Stumbling around on google, i've found some cheap, home made smokers that wouldn't take a lot of energy to set up. One of my favorite set ups involves nothing more than an aluminum trash can, hot plate, and a circular grill rack that can rest within the diameter of the trash can. my only concern regards the hazards of heating and cooking inside of an aluminum trash can. Im also curious to know if there are any methods for smoking fish/beef au-natural over a campfire?
Aluminum trash cans will probably melt, even in the low heat of a smoking fire. Galvanized trash cans give off toxins under high heat. I'd advise you to try something else like a 30 gallon steel drum.
we have made our own smoker.. We used an old fridge and an old fireplace insert. It can be used for either hot smoking or cool smoking. Works great... I will have hhb post up the photos n crap on it in our forum tomorrow. I would post it now but the site where i have a thread on it already and could be lazy and copy n paste from is down at the moment
http://www.homesteadgarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5415 here is a thread i made on ours on a different forum..
I'm not surprised. You guys have made so much of your own stuff I love it! I just painted the last couple days..I feel a bit lazy too.
I would be using a little hotplate with a sustained temperature around 150-160 f. A steel drum would be ideal, but i'm trying to keep it compact and light weight. Fantastic. Ive considered the fridge method, but again, I want to keep it small and easy to move around (without a hitch and trailer).
They make steel drums in 30 gallon rather than 55. You can pick it up with one hand. And they're usually free. Check Craigslist.
As for now, im hoping to find a method involving nothing other than a small hut fitted with a grill rack resting over a firepit. I want all the building materials to be accessible from a campsite, besides the grill rack itself, with maybe a few other small exceptions.
then i would suggest going to the garbage dump and finding just the dome of someones old smoker they threw out and putting your hotplate under it... Ours doesnt move around lol. Its in the bank of a hill and in the ground...
then i would definitely suggest finding an old electric smoker somewhere, thrift store, free cycle, craigs list, dump.... you could simply make your rack as you wish to fit up inside the dome and then set in on the coals from a fire... and let it smoke away.
haha hells yeah, I'm glad I got to see that thing working too, once anyways. it's cool as fuck. Did ya'll ever get a deer to throw in that baby and smoke it?
Ive made them out of scrap wood and old oven grills...and a hotplate on the bottom...you just drill some holes and and use a flap of wood as a regulater to let out a little of the smoke... I love the idea of using an old franklin type fireplace...I had so many of those and sold them as outdoor decorations...now Im getting ideas for the next one
one of those webber grille grilles fits perfect in a 55 gallon drum. Add a top and a way to build a fire under it and it works great
