Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?
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Wow, reminds me of growing up in Mammoth Lakes on Lake Mary. Mom and Dad used a old refrigerator that was broken to smoke trout. Hot plate with a #10 tin with chips, load the racks and plug it in. It became a hit with the guest at the lodge, they loved having their fish smoked to eat and take home. Every Wednesday, was pot Luck day, those guest who wanted fixed their favorite main course dish , my parents supplied the salads.
Smoked trout was a big crowd favorite, everyone contributed their catch, we kept the smoker going 24/7.
Great memory, you need another smoker for sure!
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I have built a few electric smokers over the years, but have not done any recently.
My old upright freezer died a couple of weeks ago, and it has the makings of a pretty decent meat smoker, I think.
It is insulated of course, and has a metal interior. The door shelving is plastic and would need to go. That could be replaced with sheet metal.I don’t really NEED another meat smoker, but I have a hard time resisting the urge to hack.
I put it up to the community for a vote: Thumbs up: meat smoker. Thumbs down: landfill.
I reserve ultimate veto power. lol
processhead I vote for the step by step idea
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processhead
I vote for DIY dry curing chamber if you don’t already have one. If not that definitely smoker. Love the idea of a step-by-step tutorial of sorts.Surg said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead
I vote for DIY dry curing chamber if you don’t already have one. If not that definitely smoker. Love the idea of a step-by-step tutorial of sorts.I won’t rule out a dry curing chamber some day, but probably not on this cabinet. Stay tuned.
Paul
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Surg said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead
I vote for DIY dry curing chamber if you don’t already have one. If not that definitely smoker. Love the idea of a step-by-step tutorial of sorts.I won’t rule out a dry curing chamber some day, but probably not on this cabinet. Stay tuned.
processhead I’m looking for an old unit that works to build a dry curing chamber myself.
I’m thinking for that purpose, a frost free freezer would be best.
Any Thoughts?
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I’m with processhead a curing chamber / drying unit are harder to come by and w/ metal liner it would give you great service. Bet it has an air circulation fan already.
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processhead I’m looking for an old unit that works to build a dry curing chamber myself.
I’m thinking for that purpose, a frost free freezer would be best.
Any Thoughts?
Chef said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead I’m looking for an old unit that works to build a dry curing chamber myself.
I’m thinking for that purpose, a frost free freezer would be best.
Any Thoughts?
About all I know about dry curing chambers is that humidity control is critical and perhaps the hardest process to control properly.
If and when I ever attempt that project, I will have to go to school and do some research before I jump in. Or give advice on the subject. lolPaul
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Chef said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead I’m looking for an old unit that works to build a dry curing chamber myself.
I’m thinking for that purpose, a frost free freezer would be best.
Any Thoughts?
About all I know about dry curing chambers is that humidity control is critical and perhaps the hardest process to control properly.
If and when I ever attempt that project, I will have to go to school and do some research before I jump in. Or give advice on the subject. lolprocesshead
Agree. I’ve watched a few videos on it and read some posts but definitely not at the point where I would trust letting something sit to cure long term in something I built without having a better grasp of the concepts involved. They make it look pretty plug and play with the inkbird humidity and temperature controllers but still not there yet. I have a ton to learn about fresh and short cured products first. -
have you thought about a dry curing cabinet
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I have built a few electric smokers over the years, but have not done any recently.
My old upright freezer died a couple of weeks ago, and it has the makings of a pretty decent meat smoker, I think.
It is insulated of course, and has a metal interior. The door shelving is plastic and would need to go. That could be replaced with sheet metal.I don’t really NEED another meat smoker, but I have a hard time resisting the urge to hack.
I put it up to the community for a vote: Thumbs up: meat smoker. Thumbs down: landfill.
I reserve ultimate veto power. lol
processhead smoker for sure! And I think you need to document and show the progress here on Meatgistics! Maybe you will inspire some of us to try tackling a homebuilt electic smoker with PID controller!
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processhead
Agree. I’ve watched a few videos on it and read some posts but definitely not at the point where I would trust letting something sit to cure long term in something I built without having a better grasp of the concepts involved. They make it look pretty plug and play with the inkbird humidity and temperature controllers but still not there yet. I have a ton to learn about fresh and short cured products first.Surg The accuracy of humidity and temperature was a concern to me, but then I think that for several hundreds of years, people were successful without a control at all. Even long curing’s like Prosciutto which can take as long as 3 years were successful in Spain and Italy starting around 100 BC.
I figure if they could do it, I should be able to do it.
I’m just trying to get the circulation requirements to maintain the humidity in range.
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Surg The accuracy of humidity and temperature was a concern to me, but then I think that for several hundreds of years, people were successful without a control at all. Even long curing’s like Prosciutto which can take as long as 3 years were successful in Spain and Italy starting around 100 BC.
I figure if they could do it, I should be able to do it.
