Is there a place on the internet that shows complete plans for a smokehouse? Surely someone has put a complete drawing online that doesn't have to be ordered by mail.

-- Red Neck (Secesh@CSA.com), November 13, 2001

Answers

All you need is a metal storage shed no larger than 10x10 on a raised platform about 4 ft up. Set up a woodstove on the ground with the flue into the shed at floor level on one side of the storage shed and have an exit flue at high level on the opposite wall. Rack or hang your meat inside and keep a smokey hickory fire going in the stove.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 13, 2001.

Oh My G__ ! thats the best idea I've heard yet. Jay, I love ya. Now I know how I'll be smokin' this winter!!! Woo hoo!

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), November 14, 2001.

That is a great idea Jay. I wish I had enough meat, etc. to smoke in a shed. Right now I use one of those $30 tube-shaped smokers/grills. I have great success and it is big enough to hold several chickens at a time. That is more than enough for our needs.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 14, 2001.

I wish I could take credit for it, but it was the setup that the old fella that smoked all our country hams down here used 30 years ago.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

Take a look at (uh oh forgot how to make a link)

http://www.velvitoil.com/index.html

They have some great information and recipes.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

Ok...I have a dumb question....We just recently replaced our old (came over on the ark) stove that was not really safe to be in the house, but would be fine to have outside. Could I attach that to a part of the barn that has a lean-to like thing on the back that is small enough to do that with? Then another thing....do you cook the meat first or is that smoking enough to cook it? That sounds so neat! I have always wanted to do our hams and bacon instead of having to hire it done! Thanks ya'll!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), November 14, 2001.

Duh! I betcha that you cook it afterwards like bacon huh?

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), November 14, 2001.

We have a smoker that I built out of cheap plywood. 36''high, 24'wide and 24' deep. Shelves of old fridge racks. Small 1 burner hotplate on bottom with frypan with wood chips in. Smoke for 6 hrs. We smoke dozens of rainbow trout in it each winter. Also chicken parts, smoked salt, bacon and venison are smoked this way by our neighbors. Tomas in b.c.

-- tomas (bakerzee@hotmail.com), November 14, 2001.

Nan, you don't have to cook it afterwards. Like a smoked chicken that gets to the correct poultry safety temp. during smoking is just plain done and ready to eat. I have smoked a deer haunch for 3-4 hours and finished it in the oven. It was too cold to maintain the correct heat in my little set-up.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 15, 2001.

Thanks Anne, and thanks for not making me feel goofy for asking:~)!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), November 15, 2001.

As I understand it, there are two different smoking processes - called "cold smoking" and "hot smoking". In hot smoking the meat is cooked as well. In cold smoking it isn't, and still needs cooking to be safe. In any case, even re-cooking hot-smoked meat won't harm it, and can add a safety factor.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 15, 2001.

I made a meat smoker out of a dead refrigerator that had the old time porcelian interior. Removed all the metal racks and bolted notched supports to the walls. Cut rods from hickory saplings to hang the meat from. Cut a hole in the top and ran a large dampered stovepipe through the shed roof for an exhaust. I use an old yard sale hotplate under a yard sale frying pan full of dampened sawdust for generating smoke. Shut the door on the hotplate cord - the door gasket prevents damage to the cord. Drill a hole in the side near the top to insert a long stemmed dial thermometer. I salvaged an oven control off of an electric range and mounted the control on the side of the smoker with the sensor bulb going through a hole in the side. I put a house recepticle (controled by the oven control) on the outside to plug the hotplate into. Plug a nightlight into the spare outlet so you can tell when the hotplate is on without opening the door. It will maintain the temp in a range as low as 90 degrees up to higher than I want it for smoking. I like the compact size of this smoker, it doesn't tie up a dedicated building, and it's easy to control. Now if I can figure out an automatic smoke generator so I don't have to replentish the sawdust so often. By the way - a friend tried using fresh cut hickory sawdust in his similar smoker and it imparted a very bitter taste into the meat. Now we use last years sawdust.

Another friend has an old grade B dairy cooler in his barn that I've been promised. It is much larger, well insulated and has a gasketed door. The galvanized interior worries me a little, but I don't think the heat level would be high enough to creat a problem. I think I could run the smoker without any meat the first time or two. The interior gets a nice dark mahogony colored coating after a short time.

By the way - I got the idea for this smoker out of a book. We all stand on each others shoulders.

-- Paul (hoyt@egyptian.net), November 17, 2001.