Hi new to the group.

[kc5tpy]

Hello.  Smokin Monkey was right about the electric and the dimmer.  That's why I went no farther with it after hearing Dusty didn't have the experience.

Do you have experience with propane, appliances and building things out of metal?  My thought is using an oven from a caravan.  No more details there as I don't want anyone blowing up their house.  I would help you by PM or phone.  My guess would be no.

SO!  It seems EASY propane is about it.  I will post a link below to a burner.  I think it is much bigger than needed in your smoke house.  BUT add a needle valve at the tank end and you might be ok.  Even better if you could find a smaller one.  It also allows you to add a pan on top of the burner for the smoking product.  Just an Idea and not much money.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGE-GAS...063?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19e1a38b6f

 

[kiska95]

Hi Wade,

Were do you get your pellets for all of your smokes?

 

[dustyslaw]

Hello.  Smokin Monkey was right about the electric and the dimmer.  That's why I went no farther with it after hearing Dusty didn't have the experience.

Do you have experience with propane, appliances and building things out of metal?  My thought is using an oven from a caravan.  No more details there as I don't want anyone blowing up their house.  I would help you by PM or phone.  My guess would be no.



SO!  It seems EASY propane is about it.  I will post a link below to a burner.  I think it is much bigger than needed in your smoke house.  BUT add a needle valve at the tank end and you might be ok.  Even better if you could find a smaller one.  It also allows you to add a pan on top of the burner for the smoking product.  Just an Idea and not much money.  Keep Smokin!
Danny

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGE-GAS...063?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19e1a38b6f

Cheers Danny,

Definitely propane will be my best route I had already looked at one of those burners actually but was hoping someone would suggest one before I bought one lol. I'm not superb at metal fabrication but Father in law is an engineer and top class welder.

I think I'll try the burner if it don't work out I can use it for boiling dog food or making fishing leads.

Wade already got people waiting lol. Looking forward to trying to smoke anything at least once.

Regards

Dusty.

 

[wade]

 
Hi Wade,

Were do you get your pellets for all of your smokes?

The American BBQ Company - http://www.americanbbq.co.uk/

Daren there is very helpful. I am buying my new FEC-120 from them too.

 

[kiska95]

You won the lottery Wade????? What with a GMG DC on a whim and now a FEC 120 you are building one hellova list of guy goodies! Lol!

Thanks form the pellet tip

 

[wade]

The FEC-120 is for a business venture. The DC was different though.. it was just sitting there in the ''showroom'' whispering ''buy me... buy me...'' How could i refuse? No - i had seen photos of it and thought that it was too small to be practical - but when i saw it, it was the perfect quick-bbq size. I must say that it has proved to be amazing so far.

 

[kiska95]

Hi Wade,

Isn't that funny they all talk to me too but my friend DIDDY (Dissociative identity disorder) keeps talking me out of it. I must fight harder! Where's the pills DIDDY the PILLS!!!!!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

[kiska95]

Hi Wade

One of the guys local to me and is on the "other" Forum has one been using a FEC 120 for a while for his business he is Smokin' Barbeque. he may have some tips

 

[kc5tpy]

Well we do seem to have 2 threads in one but so long as no one is confused.  

 

High Dusty.  Well MOST ovens from a caravan offers you a small propane burner, a thermo coupler, a pilot light, and a temperature control.  So with those 4 things your smoke house can run pretty much like your house oven.  As the smoke house cools the burner fires up and as it reaches temp the burner goes out just leaving the pilot light lit.  Add a smoke generator or a mailbox mod and a smoker generator and you are off and running.  Set your temp and and pretty much forget.  The used caravan oven will cost more than just a burner, but that burner is pretty large for your smoke house so will need constant monitoring.  You will also constantly be turning the gas off and then going back to relight the burner.  Doors open and all that goes with that.  If I ever get off my bum I plan to convert a '50s fridge to a smoker.  I have the fridge.  I plan to use a domestic propane oven but I think a caravan oven should work in your smoke house.  Used caravan ovens can be found on E-Bay.  I would make sure they have a pilot light.  THAT is necessary to control the temp.  Just my opinions. Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[kiska95]

Hi dusty
still think electricity is the better option than gas if you are going down that route. wood n gas flame dont mix
All you need is single electric hot plate with thermostatic control defo not a dimmer (sorry danny)
The plate should be about 1.5kw about £15 on amazon plugged into a 13 amp socket that is RCD protected for outdoor use either at the consumer unit or in an rcd protected socket if its an outdoor socket. You should also ensure that the cable is protected for any prolonged use. i would also suggest flame retarding the smoker just incase. To be truthful nothing like this should be left unattended for long periods with lecky or gaz if you are considering then a cold smoke generator is the option of choice. a fellow on the other forum has a similar build and manages nicely with a proq

hope this helps

 

[kiska95]

Just re read the thread and noticed you are considering hot smoke? Nust a question but wouldnt your lovely joinery work buckle and distort as the heat takes the moisture out of the wood? Central heating does it in a house just a thought. but beautiful cold smoker

 

[smokewood]

Isn't cleaning going be problematic in a wooden hot smoker, and what are the health & hygiene implications with meat juices soaking into the wood.  

