How to insulate a smoking cabinet. Wooden cold smoked smokehouse

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metal gun or tool safes;
old refrigerator cases;
gas stoves;
containers of various types;
cans and tanks;
pipes and barrels.

You can make a universal smoking cabinet for cold smoking with your own hands from bars and boards. The design of this structure is very simple, but is distinguished by its widest functionality and allows you to cook fish, meat, cheese, prunes and other products in it that require smoke at a certain temperature, mostly cold.

Photo of the smoking cabinet

Design features of a wooden smoking cabinet

The base of the cold smoking cabinet for fish and meat is wooden frame made of pine timber with a section of 40x40 mm. Case drawings can be seen below. The dimensions of the frame are 1x0.5x0.5 m. It is not difficult to make it yourself, the device is very simple. This is quite enough for the production of homemade products in required quantity. Moreover, the resulting internal volume is optimal for the power of a small cold smoke generator (combustion chamber volume up to 3 liters) of the ejector type, operating on wood chips.

Schematic drawing of a cabinet for a smokehouse

Smoking cabinet body

The frame is covered with your own hands on three sides with boards 25 mm thick and up to 100 mm wide. You can use regular lining as cladding. Due to their properties, they are most suitable for better taste fish and meat board or lining made of linden, aspen, alder or other hardwood. If this is not available, then you can sheathe the frame with softwood lumber. It is somewhat worse due to its resin content, but after several smoking sessions it is saturated with smoke, and the characteristic odor disappears and the device becomes completely ready for use.

The smoking cabinet must be airtight. This is ensured by installing a hemp rope seal at each board joint. If you use lining or batten with a tongue/groove joint, then the seal is optional, but desirable. And when covering with your own hands with a regular board with a flat edge, all the cracks must be caulked.

Caulk the joints with hemp rope

Hemp rope - optimal solution. As an alternative, you can use tow. Anyone can do this with their own hands.

Door

A door is made to the full height of the front wall. It is assembled with your own hands on a frame made of 0.25x100 mm boards in such a way that the frame boards fit tightly into the opening, and the protruding part of the sheathing covers the joint from above. A food-grade rubber seal (from a refrigerator, for example) is installed around the perimeter of the entire opening. If this is not available, you can do this with a felt strip.

The whole advantage of DIY designs is that there is an unlimited number of technical solutions the same node. Typically the most used available materials and it is impossible to assert that they are the only acceptable ones. Therefore, variations in the installation of this or that structure are welcome.

The door is hung on two hinges, external or mortise - depending on your skill level, and is equipped with a latch. The door, like the walls, must be completely sealed with hemp or tow. This necessary condition cold and hot smoking with your own hands.

Roof

The upper part of the smokehouse is made in a single-slope version with a backward slope or in a more beautiful gable version. When choosing a gable option, a rafter system with a slope length of 55-60 cm is assembled. If available certain experience, anyone can do everything with their own hands. The roof is completely sealed.

If you are planning to install a smokehouse for fish and meat outdoors, then top part the sheathing needs to be primed and painted oil paint. The roof in the smokehouse, even if it is used for hot smoking, does not heat up too much, so there is no need to worry about the paint peeling off, and the paint will protect perfectly from rain or snow.

Don't forget about the chimney

A chimney equipped with dampers and scrapers is mounted in the roof. It can be made from either wood or metal pipe. It's not difficult to make.

Cabinet assembly procedure

A universal-purpose smoking box for cold smoking fish and meat is mounted in the following order:

frame assembly;
installation of the bottom;
wall cladding;
hanging the door;
roof installation;
installation of functional equipment.

Functional equipment includes a smoke generator, heating system, thermostat, and chimney. Let's look at them in more detail. From them normal operation The capabilities of the smokehouse depend.

Smoke generator for smokehouse cabinet

This design of the smoking box provides a vertical type ejector smoke generator, which is attached to the rear wall of the smokehouse and connected to the internal volume with a chimney with a diameter of 25-40 mm. You can learn how to make it yourself from this article. Any other type of generator can be used as a source of cold smoke, depending on technical capabilities.

This is how the smoke generator is connected to the cabinet

The transformation of a cold smokehouse into a hot smoking installation occurs by installing a special heater. It uses a spiral or straight closed-type heating element with a power of up to 1 kW, which is installed on the bottom of the smokehouse.

As heating element heating element is used

To prevent the bottom from catching fire, the heating element is installed on a metal radiator made of a profile or any other bracket that raises it above the boards by 5-10 cm. Air gap and the metal frame dissipate some of the heat and the temperature generated by the heater cannot damage the wood.

