# Stainless Steel Hospital Food Service Cart Build



## hewgag (Sep 29, 2010)

Hello all.... newbie smoker here! I recently acquired this beautiful stainless steel hospital food service cart from work, and everyone I know agrees that this would make a most excellent smoker! The inside dimensions are 25"wide, 32" deep, 50"high. It has removable aluminum railings with "L" metal pieces to hold racks..... lots of racks! And as you can see its door opens the entire height of the cabinet. It has a small drain hole at center of the bottom and 4 louvered vents at the top... 2 on each side.














Now... the door will need some sort of silicone gasket to make a good seal as it currently has none and would clearly leak like crazy. I will also need to make some sort of access door at the bottom to be able to tend to the wood chips, water pan etc. Not sure how I want to go about this yet..

My #1 main concern is... should I go electric, or propane? I like the ease of going electric, and an old electric oven heating element could work nicely with the controls mounted to the cabinet and whatnot...  I am just worried about what size I will need to heat this thing without going overkill... or insufficient. Propane would be nice as well. And would be easy to do I'd imagine

But I'd really REALLY like some feedback as to what some of you well seasoned smokers would do with this cabinet and why? I need all the details I can get!!

Many thanks in advance!!

Hewgag


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## richoso1 (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF. That's a very nice cabinet, and I know you'll make good use of it. I moved your thread to roll call so that others can have a chance to welcome you. It's all good my friend.


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## scarbelly (Sep 30, 2010)

I would turn that electric in a heartbeat and I would get an AMAZNSMOKER to go in as the smoke source - that is gonna be a nice unit for sure


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## Bearcarver (Sep 30, 2010)

Scarbelly said:


> I would turn that electric in a heartbeat and I would get an AMAZNSMOKER to go in as the smoke source - that is gonna be a nice unit for sure




I agree with Scar.

I would also look into having two separate elements. Use one for lower temp smokes, like up to maybe 160˚ or 180˚ (Like sausage, Canadian Bacon, Fish, etc). Then use both for smokes needing higher than that.

Bear


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## shooter1 (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome aboard,

and I agree that should make a Most Excellent Smoker! Great Score.


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## wildflower (Sep 30, 2010)

smoke on brother


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## arnie (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome to SMF 

I agree with Bearcarver, go with 2 electric elements.

It’s a tall unit with no insulation, you may need both of them to maintain temp if it’s cold or windy

Good smoking to ya!


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## mballi3011 (Sep 30, 2010)

First off Welcome Hewhag to SMF.  Sweet new smoker I hope you will have pictures when your done with it and smoke something. You'll like it here for there are alot of really good folks here that would just love to help you with just about anything to do with smoking. Now there are alot of proven recipes for some amazing things here too. So if you need sign up for the E-Course it's free and it will give you the basics of smoking and some good methods to use also. So the next big thing for you to do is go out and get you something to smoke and if you happen to have any questions just post it here and we will be happy to answer them for you.

Welcome To Your New Addiction


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## hewgag (Sep 30, 2010)

Thank you all for your feedback!! So many have responded so fast!! I think I am going to like these forums alot! I agree that a dual electric element would be ideal as well. I was pondering the idea of gutting a cheap dual electric hot plate and mounting it to a stainless steel removable housing that can just sit freely at the bottom of the cabinet, and run the wiring to one of the sides and mount the knobs and power switch etc. I'd like to avoid modifying the cabinet itself as much as possible. I definitely will need to cut some sort of small access panel/door in the bottom of the door so I can get to the wood chips when needed without having to open the whole thing up and let all my heat out. Mehhh... I'll have plenty of time to hash out the fine details, I don't plan to dive right into this thing without some serious planning and design. I am a bit of an Alton Brown sort of guy when it comes to making stuff like this..... I like to get math involved and make things efficient and low maintenance!

