# Home-built electric smoker (UPDATE)



## DIYerDave (Feb 17, 2018)

I've been lurking here for awhile and finally decided to join. I get hungry every time I visit.

I'm in the planning stages of building my own upright cabinet style electric smoker and just need some guidance so i don't waste money or do something stupid.
Here's what i have planned. Let me know what you think.
-It will be built out of either 16 or 18 gauge mild or stainless steel sheet. Every thing will be bolted together. No welds.   
-Interior smoking chamber size approx. 23"x23"x42".
-3" Roxul insulation.
-Auber SMD-200 PID. (running on 220 volts)
-220 volt 3100 watt heating element.
-Silicone tadpole style door seal.
It will have some sort of mailbox mod smoke chamber, but havent given that too much thought yet.
I'm mostly concerned about the PID and wattage, and of the heating element vs chamber size. Plus not sure about the metal gauge for the cabinet. I checked a household oven and they're built out of 18 gauge so I figure it's ok for a smoker.
More questions later, but for now this is the basic plan. What are your thoughts?


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## SonnyE (Feb 18, 2018)

Welcome to Smoking Meats Forum! I'm fairly new as well.
Ambitious plan.
Now allow me to tear it apart so we can reconstruct it. ;)
Have you ever put together _*any*_ sort of a smoker before? I have, over decades. I recently bought a MES 30, and it is the first I have ever bought ready made. Then I tore it apart and made a smoker/oven out of it.

The box can be most anything, Dave. I've used large electrical equipment boxes, old porcelain steel refrigerators, Wooden boxes, and BBQ's. I always used electricity as my heat source, and super simple plans. Often an electric range element, or even a simple single hot plate.
But I built Smokers, not smoker/ovens, not BBQ's called smokers that are pellet fired. Smokers that were a more modern version of tree hung Salmon over small smoking fires.

You've w-a-y over thought this, IMHO. Did you know that 1 inch of wood has the insulation value of 12 " of fiberglass? Well it does. That's why many smoke houses were made of wood, and the smoke was drafted into them from the outside, where the smoke and heat could be easily controlled. So picture this: A steel tool job box as your chamber, or really, any steel cabinet. Have fun with it.
Now, if you want it insulated, put your insulation on the outside of this steel cabinet. Foam board works great for this. Simply cut it to fit, then glue it on.
Outside, cover it with what you'd like. Or simply thin exterior ply of siding material. Make it look stylish to your home and patio. Or make it fit into an outdoor kitchen.
OK great, we've got a box. Now you can seal the door(s). Lets look at the guts....

_-Auber SMD-200 PID. (running on 220 volts)
-220 volt 3100 watt heating element._
Are you building a smoker? Or a furnace? While I can appreciate Auber equipment, common sense tells me it is way offline for a simple Smoker/Oven.
Of course, if you want to impress folks, it would lend to bragging rights around the kegerator.
And why the 3100 watt "furnace" element ??? And 240 volts? (go measure the voltage, I'll wait). What are you building, a crematorium?

Sorry to melt the wax holding your wings together Icarus, but I thought you needed a kick with the boot of common sense. Rub your butt and let's move forward here.

Build your wish list of materials, include prices. Now, if you come to your senses, you'll find there are many, _many, _viable options available to trying to DIY a smoker _your_ way.

I took my route of getting a modern box, with digital controls for heat, then modified the crap out of it to make it work properly. Here's the result: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-mailbox-mod.272719/
And I'll leave you to mine down to my Salmon and Ribs, much much more to come.
But I'm a retiree. I have way more time than money to throw away.

I think you will find you could get more than enough happiness from a Smokin It smoker and probably save money doing it.
Or you could take an old duffers route and make a less costly Smoker/Oven, and perfect it.

OK, rub your butt, and put your wings back together. ;)


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## DIYerDave (Feb 18, 2018)

Sonny, thanks for your thoughts. To answer your question about ever building a smoker...no I haven't. But I have built stuff like custom tools and custom car parts. I built my 24'x36' work shop from footer to roof top...including plumbing and electrical. I am a true DIYer. I've always had this motto of doing stuff the right way the first time, or don't do it at all.
I figured it best to start from scratch building a smoker rather than modifying something that had a previous life. Cheaper? maybe...maybe not. But easier "for me". My heating element is a household oven element as you suggest I use. I've poured over dozens of threads on here and everyone seems to recommend Auber PID's and roxul insulation.
I'm curious to know what others think.