The heating element is protected on top by a tray (baking tray) in which the fat that drips from the fish or meat is collected. The tray is removable. After each smoking session, regardless of cold or hot, it is pulled out and washed.

The tray protects the heating element from getting fat and juice on it

During cold smoking, the heating element is turned off, and the temperature inside the chamber does not exceed 30-40C. If cooking hot smoked products is required, in addition to the smoke generator, heating is turned on in normal mode. The temperature inside can be raised to 150C. It is regulated automatically by a thermostat with a pin sensor installed in the upper part of the smokehouse. For ease of operation, the smokehouse is equipped with a thermometer.

The smoking box is equipped with carrying handles on both sides. His total weight it turns out to be small, all the equipment is placed directly in the smokehouse or hung on it, so the design is mobile and always ready for work.

What could be tastier than homemade smoked meats? Many craftsmen are interested in a description of the principle of creating homemade products that are useful in the household.

The finished products are shown in the photo; cold smoked smokehouses can be made with your own hands. Homemade products are a welcome treat.

Self-made design

Cold smoking is the process of processing food using smoke at a temperature of 32 degrees. The process must be organized correctly, so the master will need to figure out how to make a cold smoked smokehouse correctly. It is important not to make a mistake with the construction scheme.

It is necessary for the hot smoke to become cold. To do this, use a tunnel that connects the firebox to the compartment where the products are placed. The length of the tunnel can vary between 2-7 m. This distance is taken into account to calculate the length of the chimney.

If the firebox is located at a distance of more than 7 m from the smokehouse, draft problems, as a rule, cannot be avoided.

How does the device work?

Principle of operation homemade smokehouse one can imagine in the following way. Food processing can last from 3 days. The process may continue for several weeks.

The main thing is to ensure that the smoking process occurs evenly. Do not mix in the smoking chamber different kinds food.

You need to prepare food in one go. It is important to sort products by size.

More about the design of the smokehouse

To make a firebox, you need to dig a trench with dimensions of 50x50. These values may be higher. Often the width and depth of the pit are made to be meter wide.

The bottom of the firebox can be made of brick, and then covered with a tin sheet. There is no need to prepare cement mortar. It is enough to compact the bricks close to each other. The sides are also finished with brick. Here you will need a clay mortar for masonry.

When creating a drawing of a cold smoked smokehouse, you need to take into account both the distance individual parts designs and dimensions of materials.

A trench is specially dug under a chimney with a diameter of 25 cm. The top needs to be covered with a sheet of iron. To prevent smoke from escaping, sheet material covered with earth.

A filter is installed at the junction of the smokehouse and the chimney. The main element is a metal mesh with small cells. They put it on the grid dense material. The filter protects finished products from soot.

It is important to make the smokehouse durable and reliable. In this case, the structure will stand stable and will not fall if someone accidentally touches it. At the top, the smokehouse is equipped with stainless steel rods.

Their thickness varies from 8 to 10 mm. They are durable and are used to hang food prepared for smoking. Usually food is hung on special hooks. An alternative replacement is a regular grill.

The simplest scheme

A smokehouse is considered a budget option, allowing the master to save building materials and time spent on construction.

The chamber with the products is 2 m away from the firebox. The basis for the smokehouse can be a metal barrel.

Note!

Stages of work

Having determined the dimensions of the smokehouse for yourself, you can begin construction. First you will need to dig a hole under the fire chamber. Its bottom is covered with a tin sheet. Thanks to this, it is possible to ensure more uniform smoldering of chips and sawdust.

The next stage of work is the installation of a chimney. The dug trench needs to be covered from above. Only non-combustible materials are suitable for this purpose.

The pit can be covered with a sheet of slate. The top of the chimney is covered with soil to ensure tightness.

The smoking chamber is installed in a barrel with the bottom cut off. A metal mesh is mounted below, on which burlap is placed. By combining these materials, the task of filtering out soot particles is effectively solved.

A metal grate is bolted to the top of the barrel, 20 cm away from the edge. It is not necessary to use this option; you can limit yourself to rods with hooks.

Note!

To fully understand all the nuances, you need to watch the corresponding video clip.

When cold smoking, food loses moisture gradually. During the drying process, smoke penetrates deeper into the food. The result is meat and fish delicacies with a delicious taste.

