Smoker Plans

[IRONMAIDEN]

exellent job rich thanks a ton bro im actually gonna try this this winter, im printing as we speak

[Leon]

Thank you for posting that, and the work involved.

[Rem270]

You put a lot of work into the post and plans thanks

[RichP]

You're welcome, everybody. I hope you all build one, you won't believe how easy it is to control the heat in one of these. And you can smoke about anything from summer sausage to turkeys to jerky.

I used my first one for about 8 years and the inside of it was pitch black, and a friend talked me out of it and he has been using it for at least 2-3 years. It gave me a chance to build another and I started this quest to make them look nice. I've probably made about a dozen of them so far for others.

I was getting the burners from the factory, they are rejects that come back. Out of the dozen I have bought I have yet to find one that had anything wrong with it. And they were costing me less than $30, I think. It's been a while, so I will see if they are still available and post a number if anyone needs it.

Anyway, good luck if you decide to build one, and just pm me if you have any questions.

[Ruger No. 1]

STICKY!

[thunderchicken21]

Awesome...thanks for the post
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Thunderchicken Cam's....come getcha some

[arnej]

Excellent Info!

Now I know what to do with that turkey fryer burner that I never use.
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[jwm05]

all i got to say buddy is ur a heck of a woodsman, mind building me a new house at a good mathews buddy discount lol

[RichP]

The first page of this thread shows the racks I use for laying strip jerky on. Well, not any more!

My dear wife hated cleaning the racks, they are way too big for the sink, and meat sticks to them something fierce. Just a pain all the way around to clean when you are finished with them. And to top it off, it took all of four racks just to hold around 15# of meat.

Well, get a load of this! Go to Walmart and buy yourself some skewers. I think they are 18" long, and you get four in a pack for $1.69. (I think, I didn't make the actual purchase lately, we had a bunch of these laying around for grilling.)

Here is a picture of the skewers holding over 10# of meat, they hardly take up any space and I could easily add another level or two in the smoker. And it took all of three minutes to have them all cleaned up!




If you are looking at making some strip jerky in a smoker, give it a try, I think you will like it too.

[Birddoggin]

i have had my eye out for an old school refer to turn into a smoker, but avacodo green just isn't my color. liking your idea for sure, thanks

[Max]

I'm the FNG around here but and don't post much, but I have to jump in and say if I never get anything else out of this forum, this is worth it.

[RichP]

Great to hear!

So, has anybody built one of these yet??

[Tommy Chumley]

RichP wrote:

I cut the hose and regulator off the burner and chuck it in the garbage. The regulator that comes with a turkey fryer is a 5# regulator, and it is way too high for what we are doing here. It may be fine if you want to use it and know that you are the ONLY person that will ever use the smoker. But let someone else use it that doesn't know any better and there is going to be a fire. They just throw out too much flame. Ok, so you cut the hose off, and now you just have this little barb fitting sticking out of the burner. I had one of these little fittings brazed on the barbed fitting. It is 1/8 x 1/4, both ends female thread. Sorry, I don't know what they are called. The 1/8" fitting butts up to the barb end on the burner pretty good, and any guy with a torch can braze them together. We all have those kind of friends, right? Now you can take the remaining small panel you cut off earlier and mount it in the smoker and it will hold the burner. Here is what it will look like.

That would be a Bell Reducer... Brass, I would imagine?

Oh, and Great post! This is on my winter project list!!
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Tommy C

"Never underestimate the power of Low Expectations!"

[justo10]

NICE

[troy9020]

nice smoker, looks relatively simple to build to.

[Jackal]

I will have to show this to my brother-n-law. Think we might have to make one.
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[ronhop]

Just saw this. That's excellent... I have a Bradley smoker, which was too expensive and ended up being too small. I think I'll sell it and use the proceeds to build one of those.

Thanks for the effort put forth to post this.

Ron

[ronhop]

Actually I have a question... Do you use any kind of drip pan or anything ? When I cure and smoke turkeys they generate a fair amount of moisture that, if soaked into wood, could create a bit of a 'biology experiment' in the bottom.

Again, thanks for the effort in posing this.

Ron

[RichP]

Ron,

When I smoke something like salmon or turkeys that like to drip, I just line the bottom with tin foil, which is easily removable when you are done smoking. Cheap solution and it works great. And I keep the pan over the burner at all times, whether I am smoking with wood or just heating, it keeps the burner clean.

Good luck if you build one, you won't regret it.

Rich

[youngblood35]

Your smoker is awesome. I decided to make one as well, but i have a few questions about the internal workings of the smoker. What regulator did you use? I have been looking around for the one in the picture but cannot find it. Do you have a model number? Do you have a place online to buy it? Thanks for any help you can offer. I would hate to have it get too hot with the wrong regulator.
I have the smoker built and ready to go minus the regulator.
Thanks

[youngblood35]

Where do ou get the needle valve? I have found them in pluming, but figured that wouldn't work for gas.
Casey

[RichP]

Casey,

I just picked up a regulator at the local hardware store, make sure it is labeled for propane. Assuming that is what you are using for fuel. Also, get the adjustable version, you can identify it by the big plastic nut on top, like you see in the picture. That way if you don't get enough heat out of your burner, you can take the big nut off, and below it is an adjustment screw (it usually has a allen wrench type head, but yours may not). If you need a make and model number, I can still get it for you if you need it, just let me know.

Any needle valve should work fine. If it works for air it will work for propane. Again, I just found one at the hardware store.

I hope that helps.

[youngblood35]

Thanks for posting. I have seen regulators like that, but wasn't sure. Now I will have to look at the compressor section for the needle valves. Hopefully, if I find what you said to get, I can be using my smoker by the end of the day on Thursday.

BTW I like the pictures of your shop. I am a big woodworker, but must work out of my three stall garage. My tools and boats take up all the space. No room for the cars. I would love to have a shop like that.

[RichP]

Thanks, Casey. I had a two stall garage to begin with and did the same thing you did. Every time I went to work in the place I had to make sure it was nice and clean by the end of the day so sawdust and whatever didn't get tracked into the house. It didn't matter if you just sanded a couple of items or tackled a big project, a mess is a mess and it had to be cleaned up. Maybe because I have (or had) four kids running around. Not too mention starting the vehicles and backing them out, heating up the garage, getting everything rolled out and ready...

And then I knocked the back wall out of the garage and added on a 24x28 addition. I use one side for the workshop and the other side for boat storage. It really changed how I do my projects, I have my own space and nobody really gives a hoot if I have it clean or if I have 4 inches of sawdust on the floor. Just shut the lights out and come in when I'm done.

I feel lucky to have it.

[Jamie13]

Very nicely done. I am in the process of searching plans for a SmokeHouse...a walk in type. If you have any tips or ideas, I am all eyes.