just about finished my sausage smoker(pics)

[downunderdags]

• g'day everybody .well i have just about finished my sausage smoker i have been making out of a old fridge.been working on it for a while now. as i was telling you in my 1st post it was just to hard to find a smoker hear in oz.most of the bbq shops .have never seen one in there life .lol .and you just cant get one .so i took some ideas off you guys and did the best i could . when i pulled out the plastic from the inside of the fridge .it was all yellow Styrofoam underneath .so i shaved it till it was even and lined the hole inside with sheet metal.and went from there. all i have to do know is put some lower racks in it.and paint the outside with a white spray pack. and take a little more off the chimley .so i am down to this part and need your advise .(HEATING) ok what i want to do with this smoker .is smoke sausage and dry sausage like the kranskys i have been making and drying them in my oven.and also hot smoke some fresh sausage . so would this set up work as a hot smoker and a cold smoker ?? .i need some advice on how to heat this mother .(i want to use charcoal and wood chips for smoke)

so would it be better to have a hibachi down the bottom of the fridge. or have a pit fire with a pipe comeing from the fire to the fridge say 2m. or as i have seen on some posts a fire barrel on the side of the fridge .what would be the best for this set up. thanks for your help ( i need it lol). darren

 

[m1tanker78]

Very nice rig DownUnder! I'm assuming it's about 4' tall and around 20"wide. You could get away with fabricating a deep rectangular box that would fit at the bottom. Let's say minimum 8" deep. You can then set a coal grate inside the box 2 or 3 inches down from the top. Cut some slots/holes about 1" below the grate level all around and you have yourself a removable aparatus that'll give you a consistent burn and collect ash possibly for many smokes without having to empty. You decide how much charcoal/wood you use according to how much heat you need. Your heat source won't be sitting on the bottom either so there's less chance of warping/corroding/fouling. I have a similar setup on my vertical smoker and the only thing I'd change is to make the box a little deeper. It works like a charm though.

I look forward to seeing the finished pics of your smoker.

Tom

 

[marknb]

Hey Dags,

I admire anyone with the ingenuity and gumption to tackle such projects. Like Red Green says, 'if the ladies don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy'...something like that.

I'd be cautious, though, about heating up that foam insulation. Its likely that it will melt and give off toxic fumes. Smokers are insulated with batten material that is no doubt designed to withstand higher temperatures. Just my opinioin...

Good luck to you,

MarkB

 

[downunderdags]

thanks for the tips on the fire box tom.
well mark i never thought about that mate .you are right .don't want to take the risk. my heads down now

. well i hope it would be still good for a cold smoker . does anybody think if a had a fire box with a metre pipe.running from the fire box to the smoker be a good idea ???? as it is the smoke i want
but i am sure it will take a bit of heat .darren

 

[DanMcG]

Nice job on the fab work Darren! As Mark mentioned the insulation is not good with high heat but for sausage it shouldn't be a problem. I have a small electric smoker thats insulated with foam board. The manufacturer recommends keeping the temp's below 190° which is more then enough for smoking cured sausage. I would'nt do any fresh sausage at that temp though. You might want to get some food grade silicon and caulk the corners on the inside just as a little added safety measure. FWIW, I've read that insulation foam doesn't start melting till about 270°.

 

[downunderdags]

thanks so much for the info dan .when you say 190 and 270 do you mean centigrade or Fahrenheit ?? its just we go the other way .and it get confusing
thanks .darren

 

[pantherfan83]

He means Fahrenheit, you'll have to do the conversion.

 

[DanMcG]

Sorry Darren.... make that 88°C and 132°C.