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 https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v6/f4f/1/16/1f601.png😁 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 :rolleyes:
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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 https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v6/f4c/1/16/1f642.png:-)
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. :D
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 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 (https://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298) (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 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. :wink:
dsgfh 15th December 2016, 09:55 PM Followed with a copious quantity of wisniowa. :wink:
Spirytus :oo:
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 :o
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?!:o
dsgfh 16th December 2016, 02:23 PM :o
You're going to smoke yourself?!:o
Anyone who's stood near me after a long cook might suggest that I already have :wink:
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 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!
Robson Valley 16th December 2016, 04:34 PM I have only run 17 different gas BBQ. At present, 5 of them are still alive. 3 are BBQ, 2 are grills.
A couple converted to charcoal as the gas guts were wrecked. Gotta love bolt cutters for renno.
I like to run apple wood smoke at 275F and little stuff cooks in 3 hours. Cornish Game hens, racks of ribs etc.
What are you thinking for temperature for hot smoke? Oats and ? ? ?
The biggest junker can hold half a dozen chickens or a haunch of pork.
I drive that with the burner out of my crab pot.
dsgfh 16th December 2016, 05:15 PM I have only run 17 different gas BBQ. At present, 5 of them are still alive. 3 are BBQ, 2 are grills.
A couple converted to charcoal as the gas guts were wrecked. Gotta love bolt cutters for renno.
I like to run apple wood smoke at 275F and little stuff cooks in 3 hours. Cornish Game hens, racks of ribs etc.
What are you thinking for temperature for hot smoke? Oats and ? ? ?
The biggest junker can hold half a dozen chickens or a haunch of pork.
I drive that with the burner out of my crab pot.
I tend to run 250F for brisket & ribs. 225F for pork butt, 325F for chicken so the skin doesn't go leathery. Cooler is better for sausage (say 150) since you don't really want to melt the fat out of them in the same way, but you can do them at 250-275 as well for eating straight out of the pit. Lamb ribs take 3.5 hrs. Pork & beef ribs if I wrap them take about 5, but unwrapped a couple of hours more. Brisket can be anything from 8 hours (only the once has that happened) to 16 if I don't wrap, on average 10 if I do, and butt can be a 16 hour cook on a decent sized piece.
Here's a few shots of the sort of thing I do in my smokey mountain (lamb ribs, beef ribs & brisket). This monster will let me fit more in at once, but also will let me use pure wood which I can't do with my current equipment. Mainly, it'll give me a reason to sit around, drink beer & tend to the fire.
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dsgfh 27th December 2016, 09:20 AM So I promised some pictures as I put the smoker to work. it's really been too hot for cold smoking over the last couple of weeks, not that I've had any time with Christmas upon us. Still, I finally got some fish into the smokehouse for a test run. Ocean trout, cured for a couple of days, then smoked over cherry wood for 6 hours. It sat right on 90F the whole time, which was borderline, but the nights just haven't gotten cold here in Melbourne this week.
The end result? AMAZING! This is without question the best cured fish I've had this side of a specialist NYC deli. The cherry wood is just brilliant, and the ocean trout really creamy. I'm still keen to get sausages in, but it was worth the build for this alone. Because you get a clean fire, there's none of the slightly acrid smoke you can get from smouldering wood/pellets in the usual cold-smoke apparatus. Next time I'll be making more for friends & family.
Post cure, pre-smoke.
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Post cook. It took a shelf in our fridge, but looks small in the smoker. I could fit dozens in here. Took on a nice colour from the smoke.
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Lunch
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dsgfh 2nd February 2017, 12:48 PM Another small run in the smokehouse for those interested. Just shy of 3kg of jagerwurst while I get a feel for how it behaves.405442405441405440
planning a significantly bigger cook in the near future with a few friends on board. As the wood's drying out from the heat it leaks a little, but that in no way affects the quality of the smoke. Highly recommended, although perhaps not quite so massive for the average home smoker. I could open a business with this.
cava 2nd February 2017, 07:53 PM So, when are the tastings. :D
dsgfh 13th February 2017, 08:52 PM So, when are the tastings. :D
Thinking I need to rent out rows every time I fire it up to maximise the return on burnt wood :-) BYO cured meats ready to be smoked? Group tastings afterwards.
The theme this weekend was variety. And bacon. Plenty of bacon
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Willy Nelson 13th February 2017, 11:58 PM Gee Whizz
Bloody Easterners! I could supply all the timber you need. What a shame you are in Melbourne, although I reckon I can smell the meat from here. Good thread, interesting read, loved it!
Willy
dsgfh 15th February 2017, 08:17 AM Gee Whizz
Bloody Easterners! I could supply all the timber you need. What a shame you are in Melbourne, although I reckon I can smell the meat from here. Good thread, interesting read, loved it!
Willy
I have a yard full of messmate for heat, but rely on family to keep me stocked in fruit wood. Eventually I'll have to move out to a bigger property given how we enjoy living.
This thing was easy enough to build over a weekend or two for anyone who loves to DIY food, and I'm figuring will work well for hanging salami & chorizo come winter
no_signal 19th February 2017, 12:18 PM Looks spectacular! When you cold smoke do you pump it in through the bottom? What is in the fire pit? And how do you know how much fruit wood vs. heat wood to use?
dsgfh 20th February 2017, 09:48 PM Looks spectacular! When you cold smoke do you pump it in through the bottom? What is in the fire pit? And how do you know how much fruit wood vs. heat wood to use?
Cheers :-) cold smoking just requires a small fire further away. I don't use a smoke generator as I've failed with them miserably in the past due to the thick, acrid smoke they can produce. I burn a small clean fire at a distance (hence the long tunnel), which lets the smoke cool before it gets to the main chamber. Lump charcoal works well, but so does kindling sized wood to get the fire going.
The fruit wood I just make sure there's always some in there. I've got a decent supply for the moment. I'm still experimenting with how much smoke to give things. 12 hour smoked bacon was delicious, but I could happily add more next time for my own tastes.
When using all wood, just choose a great wood that doesn't have a lot of flavour, or is tasty anyway. I'm using sugar gum which doesn't carry as much flavour itself.
Here's the firebox (fireblocks?) When doing a warm smoke. For a cold smoke I just move the fire further back
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