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dennyman100

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2015
23
10
South Dakota Cajun
Hello All,

I recently built a smokehouse after wanting for many years to move away from the grill.  I insulated a large microscope shipping container and made it into two separate shipping pods.  One side for beef/fish/pork and the other will be for game birds once completed.  After I built the beef side I could not wait to see it working, so the next day I seasoned it (a little to well?).  I have a few questions for the future once I start trying to smoke my meat.  Should I initially bring the temp up using only coal?  I have a brick base where I put my coals in a pan, and I have built an air regulator to ensure proper oxygen for smoking not burning.  However, in my haste I put in a few coals (probably not enough) then threw in my logs shortly after.  it took ~ 2 hours to get from a brisk 40 degree day to ~180 degrees using the logs as fuel.  Once during I put in more coal and that shot the temp up to the 180 in about 30 minutes.  Secondly, once i was able to maintain 180 degrees I wanted to test 225 so i opened the bottom door by ~1 inch, then walked away to get a glass of water.  Upon returning I noticed a nice glow from the door as the logs were now aflame.  This provided my box with a good layer of soot on the walls.  Should I sand this off or is it ok to leave the soot as a wood protector in the future?  Lastly, I have my racks positioned directly over the coals, and while there will be a pan blocking direct heat should I offset this and move the coals or the pan to the back of the box?

Other than the burning of logs I really enjoyed sitting in the back yard watching football and smelling the smoke.  I cannot wait to make some jerky, salmon, brisket, and some thanksgiving dinner!

Cheers,

Ivy


Here is the inside of my box.  The left chamber is completed while I still need to finish the right chamber.  the meat will sit on the top rung with the bottom rungs for drip pans and water pans.
 
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