When the carcass of an old animal is smoked, its meat will remain somewhat tough. In order not to be disappointed, you need to be guided at first by recipes that have already been tested by many. It is better to leave experiments with shades of taste for later.

The finished factory-made smokehouse has several grates and a tray. It is better to choose a product with large capacity so that smoking is carried out more evenly.

For lovers of long hikes, you need a smokehouse made of metal with a thickness of 0.8 mm. At the dacha, you can install heavier options, where the thickness of the steel body is 2 mm.

Photo of a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands

Note!

There is probably not a person in our area who would refuse a piece of really well-smoked meat or fish, so a plate with these delicacies always finds its place on any holiday table. However, it is worth admitting that it is quite difficult to find naturally smoked meat and fish products in a store or market. This is due to the fact that such a technological process is quite lengthy, and in order to achieve high taste qualities it always requires the use of wood or a sawdust-shaving mixture of certain species, which causes unnecessary trouble for the potential manufacturer. It is much easier and more financially profitable for him to use an artificial composition such as “liquid smoke” to prepare such products, which quickly brings the raw material to the desired condition, giving it a beautiful color and a taste and smell similar to real ones. But this is just “ersatz”, and, in addition, we should not forget that such “delicacies”, absorbing the chemical components of “liquid smoke” into their structure, will not bring benefits to human health, and often can even cause considerable harm.

DIY cold smoked smokehouse - drawings, dimensions and construction instructions

The solution is obvious: a do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse - drawings, dimensions and construction instructions for which will be discussed in this publication, becomes the best option for lovers of various dishes of this type. Moreover, if there is a suburban area, and the owner has at least basic skills in construction and plumbing.

There are two main types of smokehouses - hot and cold smoking. Products made in the first of them turn out to be softer and fattier, while the second produces products with a dense and dry structure. Therefore, before starting to manufacture a smoking unit, it is worth agreeing in advance which product will be more to the taste of your household, after which you can already decide on the choice of device. Hot and cold smoked smokehouses differ in the location of the firebox and the principle of operation.

Thus, in the design of a unit for hot exposure of products, the smoking chamber with sawdust located on its bottom is heated directly from an open fire or from an electric heating device located under the bottom. Such a scheme contributes to overheating and the appearance of hot smoke emanating from the sawdust-shaving mixture. The diagram of the simplest smoking apparatus operating using this technology is shown in the illustration below:

1 – An improvised firebox, which can be built in any place where such a smokehouse will be installed.

2 – Supply: legs or even just a few installed bricks.

3 – Bottom made of metal 3÷4 mm thick and having drilled holes diameter 4÷5 mm

4 – Chip-sawdust layer of fruit wood, laid on a perforated bottom.

5 – A tray with walls raised to the edges to collect fat dripping from food.

6 – Metal grid for storing food.

7 – Products for hot smoking.

8 – Tightly closing lid with a small hole for smoke removal.

Cold smoking of products occurs under the influence of warm smoke, the temperature of which rarely exceeds the limit of 36÷40 ºС. The smoke resulting from smoldering wood has time to cool on the way from the firebox to the smoking chamber. Thus, in this design, two main chambers, and the smoking room, are located at a certain distance from each other, and are connected through special channels. The smoke, passing along the trajectory given to it, not only cools down to the required temperature, but is also freed from harmful impurities and soot that could get into the products, reducing their taste.

Approximate diagram simplest installation for cold smoking of products is shown in the figure:

1 – Combustion chamber into which firewood is placed.

2 - Fuel. It is best to take wood from fruit trees - cherry, pear, apple and the like. Besides, wood will do and some other hardwoods, such as oak or alder.

3 – The chimney channel, through which the smoke, gradually cooling, as conventionally shown by wide arrows, enters the smoking chamber.

4 – Basement part of the smokehouse, made of brickwork

5 – Shallow metal grill with cells 3÷5 mm, on which soot will linger.

6 – Smoking chamber without a bottom – this can be a prepared barrel or a box made of sheet metal 3÷4 mm thick, or a specially built “house” made of wood or brick.

7 – Cold smoked products. They are usually hung on hooks by crossbars (pos. 8), which in turn can be ordinary metal rods or perforated slatted profiles.

9 – A tightly fitted lid of the smoking chamber, having holes or a pipe for smoke to escape.

10 – Perforated lid covering the combustion chamber. In some designs, the door may be located not on top, but on the front or side wall of the firebox.

It was just general scheme, which can be implemented in practice different ways. Below in the publication several options for constructing a smokehouse for cold smoking will be discussed.

