Do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse. Video, photo, recommendations

For the cold smoke treatment procedure, it is important that the smoking temperature does not exceed thirty degrees. That is why in the design of the smokehouse it is necessary to provide for some distance from the source of smoke to the products. This is the main distinguishing feature of cold smoked appliances. How is a do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse made? Video, photo examples and recommendations of experts in this material.

The home cold smoker will provide the table with delicious natural products

For processing products with smoke, devices are divided according to several criteria.

By appointment:

• household;
• professional.

By design features:

• mobile (mobile);
• stationary.

By type of product processing:

• for cold smoke;
• for hot smoke.

For your information! In the process of hot smoke treatment, the products become usable rather quickly. It takes forty minutes to cook fish and about two hours for meat.

Products cooked in a hot way have a short shelf life, while when processed with cold smoke, the shelf life increases several times.

Where is the best place to put a smokehouse

A garden plot or a suburban home ownership area is the best place to equip a smokehouse. This arrangement solves several problems at once:

• the smokehouse can be installed in any place convenient for maintenance;
• there is no problem with the removal of the chimney;
• outdoor smoking is a pleasant and exciting activity that can be combined with relaxation.

A little about ready-made smoking devices

Devices for smoking products can be purchased at specialized outlets.

When buying a finished smokehouse, you should provide:

• the volume of the container for placing products;
• the presence of ventilation holes and the tightness of the shutter;
• the presence of a pallet.

Finished appliances can be stationary, in which case it will be necessary to install a long pipe when installing the smokehouse, in which the smoke will be cooled to the temperature required for smoking. Moreover, this pipe must be located so that the thrust is sufficient to promote the air flow.

Note! It is acceptable to use galvanized or stainless steel, but in no case should plastic or asbestos pipes be used. Even with minimal heating, they will release toxic substances that will inevitably get into the smoked products.

Mobile, mobile smokehouses do not need to install a stationary chimney. For periodic use, it will be enough to dig an inclined trench.

Helpful advice! For a do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse, you can equip a simple smoke generator from an iron flask.

Related article:

A detailed step-by-step guide to assembling a simple device with visual drawings in a special publication of our portal.

Cold smoking at home: smokehouse design and drawings

You can find a ready-made factory device for sale or make it yourself. This occupation is quite fascinating and no factory smokehouse can be compared with a home-made unit, which provides for all the nuances, up to the features of the site on which it is located.

Important points in the design of a cold smoked device:

• the smoke in the smoking chamber should not heat up above three tens of degrees;
• it is necessary to provide good traction for high-quality smoke;
• the length of the chimney is provided at about five meters, plus or minus one and a half meters;
• for high-quality cooling, a collector or fan can be provided.

Do-it-yourself drawings of a homemade cold-smoked smokehouse:

How to make a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands - we analyze the algorithm

The device for processing products with smoke seems rather complicated, but it will not be difficult to make it yourself.

How to make a cold smoked oil lamp, algorithm:

• To organize smoking, you will need: a barrel, an iron mesh and a grate, a piece of tin, fasteners and a bag made of natural material.
• It is important to carefully study the drawings before work and choose the best option for the area of ​​​​the site. It is impossible to change the location of the components of the unit at will, this can nullify all efforts.
• To equip the firebox, a shallow, about fifty centimeters, pit is dug. Its bottom is lined with tin. Metal will ensure uniform combustion.
• For the chimney, a ditch is dug no more than thirty centimeters wide and about four to five meters long. This trench is covered with flat slate or metal and covered with earth. If the smokehouse is intended for frequent and permanent use, you can lay out a trench with bricks. The main thing in this part of the device is tightness, which will not allow smoke to go away in vain.
• A barrel without a bottom is installed at the exit of the trenches. A metal mesh is fixed at the bottom of the container and a piece of burlap is laid out. This will be the simplest soot filtering device. From time to time, the burlap is shaken out or washed.
• Fasteners for fixing products are installed inside the barrel. Fish and meat can be hung on hooks or laid out on grates, as it suits you. The top of the barrel is covered with a wet, breathable cloth.

Do-it-yourself cold-smoked smoker: video and photo examples

Before you start work, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with examples of smoking devices on video, photos. A do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse is sometimes made of brick, stone or wood.

For your information! Brick is considered not the best material for smokehouses, as it actively absorbs smoke, and after cooling, moisture from the atmosphere. As a result, mold can form in the chamber, which will hopelessly spoil the taste of the products.

The simplest smokehouses can be made even in field conditions. Fishermen and hunters on long trips use simple devices made from improvised materials.

The following video describes in detail the manufacturing process of the device.

Homemade cold-smoked smokehouse from a barrel (video)

• For smoking, sawdust of all hardwoods is used, each type will give the product a special aroma and taste.
• To make do-it-yourself chips for smoking, the tree is cleaned of bark. Some tree species contain a lot of resin in the bark, which gives the product a bitter taste.
• So that the chips in the smokehouse do not burn, but slowly smolder, it is covered with sawdust and leaves.
• Large pieces of wood are not used for smoking. They are pre-burned to obtain coals, on which sawdust and shavings are poured.

• Experienced masters of cold smoking advise to regulate the smoke not with a wet cloth, but with green branches of shrubs. This is a more time-consuming process, but the result will exceed expectations.
• For a unique flavor, the bottom of the smokehouse can be laid with a currant leaf and horseradish leaves.

conclusions

A home device for cold smoking products will not only provide the table with delicious and natural products, but will also bring great pleasure from the cooking process itself.

For the manufacture of the device, you can study and use numerous photos, videos. A do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse is not a daunting project that will certainly have a successful result.

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The process of smoking products allows you to increase their shelf life, as well as give them a unique taste. That is why many site owners install smokehouses. If you want to make such a design yourself, and not buy a finished product, you should carefully study the features of different types of smokehouses and make your own drawing. Before carrying out work, it is important to carefully study the structure of such systems and draw up a drawing. It is also worth looking at the photos, which show various types of similar structures.

Features of smoking

After people began to smoke products, it was noticed that they could remain unspoiled for a long time. This made it possible to take such products on the road without worrying about being left without food. Currently, smoking usually occurs to give a specific taste.

Smokehouses of different types practically do not differ from each other, since they have the same parts of the structure:

• hearth;
• smoking chamber;
• a device needed to collect fat.

The smoking chamber must be airtight, otherwise the smoke will penetrate into the cracks and smoking will drag on for a longer time. Hot smoking involves the presence of products in the smoke above the fire. In this case, meat or fish acquires a pleasant taste, but cannot be stored for a long time. During cold smoking, smoke from the hearth enters the smokehouse through a long chimney, in which it cools to a temperature of 40 degrees. After smoking, meat or fish can be stored even without a refrigerator for a long time.

If a cold-smoked smokehouse is created on the site with your own hands, you should make sure that it does not cause smoke in the living quarters or on the neighbors' plot.

Cold smoking

You should not rush during smoking, because if the process is not completed, the resulting products can be poisoned. On average, products are smoked for 5-7 days. In some cases, it lasts for several weeks.

Important! It is important to choose the right sawdust for smoking. Softwood sawdust and aspen shavings should not be used.

For cold smoking is usually used:

• alder;
• maple;
• juniper.

You can also use birch.

Before using a smokehouse, you should learn about the features of cold smoking:

1. If foods have been smoked properly, they can be stored for up to a year without refrigeration.
2. Smoked products are devoid of harmful properties.
3. The cold smoking process requires careful preparation. For example, meat preparation can be done within 5 days. In this case, smoking itself can take about 3 days.
4. Creating a design for cold smoking is quite easy. However, this can be done using various materials.

To learn more about the process, it is worth watching a video on how to create a cold smoker, created by yourself, as well as how to use it correctly. In addition, you should see photos of various smokehouses to learn more about the cooking process.

