100+ cubic foot smokehouses where are they? Pellet power?

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kfhunter

Newbie
Original poster
May 7, 2017
7
11
Hey all, I've been scrubbing the interwebs looking for large smokehouse builds and coming up pretty blank.  I plan to build a super insulated smokehouse and I'd like to pellet power it if possible.  I've seen some Treager conversions, and found a company selling just the hopper/burner assembly, but I don't think they're powerful enough to heat an 8x8 or 10x10 cinder block smokehouse. 

Smoking hard wood (other than apple) is hard to come by up here at the 49th parallel, and I need it to be pretty much babysitter friendly  (turn it on, walk away).

My plans are to make a cinder block smokehouse insulated with perlite and then another shed built around the smokehouse with more insulation for winter smoking, and a decent foyer to house the pellet stove and pellets.  I think all the insulation will pay for itself in less wood use, I need it to be efficient, unfortunately with a small pellet stove setup the heat up times might be lengthy, and recovery rate slow if I open the door, but once running it should be very stable temp.  


In the gallery of: http://smokedaddyinc.com/shop.html#!/The-Pellet-Pro[emoji]174[/emoji]-18-Hopper-Assembly-Stainless-Steel-Upgrade/p/77617207/category=16172299  

I see multiple units being used on smokers with far less cubic feet than the monstrosity I plan to build.  I wonder how many of these units I would need to stack up?
 
A 10 x 10 x 8' high smoke house 800 cubic feet..   A bugger to heat especially when all that concrete is cold...  May I suggest a 1/4 - 3/8-1/2" plywood smokehouse with 2x4 framing and filled with perlite or rock wool/mineral wool....  A lot easier to heat...   

For smoke, the tube smoker from Todd Johnson would work...  You might need 2 for a smoker that size...  


http://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnts.htm

For heat, I would use a 220V electric element with a fan for circulation...  like from an oven and maybe use the controls..

The air inlet and exhaust will be minimal with a setup like that, making it more efficient and easier to control...
 
I am thinking of building me one also, just not as big. Thinking of going 5x5x6 12 inch blocks poured solid, then getting one pellet unit for smoke and using propane for the heat. Wood is not a problem here I am just lazy and don't want to babysit a big smoke! Be intersting to see others ideas on this type of build.
 
How plentiful is propane at the 49th parallel ?? I see a lot of frustration with the pellets ...

I will add.. for ALL propane users to use all the fail safe equipment available ...
 
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I'm getting this a little further a long in the planning stages,  I've got a big wood barrel stove sitting out in the weeds, It'll take a 4.5 foot log and it's air tight.  The sides are 3/8 thick (or thicker) steel, it came out of an old farm house we used to use it for the main heat and it gets insanely hot cherry red sides, or chokes down to nothing. 

I'm thinking about using that as a traditional side fire box pipe the smoke in the bottom to get it heated quicker then choke it down. 

I wonder how far away to bury it? Since it's bigger than normal.

Should I put the barrel stove in a brick "dog house" to shed heat or bury the whole works with just the door visible?

Should I lay the chimney in a brick trough with concrete lids (plates) to shed heat -or contain it- depending on how many plates I take off or add?

I'm not seeing any feasible way to make this wife friendly, but perhaps once I get it heated I can use a simpler system to maintain temps and/or provide smoke.

The barrel stove has a neat flapper that it would be easy to attach an automatic draft opener out of something like one of those wood boiler setups...hrm...
 
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