Making different types of smokehouses - step by step

Brick or block smokehouse

A smokehouse built of brick or foam concrete blocks is perfect for erecting on suburban area for those who are going to start selling high-quality delicacies, as it is intended for immediate preparation large quantity smoked products.

Such a structure may well become not only a functional adjoining building, but also a decoration landscape design. However, before proceeding to the purchase of material and construction of the smokehouse, it is necessary to develop its design and determine its specific location on the site. Based on the selected size, the amount of material required is calculated.

From building materials for the construction of this version of the smokehouse you will need:

Red brick or hollow foam concrete blocks.
Sand-lime brick for building a firebox, or you can purchase a combustion chamber with doors built into the fireplace.
Cast iron or steel firebox door.
Glass blocks or glazed frosted glass window frame, if the building provides a source of natural light. However, it should be noted that ultra-violet rays negatively affect smoking products, so it should be ensured that the window faces the north side of the building.
Cement and sand for making mortar for masonry and foundations for walls.
Wooden beam with a section of 60×60 or a board 20×100 mm - for arranging a rafter system for the roof.
Sheets of plywood or OSB for continuous sheathing of the rafter system.
Roofing material - it can be corrugated board or soft roof, depending on the wishes of the owner and general design plot.
tongue and groove board or wooden lining 10÷12 mm thick.
Chimney pipe with a diameter of 80÷100 mm - for installation on the roof or gable side of the rafter system.
Chimney metal pipe diameter 120÷150 mm.
Door leaf with frame, approximate size 750×2000 or 800×2100 mm.

It is best to choose a place to build a smoking chamber on a hill, and in this case the firebox can be located at a distance of 2000 mm at the bottom of this hillock.

Illustration
	The first step, as for any building, is to clear the area for a smokehouse made of bricks or blocks. To do this, first mark the area for the foundation, and then remove the upper one on this site. fertile layer soil, approximately 150÷200 mm (per shovel bayonet).
	Next, on the site prepared for the foundation, it is necessary to find the middle, since the chimney duct pipe will subsequently be located here. A metal bucket or box without a top covering can be used as a pipe, into the side of which a chimney pipe will be inserted. Therefore, you need to make a hole in it corresponding to the diameter of the chimney. Through this channel, smoke will enter the smokehouse. You will need to dig a trench from the center of the site, and in the case when all the elements of the smokehouse are located on a flat area, then the ditch needs to be dug at an angle of 15–20 degrees, so that it goes deeper as it approaches the combustion chamber. Before laying the foundation, a pipe will be laid in the ditch that will connect two chambers - the smoking room and the combustion chamber.
	The next step is to lay the pipe, one end of which will go into the smokehouse, and the other is embedded in back wall fireboxes After this, the trench is buried, and you can proceed to installing the formwork for pouring the foundation. Since the construction will be relatively easy, there is no need to make a deep foundation. It is enough to raise the formwork walls by 200÷250 mm. The bottom inside the formwork is covered with sand, a layer of 50 ÷ 70 mm, and then crushed stone, 80 ÷ 100 mm thick. Each layer is well compacted.
	Then, a coarse cement-gravel mortar is poured on top of the crushed stone. The surface of this layer should end 50÷70 mm from the edges of the formwork walls. It must be leveled so that the solution is located approximately at the same level. The next step is to lay a reinforcing mesh with cells of 50×50 mm on top of the set concrete.
	A good cement-sand screed is placed on top of the mesh, poured from concrete mortar prepared in proportions of 1:3. For the plasticity of the solution and additional strength of the screed, it is recommended to add liquid glass to the solution. The screed is aligned using a rule along the walls of the formwork, which will serve as beacons for this. The screed is left to dry completely and the concrete gains strength.
	While the screed is drying, you can work on the combustion chamber. To build a firebox, it is also necessary to prepare the foundation. First, a recess is also made under it, which is filled with the same layers of sand and crushed stone, and then filled with concrete mortar, leveled and left to dry and gain strength. The walls of the firebox are best built from two layers - the outer one of red brick and the inner one of heat-resistant silicate brick.
	Another option is a ready-made metal combustion chamber designed for installation in a home stove or fireplace. Whatever firebox is chosen, it is best if the chamber is deepened into the ground - this factor will contribute to a longer cooling of the walls, which means it will help save on fuel.
	After the screed has finally matured, they proceed to the construction of the walls of the smokehouse. In the example under consideration, they are built from foam concrete and also hollow blocks. It should be noted that this construction material has good thermal resistance, that is, clearly low thermal conductivity, and this is important from the standpoint of maintaining optimal temperature regime in the smoking chamber.
	Each of the laid out rows is controlled according to the construction level. Masonry is made using ordinary cement-sand mortar or assembly adhesive for gas silicate blocks. During the work, control is carried out to ensure that the wall does not collapse from the vertical plane - this can be easily checked with a plumb line or the same building level.
	It is very important to move the doorway straight and carefully, otherwise the frame will fit into it at an angle, and the door may not fit at all.
	The next step is to install floor beams on the end end of the walls, and then rafter system. Since in the example under consideration a soft version of the roof is used for covering, it is fixed to the rafters continuous lathing from sheets of plywood. Detailed information about soft roofing and all the nuances of the process is presented in the article published on our website, a link to which will be given below.
	When the roof is installed, the gable sides of the roof are “sewn up” with boards or clapboards. A ventilation pipe is installed through one of the gables to remove smoke and excess moisture from the room. Then, door and window blocks. If instead window frame It was decided to close the window opening with glass blocks, then instructions for their installation can also be found on the website. To ensure that the door closes tightly without leaving gaps, you can apply a felt seal around its perimeter and install a lock or latch.
	Interior finishing inside the smokehouse is not mandatory, however, it should be remembered that fat and moisture will drain from meat, fish and other smoked products onto the floor. Therefore, to facilitate indoor cleaning, it is recommended to lay them on the floors. ceramic tiles with a ribbed surface. This illustration clearly shows how metal mesh racks are arranged for laying out prepared products. In addition, you can consider the hole in the floor through which smoke cooled by passing through a long channel enters the smokehouse. Ideally, this hole should be covered with a fine mesh that will trap soot particles. Such a mesh should be easily removable so that it is easy to clean it from accumulated dirt.