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## gmc2003 (Feb 18, 2018)

Diyer, best of luck to you. You sound like you definitely have a plan. I'm looking forward to seeing it come to fruition. There are many different types of builds described throughout this forum. Not by me I took the easy way out and bought a WSM(couldn't be happier). I'm sure there is someone who has built something similar to what your describing. Use the search feature and see what comes up. People here are always willing to help somebody out. Again looking forward to seeing the finished product and the goodies that you produce.

Chris


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## SonnyE (Feb 18, 2018)

Good!
Buying parts like a ready made steel box, cabinet, or what suits the end result is not dissuaded from Doing It Yourself. It's using what is available to reach an end.
Of course, what you want to achieve is what you need to pursue.
Do you realize there is a huge inrush current to a larger element, and likewise, it will only be on briefly. With a PID, you would likely be running 400-1000 watts tops.
So take a look at the 'store bought' smokers and their wattage's. 750 watts is 1 HP. So consider it from a different perspective, do you think you need a 4 HP smoker to do what most do easily with a 1 HP?
Anyway, it only has to please you. Nobody else will be using it from out here in La-La Land. ;)
You only have to please yourself.

If you could Please show me where I suggested an oven element be used, I'd appreciate it. The most I've suggested is a stove top element. Or a solitary hotplate.
And never anything 240 volts.

But we are akin. I'm an avid DIY myself. Just hoping to help you steer a better result.
If you want to bounce any ideas off me, feel free. You name it, I've probably done it. But I don't list it.


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## tallbm (Feb 18, 2018)

I'm all in to see how this turns out.  I have been curious about this kind of idea but I currently don't have a practical reason to dive into the research.  In the future if I build me a little commercial kitchen and want to smoke/cook some items and a large electric smoker would be awesome!


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## dr k (Feb 19, 2018)

I'm just thinking out loud.  So if you run a 240Vac heating element on 120Vac are you only getting 25-33% output?  So if your Auber operates on both 120Vac/240Vac would the output be about 775 watts-1025watts on 120Vac?


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## SonnyE (Feb 19, 2018)

dr k said:


> I'm just thinking out loud.  So if you run a 240Vac heating element on 120Vac are you only getting 25-33% output?  So if your Auber operates on both 120Vac/240Vac would the output be about 775 watts-1025watts on 120Vac?



You are thinking, Dr, K and that's good.
The 240 volt stove top elements I've used were simply wired to a cord and plugged in. I was making smoke, not heating an oven. Sat a #10 can on it (1 gallon can), and put my wood chips in it.
Woo-Hoo! Smmmokin! 
I think I was 20-21 then. Smokin rainbow trout caught that day. ;)


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## bob-whie (Feb 19, 2018)

SonnyE said:


> _*Did you know that 1 inch of wood has the insulation value of 12 " of fiberglass? *_
> OK, rub your butt, and put your wings back together. ;)



If you are going to terrorize this member at least have some basic knowledge of your facts.
One inch of wood has an R value of about R1, 12 inches of fiberglass has R36.

There was no reason for such a "I am the smartest guy in the room" tyrannical rant, there should be an apology forthcoming.


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## SonnyE (Feb 19, 2018)

bob-whie said:


> If you are going to terrorize this member at least have some basic knowledge of your facts.
> One inch of wood has an R value of about R1, 12 inches of fiberglass has R36.
> 
> There was no reason for such a "I am the smartest guy in the room" tyrannical rant, there should be an apology forthcoming.



Well I apologize that I offended you.

But it appears you are the only one.
Anyone else want an apology?
 Moderators? Staff?


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## DIYerDave (Feb 20, 2018)

Thank you Bob. I thought I was the only one thinking like you.


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## BGKYSmoker (Feb 20, 2018)

Make your plywood smoker. I'm sure it will work well for you.
I made one and NEVER had issues and it was not insulated.







The nay sayers/bashers more than likely dont have pics to back up their words.

SMOKE ON


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## Proximo (Feb 20, 2018)

nepas said:


> Make your plywood smoker. I'm sure it will work well for you.
> I made one and NEVER had issues and it was not insulated.
> 
> View attachment 354600
> ...



Wow that's pretty cool.  How many hours did it take you to construct that?


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## BGKYSmoker (Feb 20, 2018)

Proximo said:


> Wow that's pretty cool.  How many hours did it take you to construct that?


Took us a week. Started out with a gas burner, to wishy washy. So i put a traeger hopper fir pot on it. Worked great even in the north east PA snow.


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## SonnyE (Feb 20, 2018)

DIYerDave said:


> Thank you Bob. I thought I was the only one thinking like you.



OK, I apologize to you as well. Hell, roll on.

But I know, and have the electrical experience to back it up, that 3100 watts in a 23" x 23" x 42" box is a furnace.
But by all means, please yourself.