Do-it-yourself smokehouse

A do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse is created quite simply even in the absence of experience. During construction, it is worth remembering that the hearth must be installed away from the storage room. Most often, for this, a pit breaks out at the end of the site, in which a hearth is equipped. It is connected to the smoking chamber by a chimney. It is worth noting that the hearth does not need to be completely lined with bricks, it is enough to make brick walls.

For the chimney, it is necessary to dig a trench, the width of which is 0.5 m, and the depth is about 0.3 m. After creating the trench, its bottom and walls must be laid out with bricks. From above, it is closed with slate or a metal sheet. After carrying out such work from above, the chimney is covered with soil.

In the absence of bricks, a chimney can be laid in a trench. At the top of the hearth is a damper. This structural element is made of metal. The place where the chimney is connected to the smoking chamber must be sealed. Clay is often used for this. Some site owners use a potbelly stove and install a smoking chamber above the level at which the chimney is located. Such a home smokehouse does not require spending a lot of money.

Creating a chamber for smoking from a barrel

A simple smokehouse can be crafted from a barrel. To do this, cut off the cover and make a hole for the chimney. But before fixing the barrel, it should be thoroughly cleaned of any contaminants. The barrel can be installed on bricks or concrete blocks. It is important to install this product securely so that it cannot fall off during use due to strong gusts of wind.

From the lid of the barrel, you can create a pallet, necessary for collecting fat. It is installed at a small distance from the bottom and its diameter must be smaller than the diameter of the barrel so that the smoke can freely pass up.

It is also worth creating a grate on which smoking will take place. You can also fix on the top of the barrel trim fittings, on which hooks for products will be fixed.

The lattice can be made of wicker or thin wire. If multiple grids are placed, they must be spaced at least 15 cm apart. If they are created from willow twigs, the cells should be fixed with wire.

To fix the pallet, you need to weld the rods inside the barrel so that they form a cross in the center, it is on it that the pallet will be placed. With this arrangement, it can be easily removed for cleaning.

To fix the gratings, it is enough to weld the hinges to the walls. The lid of the smoking chamber must be made of hardwood. During smoking, you can throw a jute bag over the barrel. But before that, it must be moistened with water. If a cover is made of wood, several holes must be made in it.

Also, a do-it-yourself smokehouse for hot smoking can be created from a barrel.

Brick smoking chamber

A chamber for the preparation of smoked products can be built of brick. Such a structure should be created only if you are a frequent smoker and have a lot of experience. Otherwise, a rarely used structure will be located on the site, by the appearance of which it will not be possible to determine its purpose.

Before carrying out work, it is important to carefully prepare so that the design is durable and functional. During preparation, it is important to correctly determine the location of the smoking chamber and hearth.

Since a brick building is created for a long time, it is necessary to choose a place for it more carefully. First you need to find a place on the site, which will be removed from the house. This is justified by the fact that during the operation of the smokehouse a large amount of smoke appears, which can penetrate into the living rooms. It is also important to remember that smoke can damage green spaces. That is why it is better to have a smokehouse in an open area, and not among garden trees.

In addition, it is worth taking care of acquiring quality materials. The better the quality of the purchased brick. The longer the building will last. At the stage of preparation for construction, a drawing with dimensions should be created, in which all structural elements will be displayed. This will help to avoid many mistakes during construction.

The creation of a brick building takes place in several stages:

1. Foundation creation. After determining the place where the smoking chamber will be located. The topsoil is removed and a sand cushion is created. After that, the reinforcement is laid and the wooden formwork is created. The height of the foundation for the smokehouse can be about 15 cm. After the formwork is fixed, the concrete solution is poured. Brick laying should be carried out only after the composition has completely solidified.
2. Bricklaying. During the construction of a brick structure, reinforcement should be installed in advance, on which a pan for collecting fat will be fixed. Also, during the construction of the walls, it is necessary to fix the gratings or fastenings for them, if the gratings are removable. It is possible to use a brick structure only after the bonding mortar has completely solidified.
3. Creating a lid. If the smokehouse is small, you can make a wooden lid with holes. If the brick structure is large, you can remove the chimney. Most often, tin products are used for this (as in the photo). Some site owners create a brick chimney or make the top of the structure look like a roof.

Before construction, it is necessary to think about how exactly the products will be placed in the chamber. If it is small, you can get the grates through the top by opening the lid. If the brick structure has a height of more than one and a half meters, it is worth creating a metal door in one of the walls.

Before you build the described structure, you should view the drawings of such buildings.

Sheet iron smoking chamber

To make a smokehouse from the specified material, parts of a metal sheet are cut out and connected by welding into a cube. In this case, one side of the cube should remain open (as in the photo).

Before creating such a design, it is necessary to draw up a drawing and determine the optimal dimensions of all elements of the smokehouse. It is also important to securely fasten the metal pipe that will be connected from the hearth.

After welding the box, it is necessary to fix the fasteners for the pallet and gratings. At the same time, you need to make them reliable, otherwise the grates may fall under their own weight during smoking. It is important to make a smokehouse for cold smoking with your own hands according to a pre-created drawing. Otherwise, the design may turn out to be unreliable and inefficient.

How to smoke products correctly

During smoking, you must follow a few simple rules:

1. Monitor the temperature in the smoking chamber. If it is above 50 degrees, it is worth extending the chimney, which will reduce the temperature.
2. It is best to carry out smoking in good weather, when there is no strong wind and precipitation.
3. It is worth starting the smoking process in the morning, and in the evening it is worth preparing food.
4. Any smoker should have a drip pan installed. If this is not done, fat will accumulate at the bottom of the chamber or even penetrate into the focus.
5. During smoking, do not often open the lid to determine the degree of readiness of the products. This will increase the smoking time.
6. After smoking, the products must be cooled and dried. This happens within a few days.
7. To make the dishes even tastier, you can add various aromatic additives to the wood mixture.
8. For smoking it is necessary to use sawdust of hardwood only. If this rule is not observed, the products may be bitter.
9. The chips used must be dry, as damp wood burns for a longer time.

Smokehouse from an old refrigerator

Many site owners, instead of building a smokehouse out of bricks or a metal barrel, create it from an old refrigerator. This is convenient, because after smoking, you can easily collect food by opening the refrigerator door.

When creating as in the photo, you can use an old gas cylinder to make a firebox. Work on creating a smokehouse occurs as follows:

1. First you need to turn the refrigerator over and remove the compressor from it.
2. After that, you need to make a hole in the bottom of the chamber for connecting the pipe. To do this, it is enough to drill a lot of holes around the circumference. If the draft is weak, you can connect a fan that will draw smoke from the firebox and send it to the refrigerator.
3. After that, several holes are drilled in the inner lining of the refrigerator from above to let the smoke out. A hole for the pipe is cut in the outer casing.
4. After fixing the pipe, it is necessary to install the resulting structure higher and connect it to the firebox.
5. After checking the reliability of all connections, you can start the smoking process, having previously installed a container for collecting fat in the lower part of the refrigerator. After that, it remains to light the firebox, close the refrigerator door and wait for the food to be cooked.

If you create a cold-smoked smokehouse with your own hands from the refrigerator, it is important to check the reliability of the connection between the door and the body so that it does not open during cooking.

Smoking in a cold smoker

Before smoking it is necessary to prepare a saturated salt solution. This requires 38 grams of salt per liter of water. In the absence of scales, you can prepare a solution as follows: while stirring salt in water, you must stop at the moment when the salt stops dissolving. This will indicate that the solution is sufficiently saturated.

After that, you can start pickling bookmarks. If you are going to smoke small fish, salting should be done within 4 days. The same time is necessary for salting a young pig. If game is immersed in the solution, it must be kept for about 5 days.

After salting, it is necessary to soak the products. This process can take from one hour to a day. Pork ham, for example, should be soaked for 12 hours. The average fish is soaked for about 6 hours.

It should be remembered that soaking can not be carried out more than the prescribed period. To do this, you need to constantly check them. As soon as the product becomes easy to squeeze when pressed with a finger, it is worth stopping soaking.

To prepare for smoking, you need to dry all the workpieces with a waffle towel. After that, you can hang them in the smoking chamber and kindle sawdust in the hearth.