Modern soft roofing – reliability and beauty!
Soft roofing, which includes flexible tiles on a polymer-bitumen basis, is an excellent and very attractive covering for the house and outbuildings. The procedure is described in detail in the corresponding publication on our portal.
Is it difficult to build a foundation yourself?
If you follow everyone technological recommendations, then this will become a completely feasible task. If you need information about the types of foundations, about which one may be optimally suitable for small and light buildings, then it can be found by following the recommended link to a special publication on our portal.

Wooden smokehouse

Another material from which the smoking chamber can be made is natural wood, which is environmentally friendly, does not create unpleasant odors and does not emit toxic fumes. The most suitable wood for building a smokehouse is deciduous wood - alder, oak, pear, cherry, apple tree and others. The main thing is that the material itself has a dense structure that will well withstand various negative environmental influences.

To manufacture this model of smoking chamber, which has a size of 800×450×450 mm, the following materials will be required:

Wooden for the structure frame, section 50×50 mm, total length which will be 8000 mm.
A well-processed board 100 mm wide and 8÷10 mm thick. Here you need to take into account that the lining will be mounted on the frame in two layers - longitudinal and transverse. They will help make the chamber more airtight, which will allow smoke to remain in it for a longer period of time without leaking through the cracks.
In addition to covering the walls and making the door, the board will be needed to form the roof slopes.
Roofing material. In this case, the master did not use any materials other than boards to build the chamber. However, if the smokehouse is covered with a waterproof roof, the risk of moisture penetration through small cracks between the boards, which can form under the influence of atmospheric moisture and ultraviolet rays, is significantly reduced.
Canopies for securing the door, door handle with latch.
Red brick for building the base for the smoking chamber, and heat-resistant silicate brick for the walls of the firebox.
Cement and sand for masonry and arrangement of the bottom of the combustion chamber.
Waterproofing material for covering the furnace roof, as well as sealing the joint with the pipe.
A pipe with a diameter of 80÷100 mm and a length of 2000÷2500 mm and a piece of pipe with a length of 500 mm and a diameter of 100÷120 mm. The pipe can be metal or fire-resistant ceramic.
Metal sheet for flooring in front of the combustion chamber.

