OK, I finally have pics of my trashcan in action!
A short description -
I found the plans online. I read a lot about the dangers of using galvanized anything for cooking, but finally learned that it took over 600 degrees to melt the zinc to create a hazard, so I went ahead with the project.
Bought the standard metal trashcan with a lid. Plans called for using a hotplate to heat wood chips in a cast iron smoker box. That got the heat to a whopping 120 degrees after 6 hours, so I needed a new plan. Bought one of those tabletop-light the bag-one time use grills to use as the charcoal pan. Add metal pizza pan 6 inches above that for a heat shield (left about an inch and a half around the pan for the smoke and heat to rise). Sitting on that is a metal bake pan for a drip/water pan. Then top it off with three round replacement grates spaces 5 inches apart simply resting on three bolts each.
Added a thermometer to the lid, and drilled holes in the lid and the bottom of the can for air flow. With the conversion to charcoal brought the need for an access door to maintain the fire. Cut that out, attached hinges and a latch. Maintaining temp is as simple as propping the door and lid more or less to keep the right heat.
So far I have smoked turkey legs, chicken halves and pork. The pics are of my latest effort smoking a bone-in picnic. I have used so much of the advice found in here and my results have been outstanding. I had to smack my wife in the back of the head when her eyes rolled too far back after her first bite of the chicken!
The trashcan is responsible for my new found love of smoking meat, and has been the subject of a lot of laughter at my house, but the jokes stop when the smell gets to my neighbors and guests, and is gone for good after the first bites!
I am confident that from the successful smoking sessions to date, I will be successful in convincing Santa to bring me something more worthy to do the smokin' on!
Enjoy the pics and I look forward to any comments!
Ken
A short description -
I found the plans online. I read a lot about the dangers of using galvanized anything for cooking, but finally learned that it took over 600 degrees to melt the zinc to create a hazard, so I went ahead with the project.
Bought the standard metal trashcan with a lid. Plans called for using a hotplate to heat wood chips in a cast iron smoker box. That got the heat to a whopping 120 degrees after 6 hours, so I needed a new plan. Bought one of those tabletop-light the bag-one time use grills to use as the charcoal pan. Add metal pizza pan 6 inches above that for a heat shield (left about an inch and a half around the pan for the smoke and heat to rise). Sitting on that is a metal bake pan for a drip/water pan. Then top it off with three round replacement grates spaces 5 inches apart simply resting on three bolts each.
Added a thermometer to the lid, and drilled holes in the lid and the bottom of the can for air flow. With the conversion to charcoal brought the need for an access door to maintain the fire. Cut that out, attached hinges and a latch. Maintaining temp is as simple as propping the door and lid more or less to keep the right heat.
So far I have smoked turkey legs, chicken halves and pork. The pics are of my latest effort smoking a bone-in picnic. I have used so much of the advice found in here and my results have been outstanding. I had to smack my wife in the back of the head when her eyes rolled too far back after her first bite of the chicken!
The trashcan is responsible for my new found love of smoking meat, and has been the subject of a lot of laughter at my house, but the jokes stop when the smell gets to my neighbors and guests, and is gone for good after the first bites!
I am confident that from the successful smoking sessions to date, I will be successful in convincing Santa to bring me something more worthy to do the smokin' on!
Enjoy the pics and I look forward to any comments!
Ken