Now as far as my BBQ goes... I plan on getting seriously into smoke blends. hickory, mesquite, apple, oak, pecan/pecan shells, teas and spices, citrus peels... you get the idea. I also am really interested in cold smoking cheese too! I'm definitely an experimenter type!!

I plan on keeping you all updated with the progress of the build and would like to invite y'all to be a part of it from the beginning. I'll be posting pics and asking a crap-ton of questions!

This is gonna be fun!!


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## Bearcarver (Sep 30, 2010)

Sounds great Hewgag!

I think a lot of the "howto" for calculations you might need are on this forum.

We'll all be right with you, if you need any suggestions or info. So many guys on here with so much knowledge--It amazes me!

Bearcarver


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## smoke_chef (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome to the site.

I look forward to seeing what you do with that. It should make an awesome smoker!!!


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## justpassingthru (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome to SMF and our smoking passion, what a score, the possibilities are endless! 

You might consider a PID controlled finned heater strip, you can program temperature and holding times.

I installed one in my propane GOSM so that I cold smoke at lower temperatures and it works fine, total cost was about $250.

Enjoy whatever you chose to do and I'll be waiting to see your Q-view,

Gene


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## beer-b-q (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome to Hewgag SMF, Glad to have you with us.
 

This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.
 

For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out *Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse*.

Click Here it's *"FREE"* ... 5 Day eCourseE 

I would go electric and use the *A-MAZE-N-SMOKER* like Scarbelly and Bearcarver said... You would love it...


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## meateater (Sep 30, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.


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## hewgag (Oct 3, 2010)

Given that this thing is 40,000 cubic inches or 23.1 cubic feet in volume, do you guys think a standard dual electric hotplate somewhere in the 2000 watt range would be sufficient in holding a temperature in the 90F - 250F range? I am toying with the idea of mounting the elements into a remote metal "box" of sorts that could just be placed into the bottom of the cabinet on top of some fire brick. I can then feed the wires straight down between the bricks and through the air intake hole in the bottom of the box. I can then just use strong magnets to mount the controls to the outside of the cabinet in their own little housing. This way I can easily remove the whole element from the box and re arrange the bricks to make a fire ring! Hola!! Instant charcoal grill! The beautiful thing about this box is the door swings all the way open and locks to the outer wall for easy access to the whole inside of the box without the door being in your way.

My other concern is operating cost... I don't want to have to pump a shit-ton of wattage into this system just to maintain the desired temps. Especially if it would be easier and cheaper to do it with propane.1000 - 2000 watts during a 10hr smoke is a lot of juice!! So I am weighing all of these considerations.


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## bowtieracin (Oct 3, 2010)

I scored one almost identical to this only mine is 80'' tall and has double doors. I used a turkey fryer propane element and it works great


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## bamaboy (Oct 13, 2010)

awesome score...wanna sell it
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





....welcome to the forum


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## meat magician (Oct 13, 2010)

Congrats on the score! I've been trying to get ahold of one of those carts for a while now. The only ones I can find locally run $400 ish for a used one, they are the full size version however not the shorter one you have. Welcome to the forum too!


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## eman (Oct 14, 2010)

Welcome to SMF!

 The access issue is an easy fix.

Cut the door all the way across at whatever hieght you need to access the bottom part of the cabinet. get a strip of metal 2" wide and the length of the width of the door. screw it onto the inside of the bottom edge of the top door  door, w/ 1" hanging down below the top door.You may have to add a door latch or two so that both doors close securely. I looked at the pic of the cabinet again and you will have to add one hinge on the bottom access door.

 To make a gasket you can use high temp silicone .

 If the cabinet is stainless you may have trouble getting magnets to stick.


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## tjohnson (Oct 16, 2010)

Now that thing is cool!

Electric is waaay easy, and your warmer should be so well insulated that you could practically heat it up with a candle.  A oven element my be way overkill for the unit.  I bet 1000 watts would be enough to heat the thing up.  You want steady heat, and not allow the unit to "Short Cycle".  This way you can keep smoke going all the all thru.  Lots of good info in the electric build section.

