New Smoker Build

[Scenic]

We wanted a smoker we could set the thermostat and it would maintain a steady heat and smoke. I stumbled upon a double door stainless freezer unit.  We stripped out all of the compressor equipment but left all the wiring to re-use for circulation fans and interior lights.   Because the insulation in these consists of spray foam it needs to be stripped out and replaced with rock wool insulation.  Not an easy task as this stuff is glued right to the inside stainless panels.  You have to almost chisel the stuff out.  Door gaskets are replaced with stove gasket material.

We are building this primarily for smoking sausage and cold smoking bacon.  We wanted a smoker to allow us to make longer snack sticks and hold several batches at the same time.   For bacon we will use smoke tube or a smoke generator and an electric hot plate to regulate the temp.  For general sausage making we used a recycled pellet grill temperature control box, fire box and hopper assembly.  The intention is to put this unit in a heated outbuilding we have. 

So far we have the fire box assembly roughed in, variable speed circulation fans, lights,  and chimney with damper in place.  We have a ways to go yet to complete this but it is coming along.

[markn]

Scenic, I've built two similar to yours. You're going to like it. I do like you using the pellet grill heat control, great idea. We have a smoke generator off to the side with a variable speed fan on it and a gas water heater burner for heat. Happy smoking. 

[Scenic]

We have had a couple of big smokers before but they were never insulated or controlled by a thermostat.  I also have a pit boss vertical smoker for my "everyday use" that I have been very happy with.   So took that idea and transferred it into this larger cavity.  The previous one had a gas pipe burner in it with a gas smoker box underneath.  It seems like every day you want to smoke something the wind would be blowing.  It was tough to maintain a steady temp. 

[LPS]

Very impressive.  Yes you need a different control than the one on the hot plate.  It will just get hot and turn off and the smoker cools off too much.  Sounds like you have it figured out.  I got a control out of an old oven and it worked pretty good. 

[markn]

The biggest problem we had was the doors would warp and twist with the heat and not seal. Keep an eye on that. The smoke generator took the wind out of the picture too, for the most part anyway. 

[Rodwork]

That looks fantastic and big. Almost like a larger version of the Smoking Tex I have.  The Smoking Tex has a hole in the bottom for fresh air right under the wood box and it doubles as a way for the drippings to get out. Can’t wait to see the final product.

[Scenic]

The biggest problem we had was the doors would warp and twist with the heat and not seal. Keep an eye on that. The smoke generator took the wind out of the picture too, for the most part anyway. 

We put a couple of supports on the doors so I am hoping that will be enough to stiffen them up.

That looks fantastic and big. Almost like a larger version of the Smoking Tex I have.  The Smoking Tex has a hole in the bottom for fresh air right under the wood box and it doubles as a way for the drippings to get out. Can’t wait to see the final product.

That Smoking Tex is a nice unit.  I looked at one of those before we started this build.  We are going to put two dripping/water trays in there as well.  Both to catch drippings and to disperse the heat as well but we might need a fresh air intake.   Sometimes you just have to build what you want.  Hoping that the fans circulate the smoke and heat.   

[deadeye]

Wow, you guys make my little smoker look like a toy. Nice unit.

[Steve-o]

Wow, you guys make my little smoker look like a toy. Nice unit.

Mine too, but it was the best $119 I ever spent for my l'il Masterbuilt!     Someday I'll upgrade, but for now it makes smoky meats.

[mike89]

where I'm at now in life I'm darn good with my 2 smokers too..  one pellet and one propane...  but I really like what you are making!!!   20 years ago, I would have too!!!   

[Leech~~]

Had 4 racks of ribs in my Pit Boss last Sat when I saw a little extra poof of smoke and notice temp lose.  Had to cut them all up and finish them on my gas grill with a smoke tube and lot of shuffling around for hours!    New heating elements suppose to come tomorrow! 

[mike89]

Had 4 racks of ribs in my Pit Boss last Sat when I saw a little extra poof of smoke and notice temp lose.  Had to cut them all up and finish them on my gas grill with a smoke tube and lot of shuffling around for hours!    New heating elements suppose to come tomorrow! 

ouch!!!   good ya caught it!!! 

[glenn57]

Waiting for the final results. Interesting.

[Scenic]

where I'm at now in life I'm darn good with my 2 smokers too..  one pellet and one propane...  but I really like what you are making!!!   20 years ago, I would have too!!!   

I will not be getting rid of my Pit Boss pellet smoker any time soon.  I use that thing all the time.  This new build is more geared to do sausage and snack sticks.  When we do them we make 25 lb batches. I will use it for colds smoking bacon too.

 

Wow, you guys make my little smoker look like a toy. Nice unit.

Mine too, but it was the best $119 I ever spent for my l'il Masterbuilt!     Someday I'll upgrade, but for now it makes smoky meats.

 

Smoked many pounds of meat and fish in a Masterbuilt gas smoker.   

[Scenic]

Well had a chance to work on this project some the last couple days.  We fired it up for the first time this afternoon just to see how things were going to go.   One of our concerns was we were going to have a hot spot.  So we arranged the fans with the hope to get the convection effect and all areas of the smoker an even cooking temperature. 