The step-by-step execution of all construction and installation operations is presented in the instruction table below:

Illustration	Brief description of the operation performed
	The first stage of work on the site is to select appropriate place for installing a smokehouse and combustion chamber. In this case, the suburban area has a distinctly rugged terrain, which will help for optimal placement of the smoking system on the site.
	On the marked area, two pits are dug at a distance of 2000÷2500 mm from each other. One of the pits is located on a hill - it will serve to arrange the foundation for the smokehouse itself. The second one is placed below the first one along the slope - this is where the combustion chamber will be. The depth of the pit for the firebox should be 200÷250 mm, since it requires a reliable, solid foundation.
	Next, the pits are connected to each other by a trench into which the chimney pipe will later be laid.
	It is recommended to deepen the pit intended for arranging the smoking chamber by 300÷400 mm - this depth will help trap smoke in the pit and cool it. At the same time, the smoke is further purified and in this form rises upward into the smokehouse. Smoke purified from soot fractions will make products more aromatic and environmentally friendly. The bottom of the pit for the smokehouse and firebox is strengthened in the same way using concrete mortar and reinforcing mesh - this process will be described below.
	Before filling it with concrete, the bottom of the pit intended for the firebox needs to be thoroughly compacted, then covered with a 5-7 cm layer of sand and then crushed stone. The next layer is poured and leveled with a coarse cement-gravel mortar, which will penetrate between the crushed stones and, after hardening, bind the bedding. When the solution has set, it is recommended to lay a reinforcing mesh card with 30x30 mm cells on it - it will strengthen the screed well. Next, a solution consisting of cement and sand is poured. The layer of this fill should be 30÷40 mm thick.
	Then the bottom of the trench is compacted and a long pipe is laid in it smaller diameter. It should not reach the end of the trench by 180÷200 mm, so if necessary it will have to be trimmed. Next, a concrete solution is applied to the extreme part of the long pipe, and a piece of pipe of larger diameter is put on it, with a mutual overlap of 100÷150 mm. This pipe design different diameters will contribute to optimal cooling of the smoke when the channel expands before entering the chamber.
	As a result, the edge of the larger diameter pipe should extend into the combustion chamber area by approximately 150÷170 mm. Two bricks are installed along the edges of the pipe, after which the walls of the firebox can be laid from them. In this case, the walls are laid out half a brick thick.
	The sides of the pipe laid in the trench are filled with solution and temporarily covered with boards until it sets. After laying two rows of combustion chamber walls, a combustion door is mounted between them. However, it is best to install the door at the stage of laying the first row of walls, since in this case it will be possible to secure it with wire between the rows of bricks.
	A ceramic slab covering the firebox is mounted on top of the side rows and the door, as well as two bricks installed on both sides of the pipe. If one is not found, then you can use instead a sheet of metal 3–4 mm thick or metal strips, which are laid with the edges on the side walls. The strips will become the basis for the final covering of the chamber with bricks.
	A blower door with a size of 308×198 mm is perfect for installing a combustion chamber into this design, since such a window will be quite sufficient for laying a sawdust-shavings mixture, which, when smoldering, will produce smoke.
	Now that the combustion part of the structure is equipped, you need to leave it until the solution dries completely and hardens. This time can be used to work on the construction of the base walls for the wooden smoking chamber. The foundation for it is laid out of brick, the first row of which is laid on a well-hardened concrete layer of the base. Each row will consist of six bricks, so the side of such a plinth, taking into account 10 mm seams, will be equal to 500 mm. That's why wooden smokehouse measuring 450x450 mm at the base it will sit on the base very firmly. When laying out brick walls, the horizontality of each brick row must be controlled using a building level, otherwise the smoking chamber will not be level.
	The base should consist of 9–10 rows, 5–6 of which will rise above the ground. Raising the brick base, the chimney pipe coming from the firebox is built into the front wall of the base. It is very important to fill the gaps around the pipe well with cement mortar, since the inner walls of the lower part of the smokehouse must be relatively smooth and resistant to possible penetration of moisture from the soil.
	When the brick base is erected, the trench with the pipe laid in it is filled with concrete mortar. It is especially important to check that the solution is filling the area where two pipe sections join and the chimney channel enters the firebox. However, it must be remembered that the solution should not be filled to the very top of the trench, since it will then be filled with soil, the thickness of which should be 70÷80 mm.
	After drying cement mortar, it is recommended to fill the gaps remaining between the walls and the ground with clay, compacting it well. If there is no clay, then they are filled with soil, which is also compacted well.
