Smokehouse Build

**dsgfh** · 15th December 2016, 10:29 AM

So I've popped a few pics of this up in my welcome wagon thread, but after concluding it didn't really go in any of the other forums (I just can't bring myself to call it a shed) I thought I'd show off the finished product here.

I've been smoking my own bacon for years in a small bullet smoker (Weber Smokey mountain), but when I started doing sausages found the space & design limiting. Couple that with friends who now want in & there had to be a better (bigger) option.

I've used 45x90 hardwood for the frame & factory seconds shiplap cladding all held with brad nails. Dowel will be used to hang meat from stainless hooks, and to put racks across for things like cheese. The racks were pre-drilled & screwed in with stainless decking nails so I can move them if needed later on.

A cold smoke test last night with 3 probes in at high, middle & low positions in the middle of the smoker & they all held within a couple of degrees of each other, and comfortably sitting below 32C/90F (the magic number for cold smoking). It was sat at 27C/82F a couple of hours in with a modest fire running & 14C/58F outside. (F provided for those into American low & slow since you end up talking in both).

Couldn't be happier with that result

😁 One of those rare moments you really impress yourself. My better half has already put in an order for an upgrade to the chook house now she's seen the result

IMG_20161211_160949 (1).jpg IMG_20161214_224349.jpg

Next is a test run of a direct fire in the bottom of the smoker just to see how well it'll handle hot smoking, then to get some meat in there. The weekend can't come soon enough

)

The rest of the photo's I took of the build are here https://goo.gl/photos/jyDBePnGv4Y3yJv87

**cava** · 15th December 2016, 11:24 AM

Looks good.

I think we just found a new place for the forum get togethers.

**Ilya** · 15th December 2016, 12:41 PM

Nice! What wood do you use for smoke, and how long does it take to cold smoke sausages?

**dsgfh** · 15th December 2016, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Ilya

Nice! What wood do you use for smoke, and how long does it take to cold smoke sausages?

I use a lot of cherry (my partner's polish & it's what they always use), pear, apple & apricot (I get regular supplies from my dad's pruning, and occasionally from my brother, the jims mower). Basically fruit woods, occasionally messmate when I have nothing else at hand, or red gum (great with lamb). I'm told iron bark is the go to wood in Aus, but I don't have a free supply so haven't ventured there yet, although I will sometimes add a little hickory when smoking pork, or oak when up at my partners dads place where he's got tubs of the stuff.

Cold smoking times? Having never done it before I'm not 100% sure, but I'm expecting around 6 hours based on Rhulman & Polcyn's Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (my go-to for curing meats). Will take some experimenting before I really know.

I've hot smoked sausages before & it's about 2 hours before they hit the right internal temp.

**Ilya** · 15th December 2016, 01:40 PM

Excellent, thanks for the info!

**selectedgrub** · 15th December 2016, 04:53 PM

Great work

**cava** · 15th December 2016, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by dsgfh

I use a lot of cherry (my partner's polish & it's what they always use), pear, apple & apricot.

Followed with a copious quantity of wisniowa.

**dsgfh** · 15th December 2016, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by cava

Followed with a copious quantity of wisniowa.

Spirytus

**Edward_W** · 15th December 2016, 10:41 PM

Very neat!!!

I just completed building my cold smoker, but next to this mine is a shoe box

**dsgfh** · 16th December 2016, 12:16 PM

I hadn't planned on it being quite this big when I started the project, but it'll certainly meet my requirements for lots of space

I can comfortably stand inside it, so I'm hoping with a little reconfigure & tuning that I can hot smoke in it as well. Heck, it may well end up getting used as it's own wood storage when it's not in use.

**rustynail** · 16th December 2016, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by dsgfh

I hadn't planned on it being quite this big when I started the project, but it'll certainly meet my requirements for lots of space

I can comfortably stand inside it, so I'm hoping with a little reconfigure & tuning that I can hot smoke in it as well. Heck, it may well end up getting used as it's own wood storage when it's not in use.

You're going to smoke yourself?!

**dsgfh** · 16th December 2016, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by rustynail

You're going to smoke yourself?!

Anyone who's stood near me after a long cook might suggest that I already have

**Robson Valley** · 16th December 2016, 02:52 PM

What's for the hot smoke? Oats? Friends just dipping their toes into bacon smoking this winter.

Looks wonderful. Last smokehouse I was in was a native rig on the coast = 1-car garage with a dirt floor, smokewood fire in the middle.
200 salmon up on racks.

**dsgfh** · 16th December 2016, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

What's for the hot smoke? Oats?

Ribs, Brisket, Sausages, pulled pork, etc. Think american style barbecue.
Now, I should say that I'm under no illusion that it will be at all practical for that on a regular basis given it's vast size, but when we have a crowd over (several times a year) I can fit an awful lot of meat in there.
Next job will be to make up a computer controlled air vent. I've made a small micro-controller with a fan for my weber smokey mountain previously, but this thing needs more air than that tiny device can put out, so what I really need is to be able to vary the vent opening based on internal temp, and to ping me when the temp starts dropping too far so I can stoke the fire. I'm thinking that threaded rod & a stepper motor, not dissimilar from a single axis on a CNC, will do the job.

**bueller** · 16th December 2016, 03:47 PM

You said the magic word, brisket 😁

Great build mate, will be following along hoping for some photos of meaty goodness!

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