My first...

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jsmith73

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2014
9
11
Needville, TX
Hi all, I'm new around here and just finished building my first ever smokehouse. I thought I'd put up a couple of pictures so my last four Saturdays (only day off) could be "immortalized".



I'm going to take a stab at using this as a wood fired smokehouse. I'll see how it goes this up coming Saturday. My wife's Grandma has volunteered to teach/supervise me. Although it's possible she's just after my beer!

Jason
 
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It looks impressive. Looking forward to seeing it in action.
 
Thank you. It was an awful lot of fun to build. It's been a long time since I built anything from the ground up. It turns out that I wasn't quite as rusty as I feared.
 
I am not very familiar with smokehouses.

Do you start a fire at the bottom of the unit and place food on racks above the fire?  Like a design similar to a UDS and WSM?  Or do you start a fire in some sort of firebox outside of the smokehouse and funnel smoke and heat into the smokehouse chamber?

Just curious!  I've seen several folks on here with smokehouse type builds.
 
 
I am not very familiar with smokehouses.

Do you start a fire at the bottom of the unit and place food on racks above the fire?  Like a design similar to a UDS and WSM?  Or do you start a fire in some sort of firebox outside of the smokehouse and funnel smoke and heat into the smokehouse chamber?

Just curious!  I've seen several folks on here with smokehouse type builds.
I used an old grill to hold the fire. Turns out that works pretty well. I hung the sausage from racks at the top.
 
So here are are a couple of pictures from my first smoke.


The first is about halfway through a six hour smoke. I freely admit that those might just be the ugliest links ever. It was an interesting exercise getting the ground meat into the casings. Grandma worked the stuffer.


Here is the finished product.

Things I learned:

1. Grandma should not work the stuffer. It's old and made of cast iron, I think it might weigh more than she does!

2. Pay more attention to the temp. It got away from me, and ran up to almost 200. Fat melts very quickly...

3. Tying links is not as easy as one might think. I had one that threw itself into the fire while my back was turned.

4. Something to deflect the heat might be useful...

I'm sure there are other things I will learn as this goes on.

At the end of the day, the first run was edible, and didn't taste too bad.
 
Gotcha - makes sense so it would hold the fire and keep embers away from the sides of the cook chamber, etc.

I'd love to build a smoker one day.  Only problem is that I don't have a welder and any metal working skills.  But I do know a little about carpentry and have all the necessary saws, etc. to do a smokehouse one day.

Thanks for the info.
 
 
Gotcha - makes sense so it would hold the fire and keep embers away from the sides of the cook chamber, etc.

I'd love to build a smoker one day.  Only problem is that I don't have a welder and any metal working skills.  But I do know a little about carpentry and have all the necessary saws, etc. to do a smokehouse one day.

Thanks for the info.
The build was fairly straight forward, my skills are pretty basic. I do have more pictures of the build I can post if you are interested.
 
Please do post some more pictures, or PM me.  Either way.

And when I say I know a little about carpentry, it is basic knowledge as well.  Nothing more than knowing how to measure, use a drill/hammer, use the saws, etc.  I've never done any extensive projects like buildings or houses but I figure a smokehouse would be a fun project that isn't "that" expensive, relatively speaking.
 
 
Please do post some more pictures, or PM me.  Either way.

And when I say I know a little about carpentry, it is basic knowledge as well.  Nothing more than knowing how to measure, use a drill/hammer, use the saws, etc.  I've never done any extensive projects like buildings or houses but I figure a smokehouse would be a fun project that isn't "that" expensive, relatively speaking.
It wasn't terribly expensive. I did go over budget since the input I got from my wife said that it must be "cute, not ugly". She seems pleased, since I'm not in trouble. I think it would have gone much faster if I had more experience with framing.

I'll add some more pics later tonight, after I get home. Technically, I am still at work...
 
 
It wasn't terribly expensive. I did go over budget since the input I got from my wife said that it must be "cute, not ugly". She seems pleased, since I'm not in trouble. I think it would have gone much faster if I had more experience with framing.

I'll add some more pics later tonight, after I get home. Technically, I am still at work...
So funny you say that.  I showed my wife pictures of your smokehouse tonight cause she walked up on me as I was on this thread, and she said "there's no way you are putting one of those in our backyard unless you get rid of one of your 3 grills that is already out there." 

So I guess I will have to sacrifice one of my current pits before I dip into a smokehouse project.  Looks like my CharBroil may be on the hot seat...
 
JS, evening.... If you need lower temps.... attach an aluminum dryer vent hose to the top of that grill... set it outside and run the hose into the smokehouse.... you could even use larger duct work... say 4-6" or so.. try to get non galvanized if you do.... run the duct to the center of the smokehouse and sit back and relax.....

The sausage looks good to me..... I'd eat it.... We're havin' fun now..... I can tell....... YOU ARE HOOKED !!!!!!
 
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