If you are going to smoke products yourself, you should consider some useful recommendations:

1. For the work of the smokehouse, it is worth using garden trees.
2. Large firewood should only be used for charcoal.
3. To get good smoke, you need to shut off after the coals appear, it is worth shutting off the pipe valve. As a result, sawdust begins to smolder, which contributes to the appearance of smoke.
4. Large pieces have to be smoked for a longer time. The main requirement for smoking is a constant supply of smoke. To maintain the smoking temperature, sawdust will have to be constantly added to the pan.
5. If you smoke food for too long, it can spoil the taste.
6. Some experts recommend boiling lard or meat in water with spices before smoking.

Having correctly built a smokehouse and following these rules, you can independently learn how to smoke products correctly, even if you have not had such experience before. Before cooking, you should consult with people who have extensive experience working with smokehouses. This will help you avoid common mistakes and make your products taste better.

You can also use the forgotten secrets of smoking. For example, in order for the product to have a special taste and have a more pleasant aroma after cooking, many people follow some tips:

1. You can regulate the smoke circulation not with wet burlap, but with freshly cut branches of trees and shrubs. Most often, currants, raspberries and cherries are used for this. Do not use branches of lilac, pine and birch, as they are strong-smelling. At the same time, they secrete essential oils and sweet juice, which is why cooked foods will not be suitable for consumption.
2. The thickness of the layer of branches should be about 30 cm if smoking takes place within 3 days.
3. To give meat or fish a special flavor, you can lay currant and horseradish leaves on the chimney.

Using these tips, you can cook to make smoked foods more delicious. If you decide to build a smokehouse on the site, you should make sure that the smoke from it does not interfere with the neighbors.

If you are not ready to spend time creating the described design, you can purchase a smokehouse with a smoke generator.

Sometimes you want to try something delicious. One has only to look at the bright advertising photos of various smoked meats, as the appetite is instantly played out. It would seem that it is easier - you just have to go to the store and everything seems to be there. But no one knows what quality the products will come across, how they were prepared and what kind of seasonings were added there. Therefore, more and more people are trying to join clean food and organize a cold-smoked smokehouse.

Process features

As a result of home-smoking, products have a wonderful aroma and taste. They are quite different from those sold in stores. But also the home process has its own subtleties, secrets and nuances.

In the past, mankind smoked food because of its ability to persist for a long time. Smoked foods may not spoil for weeks, months, and some properly prepared even for years. Ancient man was able to afford to stock up for long journeys or to survive the hungry season.

Modern people smoke products, mainly to give them a unique, delicate taste. "Smoky" as they say.

Smoking is of two types:

• Hotter.
• Cold.

Smokehouses for each type of smoking use the same principle, but there is a significant difference. The integral attributes of any smokehouse are a hearth with firewood, an airtight smoking chamber with hooks and a device for collecting fat. Fat always accumulates as a result of the smoking process. A prerequisite for any type of smoking is that open fire should not fall on cooked pieces of food. The temperature of the smoke for cold smoking must be maintained within the range of thirty-two to thirty-five degrees Celsius. During hot smoking, the temperature of the smoke must be very high.

Basic principles

The secret of the correct cold process is not in the heat treatment of the product, but in the uniform fumigation of the cooled and carbon monoxide-free smoke.

Only when these important conditions are met, smoked meat acquires the correct appearance and the necessary subtle taste qualities.

With proper smoking, it is necessary to ensure that carbon monoxide, together with elements harmful to humans, settles in the chimney, not reaching the smoking chamber. Therefore, the smokehouse is located at a distance of several meters from the fire. Smoke, mixing with air and making a long way through the pipe, to the end of the way, according to the composition, it is suitable for product processing.

When the smoke passes through the chamber with products, it must linger there for a while so that they can soak.

Food preparation

An important point in cooking is the preparation of future "sweets". If you just hang fish or meat, then instead of cooking, you can only spoil the food.

The list of necessary actions that you need to perform before cold smoking with your own hands:

A little about firewood

Firewood must be carefully selected, since each type of wood has its own flavor. Not all trees can be used for smoking.

The following varieties are excellent:

• Plum branches.
• Cherry with the condition that without bark.
• Pear or apple wood.
• Dogwood or apricot.

Lovers of astringent taste heat with elm or beech, oak or walnut firewood.

When fish caught in muddy lakes are smoked, they use willow twigs, willow or willow.

In the most extreme cases, in the conditions of a hike or if firewood from fruit trees is not available, then you can smoke on:

• Lipe.
• Poplar.
• Aspen or alder.

It is strongly not recommended to use coniferous trees and those affected by various diseases: fungus and others. Moreover, all trees within a radius of fifty meters from an infected specimen are considered infected, since even a slight breath of wind spreads the pores of the fungus.

How to make a cold smoked smokehouse is of interest to many craftsmen. The figure shows cold smoking at home. The design of the smokehouse begins with a fireplace or with a chamber where the prepared tree burns. Through the chimney channel, the cooled and purified smoke enters the smokehouse with the products.

For the construction of a smokehouse, a plot of up to four meters is usually used. It is best if there is an opportunity to use a small slope. In this case, it is easy to achieve the correct angle of inclination of the chimney.

First stage

First, two holes are dug with a distance of three meters between them. The pits are connected by a shallow trench. A chimney should fit in it, which is a pipe with a diameter of one hundred and fifty to two hundred millimeters and a length of about three meters. The distance between the pits should be thirty centimeters shorter than the length of the pipe.

If there is no suitable pipe, then the chimney is laid out of red brick.

The oven should be lower than the smokehouse itself. The pit for the stove is usually fifty centimeters wide and seventy centimeters long.

The difference in height between the smokehouse and the stove is fifty to sixty centimeters. The pit for the foundation of the smokehouse has a square section with a side of sixty centimeters.

The depth of both holes should be equal to several bayonets from the location of the chimney pipe.

Foundation pouring

After the holes are dug, a pipe is laid in a long trench, and concrete is poured into the dug holes. For the stove, the floor level should be ten centimeters below the level of the pipe, and in the smokehouse a little below the chimney outlet.

When the concrete hardens, a firebox is built on it in the first pit. A layer of non-greasy clay mortar is applied to the foundation. A refractory brick is laid flat on top of the perimeter. The firebox walls are assembled from brick and clay.

The size of the firebox is adjusted to its door. Ideally, the door should be made of cast iron. After installing the door, the roof is constructed. It can be made either from a finished slab, or laid out from reinforcement covered with bricks.

After making the stove, they assemble a square base for a future smokehouse measuring fifty by fifty centimeters. Masonry is made of ordinary red brick with fixing on cement mortar.

When the solutions harden, a trial kindling is performed. If there are places where smoke passes, then they are smeared with clay or cement mortar..

Final stage

Then, a smokehouse frame with a base size of sixty by sixty centimeters is knocked together from wooden bars. The finished frame is sheathed with one layer of boards. A piece of metal pipe can serve as a chimney, which is fixed on the roof. Inside the house, bars with grooves for metal rods are sewn on the sides, on which meat and fish are hung.

On the first layer of wood, a lining assembled from coniferous wood is nailed. The lining is mounted horizontally. The door is assembled in exactly the same way. This design avoids unnecessary loss of warm smoke.

It is advisable to insert a thermometer into the door with the dial facing out. It will allow you to control the temperature inside the smokehouse.

The entire assembled house is mounted on a prepared brick foundation and, through the lower bars around the perimeter, is attached to the brick wall with dowels. The cracks are neatly and tightly smeared with a solution and after it dries, the wood is covered with a protective varnish. The roof of the smokehouse is protected with slate or corrugated board.

A metal tray is placed at the bottom of the smokehouse. It will collect grease and protect food if it is off the hook and falls down.

Thus, the question of how to make a cold smoked oil lamp has been resolved.

Smokehouse from the refrigerator

If desired, the smoking chamber is easy to assemble from improvised means. For example, a refrigerator.