I’m just trying to get the circulation requirements to maintain the humidity in range.
Chef
Great point. Maybe I will start keeping an eye out for used frost free fridges again. Alway love a good project.
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Surg The accuracy of humidity and temperature was a concern to me, but then I think that for several hundreds of years, people were successful without a control at all. Even long curing’s like Prosciutto which can take as long as 3 years were successful in Spain and Italy starting around 100 BC.
I figure if they could do it, I should be able to do it.
I’m just trying to get the circulation requirements to maintain the humidity in range.
Chef said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
Surg The accuracy of humidity and temperature was a concern to me, but then I think that for several hundreds of years, people were successful without a control at all. Even long curing’s like Prosciutto which can take as long as 3 years were successful in Spain and Italy starting around 100 BC.
I figure if they could do it, I should be able to do it.
I’m just trying to get the circulation requirements to maintain the humidity in range.
As I understand it, some local and regional climates were naturally conducive to dry curing and so the process flourished from a very early time.
In other parts of the world, some have learned to manipulate the environment to make dry curing possible.
I think we, or me anyway, are in the latter category.Paul
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Chef said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
Surg The accuracy of humidity and temperature was a concern to me, but then I think that for several hundreds of years, people were successful without a control at all. Even long curing’s like Prosciutto which can take as long as 3 years were successful in Spain and Italy starting around 100 BC.
I figure if they could do it, I should be able to do it.
I’m just trying to get the circulation requirements to maintain the humidity in range.
As I understand it, some local and regional climates were naturally conducive to dry curing and so the process flourished from a very early time.
In other parts of the world, some have learned to manipulate the environment to make dry curing possible.
I think we, or me anyway, are in the latter category.processhead Chef Surg I picked up a reach in coolers from a business closing down to transform in a curing chamber. I have air circulation, temperature control only working on humidity control. Life has gotten a bit in the way recently so it has been on the backed burner. I have done some reading and some recommend having two set up as the curing process moves along; you can change the environment of the product. This allows you to move the product into to a less humid environment as it matures. Allowing you to continue the curing environment in the first cabinet.
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You got to do it. It’s just to cool of an idea to not do
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A smoker-build thread seems to have a lot of interest so I will go ahead with it.
Disclaimer, this is for information purposes. If you don’t have the skills or tools to work with electricity and power tools, consider just buying a smoker or getting help from someone who has the skills.I started reviewing different heat sources last night. On other builds I have used 1000 watt single burner hot plate elements and they generally work pretty well with smaller cabinets. On my large smoker build I used a 2400 watt electric oven element .
From past experience in dealing with various sizes of smoker cabinets, I have a general idea how much heat capacity (watts) is needed to work well for smoking. The key general point to know is that the larger the box, the more heating capacity (watts) will be needed to get the contents up to temperature and hold it there.
Another consideration on heating elements is what voltage they operate on. Electric hot plates work on 120 volts which is convenient for a portable smoker that might be used outdoors. My large Kid Killer smoker has a 240 volt oven element but it stays in the basement and is hard wired to a dedicated breaker.
For convenience, with this build, I think I will want it to operate on 120 volts so it can be plugged into any outlet. Since this freezer is a pretty big one, I think it will work better with more heat capacity than a single 1000 watt burner can provide. I am leaning towards using a double burner hot plate that has a 1000 watt and a 750 watt element for a total of 1750 watts.
[link text]https://www.[link removed]/gp/product/B06XV275X1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1(link url)
Paul
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A smoker-build thread seems to have a lot of interest so I will go ahead with it.
Disclaimer, this is for information purposes. If you don’t have the skills or tools to work with electricity and power tools, consider just buying a smoker or getting help from someone who has the skills.I started reviewing different heat sources last night. On other builds I have used 1000 watt single burner hot plate elements and they generally work pretty well with smaller cabinets. On my large smoker build I used a 2400 watt electric oven element .
From past experience in dealing with various sizes of smoker cabinets, I have a general idea how much heat capacity (watts) is needed to work well for smoking. The key general point to know is that the larger the box, the more heating capacity (watts) will be needed to get the contents up to temperature and hold it there.
Another consideration on heating elements is what voltage they operate on. Electric hot plates work on 120 volts which is convenient for a portable smoker that might be used outdoors. My large Kid Killer smoker has a 240 volt oven element but it stays in the basement and is hard wired to a dedicated breaker.
For convenience, with this build, I think I will want it to operate on 120 volts so it can be plugged into any outlet. Since this freezer is a pretty big one, I think it will work better with more heat capacity than a single 1000 watt burner can provide. I am leaning towards using a double burner hot plate that has a 1000 watt and a 750 watt element for a total of 1750 watts.
[link text]https://www.[link removed]/gp/product/B06XV275X1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1(link url)
processhead Hope you’ll take us all along on the build. Could learn alot watching you build it from scratch.
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