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## SonnyE (Feb 20, 2018)

nepas said:


> Make your plywood smoker. I'm sure it will work well for you.
> I made one and NEVER had issues and it was not insulated.
> 
> View attachment 354600
> ...



Actually I do. But what's the point?
Nice smoker house. I can see it is chipboard, not entirely plywood.
All the old smokehouses were made of wood. It is a great insulator.
Just like old refrigerators and walk in coolers were wood and sawdust insulation.
Imagine that.


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## bob-whie (Feb 20, 2018)

SonnyE said:


> OK, I apologize to you as well. Hell, roll on.
> But I know, and have the electrical experience to back it up....
> _*Do you realize there is a huge inrush current to a larger element......*_



Quite obviously your electrical experience is, to put it nicely, suspect.
There is no "*huge* inrush current" to a heating element. 
Inrush currents are associated with an inductive load or a capacitive load. 
Heating elements are _virtually_ purely resistive loads hence there is no *HUGE* inrush currents.
Technically there is a minute inrush current due to the capacitance and inductance of the conductors supplying the heating elements, but it's negligible.


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## DIYerDave (Feb 20, 2018)

Apology excepted Sonny. But I have to ask...are you sure those were rainbow trout you were smok'n when you were 21?


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## indaswamp (Feb 20, 2018)

I built a wood smokehouse last spring. The wood is for show/structure support. The interior is hardi sheet concrete board. It's 2.5' X 2.5' X 6' tall; 36 cu.ft. and run on propane. I use a low pressure 11"WTC regulator, precision needle valve, and an 18,000 BTU burner with the outer ring of jets blocked off with 4D nails. So really, I have a 9,000 BTU burner. I put a 15" cast iron pan on top as a diffuser/wood pan. I can dial the temps. in +/- 3* and hold it steady. I smoke a lot of sausage and can hold temps ~120* for hours.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...ard-outhouse-smoker-build-pics-addded.261865/

IMO, if you are just going to build one 23" X 23" X 42" then unless you have a means to acquire materials either cheap or free, cost wise you will be better off just buying one of the commercial models sold.


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## DIYerDave (Feb 21, 2018)

I just want to say thank you to everyone's comments and concerns. Also for showing me your smokers to give me some ideas. They look great. So i'm starting to re-think some stuff. A lower wattage heating element and I probably will increase the heidth of the smoker. I'm leaning towards regular mild steel now instead of s/s.
I'll crunch some numbers and see what it will cost. I like building things so even if I can buy a smoker for what it costs to build one, I'll build it.


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## nanuk (Mar 7, 2018)

SonnyE said:


> Well I apologize that I offended you.
> 
> But it appears you are the only one.
> Anyone else want an apology?
> Moderators? Staff?




I'll take one for later....   never know when I need to give one, so nice to have a few extras on hand!


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## DIYerDave (Mar 7, 2018)

nanuk said:


> I'll take one for later....   never know when I need to give one, so nice to have a few extras on hand!


;):D


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

(UPDATE)... Between work, family, and all the rain we'd been having this past summer, I finally finished my smoker build a few weeks ago. Still waiting on decent weather to season it. 
Follow along.










14 gauge mild steel for the inner structure.


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

3" inlet and exit for the smoke. Rack slides are easily removable for easy cleaning.


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

3" rockwool insulation on top, bottom, back, sides, and door.
Home made smoke box to hold pellet tray. Butterfly vent in bottom to control air flow thru box.


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

22 gauge steel exterior skin.


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

Wire racks are " tip-proof".
S/S reinforced silicone tadpole door seal.


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

Auber pid for main temp control and ThermoPro thru the door to monitor top and bottom temps of the cabinet.
Also the floor of the cabinet has a valve to control air flow, along with the adjustable damper on the smoke stack.
All I need to do yet is season it and start experimenting with temperature settings and smoke/airflow.


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

Forgot to show my heat source.


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## gmc2003 (Oct 28, 2018)

Man that looks really nice. I see many a good smokes in your very near future.

Chris


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## DIYerDave (Oct 28, 2018)

Thanks Chris.


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## gmc2003 (Oct 28, 2018)

No problem Dave, you did all the hard work. I get to sit back and enjoy looking. Remember to post your smokes up.

Chris


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## meatallica (Oct 28, 2018)

Wow!! I had to look twice, it looks like a damn safe! Nice work, DIY..


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## indaswamp (Oct 28, 2018)

Damn fine job my friend! Love the external smoke tray. Like!


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## DIYerDave (Oct 29, 2018)

Lol. I guess I have a place to put my valuables then if it don't work as a smoker.


meatallica said:


> Wow!! I had to look twice, it looks like a damn safe! Nice work, DIY..


