Building a smoker

[trey r]

Man when did this forum begin. I haven't been on here for awhile, been really busy. Anything interesting happen in the past few weeks?

Anyway I'm going to build a smoker. I have a 4' x 6' trailer that was given to me. That's about all I have right now. Not sure if I should make it just wood burning or LP. I am looking for a large propane tank to make the cooker out of. I am looking for ideas or any helpful info from others. I've never built one or cooked on one.

[weber]

With that avatar I though you were saying

"Building a Stroker"

[scottsacavsfan]

Put the fire box towards the back of the trailer so when its cleaning time you can lift it by the touge and all the ashes can fall out.
Other then that there is no bad design give it plenty of air and a tight seal and eveything will be fine

[duckman373]

DO NOT USE AN LP TANK!!!!! Use an old fuel oil tank. A guy in Siler City tried using an old LP tank, they're still looking for some of the pieces. LP can embed in the metal, even if you wash it out with water, when you go to cut it, first spark makes a big boom. Not good eats

[smokin68]

One thing I'll say....when you pipe the smoke box into the smoker, run the pipe across entire length like a duct, so smoke is evenly distributed,with a few cut-outs, instead of just piped in one side.

[Whale4]

You can use a LP tank you just need to be safe and fill it with water and dish soap and let it sit over night and repeat 2 more times. DO NOT use a fuel oil tank as you will never burn off all residue in the tank and the last think you want to do is make somebody sick from your food. Aother Great choice instead of a LP tank is a Air Compressor tank. You need to know what you want (Offset, offset reverse flow ect...) when cutting your doors out of the tank dont do it all at once so you dont warp the steel, cut the majority of it but leave the corners uncut and 2 spots in the middle on the top and bottom. and plan ahead so you dont have to do it twice if you want pics or have questions feel free to e mail me or go here: http://www.barbecuenews.com/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=3

[jpw23]

Man when did this forum begin. I haven't been on here for awhile, been really busy. Anything interesting happen in the past few weeks?

Anyway I'm going to build a smoker. I have a 4' x 6' trailer that was given to me. That's about all I have right now. Not sure if I should make it just wood burning or LP. I am looking for a large propane tank to make the cooker out of. I am looking for ideas or any helpful info from others. I've never built one or cooked on one.

check here http://www.bbq-brethren.com

[jpw23]

Could you hook your vac.pump up to an lp tank and let it draw for a day or two and be safe?

[scottsacavsfan]

Could you hook your vac.pump up to an lp tank and let it draw for a day or two and be safe?

I dont think my vac pump is safe for explosive gasses and I never ran a pump for more then 8 hours so I dont know.
I can say that after about 2 hours the pump is very hot to the touch.

[Green Mountain]

. stupid computer.

[Green Mountain]

Funny I just got back from a customer that makes smoked cheese commercially. Now I'll be hungry all morning.
http://www.mountainmozzarella.com/

What he does is uses cold smoke so the cheese don't melt. He uses a little box and sucks cold air from his W/I cooler through a 4" duct. The duct and in line fan is attached to a box with an electric heater in it. This keeps the maple chips smoldering. The cold smoke then goes into a chamber over the cheese and then vents to the atmosphere.

I just came back from giving him a price to expand his operation.

[spotts]

You guys get all the good cheese. Only cheese made here is Queso Mexican Cheeze.

That stuff that melts real nice and white and not as rubbery as mozzerella.

[Fixerdude]

My dad used to cut gas tanks to fit in his stock cars. He would fill them with water and keep the hose running in them while cutting with a sawzall and turning the tank as needed. It displaces the oxygen and keeps the tank cool.

[duckman373]

You can use a LP tank you just need to be safe and fill it with water and dish soap and let it sit over night and repeat 2 more times. DO NOT use a fuel oil tank as you will never burn off all residue in the tank and the last think you want to do is make somebody sick from your food. Aother Great choice instead of a LP tank is a Air Compressor tank. You need to know what you want (Offset, offset reverse flow ect...) when cutting your doors out of the tank dont do it all at once so you dont warp the steel, cut the majority of it but leave the corners uncut and 2 spots in the middle on the top and bottom. and plan ahead so you dont have to do it twice if you want pics or have questions feel free to e mail me or go here: http://www.barbecuenews.com/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=3

Talk to the local LP company first and get their take on it. I feel confident they'll disagree with the water procedure. Lp tanks are round anyway which reduces cooking surface. use an oval oil tank(new if you prefer). We made one out of a used oil tank and had no effect on taste or health.

[razorback]

Since we're talking smokers, I have a question about mine. It's a barrel type with a firebox on the left end and a smoke stack on the top right end. I can't get an even temp across the barrel. The right end might be as much as 20-30F cooler. I've thought about moving the stack so it comes out the bottom right end. Thinking that it would force the smoke and heat across the meat before it leaves the stack. Any thoughts?

[smokin68]

Since we're talking smokers, I have a question about mine. It's a barrel type with a firebox on the left end and a smoke stack on the top right end. I can't get an even temp across the barrel. The right end might be as much as 20-30F cooler. I've thought about moving the stack so it comes out the bottom right end. Thinking that it would force the smoke and heat across the meat before it leaves the stack. Any thoughts?

See my first post....

[jpw23]

Since we're talking smokers, I have a question about mine. It's a barrel type with a firebox on the left end and a smoke stack on the top right end. I can't get an even temp across the barrel. The right end might be as much as 20-30F cooler. I've thought about moving the stack so it comes out the bottom right end. Thinking that it would force the smoke and heat across the meat before it leaves the stack. Any thoughts?

Bring your stack down to grate level, and fab up a deflector or baffle at the opening to the fire box to force the heat to run further into the chamber, always run the cooker with the stack wide open and throttle the fire with the intake vents.

[razorback]

Bring your stack down to grate level, and fab up a deflector or baffle at the opening to the fire box to force the heat to run further into the chamber, always run the cooker with the stack wide open and throttle the fire with the intake vents.

Thanks, I'll move the stack. But don't you get more smoke flavor if you keep the stack mostly closed?

[jpw23]

Thanks, I'll move the stack. But don't you get more smoke flavor if you keep the stack mostly closed?

You'll over smoke and maybe creosote your meat....you just want to see thin blue smoke....very light! If you see thick, white or grey smoke....you gots trouble!

[scottsacavsfan]

You know......... Some pictures would go a long way here