By the way.....Welcome to SMF!

TJ


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## hewgag (Oct 28, 2010)

What’s shakin' guys? Hey I have a few quick questions for the seasoned builders here. First off I picked up a cheap double electric hot plate at my local Walgreen's made by Sylvania. Its actually pretty sweet as it is in an all stainless steel housing. I think it will be perfect! Now on too the big questions.

Concerning airflow...Those louvered vents at the top of my box, there are 4 of them (2 on each side). Will this bee too much "exhaust" and should I just plug up 3 of them and leave 1? there is only one 2" hole dead center in the bottom of the box for intake. Which I like actually because that will bring cool air in directly below my element to be heated AND is a handy hole to run my plug for the element to the outside of the box.

Should I place a layer of brick on the bottom of the box to set the element on? Maybe even wrap bricks in foil... overkill?

Insulation.... Would radiant barrier on sheet board insulation be advisable? I can cut to fit and use foil tape to attach it.... overkill?

Here's a shot of the inside bottom:








Here is the top left corner where the aluminum racks mount to those pins:







Another side view with door open:







Bottom left corner:







Rack unmounted:







So yea I could use all the feedback I could get... what would YOU do with this box? I really want to eliminate the trial and error in this build and make something efficient and functional with minimal cost.

Yea yea yea... I know.... everyone does!!

Next: pics of the first few modifications...... =P

Hewgag


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## hewgag (Oct 29, 2010)

Also..... I got 4 stainless steel racks 23"x18" that came from an old sterilization oven from the hospital (really nice and heavy duty), and they are juuuusssssttt slightly too wide at 23". And if I turn them sideways they are juuuusssttt slightly too narrow at 18"... *sigh*..

SO.... I am going to eliminate the rack inserts entirely and opt for some sort of drilled into the side carriage bolt setup.. simply because I had a hell of a time finding racks that would fit in this thing and these 4 racks happened to just drop into my lap..... so I am going to make them work somehow.

I just need to figure out proper height to place these racks.....

Dry run planned for this weekend!!  Pics to follow! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Hewgag


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## hewgag (Oct 29, 2010)

UPDATE

Rack issue solved!!! I simply slid the right rack over next to the left one, fed the all the gratings through both racks in their respective locations, and then slid it back over and mounted it onto its pins. HOLA!







I placed the element into the box, cranked both up full blast and closed it up. Within a few mins it was toasty hot in there. I don't have my thermometers yet so I cant get temp readings yet but that will all change very soon!

Hewgag


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## smokingohiobutcher (Oct 29, 2010)

Hew...

If the racks come out that easy I would for sure figure out a way to insulate it. Maybe some foil covered insulation board??? I think some people have used it.

I wouldnt think that the 4 vents would be too much...besides the way they are setup they will create a nice even draft. The bricks would make a nice heat sink to help your temps recover quickly.  ohhhhh you are from texas!!! you probably dont need to insulate it then. Up here in ohio you almost gotta have a blanky for the warmth.

I plan on going with a pid controller and a finned strip heater for my GAS (gator ade smoker) sometime.

Looks like its gonna be a honey of a smoker!  

Enjoy the build!

 SOB


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## hewgag (Oct 30, 2010)

Yea I am still on the fence with the whole insulation issue... on one hand I think its overkill... on the other I think.."hey I could get a nasty burn if I accidentally touch the shell of the box." I will most likely cut to fit some sheet board insulation and stick a layer of radiant barrier over it...... tape it all in real good with foil tape.

I am pretty bummed out that the stainless steel food grates are such a bitch to get in and out....... meh... story of my life.

Next step...buy some thermometers...

Hewgag


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## tom37 (Oct 30, 2010)

Its tough to tell in the pics.

Are the shelfs heavy enough to just take a good pair of bolt cutters and ship each rod off to make it the proper length to make it set down into the actual shelf guide. If you were closer I would let ya bend the long end of the shelf in the bench brake, then you would have a shelf that fit proper with no cutting.

