste...

 

[Crispy]

Ideally Id like a bbq cum oven.

ditto

 

[Crispy]

Lol. cum oven

 

[telbert]

My dearest husband is OBSESSED with smoking, curing and drying meat. You can learn from his endeavours!

Attempt No. 1: The Biltong Box. This was constructed out of an old cardboard box, lined with tin foil. It had an electric bulb put in it (to simulate the african sun) and a fan ripped out of a kids UFO toy (to simulate the african wind). Pieces of cut up raw beef (in place of antelope or whatever the fuck) were then laid over bamboo canes...

It was in our bedroom cos it didn't fit anywhere else. He turned the bastard thing on at bedtime and it sounded like a light aircraft trying to take off! I was like, the fuck? how long does this have to go ON for??! 3 DAYS!!! That was the end of that.

Attempt No. 2: putting said meat in the oven on 50o overnight with the oven door open. Inedible. Don't bother.

Attempt No. 3: The Prostitutes leg. This was an attempt to dry an entire pigs leg, trotter and all, in the bike shed. He'd packed it in salt for a few weeks beforehand. It hung in that shed for nearly a year, with this weird white fluffy mould all round it. He then gave it to my step Dad as a Christmas present (I wouldn't let the kids eat any).

Attempt No. 4. Modified BBQ smoker. The ONLY successful one. He somehow modified a cheap B+Q bbq into a smoker, with a little container for wood chip and a chimney. This actually works ok, it's outside, and it doesn't involve trotters, so it's 'allowed'

Make of that what you will.

The Prostitutes Leg.. Fucking Brilliant.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Excellent idea.

My uncle is an inveterate attender of the weekly auctions in the north of his county, and "wheels and deals" all sorts of stuff. He bought a half a dozen metal 5-drawer filing cabinets, and sold 5, so he wondered what he could do with the final one, and then worked out that if he used the bottom drawer as a vented smoke box (so he could control the amount of smoke getting to the meat (it's always meat in his case!), then the top drawer was far enough away for the smoke to have cooled enough, and he could use galvanised wire across the drawer to hang stuff from! We were all quite impressed, tbf!

 

[ViolentPanda]

The Prostitutes Leg.. Fucking Brilliant.

He told her it was a pig's leg, but Edie isn't daft...

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Brining (you spelled it correctly. ) isn't absolutely necessary on most stuff you smoke, but it does make a difference for some of the denser fleshes.

May I, for at least the 2nd time this year, recommend Paul Peacock's "THe Smoking and Curing Book". Excellent "beginner's guide" to smoking and curing meat, fish, poultry, cheese and veg.

Just stumbled upon this thread and ordered a copy as it was dirt cheap on Amazon.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

May I, for at least the 2nd time this year, recommend Paul Peacock's "THe Smoking and Curing Book". Excellent "beginner's guide" to smoking and curing meat, fish, poultry, cheese and veg.

It appears he has useful information, but jesus he likes to waffle. I'm getting a little bored of his opinions now, even if I may agree with most of them.