# Commercial Fridge Conversion to Gas Smoker



## bcfishman (Mar 15, 2010)

I saw an ad on Craigslist a coupld weeks ago advertising a commercial fridge for $75. The one picture they had posted looked pretty good. It stated that the fridge was not working. My original intention was to see if I could get the fridge working on my own for a nominal cost and resell it. My backup plan was scrapping it or turning it into a smoker.

On Saturday I went and picked it up from the guy who was selling it. My first impression was what I anticipated. A good looking fridge on the outside, some oxidation on the metal on the inside, and a beat up floor panel. I got it home, and started taking it apart and inspecting. After about an hour of tinkering, I decided it wasnt fit to be a fridge anymore. The insulation on the bottom was rotted, the side walls were worn away on the bottom corners, and it just didnt seem like it should be holding food in it, in it's current shape. My mind was wandering the whole time and I finally came to the decision to turn it into a gas smoker.

I did a lot of cleaning on it today and taking out screws, bottom panel, some insulation, etc.

I think I will make it into two compartments... A left side smoker, and right side smoker. I have been playing with a bunch of ideas and may go with multipurpose... what I mean by that is, a hot smoker, cold smoker and dehydrator. The fridge had two A/C powered fans that blew air over the radiators that both worked (after putting bare ends into an extension cord). I can use those to draw air for a dehydrator, and use an electrical element for heat... I can make a smoke generator and mount on the side if I want to do a cold smoke, and a gas line with burner for hot smokes....

My next order of business is taking out the existing metal inside the fridge (I think it may be galvanized) but Im not sure and removing the existing insulation.

After that I will put in high temp insulation and most likely weld in sheet metal to seal the inside.

Next will be the heating elements and other functions... There is a decent amount of space on top of this fridge that I would like to utilize. I contemplated putting the propane tank up there but may change my mind...

Here are some pics, and I plan to update as progress is made.

Also, I need a suggestion on where to purchase the high temp insulation.





These are the guts that I took out of it. Most of it will be scrapped with the exception of the fans.... I may see if the compressor works (dont know how I would test it, any suggestions?) and if it does, turn around and sell it.


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## buckeye024 (Mar 15, 2010)

That's quite an undertaking. Good Luck!


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## rbranstner (Mar 15, 2010)

That will make one heck of a nice smoker for sure! Keep us in the loop with your build.


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## bcfishman (Apr 24, 2010)

Well, I have put about 10 hours or so into removing the old insulation and metal from the freezer and now just have a metal shell. I still need to take the wire wheel to the inside to remove some of the oxidation, but besides that, it's almost ready to move forward.

Its amazing how much of the structural integrity of these things is based on the foam insulation.

I havent taken the insulation out of the doors yet, but that will be the next order of business after wire wheeling the inside.

I have done some measurements and this unit will either have 8 racks on each side, or 9 racks on each side. Each rack will be 28 inches deep by 22.5 wide. With 8 racks, that will give me a total of 10,080 sq inches of cooking space. Enough for a few ABT's anyways.

Here are some pictures...

Still need to find out where I am getting my high temp insulation from.





Here is a rough sketch of what I plan on doing.


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## bcfishman (Apr 24, 2010)

Got one of the doors scraped out last night.

One more door to go, then the detail work.

Just as an experiment, last night to see if the insulation would burn, I took the propane soldering torch to the foam to see what would happen. Let's just say, it's a good thing I am taking that stuff out.

Will be sourcing material in the next couple weeks.
I think the high temp insulation will be the killer. We'll see.


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## rgacat (Apr 24, 2010)

Looks like you already have a ham in the smoker
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. Keep us posted I am envious al ready.


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## bcfishman (Apr 24, 2010)

Hey... I wanna tell a joke. Wacka wacka wacka.

:-)

At least you didnt say "looks like you already have a fattie in the smoker"


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## rgacat (Apr 24, 2010)

That's what I would be after I had that smoker a couple of years. Keep the build photos coming.


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## roksmith (Apr 27, 2010)

Here's a link to a place I was planning on buying high temp insulation from.
http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--Ro...f-6--1006.html


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## tobertuzzi (Oct 13, 2012)

I have almost the exact same fridge and planning on turning it into a smoker. How did yours turn out in the end? Is there anything you would do differently?

Cheers


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