Do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse from the refrigerator is done relatively quickly.

All slots of the refrigerator are sealed with adhesive tape and a pipe is connected to it, the second end of which is attached to the stove. And also the refrigerator is freed from all internal parts.

A hole is cut out on the top of the case for the release of smoke. Sometimes a small fan is also mounted there.

Grids are attached to the top of the refrigerator on which food can be placed.

A bowl is placed at the bottom of the refrigerator to collect dripping fat.

As a stove, you can use a potbelly stove or electric stove. Sawdust is laid out on the electric stove. When the sawdust begins to smoke, the tile turns off. Then it turns on again.

The length of the connecting pipe between the stove and the refrigerator-smokehouse is three to four meters.

On the first test run, it's best to prepare some food. This is required in order to determine the exact cooking time and the required amount of firewood to complete the entire process.

Various experiments with varieties of meat and fish begin to be carried out with the acquisition of a little experience.

Large pieces of meat or parts of a ham are smoked until cooked for three to four days at a smoke temperature of about thirty degrees. After smoking, the finished pieces are placed in a cool place for two weeks. Only after that, the products acquire all possible flavors.

To enhance the flavors, sawdust of fruit trees is added to the stove. Prior to this, the sawdust is soaked in cold water for ten minutes.

To maintain a stable temperature regime, a lot of sawdust or wood chips are used.

At the same time, firewood makes up about twenty percent of the entire wooden mass.

The production of smoking requires compliance with long-term technologies, endurance and patience. The reward for work is a pleasant aroma, delicate taste, elastic texture and long-term storage of products.

Make a smokehouse with your own hands, smoke fish or meat, try it and feel how delicious ordinary food can be after smoking!

Products in the process of smoking will receive an amazing aroma and taste, and this taste will not be much like the taste of smoked products bought in a store. However, first you need to understand the intricacies, and only then decide how to make a smokehouse with your own hands for hot and cold smoking.

We study the features of the smoking process

The man began to smoke food out of necessity. It has been observed that after smoking they can be stored and not deteriorate for a longer time. This allowed the ancient man to take part of the food with him in a smoked form, and not hope for good luck on hunting or fishing during long trips.

We smoke products at home mainly in order to give them a different, unique taste. To do this, you can use hot or cold smoking. And the smokehouses themselves are of two types. Their design is almost the same. It is necessary to equip a hearth, a chamber with hooks where the products will be hung and smoked, a device for collecting fat that will be released during the smoking process. The smoking chamber must be located in a hermetically sealed housing.

What is the difference between hot and cold smoking? After all, both processes involve the stay of products located in a limited space, in smoke from smoldering sawdust or shavings. The main difference lies in the distance separating the chamber in which the products are smoked from the hearth. For hot smoking, the temperature of the smoke should be high enough, for cold - 35 ° C. Mandatory requirement - smoking can not be carried out over an open fire.

Cold smoking

Cold smoking takes much longer than hot smoking. With this method, the products retain their appearance and acquire an amazing taste and aroma. The cold smoking process takes place at a temperature of approximately 30°C and lasts for several days. You should not rush, because at such a temperature the bacteria multiply well and, without completing the process, you risk getting severe poisoning instead of a tasty dish. Usually cold smoking lasts 5-7 days, but can last several weeks.

Important ! Particular attention should be paid to sawdust or wood chips that you will use. Forget about softwood sawdust, do not use aspen sawdust. The best choice would be:

• alder (you must first clear the bark, bitterness appears from it);
• juniper;
• bird cherry and birch (also should be cleaned of bark);
• maple;
• shavings and sawdust of fruit trees (cherry, apple, sea buckthorn).

Do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse

It should be remembered that the hearth must be arranged away from the cold smoking chamber. A good option would be a dug hole in the far corner of the site; you cannot use the natural elevation difference. A hearth is equipped in the pit, which should be connected to the chamber with a chimney. In the hearth, you do not need to lay out a place for a fire with bricks, it is enough to overlay the walls of the hearth.

Very important ! The length of the chimney is usually made 2.5-3.0 meters. To do this, it is enough to dig a trench no more than 0.5 meters wide and 0.25-0.3 meters deep, lay out the walls and bottom with bricks fastened with clay mortar, close it with a sheet of metal or slate on top, sprinkle with earth. Instead of a brick chimney, a chimney can be laid in a trench. Provide a damper at the top of the hearth to regulate the air flow, the intensity of combustion and the removal of excess smoke. The damper can be cut from sheet metal. Make the junction of the chimney and the chamber (diameter 200 mm required) airtight using improvised means. You can use the same clay solution. The chimney has been built.

Another solution could be to install a potbelly stove, a chimney flue and a smoking chamber above the level of the chimney lining.

We make a chamber for cold smoking from a barrel

A simple do-it-yourself smokehouse is easiest to make from a barrel. You need a barrel of 100-200 liters. The top cover is cut off, the barrel must be cleaned and washed before use. A hole for the chimney is cut into the bottom of the barrel. The barrel will be mounted on bricks or blocks, so there will be no problems with their articulation. From a cut lid or other improvised material, a tray is made to collect fat, which will flow out of the products during smoking. The pan diameter must be smaller than the drum diameter to allow smoke to pass through.

We need to make at least one grate on which products will be smoked. This is one of the options for placing products during smoking. Or fix the trimmings of the reinforcement at the top of the barrel. We will hook hooks on the reinforcement, and products on the hooks.

We make the lattice from improvised materials. It can be wicker rods that are woven into the shape of the desired size. It is desirable to fix the cells with a thin wire. You can use a thin wire and weave a lattice from it, and make a rim from a thicker wire. To do this, a thick wire is wrapped around the barrel to determine the desired size, slightly compressed and the rim is fixed.

The grating is used alone or several gratings are installed at different levels. In this case, the distance between the gratings should be about 15 cm.

To install the pallet, pieces of reinforcement are welded to the walls of the barrel, which form a cross in the center of the barrel. Tip: provide a loop on the pallet, with which it can be easily removed for cleaning.

To attach the gratings, you can make loops and weld them to the walls of the barrel. Or screw self-tapping screws into the walls of the barrel.

The chamber cover is made from hardwood. It should not be massive and it should have several small holes for moisture to escape. You can limit yourself to a jute bag, which simply pounces on the barrel during smoking. Remember that the bag must be moistened with water.

We make a chamber for cold smoking from bricks

The smoking chamber can be made of bricks. This will be the best solution, but it makes sense to build such a chamber only when you are constantly smoking products and have achieved the necessary skill in this matter. Otherwise, a rarely used structure of an incomprehensible purpose will appear on your site.

A brick smoking chamber is equipped as well as a barrel. The bottom of a brick chamber can be made from a barrel lid or from improvised materials. For laying bricks, a sand-clay mortar is used.

We make a chamber for cold smoking from sheet iron

To make a chamber, a sheet of iron is cut, bent in the shape of a cube without one side (upper), the seams are welded.

A smoking chamber can be built from a variety of materials and items: a bucket (this is a small barrel), an old pressure cooker or a refrigerator.

Craftsmen even make it to speed up cold smoking. In such a smokehouse, the thermal effect of the electric heater on the chips forms smoke. The heating element is periodically turned off, which achieves the desired temperature of the smoke when it enters the smoking chamber. The smoke rises through the holes, passes through the grid of the BB-block and is positively charged. When entering the chamber, smoke interacts with products that are hung on hooks. The hooks are connected to the negative pole of the BB-block. Products attract positively charged smoke particles and these particles settle on them.

Do-it-yourself hot smoked smokehouse

Hot smoking takes much less time because the process takes place at smoke temperatures ranging from 50°C for meat to 120°C for fish. Reduce the temperature - increase the smoking time.

Schematically, such a smokehouse looks like this: a container with sawdust or shavings is installed over an open fire or on a source of high temperature (a heated oven). The temperature at which the sawdust will slowly smolder is important, and not the source of the fire itself. Smoke from sawdust penetrates into the smoking chamber where the products are placed. A tray is installed under the products to collect the fat released during smoking. Excess smoke is removed through the chimney or holes in the chamber cover.

