To smoke food at home, you will need a special device - a smokehouse. It can be bought in a completely ready-to-use form, but such equipment is quite expensive, especially for the cold method of processing food with smoke. An alternative option is to make your own smoking cabinet. This is what will be discussed later in this article.
Making a wooden smokehouse yourself
What is the best material to make a smoking cabinet from?
For a home-made smokehouse, any container made of environmentally friendly materials without a specific odor is suitable. Also, this container must be airtight and have the ability to be loaded from the side or from the top. The following items can be used at home:
- Large diameter iron pipes, barrels, cans. Not everyone has a pipe, and it’s expensive to buy, so the optimal solution is a smokehouse made from a 100–200 liter barrel. The larger the volume, the more spacious the smokehouse will be and the more convenient it is to load and remove food.
- From the refrigerator or gas stove. A less preferable option than a barrel, since it is somewhat more difficult to adapt this equipment. Refrigerated housings are often used for the manufacture of compact smokehouses, the housing of which contains all the elements: a smoke generator, a smoking chamber and a dryer.
- Metal cabinets (fireproof safes for weapons, tools or household supplies).
- Wooden smokehouse. Natural wood is an environmentally friendly and affordable material, from which it is quite simple to build a smoking chamber. It is somewhat inferior in practicality and durability to metal, but with proper processing this difference is minimized. When making a hot-processed cabinet, only hardwoods should be used - softwoods can give off a resinous taste.
- Capital building. A brick or stone structure will be relevant for those who plan to engage in smoking on an industrial scale or close to it in volume. It is important to remember that the brick inside the chamber cannot be left open. Over time, it will absorb moisture (condensation), which, together with combustion products, will give an unpleasant musty smell.
A ready-made VESTA-K smoking cabinet is sold at a price of about 56 thousand rubles.
For universal installation of cold and hot smoking, you can use wooden blocks or boards. Despite their simplicity, such smokehouses are quite functional for processing food with smoke at a given temperature, often cold.
The simplest smoking cabinet is made from wood
DIY assembly
Smoking cabinets designed for cold smoking are best made from high-quality wood. You should not use layered materials that will be treated with adhesive impregnation. Due to the use of wood, finished smoked meats will have a special aroma and taste. The ideal option would be alder, aspen, linden or any other hardwood.
Schemes and drawings
There is a huge selection of diagrams and drawings on the Internet for different design options. You can choose exactly the option that is ideal in a particular case, taking into account the operating conditions, the amount of products that will be smoked, and other things.
Required tools and materials
To speed up the assembly process, in addition to wood, you need to prepare other tools and materials.
- Hacksaw, hammer and nails;
- The bars that will be used to build the frame;
- Hinges, handle, bolt or bolt;
- Tow or special sealant;
- Roof material;
- Grids and hooks for food;
- Chimney pipe.
Frame
In order to make the body of the smoking cabinet, you need to fasten four long bars together. They are fastened from below and from above. In order to give the structure stability, several additional crossbars are made. In the future, grates with products will be installed on them.
The frame is sheathed with boards that fit together as closely as possible.
All joints are treated with sealant or tow.
Cabinet doors
The door must be large enough. It is installed in the front part of the structure. The width of the door can be the same as the width of the wall. It is made from boards that are joined as tightly as possible so that smoke does not escape through them. A handle and a latch are attached to the door. The entire perimeter of the door must be treated with a sealant. The ideal option would be exactly the same rubber band that is used on refrigerator doors.
Chimney
The chimney is made from an ordinary metal pipe with a sufficiently large diameter or from wood. The second option can only be used if the design will be used exclusively for cold smoking of products.
Installation of gratings
The grilles are installed last.
It is also necessary to install a tray, baking sheet or other metal container in the smoking cabinet into which fat from the processed products will drain.
At the very top of the smoking cabinet there may be several additional crossbars on which you can also hang food using hooks.
Drawings and diagrams for the cabinet
The figure shows a diagram of a low-temperature smokehouse suitable for installation in a private home, country house or countryside. It is not necessary to adhere to exact dimensions, but it is better not to make the length of the chimney less than two meters.
- Firebox.
- Woodchips.
- Chimney.
- Brickwork.
- Iron grate.
- Wooden or metal container.
- Semifinished.
- A leaky lid (in this case, burlap).
- Firebox door.
Walk-through smokehouse on a slope
- Source of smoke.
- Chimney.
- Smoking container.
For the hot smoking scheme given below, a metal case (cabinet or barrel) is suitable.
Drawing of an electric smoker
The second version of the smokehouse drawing with dimensions
A simple version of a smoking cabinet made from a metal barrel
Wooden frame with metal pallet
The simplest schematic drawing of a wooden clapboard smoking chamber
Where is the best location?