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## Todd S (Jun 7, 2019)

Wow very nice job


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## DIYerDave (Jun 7, 2019)

Thanks.


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## Bearcarver (Jun 7, 2019)

Wow!!
Nice Job, Dave!!
Gonna be more Awesome Smells coming from Lancaster County!!
Hoping the wind will be blowing about ENE to the Bear's Den!!
Like.

Bear


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## DIYerDave (Jun 7, 2019)

Bearcarver said:


> Wow!!
> Nice Job, Dave!!
> Gonna be more Awesome Smells coming from Lancaster County!!
> Hoping the wind will be blowing about ENE to the Bear's Den!!
> ...


Lol. Thanks Bear.


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## sigmo (Jun 9, 2019)

What wattage heating element did you end up going with?

I felt like you were unfairly attacked for suggesting the use of a relatively high power element.

That's a pretty big smoker, so with it fully-loaded with cool, wet meat, it will take a lot of power to get the air inside up to temperature if you're cooking while smoking.

I often run my smoker at 225 degrees F for various meat, including pork butts and ribs, etc.

I do preheat my smoker, but when a large amount of meat first goes into the smoker, if the heating element isn't powerful enough, that cold mass and the evaporative cooling from all of that moist surface, can make it take a long time for the air temp in the smoker to recover after loading in the meat.

You were wise to insulate your cabinet well. and that has to lower your power consumption.

And with a good temperature controller, I expect the smoker to work great.  It will never hurt you to have a big heating element as long as you have a good controller.

I'm looking at either modifying a large pellet burning smoker to be all-electric, or maybe building one the way you did.  Either way, I am planning on building it to run on 220VAC so I can use a powerful-enough heating element to achieve solid temperature control regardless of how full I fill it with wet, cold meat.  If it ends up running at a 5% duty cycle once it gets the outside surfaces of the meat up to temp, where is the problem?

Anyhow, I like your design and your idea of using a rather powerful heating element.

With your PID controller, if you have an indicator for when the heating element is on, you can tell approximately what the duty cycle is during different phases of the smoke run.

As you get a chance to run your smoker, I'd like to know how much power your smoker seems to use during the different phases.  That might help me choose a good heating element myself.

If I ever get mine built, it will be controlled by an output from the industrial controller system I use at my house.  That system has four different PID algorithms to choose from, and it can log pretty much anything, so I'll have a record of the power to the heater.  But only after I've already got it built!

Great project, and great documentation for us!


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## DIYerDave (Jun 9, 2019)

Sigmo, Glad you liked my smoker. I ended up using a 2000 watt element. It works fine but I do plan on replacing it someday with a higher wattage like I was originally going to use. The person who blasted me for wanting to use such a high wattage element apparently had no clue how an Auber PID works. The PID uses 1% - 100% of the elements available wattage depending on how far away the actual temperature is from the set point temperature. 
It does have an indicator light showing duty cycle of the element. The closer the temp gets to set point, the less time the elements on.
I never noticed any difference in my electric bill when I'm using my smoker so I think its very efficient. Good insulation and door gasket is the key. The smoker doesn't even get warm on the exterior and I have zero smoke leaks.
So far my smoker has done everything I ask it to do. For my first smoker I think it turned out ok. But if I had to do it over, the cabinet would be smaller.
I'm already thinking of building another smoker. A smaller stainless steel proto-type with PID and 120 volt element. Thinking of making them to sell......some day.


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## sigmo (Jun 10, 2019)

Well, as amazing as your first one turned out, I'm sure you can do well with a smaller one as well.  The market for a good, well-made smoker should be pretty big these days.

Having it already set up for (or with) a "mailbox" and Pellet Maze would be very attractive to people who are familiar with all of this.

And yes, the beauty of proportional control is that you can have plenty of "horsepower" available when needed, yet use only as much or as little of it as is required at any given moment.  You get smooth control when things are tuned right.

I'm seriously looking at a Pit Boss Copperhead 5-series pellet smoker just to use its enclosure and adjustable rack system for the basis of an electric smoker.  I really like the size.  But I'd prefer an all-electric.

I figure the manufacturers don't make all-electric smokers this size because you really would want a bigger heating element than what you can run off of a typical 120V circuit.  It seems like most 120V appliances stay below 1800 Watts because there are still a lot of 15 Amp circuits in people's homes, and very few customers have a 220V receptacle handy to plug in a smoker.

Sure, big expensive commercial smokers may use 220, but the market for them would be a LOT smaller than for one that someone can plug into any 120V socket!