We make a smokehouse for hot smoking from a barrel

The difference from a cold smoking chamber will be the need to equip a firebox. The furnace can be placed directly in the barrel:

• Several holes are cut in the bottom of the barrel through which the ash will be removed and which will serve as a blower for the firebox.
• At the bottom of the barrel, a piece of the wall is cut out, from which the firebox door is made. A piece measuring 200x300 mm will suffice. Hinges and a latch handle are welded to the door.
• About a third of the volume of the barrel is allocated for the firebox, the rest of the volume will be a smoking chamber. The furnace and the chamber are separated by a sheet of metal 4 mm thick. This sheet will serve as the bottom of the chamber. It is welded to the walls.
• A hole is cut in the bottom of the chamber for a chimney. The diameter of this pipe must match the diameter of the chimney at the top of the chamber. Do not get carried away with the length of the chimney; excessive draft in the furnace is not needed. The chimney is welded to the wall of the barrel.

For a more rational use of the volume of the barrel, the firebox can be placed directly under it. In this case, it is better to fold the firebox from refractory bricks, providing holes for laying sawdust and removing excess smoke. The barrel is installed on the firebox, and the vacated volume is used to accommodate additional grates.

Advice . For control, attach a mechanical thermometer with an external sensor to the barrel wall. Such a thermometer can save you from many mistakes while you gain experience. You can use the "grandfather" method and splash a few drops of water on the surface. If it doesn't hiss, there's nothing to worry about.

A mini-smoker can be easily equipped in an ordinary metal bucket. Sawdust and shavings are poured at the bottom of the bucket, a grate is installed on top. In the uppermost part of the bucket, holes are made in the walls for the rods. Hooks are hung on the rods. We get two options for placing products in a small volume. In the lid of such a "smoking chamber" it is imperative to provide holes for the exit of smoke. The bucket is put on fire. A large fire is not needed, sawdust should only smolder. As soon as the smoldering process begins, you can lay out and hang the products for smoking and close the lid. Smoking will take from 30 minutes to an hour.

Another option for a mini-smoker is a metal box with a perforated lid, which can be installed on a grill over burnt-out coals in the grill. We fried kebabs, sat down at the table and put the smokehouse on the grill. A good option for hiking or fishing.

Having understood the principle of operation of a smokehouse for hot smoking and after a series of experiments with a barrel, you can think of a more presentable design. You can weld a beautiful stainless steel smokehouse or lay it out of brick.

An excellent option for a summer residence would be to combine a smokehouse and a brazier on the same site and in the same volume.

Do-it-yourself smokehouse and barbecue made of bricks

The work will take time and effort, but it's worth it - the result will please for many years.

First, choose a suitable place on the site, remember about fire safety. For convenience, water and sewerage can be brought to this place. Develop a sketch of your design and be sure to draw up a laying drawing for each row of bricks. You will see, such a drawing will greatly facilitate your work.

You can do without a concrete mixer and mix the mortar manually, but small-scale mechanization will speed up the work several times. Prepare all the necessary materials and tools.

Work begins with clearing and planning the selected site and making the foundation. A brick smokehouse with a barbecue is already considered a capital structure and a strip foundation is indispensable. A wooden formwork is installed in the dug pit, which must be upholstered with roofing material. A layer of rubble stone is laid, covered with rubble and poured with mortar.

Important ! A day later, after the first layer has dried, the next one is done and so on. The number of layers depends on the size and weight of the structure.

The last layer is checked by level, leveled, waterproofed and left for several days until completely dry.

Instead of a rubble foundation, you can build a concrete one. Such a foundation needs to be reinforced.

For masonry, use red oven brick. Start by laying out the first row of bricks without using mortar. This will help you mark up and determine where to install the gratings.

Start laying by mixing sand-cement mortar with the addition of lime. The ratio is usual - 3:1:1. Water is added in volume so that the solution looks like thick sour cream. The second and subsequent rows are laid apart, bricklaying starts from the corners. Constantly check the horizontality of the laid out rows. The corners must be reinforced with wire laying.

To install the brazier, corners and fittings are installed between the walls of the furnace. The firebox must be made of heat-resistant metal or cast iron.

The grate is easier to install if several bricks are laid protruding into the structure.

A place for a firewood shed and various household appliances can be provided in the total volume of the structure.

The smokehouse is made of two volumes located one above the other. So you get a smokehouse for hot smoking. It is easy to convert it into a cold smoking smokehouse by placing a portable stove or hearth at the required distance and connecting it to the chamber with a chimney. So you can make a smokehouse with your own hands for hot and cold smoking.

The design style of the building and its decoration you choose to your liking.

These are far from all the ways to make a do-it-yourself smokehouse for hot and cold smoking. Among them there are very cheap (option with a bucket) and quite expensive (brazier smokehouse made of bricks). It's up to you, but in any case, there will always be a place for delicious smoked products on your table.

Each of us loves to eat delicious smoked meat, fish, fruits and other smoked meats. But not everyone thought that you can cook this or that delicacy at home (even in an apartment) or in your summer cottage.

Therefore, I suggest that you study in this article what smokehouses exist and how you can independently build or assemble a hot or cold smoked smokehouse. Indeed, by the arrival of guests or on a day off, it is always good to treat yourself to a delicious smoked product cooked without leaving home.

Smoking products is one of the most ancient ways of cooking.

The basis of this process is the property of wood, when heated to 300 degrees, to slowly smolder with the simultaneous release of a large amount of thick smoke.

Smoked dishes have an exquisite aroma and a special taste. In addition to everyday use, smoked products can be used as supplies for long-term storage or to treat guests instead of traditional barbecue or barbecue.

Smokehouses can be homemade and professional.

They are also divided according to the type of smoking: for cold or hot.

Homemade smokehouses are cheaper to manufacture.

The design is simple, usually they are a metal box with bars inside, a lid on top, a smoke pipe on the side.

But the downside is that they can only be used outdoors and on an area of ​​several square meters.

Ideally, this is the territory of a private house. Such smokehouses are more often used for cold smoking (smoking temperature + 18-25 degrees), therefore they require more time to cook the product, on average - three days.

Professional smokehouses are designed for large volumes and are not cheap.

Usually they are designed for a consumed voltage of 380 volts, which makes it difficult to operate in an ordinary apartment.

If you smoke little and infrequently, then the best option for an apartment is a hot-smoked mobile smokehouse.

Smokehouses, depending on the source of heat, are divided into:

• gas;
• wood;
• electrical.

Industrial smokehouses, mostly electric.

Such smokehouses have elements for controlling the temperature and smoking time.

When purchasing a smokehouse, you need to pay attention to the volume of the working chamber and the overall dimensions of the equipment.

Imported models are characterized by high performance. The line of semi-professional models varies from 50 kg to 500 kg of loading. For small businesses, a loading volume of up to 300 kg per shift is recommended.

There are three types of smoking:

• cold;
• hotter;
• semi-hot.

We will talk about the technologies that should be used to organize a smokehouse below.

The most delicious smoked meats are obtained as a result of cold smoking, when the product is smoked at temperatures from 30 to 50 degrees.

Pork meat, if cold-smoked, will keep for more than a year in a dry cellar, while you do not need a refrigerator, in fact, it will even shorten the shelf life of this product.

Cold smoking requires good food preparation and lasts from a day to five, depending on what you plan to smoke. So, fish will take much less time than meat. By weight, smoked products should be stored suspended on a hook, on the rod of which a circle is hung to protect against pests.

Hot smoking is carried out at temperatures from 70 to 120 degrees, but you should not listen to those who advise raising the temperature even more, otherwise nothing good will come of you in the end. In this case, it turns out to be smoked very quickly, ranging from several minutes to 4 hours, while there is no need to pre-prepare meat or fish for smoking.