	Now you can test the created system for the quality of smoke flow from the firebox to the smokehouse. To do this, you need to place brushwood or sawdust in the firebox and set it on fire using paper. Smoke should escape freely through the hole in the base without encountering any obstacles. If the system check was successful, then the trench with hardened concrete is finally filled with soil, which must be thoroughly compacted.
	Next, they move on to making the wooden smokehouse itself. First, you need to cut all the necessary structural parts from a wooden beam: these are 4 pieces of 800 mm each, 8 pieces. – 350 mm each, 3 pcs. – 550 mm each, 2 pcs. – 200 mm each. The structure can be fastened using nails or black wood screws 70 mm long. The first step is to assemble the front and rear frame frames. To do this, 350 mm pieces of timber are laid along the edges, between parts 800 mm long, and then they are all fixed together. This should result in two identical frames, which are connected along the upper and lower edges by segments of 350 mm.
	The finished structure is installed vertically and pieces of timber 550 mm long are fixed along the upper side edges. They should protrude beyond the perimeter of the frame forward and backward by 50 mm - this will be the basis for securing the roofing boards. Next, you need to find the middle top bars of both frames, front and rear - at these points pieces of timber 200 mm long are vertically fixed. These racks will become the basis for securing the ridge beam of the smokehouse roof. A third piece of timber is fixed on top of the racks, which should also protrude beyond the frame by 50 mm back and forth. In order to give rigidity to the structure of the future roof and ensure convenient installation of roofing boards, you need to find the middle on the ridge beam and fasten one board along it on two slopes. One of their edges meets on the ridge beam, the second forms an overhang protruding beyond the perimeter of the frame by 150÷170 mm. Next, the formed roof frame is completely covered with boards.
	The next step is to sheathe the walls of the frame. The first layer of boards is installed and fixed with self-tapping screws in a vertical position. They need to be fitted as tightly as possible to each other. You should not use clapboard to cover the smokehouse, as the wood will undergo thermal expansion, which can lead to deformation of the grooves, causing the boards to crack.
	It is very important to accurately calculate the size of the doorway - it must be 5 mm larger than the door itself so that it fits freely into it. This factor is taken into account in connection with the thermal expansion of wood, as well as taking into account the influence of moisture on it, since the smokehouse is installed outdoors and will inevitably be exposed to precipitation.
	All but one side wall of the frame is covered with boards. It is left temporarily open so that it is possible to vertical racks frame, secure crossbars for laying metal rods on them, on which products intended for smoking will be hung using hooks. To ensure that the rods are fixed in one place and do not move, symmetrical cutouts are made in the crossbars. You will need two or three pairs of such crossbars. After this, a round or square hole for a ventilation pipe, which should have a small diameter - only 50÷70 mm. It is fixed on top of the roofing boards. It is very important that there is no gap left between the pipe and the roof boards, so if one has formed, it must be sealed - for this you can use tow and wood glue. These materials, by the way, are also well suited for sealing gaps between boards.
	Next, the door is made according to the dimensions taken from the opening. Its design is quite simple, and will also consist of two layers of boards - vertical and horizontal. They are fixed on two frame, horizontally installed crossbars. The next step is to mark the location of the door on the front wall, and then all the walls of the smokehouse are sheathed with a second layer of boards, which are placed horizontally. The joints of the boards at the corners are closed with wooden or metal corners. To control the temperature inside the smokehouse without opening the door again, a hole is drilled in it into which a special pin thermometer is installed.
	The bottom of the structure remains open, since smoke will enter the chamber through it.
	It is best to cover the finished wooden smokehouse on top water-repellent impregnation on water based to enhance the surface’s resistance to atmospheric moisture, giving it hydrophobic properties. For this purpose, one of the scuba tanks, which are presented in a large assortment in specialized building materials stores, is suitable.
	A kind of “culmination” of the construction of a wooden smokehouse is the installation of a chamber-house on a brick base. Fastening the wooden and brick sections of the building together can be done with metal brackets or strips, which are fixed with one edge on the boards and the other on the brick walls.
	When finished, the smokehouse looks like it is shown in this illustration. However, it is still recommended to cover the roof boards with one of the light roofing materials– this could be the soft roofing already mentioned above, corrugated sheets or metal tiles. A control test of the operation of the smokehouse should be carried out by placing the first product in it.

