Options for building a smoker?

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nizztos

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 3, 2011
7
10
I have looked around on this site but not managed to get a clear picture of what my best options wuold be for building a smoker (if I decide to go that route).

What I need/want:

A smoker that can do cold smokes and hot smokes. I.e everything from 60F to 250F. The high end is needed to replace my WSM for pulled pork (no room for two smokers). It has to be electric. Basically to be easy to work with.

Given that I want to do this year round it has to be insulated.

Finding a ready built in my area (Sweden) is not easy. Basically I have only found the Bradley. I could probably live with that except I dont care for the smoke generator and I can't get just the cabinet.

The options I have found:

* Fridge build. The problem with this is that all I can find here are plastic fridges. Thin metal shell but all plastic inside. I doubt that is a worth while base to build from.

* Wooden smoke house. I'm not comfortable with that for a 12 hour smoke at 250F. Or would that work? Seems risky at best.

* Welded smoke house. Too expensive as I don't own a welder and would need to invest in that first. Other than that this is an attractive solution that I could modify as I get new ideas.

* An option that I thought of yesterday could be to get a "cheap", nothing is really cheap here, metal smoker and then build a wooden box around it with insulation (rockwool?) in between. Has anyone done this? Did it work out well`or does it have a lot of drawbacks?

Would love any sugestions.
 
Nittzos,
welcome1.gif
 to the SMF. you'll love it here,thepeople and info here is amazing
icon14.gif
.

As for the type of Smoker you can use in multiple diciplines, I would suggest a UDS(ugly drum smoker).Lots of threads on the manufactoring of the unit. No need for anything but imagination and a few tools;hammer,drill,pliers and some patience
biggrin.gif
.

You could then use your idea of Rockwool insulation, tie it around the barrel and remove it easily.Add an ANMPS to the mix and everything from cold smoke to a very stable ,long smoke rig you can customize anyway you care.
yahoo.gif
And a GOOD option for an electric one.

Have fun and.......
 
Nittzos,
welcome1.gif
 to the SMF. you'll love it here,thepeople and info here is amazing
icon14.gif
.

As for the type of Smoker you can use in multiple diciplines, I would suggest a UDS(ugly drum smoker).Lots of threads on the manufactoring of the unit. No need for anything but imagination and a few tools;hammer,drill,pliers and some patience
biggrin.gif
.

You could then use your idea of Rockwool insulation, tie it around the barrel and remove it easily.Add an ANMPS to the mix and everything from cold smoke to a very stable ,long smoke rig you can customize anyway you care.
yahoo.gif
And a GOOD option for an electric one.

Have fun and.......
I don't think a UDS is for me. The smoker will be quite visible and I don't want a top loaded smoker. Having said that I should at least take a look at some builds. Just because my imagination is limited does not mean that none of them would work for me.
 
 
Nizztos,

I just recently finished up my custom fridge built smoker.  It's electric and has a PID controller.  Here's the link to the thread.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/111851/custom-fridge-build-and-cold-smoke-generator

If you might want to go this way and have any questions for me, just let me know.

Brandon
That would certanly be an option except the type of fridge you used would be truly hard to find here. The only ones avaliable are modern fridges with all plastic internals and very thin metal shells.

I have seen a few older fridges for sale but even in none working condition they sell for way more than I would spend. (retro trend ongoing)
 
Luckily I found the fridge for pretty cheap.  You could always get one with the plastic interior and just take it out and just create your own interior box.  Use some 16 gauge sheet metal and then weld it together.  That way you'd have the shell and door.
 
Well, unfortunatley it doesn't make the cut as it is not electric which is one of my requirements. Nice build though.
 
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