# Lining cold smoking smoke house



## Vogel12 (Oct 4, 2020)

Hello,
I have constructed a 6'x8'x8' smoke house out of native lumber. I am ready to put on oak 1x4 siding. I would like the building to be tight so I get good drawl out the top vents. I was leaning towards placing tar paper behind the siding boards and between the decking and metal roof. Would this be ok since the house will only be used for curing and cold smoking hams and bacon?  Or do I risk contamination? Thank you for your assistance.


----------



## indaswamp (Oct 4, 2020)

I would not use tar paper. 

I suggest 1/4" thick hardi-board. It is cement board made of inert materials that will not contaminate the meat.


----------



## bill ace 350 (Oct 4, 2020)

What do you consider cold smoking temperatures?


----------



## SmokinEdge (Oct 4, 2020)

I would just finish in a batt board style and be done.


----------



## bill1 (Oct 4, 2020)

Tongue-and-groove lumber?  You'd get negligible air/smoke leakage through that.  

But if you're only doing cold smoking, you can get an idea of the flavor that MIGHT find a way into your cook by just rubbing the candidate materials a bit and taking a good whiff of it.  Tar paper might give off a bit of a petroleum smell??  Hardie-board may have a bit of a concrete smell???

Everything eventually outgases and the smoke will ultimately dominate.  But if you're putting a bit of money into this...


----------



## Vogel12 (Oct 4, 2020)

bill ace 350 said:


> What do you consider cold smoking temperatures?


Less than 65 degrees in the smokehouse.


----------



## Vogel12 (Oct 4, 2020)

bill1 said:


> Tongue-and-groove lumber?  You'd get negligible air/smoke leakage through that.
> 
> But if you're only doing cold smoking, you can get an idea of the flavor that MIGHT find a way into your cook by just rubbing the candidate materials a bit and taking a good whiff of it.  Tar paper might give off a bit of a petroleum smell??  Hardie-board may have a bit of a concrete smell???
> 
> Everything eventually outgases and the smoke will ultimately dominate.  But if you're putting a bit of money into this...


Thank you.  I like the idea of the batt and board. Will finish it this way.  Thank you  all!


----------



## indaswamp (Oct 4, 2020)

Vogel12 said:


> Less than 65 degrees in the smokehouse.


Degrees F or C???


----------



## Vogel12 (Oct 5, 2020)

indaswamp said:


> Degrees F or C???


F


----------



## Braz (Oct 5, 2020)

I would think on a hot, sunny Summer day it will get a lot hotter than 65f inside and the tar paper would gas off and leave a lingering odor even if you were not smoking at the time. I think your board & batten decision is a good one.


----------



## Vogel12 (Jan 2, 2021)

Finally got this completed and my hams are curing.  Since i will be cold smoking, would it be sufficient to use green hickory wood over a charcoal bed? I have a large quantity of this. I could also add some seasoned ash in with the green wood if necessary. 
Thank you for your thoughts.  I have also read that the length of smoking can be from 12hrs to 7 days. Would that vary with the wood being green?
Cv


----------



## indaswamp (Jan 2, 2021)

IMO, green wood give off more bitter smoke...


----------



## indaswamp (Jan 2, 2021)

BTW, Smokehouse looks great! So do those hams! Bet they turn out good!


----------



## SmokinEdge (Jan 2, 2021)

Smokehouse looks great! Like Inda, I would not use green wood. You want a more thin blue smoke. The white pume type smoke for long periods is not a good thing. Keep us posted with pics. Looks good so far.


----------



## Vogel12 (Jan 3, 2021)

SmokinEdge said:


> Smokehouse looks great! Like Inda, I would not use green wood. You want a more thin blue smoke. The white pume type smoke for long periods is not a good thing. Keep us posted with pics. Looks good so far.


Thank you!!


----------



## bill1 (Jan 3, 2021)

Indaswamp is probably correct that there are chemical changes in the wood as it ages that may improve the flavor of the smoke.  But the biggest change in aged wood is evaporating away moisture...from about 50% water content to 10%.  (The experts will say 100 to 20, because of the weird scale usually used for wood moisture based on a tree being about half water, so by the experts' scale you can have more than 100% moisture.)  

My point is just whether you're burning at high temp to maximize heat or at lower temps for flavorful smoke, you need to vaporize all that added water in green wood before you get any heat or smoke.  A roaring campfire (or even a firebox) has plenty of heat...throwing in green wood works just fine; there's more than enough thermal energy to drive off the extra moisture as steam.   But in the small smokehouse fire I think you're going to have, I think your bigger problem will be trying to keep the green wood from putting out your fire.   In other words I think you HAVE to get enough dry wood on hand for this endeavor...using green is not just a potential flavor difference, but a show-stopper.  

Great looking smokehouse.  Those hams look great.


----------



## Brokenhandle (Jan 3, 2021)

Nice smokehouse! Looking forward to seeing the finished hams! 

Ryan


----------



## Vogel12 (Jan 3, 2021)

Brokenhandle said:


> Nice smokehouse! Looking forward to seeing the finished hams!
> 
> Ryan


Thank you. I will share what happens!


----------



## Vogel12 (Jan 3, 2021)

bill1 said:


> Indaswamp is probably correct that there are chemical changes in the wood as it ages that may improve the flavor of the smoke.  But the biggest change in aged wood is evaporating away moisture...from about 50% water content to 10%.  (The experts will say 100 to 20, because of the weird scale usually used for wood moisture based on a tree being about half water, so by the experts' scale you can have more than 100% moisture.)
> 
> My point is just whether you're burning at high temp to maximize heat or at lower temps for flavorful smoke, you need to vaporize all that added water in green wood before you get any heat or smoke.  A roaring campfire (or even a firebox) has plenty of heat...throwing in green wood works just fine; there's more than enough thermal energy to drive off the extra moisture as steam.   But in the small smokehouse fire I think you're going to have, I think your bigger problem will be trying to keep the green wood from putting out your fire.   In other words I think you HAVE to get enough dry wood on hand for this endeavor...using green is not just a potential flavor difference, but a show-stopper.
> 
> Great looking smokehouse.  Those hams look great.


Thank you for the information. It is greatly appreciated. I should have plenty of oak scraps left over from the build to smoke for several days!.


----------