If you don't have cutters, just find a power and light crew and tell em if they help  ya out with the cutting you could bring them some ribs or fatties or such. Watch out tho, you may have all four guys running for the cutters.


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## hewgag (Oct 31, 2010)

Yea Tom the outer "ring" of steel on the grills are 1/4"hardened surgical stainless steel. These came out of one of those hospital sterilizer ovens that cook shit to like 800F so they are wicked strong.

It's really not that big of a deal to be honest. I only need to remove them when it's time to clean 'em... and I have actually come up with an easy method of getting them in and out. It's still a hassle but I got it down now! =)

Hewgag


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## hewgag (Nov 20, 2010)

Ok... small update... the 1500W dual hotplate cranked all the way got the box to a steady 192F and no more...... Will definitely need to insulate.. =(

I've been busy lately and just finally had a chance to test it with a few thermometers... I also closed all but 1 vent. I think 1 will be perfect... we'll see...

Until next time!

Hewgag


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## harryml (Mar 27, 2011)

Hey, Why am I never around when people are giving out the free stainless steel service carts?


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## hewgag (Apr 2, 2011)

Yea Harry... I just about crapped myself when I saw this thing get wheeled into my warehouse from one of the hospitals. AND... they soon after brought in a few retired autoclaves with super heavy-duty surgical stainless steel racks. I nabbed those suckers pronto!!

I'll be getting back to work on this bad boy soon! Proper insulation is next!!


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## hewgag (Apr 25, 2011)

So with the last few months of pondering and yesterdays maiden voyage hot smoke with Cornish game Hens and Pork Spares, I have decided that this build is no longer "a build". The fact that this thing is pure stainless steel, like... honest to god pure stainless steel, the kind magnets don't even stick too whatsoever, I have decided that the level of mods such as gaskets, door cutting, insulation, heating elements.... blah, blah.... is just not worth it when this cabinet is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AS IS........ for cold smoking!

I've decided that purchasing an MES 40" digital is more my style for hot smokes. They are pretty much exactly what the home smoker enthusiast needs for just about anything we throw at it. With minimal mods for my new AMZN smoker I should be able to set it and forget it... to some extent..... and not have to tweak, and touch, and fiddle with knobs, and adjust this n' that to keep the temps I need. I HATE THAT! So... it will be a cold smoke box.

Bacon, cheese, spices, nuts, salt...... expect some big time Q-view and my in depth experimental nature with smoke materials in the very near future!


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## Bearcarver (Apr 26, 2011)

Hewgag said:


> So with the last few months of pondering and yesterdays maiden voyage hot smoke with Cornish game Hens and Pork Spares, I have decided that this build is no longer "a build". The fact that this thing is pure stainless steel, like... honest to god pure stainless steel, the kind magnets don't even stick too whatsoever, I have decided that the level of mods such as gaskets, door cutting, insulation, heating elements.... blah, blah.... is just not worth it when this cabinet is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AS IS........ for cold smoking!
> 
> I've decided that purchasing an MES 40" digital is more my style for hot smokes. They are pretty much exactly what the home smoker enthusiast needs for just about anything we throw at it. With minimal mods for my new AMZN smoker I should be able to set it and forget it... to some extent..... and not have to tweak, and touch, and fiddle with knobs, and adjust this n' that to keep the temps I need. I HATE THAT! So... it will be a cold smoke box.
> 
> Bacon, cheese, spices, nuts, salt...... expect some big time Q-view and my in depth experimental nature with smoke materials in the very near future!


Now that sounds like a Great Plan!

Bear


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## alelover (Apr 26, 2011)

Welcome. Nice score on the cart. You will find a ton of info and advice here. You will end up with a beautiful smoker when it's all said and done.


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## rbranstner (Apr 26, 2011)

Thats going to make one heck of a good smoker.


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