 

[kiska95]

Hi im with smoke wood on this. most smokers with a gas or lecy power supplies would be metal i would think. those that are not only use the heat supply to get the wood chips smoking but if the object is to keep temp low then the heat source would negate that and could put any non cured foods into the danger zone temp wise but i could be wrong

 

[wade]

I hinted at it earlier but I am with Steve and Brian on this. I think you have made a great cold smoke house though Dusty and will be perfect for your fish - and anything else that you want to cold smoke. Unless you line it with something like stainless steel, if you do try to hot smoke in it I think that you will quickly destroy all of your hard work and the wood is likely to quickly become saturated with meat juices and quickly become a bacteria paradise.

 

[dustyslaw]

Many thanks guys for all the help and problem solving ideas.

All points have been noted thanks turns out in a different way that the burner is larger than I measured lol wasn't thinking it arrived today and won't be suitable for inside so Plan B for a hot smoker is the old gas cooker I have in the shed for boiling dog food an making fishing weights oven is now a possibility for a conversion.

Cold smoke in the one I have built at the moment so now I was wondering the difference between running your smoker with dust, chips, pellets or wood acquired and chipped or shaved myself. I really like the idea of the amaze smoke box I'm assuming that it would mean I would have to use pellets only.

Regards

Dusty.

 

[smokewood]

Not really you can use dust if you want.

 

[wade]

Cold smoke in the one I have built at the moment so now I was wondering the difference between running your smoker with dust, chips, pellets or wood acquired and chipped or shaved myself. I really like the idea of the amaze smoke box I'm assuming that it would mean I would have to use pellets only.

Hi Dusty

Regarding the end result there will be little difference - it is more about what wood you have readily available and the reliability of the specific smoke generator that you are using. Over the years I have tried sawdust, shavings, chunks and pellets and I have found the pellets to be the most reliable for me. Others though prefer sawdust. Both are readily available in a number of different "flavours" here in the UK.

The simplest way of creating smoke is to light a pile of sawdust and shavings under your meat/fish - and I knew a commercial smokery in Dungeness that used to do just that. Unfortunately that can be a little hit and miss when it comes to reliabiltiy and can produce fairly erratic smoke with lots of heat.

Sawdust.jpg

• wade
• May 30, 2015

You can also use sawdust in something like a ProQ spiral. I have one of these but found that it gave relatively little smoke and was unreliable. Others on here though I know have had success with them

ProQ.jpg

• wade
• May 30, 2015

There are pumped air generators too, This was one of the first generators I imported from the USA. I had some success with it however its reliability over a 24 hour smoke was not very good

SmokeDaddy.jpg

• wade
• May 30, 2015

You can also get electric smokers that use pressed wood "biscuits". These are very reliable however the biscuits are proprietary and it can worl out quite expensive to run.

Bradley.jpg

• wade
• May 30, 2015

The one I use now for all of my smoking is a pellet smoke generator. The most popular ones on the forum here are the AMNPS and the AMNTS. Both are used in slightly different situations but I have found both to be very reliable - with the AMNPS being the generator I now use in preference.

AMNPS

AMNPS.jpg

• wade
• May 30, 2015

AMNTS and AMNPS

AMNTS.jpg

• wade
• May 30, 2015

If you would like to try out either a ProQ or an AMNPS or AMNTS then please let me know and I can arrange for you to borrow one for a couple of weeks.

Cheers

Wade

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi Dusty, this is the first smoker I built, it used a Air Pumped Smokai unit. it's fitted to the out side of the chamber, so easy to refill. It runs pellets.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/152549/new-member-new-smoker-build

Smokin Monkey

 

[pops6927]

I built and have used a wooden smokehouse for the last 5 years, here's the thread:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/88853/found-a-burner-for-smokehouse

Heat flows up, not out.  Draft one side on the bottom and the other side on the top and you get safe smoke flow; I use 1 ft. square pavers on the bottom and standing up on all 3 sides to absorb any horizontal heat.  I invented the mailbox mod ( http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/120439/amnps-and-smokehouse-mods#post_798937) and use it frequently, esp. with corn cob pellets ( http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/149282/bestcob-corn-cob-pellets-for-amnps ).

 

[wade]

Great looking smokehouse Pops. There you go Dusty - it just proves that you can hot smoke in wood.

Pops, how do you do your brisket/pulled pork - do you have shelf racks that you put in? How do you clean any meat drips and splatters that get soaked onto the wood? I pressure spray the inside of my steel smokers every month or so - I guess that would not be practical with the wood ?