Thinking about a Plywood MES40 clone

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So how were the ribs???

Bear
Didn't mean to leave anyone hanging there... ribs turned out very well, but didn't take any pics. Had what was left for lunch today as well.

Thanks to quite a few folks here who have helped with all my questions. I've decided to go with electic using a PID controller and for now I'll try wiring the controller directly to the 1000w burner I have. I've never been one to spend too much time deliberating, so I already ordered the PID controller, relay and temp probe, gutted the hotplate and wired directly to the element and went to a nearby Radio Shack to purchase the box to house the electronics. Now I'll just have to sit patiently and wait for the little brown truck to come visit.

Thanks again to all for your support, encouragement and knowledge!
 
OK, I thought I would give one last update on the smoker. After quite a learning experience, I have gone back to my original idea of a "MES40 Clone" type smoker. Many thanks to Flyweed for the info on PID controllers. I bought the parts from auberins.com (thanks also to whoever it was that suggested that early on in this thread. I received the controller today, wired it all up, plugged it in and let it go to see how it would work. Here is the smoker as it now stands:

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Right now it's holding at a nice steady 160 degrees (actually a few degrees higher - I think I need to read up on how to calibrate the temp probe).

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Tomorrow I'll button everything up, maybe add a heatsink to the relay, then call it done. I'm very pleased overall with how it went together and looking forward to many successful sausage smokes with this.As for cost, my rough numbers are:

Plywood - $90 (2 sheets, Lowes)

Casters - $20 (Harbor Freight)

Hinges, misc hardware - $20

Ceramic Tiles - $16

Aluminum flashing for door - $10 (only used about 10%, so realistically around $1)

PID, Relay, temp probe - $75

Hot Plate - $4 (Harbor Freight)

Dowels, steel tube, drip pans - $20

Total, roughly $255

I could have shave a few bucks off this price, but overall feel like it is a pretty good deal and definately a good learning experience. The internal volume of this smoker should be around double that of an MES40, so I think I've accomplished my goad. It's hard to beat the satisfaction of doing it yourself!
 
Looks Great!

How about an inside pic?

TJ
Here you go. I cleaned up the wiring today and except for possibly adding a heat sink to the relay it is pretty much finished. I may look at making some racks to hold the drip pans a little lower down to free up more room for sausages. You can see that the inside has started to darken slightly. I'm sure a few more uses and it will look much better!

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I think you did an outstanding job for your first build....that smoker ought to last you a good long time, and do everything you want to do with it..whether it's cold smoking, or pounding out some serious Pork Butt or Ribs.

Keep us posted as you smoke stuff, how it works for ya.

Dan
 
Berry nice looking smoker how did you figure out what pid to use ?
After a little reading up with some suggestions from others, I went with Auber Instruments for the PID. Been working great for almost two years now and I'm very happy I went that route.
 
Looks great. Photos show both outstanding planning and construction.

                                                                                                             
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Very nice smoker build. I have plans for something very similar, though a tad bit smaller to use exclusively for jerky and sausage making. Glad to hear that your pid is working out good. I am going to be doing the same.
 
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