Smoked products, whether they are meat, fish or vegetables, are delicious. They decorate the festive table and are part of the daily menu of a fisherman or hunter.
Depending on the temperature of the smoke that provides the cooking process, smokehouses are hot and cold smoked, of various geometric sizes and designs, as well as the materials used in their manufacture.
Smokehouse from the refrigerator
What is needed to create a smokehouse
Many people transport the old refrigerator to the country, after which it is used very rarely or is turned off. But this does not mean that it cannot be useful. Such products are ideal for creating a small home smokehouse. In addition to the refrigerator, you need to have other parts and materials:
- a pipe about 4 meters long;
- refractory bricks;
- metal firebox cover.
The firebox can be created from various metal products of a suitable capacity. Old washing machines are often used. Before starting work on creating a home smokehouse, it is worth removing all additional parts of the structure from the refrigerator. In this case, it is important to remove all plastic, since under the influence of high temperature it will begin to melt. You only need the body of this device.
If you create a smokehouse from the refrigerator with your own hands, it is important to draw up a drawing of the entire structure in advance along with the firebox. To do this, it is enough to consider the drawings of ready-made smokehouses. When creating a scheme, it is important to calculate the length of the chimney between the smokehouse and the firebox (if a structure for cold smoking is being created).
Smokehouse from the refrigerator with a smoke generator
The smoke generator is a mobile and compact smoking unit. For such a device, it is not necessary to equip a firebox with a chimney, the smoke generator is supplied directly to the smoking chamber. It promotes the formation of a thicker smoke, speeds up the smoking process and improves the taste of smoked meats.
You can not buy it, homemade also performs its functions well.
Necessary materials:
- a metal pipe with a section of 13-15 cm and a length of 0.5 m and a lattice, the diameter of which coincides with the diameter of the pipe;
- pipe covers - bottom and top;
- a tube with a cross section of 6-7 mm, a length of 7-8 cm;
- parts for supports, fitting;
- wires for connection;
- tee, nuts and squeegee;
- aquarium compressor.
Build process:
- cut a hole in the lid, it must match the diameter of the tee, fix them with a nut;
- the squeegee is connected to a tee, a metal tube is connected to a fitting and they are connected together;
- attach 3 supports so that the generator stands stably on the surface;
- drill windows for burning sawdust and for traction;
- insert the grill and put on the covers;
- the chips are poured and the apparatus is connected to the compressor.
Principle of operation:
- wood shavings are set on fire;
- connect the compressor branch pipe;
- connect the chimney to the smokehouse and turn on the fan.
A compressor is required to deliver oxygen to the smoldering area of the chips. A fan or cooler can be retrofitted for this function. Constant combustion is maintained by the air and smoke flow.
Important! For fire safety purposes, the smoke generator is installed on a non-combustible base - a ceramic tile or metal sheet.
Smokehouse instructions
After disassembling the body of the old refrigerator and removing unnecessary elements, it is necessary to make several holes, which are needed for the smoke to escape from the refrigerator during smoking.To create a do-it-yourself hot-smoked structure that will use electricity, you need to place an electric stove from below. On top of it, a sheet of steel with a thickness of at least 5 mm is laid.
To create a smokehouse that does not depend on electricity, you need to make a hole in the refrigerator for a pipe that will be led from the firebox. If the pipe diameter is less than 10 cm, not enough smoke may come out of the firebox. The pipe must be positioned diagonally downward towards the firebox.
The pipe must be laid in the ground. This will further reduce the smoke temperature. The opposite end of the pipe to be laid should be located in the firebox located in the pit below the refrigerator level. The pit should be laid out of refractory bricks.
Before the smoking process, food is hung and laid out in the refrigerator, after which the door is tightly closed.
Important! If products that have been in the refrigerator are used as food grids, they must be burned to remove the paint.
Many site owners who own their own smokehouse know that using incompletely dried wood can lead to condensation and an unpleasant crust on the food. To avoid this, you can make a two-chamber firebox, in which case it will have two chimneys. In the first chamber, it will be possible to stack firewood, regardless of their quality, and in the second, coals for smoking will be located.
Important! Do not use softwood sawdust for smoking, as this will lead to a bitter taste.
In the summertime, the temperature in the smokehouse is maintained without the use of additional materials. In winter, it is necessary to use fireproof fabric or other materials that are not afraid of high temperatures and are able to retain heat.
Before making a smokehouse from an old refrigerator, you should consider a photo of such structures. This will help you avoid mistakes. For example, many people forget about creating smoke vents at the top of the refrigerator.
Features of cold smoking
Many people believe that this method of obtaining gourmet products is optimal, although it takes quite a long time. A cold smoked smokehouse from a refrigerator can be made simply and economically.
