For the Jack of All Trades: Making a Cold Smoking Smokehouse Yourself
You are viewing the section Cold smoked, located in the large section Smokehouse.
Using cold smoking technology, you can reliably preserve meat and fish, dry vegetables and fruits, and preserve the taste of products.
Cold smoking is different from hot smoking longer food processing time, the need to use smoke, the quality of the finished delicacies. When cold smoking The products can be stored for several months.
You can assemble a smokehouse for cold smoking at your dacha with your own hands and, if you follow the production technology, you will be able to create delicacies no worse than those in the store.
Content
Cold smoking smokehouses with smoke generator, drawings with dimensions
The cold smoking smokehouse (CS) has its own characteristics that distinguish it from other devices:
Photo 1. Drawing of a cold smoking smokehouse made of metal. The dimensions of all elements are indicated.
- The smokehouse and smoke generator are located at some distance from the chamber itself. Usually the fire is located at a distance 5-10 meters from the smokehouse, depending on the size of the chamber, the required smoke temperature and the temperature in the oven or fire used.
- The presence of a sealed pipe between the smokehouse and the smoke generator, through which smoke passes.
- The need to ensure filtration of combustion products.
Photo 2. Drawing and computer reconstruction of a smoke generator for a cold smoking smokehouse.
The simplest cold device circuit looks like this:
- Fire or stove, located below the smokehouse, divided into a section with coal (firebox) and a section with smoldering sawdust and twigs that produce smoke. Smoke generator It is lined with fireproof bricks or filled with temperature-resistant concrete; a small brick structure or metal box can be placed on top to prevent smoke from escaping.
- As chimney pipes Any suitable metal or fire-resistant plastic pipe is used. This can be simply a trench covered with metal sheets or roofing felt and sprinkled with earth to seal the smoke.
- Smoking chamber (smoke cabinet) with a hole at the bottom where smoke passes, with a grate or hooks for placing meat or fish preparations. The element can be covered from above with a metal lid, roofing felt or thick material.
Important! The size of the smokehouse depends on the tasks and the expected volumes of products. The device should be larger than a hot smokehouse for home use, since there is no point in smoking 2-3 small fish or pieces of meat for 3-5 days. A standard smokehouse should hold 5-10 kg of blanks.
How to make a device with your own hands
The main stages of production:
- preparing a diagram — planning the dimensions, functional characteristics and additional features of the device;
- selection of materials and tools;
- direct manufacturing;
- assembly;
- installation in the required place, laying the pipe, installing the stove.
Scheme
To make a cold smoking smokehouse at home from scratch, you need to prepare work plan and execute detailed diagram of the device, which will include:
Photo 3. Scheme of a cold smoking smokehouse with a smoke generator. The parts of the structure are indicated, as well as the flows of cold and hot air during cooking.
- sawdust stove or smoke generator;
- smokehouse;
- additional elements (handles, collapsible sections, additional covers, hooks, tiles, grates, tabletops, awnings).
Reference. The tiers of gratings should be at least at a distance 15 cm from each other. The distance from the smoke generator to the smokehouse should be on average from 3 to 5 meters.
Materials
It is well suited as a material ordinary or stainless steel up to 3 mm thick, you can use a ready-made metal box or barrel. Metal mesh or reinforcement can serve as additional materials. They are necessary for creating grates and hooks on which the meat is hung.
For the fireplace and for laying the chimney pipe you can use brick, brick fragments, cobblestone, stone, pebble, which are coated with a clay mixture.
You should not choose materials that contain lead, aluminum, galvanized steel and other impurities - when heated, they emit substances harmful to humans, which can spoil food.
Attention! If you plan to paint the smokehouse from the outside, you need to choose heat resistant paints, which do not produce harmful fumes when heated.
Preparation
To create a cold smokehouse, you will need a design, which can be drawn by hand. The following tools are required:
- Bulgarian;
- welding machine;
- carpenter's angle;
- meter and tape measure;
- hammer;
- grinding machine;
- pliers;
- drill.
Materials required:
- metal sheets;
- pieces of thin reinforcement or metal mesh for gratings;
- bolts and nuts made of heat-resistant alloys;
- bricks or other materials for the stove;
- metal stove pipe for chimney.
Important! To create a seal, it is necessary to perform high-quality welding of the inner and outer sides of the smokehouse chamber; using rivets or bolts and nuts is ineffective here.
How to build a stove and chimney
To create a stove you need:
- dig a hole or choose a natural depression on the site;
- lay out a fire pit in the pit with a hole for smoke exhaust;
- in the hearth you can equip an area for storing coals and sawdust or simply set up a fire pit and smoke using oak, walnut, fruit tree and juniper twigs;
- the hearth must be on top cover with a metal sheet or equip a lid for it, you can make a small superstructure with a hatch and a thermometer for closer monitoring of combustion.
To create a chimney you need:
- dig a trench from the fire to the smokehouse, length from 4 to 7 m, lay it with bricks, cover it with metal sheets or roofing felt on top, sprinkle with earth;
- lead a trench to the opening under the smoking chamber and the side opening of the firebox.
Reference. Instead of a trench, you can organize adit or conduct air chimney from a metal pipe.
Step by step creation of a smokehouse
The smokehouse must be airtight, for this it is recommended use welding.
In order to create devices, you must follow the instructions:
- Cut from prepared metal using a grinder or other tool four segments of equal sizes by length and width.
- Fasten the first two segments together by welding.
- Weld the remaining two walls together.
- Weld the internal seams to ensure the tightness of the device.
- Make the bottom - it must have an opening and fastenings for connecting the chimney.
- Make the lid from a sheet of metal, which is on 10-15 cm exceeds the surface of the upper wall of the smokehouse, this is necessary in order to bend the lid on each side, weld it and ensure tightness. The lid can have holes for rigid attachment to the smokehouse, as well as a handle for carrying. The lid can be made flat or in the shape of a house.
- Perform a lattice from reinforcement, place on the inner walls of the device, weld hooks under the grate for installing a grease tray.
- The smokehouse is installed above the chimney opening. On brick pillars or metal legs, under the grill or meat hooks, there is a felt filter that traps combustion products.
Photos of finished projects
Photo 4. A small cold smoking smokehouse with a smoke generator, made of stainless steel.
Photo 5. Cold smoking smokehouse made from a metal barrel. The firebox is located at a distance and is connected to the smoking chamber by a chimney.
Photo 6. Wooden cold smoking smokehouse. The smoke cabinet is made of wood, the foundation is made of foam blocks, the oven is made of bricks.
Potential Problems with a Homemade Smokehouse
The smoking process can take two weeks, so the structure must be provided with constant flow of smokeIt is necessary to provide the ability to quickly kindle and add sawdust, maintaining a constant temperature in the firebox And no smoke leaks from any segment of the structure. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in spoilage of products, their rotting. But if everything is done correctly, you will be able to enjoy smoked delicacies all year round.
Useful video
Watch an interesting video that demonstrates in slide show form the production of a digitally controlled cold smoking smokehouse.
A cold smokehouse is a necessary thing, but it requires attention
The creation of a cold smoking device requires a large amount of time, the presence of a detailed diagram and high-quality execution, which includes laying a trench and pipe, as well as welding metal parts. It is worth considering that the device is most needed in the case when there is a need for constant preparation of smoked meats for future use. Otherwise, it is better to get by with a barbecue with a hot smokehouse, this will allow you to treat yourself to smoky delicacies in a shorter time.
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