However, although hot smoking is simpler than cold smoking, it is much inferior to it in terms of the taste of finished products, in addition, hot smoked products will not be stored for a very long time, unlike cold ones.

For semi-hot smoking, simple cold smoked smokehouses are used.

It will be much cheaper to assemble such units with your own hands than to purchase them ready-made.

In appearance and smell, the products practically do not differ from cold smoked meats, however, the taste and shelf life of such dishes are similar to those of hot smoked products.

What kind of wood is needed for smoking

Any wood is suitable for fuel, but juniper and alder wood chips are considered the best for creating fragrant smoke. They also use oak, beech, hazel, ash, maple, apple and pear branches, and even birch.

Each type of wood gives the product its own special flavor. A mixture of different breeds is also used.

Before splitting wood, it is better to remove the bark from it (especially birch). The bark contains resin, undesirable for smoking.

For this reason, softwood is not used. The tree is crushed into pieces up to 3 cm (sometimes sawdust is also used) and moistened a little, then laid out in an even layer on the bottom of the smokehouse.

For a bucket-sized smokehouse, one large handful of wood chips is enough.

home smokehouse

It is quite expensive to buy smoked meat or fish in the store, but you still want to treat yourself.

There is a way out - a home smokehouse.

For many, the smoking apparatus is presented as a kind of massive unit that takes up a lot of space, and it is not possible to install such a “thing” even on a personal plot.

However, progress does not stand still: for many, the home smokehouse has become a real find, allowing you to add new recipes to the menu of an ordinary domestic family.

A real lover of smoked meats always prefers products made by himself.

This is explained simply: such a wide variety of dishes that can be prepared in a smokehouse cannot be found in any store, and the quality leaves much to be desired.

But to smoke on your own is not an easy task and a very long one.

They differ only in size, material and workmanship, but the principle of operation and design of all are the same - this is a metal container with a sealed lid, a pan for collecting fat and a mesh for products.

Smoker construction:

• The body of the smokehouse is made of stainless steel.
• Lattices for products.
• Tray for collecting fat.
• Stand.
• Lid with thermometer.
• Burners.
• Pens.

A home smokehouse can be of various designs and for different needs in the production of smoked meats.

You can place an industrial smokehouse at home, and it will become a home smokehouse, if only you live in the private sector or in the country, but not in an apartment in a multi-storey building.

If you are looking for a home smoker for smoking in an apartment, then my advice to you is to purchase a factory-made electric smoker designed for smoking in an apartment, besides, it will fit perfectly into the interior. Or, in extreme cases, a sealed smokehouse placed on a gas stove, which provides for the exit of excess smoke through a pipe to the street.

You should not experiment with homemade smokehouses in the apartment, as you will not be able to ensure complete safety from using such a homemade smokehouse. In the end, it is your health and your loved ones.

But if you are going to smoke in the courtyard of a private house, in the country or on vacation somewhere in nature, then there is no limit to experiments.

Almost anything can be adapted for a home smokehouse.

If you have an old refrigerator, then it will make an ideal smokehouse for cold smoking.

Do you have an old bucket? - will also become a good smokehouse, but for hot smoking, which you can take with you on vacation in nature, on fishing.

Or maybe you have some kind of wooden or iron box, or a barrel lying around and getting in the way - it really simplifies life, you can make an excellent homemade smokehouse for both hot smoking and cold smoking from this stuff in a couple of hours.

Consider the most practical.

Where to place a home smokehouse

Attic or cellar.

You can smoke not only in the attic, but also in the cellar, located not very close to the house and yard buildings. In this case, a hanger is made under the ceiling of the cellar, and firewood with sawdust is lit on the floor on the opposite side from the exit. The combustion, the amount of smoke and the temperature are regulated by opening the cellar door.

Barrels or tubs.

A home smokehouse can be made from barrels or tubs without a bottom, stacked one on top of the other. A filter is pulled between them - a wet burlap that cleans the smoke from soot.

In the lower barrel (tub) they make a firebox, where firewood with sawdust is burned on a steel sheet. A hanger with meat products is placed on the top of the second barrel. Top covered with burlap, which regulate the amount of smoke. Burning firewood in the oven is unacceptable, they must constantly smolder.

Smokehouse with water seal

A water seal is a trough that runs along the upper edge of the walls of the smokehouse, into which a lid is inserted and then water is poured. It is needed so that smoke and smell do not pass through the gaps between the lid and the walls, it allows you to use the smokehouse most efficiently.

Products in such smokehouses are prepared extremely simply.

Sawdust or chips of fruit or deciduous trees are poured onto the bottom of the container (in no case do not use conifers and birch - they will only spoil the dish).

Next, a grate is placed on which pre-prepared products are laid out. At the end of all, the container is closed with a lid, placed on the stove and a water seal is poured with water. To remove smoke, a hose is put on the tank fitting, which is discharged into the window.

Home smokehouses for a gas stove with a water seal are available in different sizes:

• small - dimensions 400x300x250 mm;
• medium - sizes 500x300x250 and 500x300x300 mm;
• large - 600x300x300 mm in size.

The first are suitable for preparing small portions.

It should be remembered that home smokers should not be placed on a ceramic stove, as this can damage it.

During the cooking process, the smoking container heats up, due to which the bottom is slightly deformed. It can bend inward or bend outward, as a result of which the contact with the plate becomes uneven.

Advantages of a home smokehouse with a water seal:

• The design is ideal for use in small spaces, as it ensures safe cooking.
• Smoke is discharged into a special hose.
• The hydraulic seal prevents air from entering the chamber, which eliminates the possibility of fuel ignition.
• The burn that occurs during cooking is easily cleaned from the walls of the smokehouse.
• The body and all components of the smokehouse for home smoking are made of materials that prevent corrosion.

Do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse

Few people are able to refuse a juicy piece of smoked meat or fish, but taking such products in the store means trusting chance. On the contrary, if you cook these dishes with your own hands in a home smokehouse, the result will always be excellent.

Cold smoking technology is used to prepare smoked meats from fish or meat.

Cold smoking has its own distinctive features that distinguish it from other smoking technologies, in particular, from hot smoking.

Cold smoking takes place under the influence of low temperatures for a long time.

Due to this, moisture evaporates from the resulting products, due to which they are stored longer, compared to hot smoking.

Properly prepared products are distinguished by their juicy taste and unique aroma. That is, overdried fish or meat means that they were cooked in violation of the cooking technology.

A cold-smoked smokehouse should emit cold smoke into the area of ​​\u200b\u200blocated products. The incoming smoke should be as even and stable as possible throughout the smoking period.

Products are smoked with warm smoke for a long period, sometimes up to 7 days, it depends on the size of the semi-finished products.

Smoke temperature should not exceed 25 degrees C.

To obtain such a chilled smoke, a cold-smoked smokehouse must be divided into two parts. The first part is a firebox, and the second is a container where the products will be located, and they need to be placed at a distance of 1.5 - 2 meters from each other, connecting with a chimney.

But before you start building your own smokehouse, you need to know a few very important points:

1. In order for the taste and appearance of a smokeable product to be pleasant, it is important to make it evenly fumigated and heated. If you do not pay due attention to this important aspect, then all smoked products can be fractionated, and this can already harm the body and significantly spoil the taste of the finished product.
2. It is necessary to ensure proper pumping of the product, which means that the smoke penetrating into the smokehouse should linger a little in it and saturate the drying product. After that, the smoke lightens and, rising up, leaves the smokehouse through the chimney, but, when it is replaced by a new one, it lingers again and evenly saturates the entire bookmark with itself.

Features of cold smoking:

• Smoking takes place at a working temperature of 30 to 50 C.
• Properly smoked products can be stored without a refrigerator for more than a year, with exquisite taste and incomparable aroma.
• Cold smoked products are devoid of all kinds of harmful properties and effects on the human body! Only one benefit and all sorts of unique range of flavors.
• Cold smoking requires thorough preparation “before” and “during” smoking, sometimes it takes up to 5 days of preparation for smoking and up to 3 days of the product being in the smokehouse itself.
• The cold-smoked smokehouse has a simple scheme and is easily “implemented” into life, requiring neither special conditions nor special materials. For its construction, a land plot from 2 to 3.5 m will be sufficient.