It is very important to find the right place for a stationary smoker: this is not a small, portable structure that can be stored at home or in the garage and taken out when needed.
When choosing a location, it is worth remembering that a large amount of smoke will come from the smokehouse, which should not enter the living quarters in the country house. In addition, harmful substances can harm trees and other green spaces. Therefore, choosing the ideal place on the leeward side will be quite difficult, and for each house it is purely individual. The resulting products can be stored in the cellar, as long as the room is dry and cool.
Smoke generator - buy or make
The price of an inexpensive smoke generator starts from 2500 rubles. More productive and reliable equipment will cost at least 5,000 rubles. You can save these funds by making a smoke generator yourself.
For assembly you will need:
- Boxes or a box with a capacity of at least 0.1 cubic meters.
- For cold processing, you need a metal hose or plastic corrugation (less preferable) 2–3 m long. The diameter must correspond to the chimney connector.
- A fan or compressor for pumping air.
- Cables, switch.
Assembling a simple smoke generator for cold smoke treatment:
Make a hole in the top of the box for the corrugation and insert it there.
Insert the corrugation into the hole
Place an electric oven with a frying pan at the bottom of the box.
Place the oven with a frying pan at the bottom
In the same box below, in the wall opposite the corrugation, make a hole for the fan.
We install a fan for supplying smoke, the version for a computer is suitable
To seal the container, glue all the joints of the box with masking or regular tape. Place wood chips in the pan and turn on the electric oven.
Smoldering wood chips will smoke in the pan
After the fan starts, the smoke will be supplied through a corrugated pipe into the smoking chamber.
Smoke generator in operation
Useful improvements
In order to make a wooden smokehouse more convenient to use, you can additionally make several more elements.
Drovnitsa
In order to store firewood next to the structure, it is enough to make a firewood shed. To do this, one of the sides of the roof is stretched and placed on special supports. Additionally, the place for firewood can be fenced off.
Temperature sensor with thermometer
With their help, you can easily control the smoke temperature and cook smoked meats, exactly following the chosen recipe.
Step-by-step manufacturing instructions
Since there are two types of smoking, let's consider designs for cold and hot methods.
Cold
Option with a smoke generator from a cardboard box (see assembly instructions above)
Build a cabinet from furniture panels. For low-temperature processing, you can use any type of wood and plywood; metal containers are also suitable.
We take any wooden cabinet or make it ourselves
Make a hole at the bottom and insert an adapter with a connected corrugation there. Place foil on the bottom.
At the bottom of the side wall we make a hole for supplying smoke
At the top, using a 12mm drill, drill several holes for smoke to escape and secure the hook.
We drill several holes with a diameter of 12 mm in the roof of the cabinet to allow smoke to escape.
Connect the smoke generator to the cabinet.
We connect the cardboard smoke generator to the smoking cabinet with a corrugated foil pipe
Smoking will begin after the lumber is heated and the fan is turned on.
We heat up the wood chips and turn on the fan - smoking has begun.
Hot
Since the temperature inside the smoking chamber will be up to 150 degrees, it is better to use metal for its manufacture. It is not advisable to use coniferous wood - when heated, the resin evaporates, permeating the food with the smell. It is also not recommended to make it from plywood or MDF. These materials are glued using formaldehyde glue, which will evaporate and partially penetrate into the smoked meats.
Option for apartment
All this idyll is possible in a country house or in a country house. But those who don’t have a summer house or don’t have time to go out into nature shouldn’t despair. For this case, there is a special Hanhi smoking electric cabinet. With its help you can smoke meat, mushrooms, fish, cheese, vegetables using the cold smoking method.
The stainless steel from which it is made makes it safe for cooking any food. For convenience, there are hooks and gratings inside; through the transparent door it is easy to control the entire process. Such a wardrobe for a city apartment is simply a godsend. At any time you can please your loved ones and guests with delicious original dishes, do it quickly and efficiently.
In the video below you will find a detailed description of how to make a smoking cabinet with a smoke generator with your own hands.
Universal smoking chamber made of clapboard
The following will provide instructions for making a cabinet suitable for both hot and cold smoking.
We make the frame from planed bars with a section of 40x40. Vertical length - 140 cm; horizontal (internal size) - 60 cm. We connect the corners with self-tapping screws. The height of the legs is 30 cm.
We make a groove in the front of the frame into which the door will be inserted (also from forty bars assembled into corners). We select the groove using a milling machine.
Inside, we nail foil onto all the walls, then sew it up with clapboard.
To nail the foil onto the back wall, we additionally screw bars to it.
We cover the door with foil, put insulation inside, then cover it with clapboard on both sides.
Window fittings can be used as handles.
We seal the door opening with a rubber seal.
At the bottom of the cabinet we drill two holes to connect the heating element.