In the bottom of the prepared body, a hole is cut out for a chimney, the diameter of which is about 10 cm.It may be slightly larger or smaller, it all depends on the parameters of the chimney at your disposal. Its length must be at least 2 meters. If the installation site has the required slope, then the pipe is placed on its surface and covered with earth for natural cooling of the smoke. Otherwise, you will have to dig a trench, gradually deepening it so that the chimney is located obliquely, and the necessary draft is created.
The second end of the chimney is located at the top of the pit, where you need to organize a place for the hearth. Refractory bricks, metal sheets, or other suitable materials, such as an old metal washing machine, can be used for this purpose. It is here that they make a fire and wait for the coals to appear. At this time, you can lay out the food on metal grates or hang them on hooks, taking care of the reliability of the fastening. When the fire burns out, you need to install a pallet with prepared sawdust and cover the firebox with a sheet of metal or other suitable material that ensures a snug fit to the surface. All that remains is to close the door of the former refrigerator and monitor the cooking process.
Now let's talk about how to make a cold smoked smokehouse from the refrigerator so that it can be used indoors.This is a volatile option and we need a small hotplate. No special alterations are required, but the wire must be laid so that it does not interfere with the tight closing of the door. Sometimes a small problem arises - the electrical appliance does not fit at the bottom of the refrigerator, then the case just needs to be turned over. It remains only to turn on the tiles and place a steel pan on it, in which chips or sawdust of hardwood trees are laid out.
Little tricks
To save some of the sawdust, you can place all the products on the lower shelf, and fix a tin reflector on top. If the rear panel of the refrigerator is replaced with heat-resistant glass, it will be possible to observe the smoking process without opening the door.
If a structure is created for smoking with your own hands from a refrigerator and an electric stove, often this device does not fit due to the fact that the body narrows from below. The solution to this problem is quite simple - you just need to turn the refrigerator over.
Thus, you can create a smokehouse from materials that are already on your site without purchasing expensive equipment.
Firebox
The smokehouse firebox from the refrigerator should be located in a recess and at a sufficient distance from the smoking chamber so that the smoke has time to cool. If a structure for hot smoking is being created, you can create a firebox directly above the chamber. But this should be done only if the bottom of the refrigerator is made of a thin metal sheet. When choosing this option, the sawdust is stacked in the smoking chamber itself. It should be remembered that they must be moist so as not to catch fire from the rise in the bottom temperature.
If a cold smoked smokehouse is created, the sawdust is placed in a firebox at a distance from the refrigerator. When creating a structure, the foundation is not laid. When creating a firebox, the bottom is laid with brick or steel sheet.
The pipe leading to the refrigerator can be elbowed or straight, but located diagonally. In order for the smoke to come out of the refrigerator in small portions, several holes need to be made in the upper part of it.
Different options for organizing hot smoking
Products made using this technology are very tasty. It does not take much time to make a hot smoked smokehouse from the refrigerator with your own hands. We offer several options:
- Using a firebox. Smokehouse designs are similar to those used for the cold processing of delicacies. But there is also a significant difference: the hearth should be located at a minimum distance from the chamber, at the bottom of which sawdust of fruit trees is placed, so that the finished product exudes a pleasant aroma.
- Smokehouse from the refrigerator with an interesting device - a smoke generator. It can be purchased, ordered or made by yourself, trying to use the materials at hand. If the last option is closer to you, then you need:
- find a heavy frying pan, the wall thickness of which is 5 mm and drill holes in its bottom;
pick up the cover and make a hole in it, to which you need to connect an armored hose 0.5-1 m long;
- connect this structure to the refrigerator body where the compressor was previously installed.
- Homemade hot smoking method.The box is prepared in the same way as in the above-described version and is very serious about the choice of its location. The drawing gives a complete picture of how the finished product will look like. To maintain the desired temperature, a closed-type electric stove is used, which provides the necessary level of safety. This smokehouse can also be used outdoors.
The smoke generator is ready to use, you just have to put it on an electric or gas stove, or use an open fire. The refrigerator body, prepared for further alteration, is equipped with electric heaters capable of maintaining the temperature in the range of 60 - 800C. Their power should not exceed 12 kW. All that remains is to lay out or hang the food, close the door, start the smoke generator and connect the ten. After a few hours, you can enjoy delicious and aromatic products of excellent quality.
Recommendations
If you are going to create a smoker from the refrigerator, it is better to choose an older model. This is due to the fact that such devices have much less plastic, so it will be easier to clean it of unnecessary components before installation.
For smoking, you should use cherry and alder sawdust. Apple, plum and cherry sawdust is used to create the scent. To save fuel, it is worth installing the smokehouse in a draft-free location.
Place a container under the food in which fat will accumulate. If this is not done, it will drain onto the sawdust.