We found that the lower end temp of 140 (smoke temp) and 145-150 for smoking was good. Nice thin blue smoke.   But then when turned the control to 180 and it climbed up to 206-210 which for us is to hot.  The fat in sausage begins to render.  So we had to change the control board settings to get it to hold 170-180.   We also had to keep in mind that we did not have any water or drip trays build yet.  That is tomorrows project.     

More pictures to follow (phone died before I could get any more today)  Each of these temps are at different areas and heights in the smoker.

[Rodwork]

Sounds like some things are going right with the build. I wonder why the temp climbed so much?

[Scenic]

We haven't figured that out yet either.  So we played with the control board a bit and we are going to try and burn it again today to see if we can get that corrected.  Otherwise its going well.  We had very little "escape" smoke and sealed that off with a piece of stove gasket material.  Everything else worked great.

[Iowaboy1]

Awesome looking build Scenic !!
Just a thought, your temp rise could be due to where your probe for the burner is located, too low and it will take a long time for the temps to get high enough to reach where its at????
I think this would happen even with fans running??

[Scenic]

Awesome looking build Scenic !!
Just a thought, your temp rise could be due to where your probe for the burner is located, too low and it will take a long time for the temps to get high enough to reach where its at????
I think this would happen even with fans running??

It is possible.   But then would it not operate the same on lower temps?   Running it at 140 we maintained steady heat (145) throughout for about 3 hours.   

[Iowaboy1]

I understand where you are coming from on that point, the only other thing I can think of is that the auger is adding too many pellets in anticipation of what is needed to bring the temps up to your set point??
I know on my GMG grill that was a problem until I figured out to bring the temps up a bit more slowly, IE, dont jump from 150 to 300 right of the bat.
I hope you figure it out!!

[Scenic]

It has been a head scratcher.  140, 150, 160 work good and stay pretty close to set temp.  Then that 180 kind of loses it's mind.   

[markn]

It has been a head scratcher.  140, 150, 160 work good and stay pretty close to set temp.  Then that 180 kind of loses it's mind.   

Is there any way to recalibrate your controller? The one we use you can put into a setting that will run it through it's set point four times and it will stay closer to the set point each time. Once done it keeps the temp with-in two degrees. It's a Watlow controller we used on heat tunnels at my former place of employment. Good luck.

[Scenic]

Those Watlow controllers are nice.  We actually looked at one of those but thought what the heck we have this one laying here. 

So what we have been told is that because this unit has not been used for a while we might need to do a break in period for it again.  Start with each setting for 10 minutes, move to the next setting for 10 minutes until you get to 300.  Then back it back down in 10 minute increments per setting.   So going to give this a try this afternoon.  Worth a shot.

We were also told that because this unit has a P-setting (which controls the pause time of the auger) we might be able to fine tune it under the smoke setting by changing the p-setting and keep it set to smoke.  We are only looking to raise the temp from current smoke up 20-25 degrees.  May try that this afternoon as well.

[Scenic]

We got it dialed in using the P-setting.  Had it smoking at 140-150 and then when we turned it up it was  holding at 180-186 for several hours.  We got the hanger racks in for the smoke sticks and all the smoke sticks cut.   Then we worked on the drip pans.  Getting really close now. 

Trying to find some stainless expanded for racks...that stuff must be made of gold. Racks might need to wait a bit as everything we need right now is going to hang. 

[LPS]

Ever check out that new Metal/Steel business south of Bemidji?  May not be what they deal with but been curious about them.

[Boar]

I find my racks at a salvage yard that takes appliances

[glenn57]

We got it dialed in using the P-setting.  Had it smoking at 140-150 and then when we turned it up it was  holding at 180-186 for several hours.  We got the hanger racks in for the smoke sticks and all the smoke sticks cut.   Then we worked on the drip pans.  Getting really close now. 

Trying to find some stainless expanded for racks...that stuff must be made of gold. Racks might need to wait a bit as everything we need right now is going to hang.

Scenic.......any type of stainless is spendy $$$$$$$$$$$$ i worked with it for 28 yeARS!

[Scenic]

We got it dialed in using the P-setting.  Had it smoking at 140-150 and then when we turned it up it was  holding at 180-186 for several hours.  We got the hanger racks in for the smoke sticks and all the smoke sticks cut.   Then we worked on the drip pans.  Getting really close now. 

Trying to find some stainless expanded for racks...that stuff must be made of gold. Racks might need to wait a bit as everything we need right now is going to hang.

Scenic.......any type of stainless is spendy $$$$$$$$$$$$ i worked with it for 28 yeARS!

It sure is.  Making our drip pans out of stainless. 

[Rodwork]

I used the stainless steel pans form a buffet. I picked up some beat up used ones for cheap from a restaurant going out of business. Might be an option.

[Scenic]

I used the stainless steel pans form a buffet. I picked up some beat up used ones for cheap from a restaurant going out of business. Might be an option.

Just picked some more of them up today from a place here in town.  We use them a lot for sausage making .   Also got a full sheet pan today too.