In the side wall we mark a hole for the fan (diameter 100 mm) and cut it out with a jigsaw.
From above we drill a hole with a diameter of 50 mm for the exhaust pipe.
We insulate the outside with mineral wool (to the thickness of the timber), attach a hydraulic barrier and fill it with clapboard.
On the wall opposite the fan we mark a hole for the smoke generator.
We make a blank for the roof: four bars, sawn at 45 degrees. Each length is 65 cm.
We assemble the roof from blank bars
We assemble the roof into corners and cover the gables with clapboard.
We also put clapboard on top; one side can be made opening.
Result:
Ready-made smokehouse made of clapboard
Recommended types of wood for smokehouses
Only those rocks that have an extremely low resin content are suitable for building a house:
- cedar,
- alder,
- birch,
- oak,
- Linden,
- aspen.
Cedar is suitable for a wooden smokehouse.
When choosing materials, you need to pay attention to the size and number of knots, since when heated they will fall out, which will compromise the integrity of the chamber.
The following wood shapes are commonly used:
- planed boards;
- bars of different sections;
- plywood with a thickness of at least 8 mm;
- lining;
- block house.
It is prohibited to use layered boards saturated with adhesive compositions - chipboard, OSB, MDF. When heated, they will release toxic substances that are hazardous to health. Moisture and high temperatures will cause the fabrics to delaminate.
Wood needs to be pre-impregnated with an antiseptic; compositions such as Pirilax, Pinotex, Senezh Ecobio are suitable. To speed up the work, you need to arm yourself with a screwdriver and a jigsaw; you will also need a tape measure and a building level.
Preparation of raw materials
When smoking, the temperature does not rise to such a level as to kill all putrefactive microorganisms in the products, so the raw materials are pre-prepared. The most common methods are dry salting or soaking in a concentrated salt solution. The fish must be gutted, washed, and covered with plenty of salt. After 2-3 days, the salt is removed and soaked for 1-2 days. After this, the raw materials should weather and dry. For smoking at a temperature of 20-30°C, 2-3 days are enough. The thicker the flesh of the fish, the more time is required for each operation.
Lard, cut into pieces 10-15 cm, is poured with a solution of salt and spices. The concentration is checked with a raw egg - it should not sink. The lard is kept in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, dried and smoked for 1-2 days at a temperature of about 30°C.
Meat and poultry have a denser texture. They are salted for 5-20 days in the refrigerator under pressure, then ventilated in a draft. Smoked for at least 3 days. Meat and fish must be thoroughly dried or cured before smoking. If moisture remains in the pulp, smoke will not be able to penetrate the thickness of the product, which will cause a sour or bitter taste.
Electronic generator using spare parts from a TV
Most cold smoking enthusiasts believe that the easiest way to make an electrostatic smoker with your own hands is from a TV scanner. Indeed, old transistor televisions used a frame scanning board. In modern TVs, its functions are performed by several chips and keys, so getting hold of such a board will not be easy, and the device will cost a lot.
In fact, the use of a board is not very suitable for such utilitarian purposes; it is important not only to obtain an electrostatic field for the smokehouse, but also to control its power. Otherwise, the smokehouse will work like a Russian stove, so most often a separate circuit is made, which uses only a high-voltage transformer
You can assemble an electrostatic smokehouse with your own hands from an ignition coil from an internal combustion engine of a car. There is not much difference, but if in the previous case the maximum potential of the electrostatic field in the smokehouse is only 20 kV, then in a system with an ignition coil the total is 40 kV.
The currents are very small; if the insulation is broken, the trans from the TV can noticeably hit your hands, while the impact of a high-voltage generator on a coil from a Lada car will be equal in strength to the discharge of a powerful stun gun, as in the video
Therefore, if you plan to build a small smokehouse, then it is best to make its electronic part using a TDS17 transformer.
How to use it correctly?
Before placing food in the smoking unit, it is worth preparing them. If you take fish for smoking, it should be gutted and soaked in brine, for which you take a glass of salt per 4 kg of fish. Horse mackerel or mackerel is rubbed with salt and wrapped in cling film, pressed on top with a lid and kept for two days. The fish is then dried for two hours, cooled and placed on a smoking rack. The fish is smoked for one to three hours depending on its size.
To prepare delicious juicy meat, the product should be pre-salted. If the pieces of meat are large, they should first be boiled and then placed in the device. The same method is used when smoking homemade sausage. The meat is simmered in the device for 2–6 hours. To reduce the cooking time of meat, you can rub it fresh with salt. Any product should be simmered until it is completely cooked, since repeated treatment with smoke makes the food inedible.
The ambassador of products can be as follows:
- dry;
- wet;
- mixed.
With the dry method, the shelf life of the product can be extended to two weeks. In order to get juicy and tender meat, you should use a wet or mixed cooking method.
