How to make your own smokehouse from whatever you have on hand: pressure cookers, foil, pipes
Factory-made smokehouses are convenient and practical, but those who only cook smoked meats occasionally can get by with homemade devices from available means.
Making your own smokehouse doesn't take much time and will help save money for purchase.
How to make a hot smoking smokehouse from improvised means in camping conditions
You can make smoking devices from the following items:
- from a bucket;
- from a saucepan or pressure cooker;
- from a flask;
- from an iron pipe;
- from foil.
In field conditions, parts of the main body of the smokehouse can be assembled without the use of metal — from stones, branches and leaves, and a ditch dug in the soil will serve as part of the chimney.
When choosing material For a homemade smokehouse, it is important to pay attention to the following points:
- on thickness gland;
- on tightness;
- for availability non-metallic parts.
Iron that is too thin will easily deform from temperature, and the large thickness of the smokehouse walls will make it bulky and heavy. The optimal thickness of the material is 1.5–2.5 mm.
Attention! When using a saucepan, pressure cooker or steel pipe as the body of the smoker, it is important to ensure that there is no dirt in the bottom or on the sides. there were no plastic or wooden parts, which, when heated, can release substances harmful to food products.
From foil
A homemade device for smoking meat or fish in foil can be built both at home and in camping conditions. For the smoker will be required:
- foil metal food;
- wire for a frame with a cross-section of 1.5–2.5 mm;
- knife;
- smoking shavings from willow or alder.
In field conditions, instead of shavings, you can use leaves and thin branches of fruit trees, but in no case not coniferous, as their resinous smoke will spoil the product.
The procedure for making a smokehouse from foil:
- Unwind from the roll 60–70 cm foil.
- Bend a piece of foil to the size 20 centimeters into the middle of the cut piece of the roll.
- Place chopped smoking wood between the bent parts.
- Fold the edges of the resulting envelope from 4 sides and cut off the ends of the corners to create holes for the smoke to escape diameter 0.5-1 cm.
- In the center of the envelope with shavings make small depression to drain fat, bending the cut corners upwards.
- Place pieces of fish or meat into the cavity, having previously treated them with spices.
- Cover the envelope with the products with the remaining piece of foil, tightly sealing the edgesso that the smoke does not escape in vain.
- The resulting structure is placed on the coals, products smoke for 25-40 minutes.
In a foil smokehouse, there is no chimney to cool the smoke, so the food cooks quickly.
To avoid holes at the bottom of the envelope, you can use 2-3 layers thin foil. Sometimes the smokehouse is placed on a wire frame, on a small elevation above the coals. To do this, the wire is bent into two rectangles, connecting them together with perpendicular vertical pieces of wire. equal length (4–5 cm).
Carefully! When handling the shavings envelope, it is important to ensure that its lower part, which is in contact with the heat source, is not damaged, otherwise the shavings may spontaneously ignite.
Placing a foil envelope on the frame will help regulate the heat of the chips and prevent damage to the bottom of the envelope.
Photo
Photo instructions for making a smokehouse from foil.
Photo 1. You can make a smokehouse from foil and branches right in the wild, in camping conditions.
Photo 2. The structure of branches folded into a lattice shape is carefully wrapped in the first layer of foil.
Photo 3. The almost finished smokehouse with pieces of fish is wrapped in a second layer of foil. Wood shavings are placed underneath.
Photo 4. After this, the resulting bundle can be placed on the fire or coals.
From the flask
A smokehouse made from a flask is used by lone fishermen or summer residents in the open air. The flask acts as as a smoke generator, and if it is large with a wide neck, it can replace the entire body of the device.
The smoker will need:
- flask made of aluminum or stainless steel;
- wooden forks for the frame;
- steel wire;
- pliers.
The product will be smoked with the help of open method, therefore, a smokehouse made from a flask is not suitable for use in closed spaces.
Manufacturing is carried out in the following order:
- It is installed over the fire frame of 4 slings.
- They are laid on the frame horizontal crossbars above.
- To the crossbars is suspended a flask with its neck up on a wire.
- A frame made of wire or planed sticks is installed on the crossbar.
- On the frame the products are being packed.
Smoking with a flask can take a while. up to 60 minutes. The advantage of this method is that there is no need to collect dripping fat, as well as ease of installation. The smoking shavings are poured into the bottom of the flask in advance. layer 1.5–2 cm.
Important! Cooking smoked meats using a flask design requires absence of strong wind, otherwise the smoke will dissipate and will not heat the food.
If the flask has a wide neck (from 5 cm in diameter), 1-2 small fish can be hung on a wire, lowered directly into the flask.
From the bucket
A bucket smokehouse allows you to quickly prepare smoked meats for several people. For such a device you will need:
- bucket with a solid bottom;
- lattice from wire;
- bowl for collecting fat;
- stand for the grease collector.
Any kind of stand can be used non-flammable materials - wire, thick steel tape, tall nuts, identical stones, etc. The grease collector bowl should be made of porcelain, enameled iron or aluminum, but not plastic.
The manufacturing process includes the following steps:
- To the bottom of the bucket fall asleep smoking shavings.
- Place the grease catcher stand so that it rises above the layer of shavings. height 1.5–3 cm.
- Above to fix wire grid for products to the edges of the bucket at a distance 5-10 cm from the top, depending on the height of the bucket and the amount of products to be smoked.