I'm fortunate to be able to wire up a 220V outlet myself very easily at my place, so I am willing to do so as needed. 

But those of us on this forum probably represent a relatively small percentage of everyone who buys a smoker.  Still, as many members as this forum has shows that a lot of people are into smoking.  And a lot of them probably come here to resolve issues they have with off-the-shelf smokers.

Yet most of us cannot fabricate a proper smoker all on our own.  So we modify commercially-available units for the most part.  But if people dissatisfied with their first smokers could buy a better unit that had all of the features they now know they really want, maybe some of them would!

The mass market may never be there for a really good smoker.  People usually have to learn by experience in these things, so they shop for price to start off.

But once they do use a typical smoker and find its drawbacks, and then learn about better systems, they are motivated to modify or build something better.  But for the non-do-it-yourselfers, it would be nice for them to have a pre-built system with the features most of us here want in our smokers.


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## DIYerDave (Jun 10, 2019)

My thoughts exactly.


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## brandonthompson (Dec 19, 2019)

Dave, First and foremost great aptitude on building and great looking smoker!
I had some questions regarding what bigger element you were thinking of going too ?
I have a 120v pid controlled brinkman element but, here in Iowa our winters are cold so it struggles to keep up. 
I am rebuilding another smoker and ill post a pic. On the fence about staying 110 or going 220.

Any suggestions buddy ill attach the pix of the intended build fridge. Not near as fancy as yours but should work great for deer sausage and such.


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## DIYerDave (Dec 19, 2019)

Thanks for the compliment Brandon.
If I remember correctly the element was in the neighborhood of 3000-3500 watts.


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## 2008RN (Dec 20, 2019)

DIYerDave,
I built something similar. I took a 1951 GE fridge and turned it into a smoker. I Used the _Auber SMD-200 PID controller with  a 2600 watt 220V stove top element.   I use a mailbox smoke generator.  Since I am finishing up the year, I just counted 29 smokes this year. From cold smoke Cheese, all the  way up to pizza. I did try adding and additional smaller 1300W stove top element to the smoker, so I have 3900W.  The only time I used both was for Pizza. The 2600W is plenty for most smoking needs.
The only problem I have had was smoking candied pecans.  One small section on one rack gets hotter than the rest, and it darkened them little to much. 
Next time I do nuts, I am just going to  run the 1300 element.

You did a great job on the smoker, Hows the cooking going?_


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## brandonthompson (Dec 20, 2019)

2008RN said:


> DIYerDave,
> I built something similar. I took a 1951 GE fridge and turned it into a smoker. I Used the _Auber SMD-200 PID controller with  a 2600 watt 220V stove top element.   I use a mailbox smoke generator.  Since I am finishing up the year, I just counted 29 smokes this year. From cold smoke Cheese, all the  way up to pizza. I did try adding and additional smaller 1300W stove top element to the smoker, so I have 3900W.  The only time I used both was for Pizza. The 2600W is plenty for most smoking needs.
> The only problem I have had was smoking candied pecans.  One small section on one rack gets hotter than the rest, and it darkened them little to much.
> Next time I do nuts, I am just going to  run the 1300 element.
> ...



Happen to have link for the element you ran. Be curious to see a wire diagram with the additional element s together with the pid.
If don't have that's okay just brainstorming ideas for different cooking temps needed


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## 2008RN (Dec 20, 2019)

I started with the 8" element first, and bought it from Walmart online  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Surface-Element-Replaces-Ge-Wb30T10074-8-In/24538856 with a 25Amp SSR from Auberins.  I had run 12 Gauge wiring from the controller to the bottom of the smoker where I had a junction box.

When I was at higher temp above 275°F the time it took longer to hit temps and was longer to recovery  when I opened the door. Plus I wanted to try to do pizzas, and wanted to hit 400°F so I went and bought 2 used 6" elements from Habitat for Humanity for $6. I did know how it was going to work, so I figured I would buy cheap and have a spare. (I also bought a spare 8" for $5 at Habitat.  I bought a high quality slide in connector with long silicone covered wires at a local appliance repair shop.  I originally bought a cheap connector from a big box hardware store. I returned it because it was  cheaply made.

I wired both elements in *parallel* to the junction box behind at the back of the smoker.  Since I had over designed the wiring (12 gauge for all 240V)  and 25AMP  solid state relay I was able to add the extra element without messing with the original wiring.  Total amps for both 6" and 8" elements was 17amps. The toughest part for me was cutting out another cover/holder for the connector out of 14ga stainless, bending it,  and fishing the wires through the rock wool insulation back to the junction box.

What I like about the design is I can any combination of element(s) depending on what I am doing.


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