Cold smoked smokehouse device

The main components of a cold smoked smokehouse are:

• cover, which is connected with tongues;
• baffle reflective type;
• a smoking chamber, the construction of which requires a metal container in the form of a barrel;
• knee;
• chimney;
• a roof and a place for making a fire;
• chimney.

The design of a cold smoked smokehouse consists of a chamber in which wood is burned and a chamber in which food is located.

A cold smoked smokehouse is characterized by having a longer interval between these chambers, since the smoke that passes from the combustion chamber must cool slightly before it reaches the products.

For the combustion chamber for wood chips, a pipe with a diameter of about 300 mm should be used. A pipe protrudes from it, the diameter of which is 100 mm. This pipe leads to the chamber in which the products are located.

To make a chamber with products, you will need a wooden beam or boards. There is another pipe in the combustion chamber that goes up. Its function is to remove excess smoke that accumulates during strong combustion of wood chips. In this case, smoking occurs evenly and gradually.

In the construction of a cold smoked smokehouse, an important factor is the presence of traction, which helps to move smoke through the pipes.

Previously, slopes were used to provide traction, on which chimneys were installed.

Now, a very long chimney is required, to which a collector, fan or smoke exhauster is installed.

If the location of the yard does not allow placing a long chimney in the yard, it is possible to locate the chimney in the basement.

Smokehouse cold smoked from a barrel

To make a simple smokehouse for cold smoking with your own hands from a barrel, you need to take:

• metal barrel;
• metal mesh;
• sheet of tin;
• lattice;
• burlap;
• a couple of bolts;
• spade and other tools.

Having dug a hole under the firebox, you need to put a tin sheet on the bottom: it is needed for uniform smoldering of sawdust or chips.

After the preparatory stage is completed, you can start building a chimney - a shallow trench 25 cm wide and 2 to 7 meters long.

For tightness, it must be covered with any non-combustible material that is at hand (for example, slate is suitable), and sprinkled with soil.

Then you need to deal with the smoking chamber.

The easiest way is to make it from a metal barrel, from which you need to separate the bottom and attach a metal mesh at the bottom.

To filter soot, you will need to lay burlap on it.

A solid grid is attached to the bottom of the barrel, on which you can mark the filter.

Then place another strong grate in the upper part of the barrel, stepping back from the edge by about 20 cm. It is on it that the products for smoking will be laid.

Do-it-yourself stationary home smokehouse

How to make a smokehouse at home correctly.

1. Select a spot on the lot, then:

• make a recess under the firebox, up to half a meter in depth;
• dig a trench from it onto a spade bayonet, up to three meters long, at a slight angle;
• make a shallow hole at the end to install the smoking chamber.

After carrying out the preparatory work, proceed to construction.

You need:

• lay out the firebox with brickwork: walls and roof;
• install a metal door on it;
• lay a pipe in a trench, bury it with earth, ram it for better cooling of the smoke;
• install smoking equipment at the opposite end - it can be a stainless steel or wood chamber;
• fasten a grate or hooks inside the cabinet to hang products;
• install a pipe to remove exhaust smoke to the street.

How to choose a ready-made cold smoked smokehouse

So, you decided not to build a smokehouse yourself, but to buy a finished one. But a wide choice opens up before you, and the question arises by itself: “Which one is better?”.

A cold-smoked smokehouse is a product that you do not need to rush to choose, but you should understand the selection criteria that are important for you.

Most often, a smokehouse is a closed box with several grates inside (on which food is cooked) and a tray (in which fuel smolders).

You need to choose a smokehouse with a capacious body, as it smokes meat, fish, lard, cheese, vegetables or fruits more evenly.

The main task of the smokehouse is smoking.

However, when choosing a cold-smoked smokehouse, do not forget about its weight (a box with a wall thickness of 6 mm and dimensions of 500 by 500 by 800 mm weighs about 60 kg - think about how it suits you).

The choice of smokehouse largely depends on the conditions of its use.

If you decide to go fishing with tents and use a smokehouse there, then it is better to choose a smokehouse whose metal is 0.8 mm. It is lightweight, comfortable, and compact (40×27×17).

It is very convenient, why bother transporting heavy things?

Since people do not often arrange such a rest, the smokehouse will serve you long enough until the walls of the box burn out.

If you will install a cold smoked smokehouse in the country or in the yard, then it is better to take a heavier and more reliable stainless steel version, with a body thickness of 2.0 mm.

If weight does not matter to you, and the main thing is the durability of the structure, then buy a massive cold-smoked smokehouse made of thick stainless steel. It will last you decades.

It is better to choose a design with additional stiffeners to strengthen the case.

If you are buying a smokehouse to cook smoked delicacies at home, then be sure to buy a unit containing a water seal, in which case the smoke removal problems will be solved.

And if you decide to transport the smokehouse to the country, then the tube can be easily plugged with improvised means.

When choosing a smokehouse model, pay attention to the material of its body, it can be metal or stainless steel.

The disadvantage of a conventional steel case is that during operation this material will burn through and oxidize.

The service life of such a smokehouse is just over two years.

Equipment whose body is made of stainless steel is many times more expensive. However, this material is of higher quality, the product will serve you from 5 to 15 years.

The next, no less important point is the thickness of the smokehouse body.

When heated, the metal expands, which during operation leads to deformation of the case. The thicker the metal lining of the smokehouse, the longer it will retain its shape.

It is good if the case has additional stiffening ribs (for round models - a ring). However, the thicker the lining of the smokehouse, the greater its weight. Ideally, the thickness of the metal should be 1.5-2.0 mm.

Pay attention also to the accessories that are included with the equipment.

Grids, skewers, cargo carts - these are the tools that will allow you to get the most out of the operation of smoking equipment.

Purchased smokehouses are of two types:

• universal;
• for individual products.

A universal smokehouse allows you to smoke not only meat and fish, but also vegetables or fruits, for example, to make prunes.

Do-it-yourself hot smoked smokehouse

Such a home smokehouse is quite simple in structure and is a closed container with a tight-fitting lid. At the top of the device is a metal grate, where products ready for smoking are placed in one layer. Underneath is a tray. The bottom of the smokehouse is lined with sawdust or finely chopped firewood, which smolder and emit a large amount of smoke.

Hot smoking takes much less time because the process takes place at smoke temperatures ranging from 50°C for meat to 120°C for fish. Reduce the temperature - increase the smoking time.

Schematically, such a smokehouse looks like this: a container with sawdust or shavings is installed over an open fire or on a source of high temperature (a heated oven).

The temperature at which the sawdust will slowly smolder is important, and not the source of the fire itself.

Smoke from sawdust penetrates into the smoking chamber where the products are placed.

A tray is installed under the products to collect the fat released during smoking.

Excess smoke is removed through the chimney or holes in the chamber cover.

The difference from a cold smoking chamber will be the need to equip a firebox.

The furnace can be placed directly in the barrel:

1. Several holes are cut in the bottom of the barrel through which the ash will be removed and which will serve as a blower for the firebox.
2. At the bottom of the barrel, a piece of the wall is cut out, from which the firebox door is made. A piece measuring 200x300 mm will suffice. Hinges and a latch handle are welded to the door.
3. About a third of the volume of the barrel is allocated for the firebox, the rest of the volume will be a smoking chamber. The furnace and the chamber are separated by a sheet of metal 4 mm thick. This sheet will serve as the bottom of the chamber. It is welded to the walls.
4. A hole is cut in the bottom of the chamber for a chimney. The diameter of this pipe must match the diameter of the chimney at the top of the chamber. Do not get carried away with the length of the chimney; excessive draft in the furnace is not needed. The chimney is welded to the wall of the barrel.
5. Further you know: a drip pan, grates or hooks, a lid with a hole for a chimney.

For a more rational use of the volume of the barrel, the firebox can be placed directly under it.