- Lay out On the top grid, place the meat or fish closer to the center so that the fat does not drip over the edges of the fat collecting bowl.
- Cover with a lid And put on the coals. Smoking time is 30-50 minutes.
Photo 5. Turning a bucket into an improvised smokehouse. All that's left is to install a grease collector and you can start smoking.
You can install such a device in an apartment only if there is a hermetically sealed lid with a smoke exhaust. This type of smokehouse is designed for open spaces.
Reference. The edges of the grease collector should not fit tightly against the bucket so that smoke can circulate freely in the body of the device.
From an iron pipe
A durable device can be made from a pipe, intended for both cold, and for hot smokedTo make a smokehouse you will need:
- pipe iron diameter 15–30 cm;
- plug for the bottom;
- welding machine and electrodes;
- pliers;
- mesh of wires for products;
- stand for grease collector;
- bowl for the grease collector.
The plug must match the diameter of the pipe and have thickness 1.5–2.5 mm. At a high working chamber height (from 30 cm) the grease collector is made from a metal container, to the center of the bottom of which a vertical handle is welded for ease of cleaning.
Manufacturing procedure:
- Weld bottom to pipe.
- Install the stand for the grease collector.
- Fall asleep smoking shavings.
- Weld handle to the fat bowl.
- Install a grease trap on a stand at a small height above the shavings.
- Pin it at the top of the pipe grid for products.
If the pipe diameter is small, it is better to hang the products on hooks on the upper grid, rather than laying them on it. If the height of the meat or fish is from the grease collector up to 0.5 meters hot smoking will take place, more than 0.8 meters - cold.
By using a high chimney, you can combine different smoking methods by changing the height at which you hang your food.
As an additional element of the smokehouse, a tray for collecting fat with handles extending to the top of the pipe can be installed on the bottom of the working chamber. The handle can be welded in the center or located in the form of 3-4 wire bundles in a circle. Such a tray will allow you to clean the high smokehouse from processed shavings without turning it over.
From the pan
A smokehouse made from an enamel or aluminum pan will allow you to prepare hot-smoked products. To create the device, you will need:
- pot;
- wire frame;
- pliers;
- plate for collecting fat;
- stand for the plate.
The pan should not have plastic handles, as they may melt if the body is heated for a long time.
The manufacturing procedure is carried out as follows:
- On the bottom of the pan falls asleep smoking wood.
- It is installed on top supply for a grease collector 2–3 cm high.
- It is placed on a stand plate for fat so that its edges are not pressed tightly against the walls of the pan.
- On height 5-10 cm A mesh for food is suspended from the upper edges on a wire.
- The products and the pot are placed on the grid. close the lid and place it on the coals.
Important. It is possible to use the pan indoors if you install a water seal around the perimeter of its upper edge. diameter 1-1.5 cm in the form of a semicircular groove.
A trough for a water lock can be made from a steel tube sawn lengthwise and bent in a circle, which is welded to the edges of the pan with the open part up. Then water is poured into the trough and the lid is lowered. Smoke passed through the water lock will not poison the room.
Photo 6. To make the pan look like a smokehouse, you need to install a grate for the grease collector and prepare a place for the products.
From the pressure cooker
To make a smokehouse from a pressure cooker, you will need the following materials:
- pressure cooker with lid;
- wire for the grid;
- plate for collecting fat;
- thick metal tape width 2–3 cm;
- pliers;
- short iron gland;
- rubber tube for smoke exhaust.
Manufacturing process:
- The valve is removed from the lid of the pressure cooker.
- On the bottom of the pressure cooker fits in metal curved into a ring ribbon - it will serve as a stand for the grease collector.
- Into the space between the ring at the bottom falls asleep smoking shavings.
- To the food rack are fastened vertically legs in a circle of wire for installation on the bottom of the pressure cooker, since the body will have a sealed lid.
- In the lid to the hole for steam outlet in place of the removed valve the seal is soldered with a hole 0.5 cm.
- It is screwed onto the seal smoke exhaust hose, the end of which goes out the window or is attached to the hood.
Photo 8. You can also use a smokehouse made from a pressure cooker at home if you install a long smoke exhaust.
A smokehouse of this design can be installed in an apartment on gas; it is possible to attach a thermometer to the lid to regulate the operating temperature.
When using a pressure cooker smoker, it is important not to allow the wood chips to overheat, as with the lid tightly closed, the wood may smoulder and release soot.
Important! Ring for stand should not close close enough so as not to obstruct the circulation of smoke from the center of the ring beyond the edges of the grease collector.
Pros and cons of DIY smokehouses
Homemade smoking devices will help you cook meat, chicken or fish in an hour or an hour and a half, including the time spent on creating the smokehouse. Simplicity of design and the abundance of possible materials for production allow you to assemble a smokehouse without much experience.
When creating homemade smokehouses, it is important to take into account safety requirements, preventing spontaneous combustion of shavings and monitoring the entire process of preparing smoked meats.
Useful video
Watch the video, which clearly demonstrates how easy and quick it is to make a smokehouse from a saucepan.
Comments
The smell of smoke in the room was almost imperceptible. But about half an hour later, when the smoking process was in full swing, a neighbor from the upper floor came running to find out what was burning.
It turns out that for some reason all the smoke was coming out of the ventilation hole into the kitchen of his apartment.