In this case, it is better to fold the firebox from refractory bricks, providing holes for laying sawdust and removing excess smoke.

The barrel is installed on the firebox, and the vacated volume is used to accommodate additional grates.

Brick smokehouse

Smokehouse requirements:

• Complete tightness.

  It is this, and not the size, that is most important. Dimensions affect only the volume of loading, so they are selected individually.

  Uniformity of fumigation.

  It ensures the absence of a characteristic burnt taste and the best processing quality.

  Supply of "light" smoke.

  It does not contain solid fractions that do not have time to get to the product, as they fall to the bottom of the tank in the form of sediment.

For construction you will need:

• brick;
• mortar materials;
• metal gratings;
• fittings;
• metal corners;
• wire;
• boards;
• clay.

For the whole structure, first of all, a reliable foundation is needed.

When determining the dimensions, please note that the smoking chamber should be twice the size of the firebox.

During construction, it is better to use ceramic bricks.

Start laying from the corners, reinforcing them with wire, try to follow an even laying sequence.

For the arrangement of the firebox, it is better to choose heat-resistant metal.

Before installing the firebox, make sure that it is well reinforced with corners and fittings.

During construction, do not forget about the duct, it must correspond to a quarter of the height of the structure.

Cover the junction with a "collar".

Make a lid from wooden boards. Subsequently, under it, you can lay burlap for tightness.

The smoking process in a hot-smoked brick smokehouse is the same as in other devices.

Portable hot smoked smokehouse from a bucket or pan

The easiest way to make a smokehouse that can be used even in field conditions. It is important that the selected container is solid without damage.

How to make a hot smoked smokehouse:

1. You need to start with the grate on which the products will be laid out. It should have a round shape, fit the diameter of the bucket and be located slightly above the middle. For this purpose, you can use a stainless steel sheet, from which a circle is cut out and many holes are made in it. A simpler and more affordable option is to use wire, from which you just need to weave a lattice with legs.
2. It remains only to take a bucket, put shavings on the bottom, install a grate inside and you can use a smokehouse that can be installed on the grill or on legs above the fire.
3. In order for the smoke to be able to exit the bucket, holes will have to be made in the lid. To maintain the combustion process, you will have to fill the bottom of the bucket with sawdust and wood chips. After that, a homemade smokehouse is put on fire.
4. During the heating process, you can observe how the process of smoldering of sawdust and wood chips begins. This is the first signal that it is time to hang the products.
5. Keep in mind that the fire under the smoker is necessary in order to create a temperature for smoking. Therefore, it is not necessary to achieve too much heating. The cooking process itself takes about 30-40 minutes.
6. For a smokehouse, an insert with several tiers is usually made from a bucket or pan. The lower one is a pallet, one or more upper tiers are lattices or hooks. It is more convenient not to attach the structure to the walls, but to put it on the bottom of the container, so you should make an insert with legs.
7. As a pallet, you can use a stainless steel bowl. Its diameter should be a few millimeters smaller than the inner diameter of the housing.

Electric smokehouse

The use of an electric smokehouse is a convenient and quick way to cook hot smoked dishes in a city apartment or in any other room.

The advantages of this type of hot smoking include:

• Compact design. The household electric smoker is small in size and fits easily into a kitchen cabinet. Used in cafes and restaurants are also compact and do not take up much space;
• Ease of use. To cook food in an electric smoker, no special skills or experience are required. It is enough to choose the required temperature regime according to the attached instructions;
• Fast cooking. Products in such devices are cooked on average 30 minutes. This is ensured by tight rubbing of the lid to the walls of the container. This design ensures complete preservation of heat inside the smokehouse;
• Full equipment by the manufacturer of the smokehouse with the necessary accompanying equipment, including smoke removal;
• Providing a manufacturer's warranty;
• The preparation of the product is carried out without uncontrolled temperature fluctuations. If necessary, the temperature is adjusted manually or automatically;
• The affordability of household options for electric smokehouses.

This makes this type of equipment optimal for use in cooking homemade hot smoked dishes in a city apartment.

Stainless steel smokehouse

Stainless steel, as a structural material, makes it possible to manufacture devices of various sizes with varying degrees of technological complexity.

The main advantages of such a material for the manufacture of portable smokehouses include their high resistance to rust on the surface.

After all, where they are mainly used - in the country, on fishing, next to a reservoir, where there is high humidity.

In such places, the repeated use of smokehouses made of black steel leads to the rapid formation of a thick coating of rust, which leads to both the rapid burning of the walls of the device and a decrease in the quality of the prepared products.

Smokehouse for fish made of stainless steel, used in the air near the river, will serve you much longer without losing its technical characteristics and appearance.

Another undoubted advantage that stainless steel devices have is their low susceptibility to carbon deposits, especially on internal working surfaces.

They are easily cleaned from the remnants of smoked products and fat. This quality will be especially appreciated by the housewives, on whose shoulders the main burden lies in putting kitchen utensils in order after a picnic or a visit to the dacha.

Stainless steel home smokehouses, as a rule, have a similar structure.

They consist of a box, on the inner walls of which there are welded brackets for installing grates, on which smoked products are placed.

One- or two-tier ones are produced, that is, one or two lattices are placed inside the box.

Please note that the grates are also made of stainless steel, therefore, the products do not stick to them, and they themselves are easy to clean.

The grates have stiffening ribs, which makes it possible to smoke products of any weight, the main thing is that their size matches the dimensions of the grates.

A lid with a smoke outlet is put on the box. Such a branch can also be installed on the box itself, since it is a pipe of small length welded to the hole.

By putting a heat-resistant hose on such an exhaust pipe and releasing its other end into the street through a window or window, you can use the smokehouse indoors, namely in the kitchen in an apartment or in gazebos outside the city.

Additionally, stainless steel smokehouses are equipped with a fat collection tray, which is installed below the grates.

In addition to protecting the wooden shavings poured onto the bottom of the box from the products of the smoking process, the pallet plays a significant role in the process of subsequent cleaning of the smokehouse itself.

For installation over a fire, the smokehouse has a stand or removable legs.

The use of a stand that separates from the drawer or detachable legs allows you to install the smokehouse on a gas or electric stove in the kitchen, unless, of course, the dimensions of the smokehouse allow it.

Stainless steel smokehouse - advantages:

• High resistance to mechanical damage. Multiple transportation from place to place is not capable of causing damage to the structure.
• Stainless steel fully complies with sanitary standards.
• Stainless steel is resistant to moisture, so the smoker for fish and meat does not require special storage conditions. It is quite possible to store it in the open air, if more acceptable conditions do not exist.
• The smooth inner surface is laundered from grease and smoke without much difficulty.

It is worth noting that stainless steel does not absorb smoke. Thanks to this, the hot smoked smokehouse can be used both for cooking meat and fish, and for smoking cheeses and fruits.

Stainless steel household smokehouses are characterized by a standard design. In most cases, it is a kind of box, inside of which there are grates intended for smoking products. Inside the box there are one or two bars. Accordingly, they are one- and two-tiered.

Important! The bars are also made from stainless steel. As a result, products do not stick to the grates. These grates are easy to clean.

The peculiarity of the grills is that they have stiffening ribs, which allows you to cook fish or meat of any weight.

The main requirement is that the size of the products must match the dimensions of the gratings.

An important design condition is the presence of a cover for smoke removal. The outlet can be installed directly on the drawer. In most cases, the outlet is a pipe welded to a hole of small length.

If you put a hose on this pipe, then the smokehouse can be installed indoors. In this case, the second end of the hose is released through the window. Safe smoking in the apartment is provided to you!

In addition to the smoking container itself and the outlet pipe, the kit includes a drip pan for collecting fat. This tray is designed to collect fat that is formed after cooking.

If you want to install the structure above the fire, you will have to use special removable legs or a stand.

Such devices will help you cook even over a gas stove so that you can smoke your favorite fish or ham right in your own kitchen. In this case, it is worth considering the dimensions. It should be small.