Below in the illustration is another one interesting option a wooden smokehouse, the design of which includes a canopy for storing and simultaneously drying firewood from fruit trees specifically intended for smoking products.

In the photo you can see that the firebox in this case is located more close range from the smokehouse, so the entire structure occupies less area on the site. However, the principle of operation of such a building is completely identical to the option described above.

This model of wood smoker does not have a side door, it opens and loads through the top, so it will be easier to make. In addition, you do not have to purchase hanging hinges and door handle, and it will be easy to open the camera by grasping the slightly protruding edges of the lid on the sides. To save space on the site, the firebox can be located quite close to the smokehouse, and in order to lengthen the trajectory of smoke from one chamber to another, the chimney pipe can be positioned at an angle.

Cold smoked smokehouse options from a barrel

A fairly simple way to make a smokehouse for both hot and cold smoking is to use a metal or wooden barrel as a smoking chamber. Moreover, the barrel can be installed vertically or horizontally.

The advantage of this method is that it is possible to make a similar structure without even digging a trench, but simply connecting the firebox and the barrel with a pipe passing above the ground. However, if the smokehouse is planned to be used in winter time, then the pipe will definitely have to be insulated, since, otherwise, the smoke in it will cool too quickly, and therefore the product will not be of high enough quality.

When making this device from a barrel, you can do without it, but in order for the smoke to concentrate in the pipe and not escape through the cracks and at the junction of the pipe and chambers, it is necessary to carefully seal all the gaps.

You don’t have to worry about what to make devices for hanging food from. Rigid wire and wooden crossbars are quite suitable for this, on which hooks with products strung on them will be hooked.

A metal bucket can be used as a firebox if you cut a hole in it for a pipe and part of the wall, making an improvised door out of it.

Another point that will simplify the manufacture of a smokehouse is that most owners of this simple design prefer to use thick burlap instead of a lid, the structure of which will hold the smoke quite well and remove its excess.

The smokehouse will look more “civilized” if it is covered with finished design, designed to protect metal from external aggressive influences of moisture, oxygen or chemical corrosion, and temperature changes.

If there is very little space on the site, but you still want to install a smokehouse, then by making it from a barrel, you can “disguise” it in the style of basic landscape design by hiding the chimney pipe underground. This illustration shows how the smoking chamber and combustion chamber fit seamlessly into the decorative design small courtyard.

A smokehouse made from a wooden barrel will, of course, cost more, but its appearance is more presentable, so it can decorate any area of the yard. In addition, as mentioned above, the right wood, in addition to smoke, adds a pleasant aroma to the cooked smoked meats.

To make such a smokehouse, the top lid of the barrel is removed, and different heights, holders for two grates are attached to the inner walls, on which you can simply place food, or hang them on special hooks.

Essentially, a quality smoker can be made from a barrel made from any material other than plastic.

Smokehouse made from an old refrigerator

There is an old refrigerator in many homes: some use it as a cabinet for storing various rubbish or tools, for others it simply takes up space on the property or in the garage, and some practical home owners give it a second life by converting it into a smokehouse . Moreover, from this old device you can make a smoking chamber for both hot and cold preparation of delicacies.

In older models of refrigerators, practically no plastic was used - their internal walls were made of enameled metal, the grilles were made of aluminum, and polymers were used only for removable parts that can be easily removed from the body.

If the refrigerator is not so ancient, and there is a lot of plastic inside it, then such parts will have to be completely dismantled, leaving only the metal body for the smokehouse.

In addition to the refrigerator body with stands for grates fixed inside, you will need a two-meter pipe, bricks for the walls of the firebox and an iron sheet 3-4 mm thick to cover the combustion chamber.

The firebox should be located below the level of the bottom of the smokehouse. The pipe can be run above the ground or buried - the main thing is that it must be installed at a slope. The pipe enters the refrigerator body through its bottom, and into the combustion chamber through its rear wall or ceiling. Smoke from the firebox, passing through the pipe and cooling along the way, will enter the smoking chamber with required temperature. However, if the pipe is not buried in the ground, then during the summer heat the smoke will not have time to cool, and in winter, on the contrary, it will become cold too quickly. Therefore, it is best to “dress” the pipe in insulating material, which will create optimal conditions for cooling the smoke at any time of the year.

Grids and hanging hooks are used to place food inside the chamber.

It is necessary to make a small hole in the ceiling or in the upper area of the rear panel of the refrigerator through which the smoke will escape.

In conclusion, it must be said that other products can be used for the smoking chamber. Appliances, out of order and having a fairly large body made of metal. For example, the outer metal casing from old round or rectangular washing machines Perfect for a smoking chamber.

Having understood the design of this device and understanding the principle of its operation, it will not be difficult to find material for making a cold smoked smokehouse. Well, after the work on it is completed, there will always be delicious products on the festive table home production, with which you can pamper your household and guests.

At the end of the publication - an example of the manufacture and practical use of a cold smoked smokehouse that is not at all difficult to implement:

Video: cold smoked smokehouse - a design accessible to anyone.

A wooden smokehouse visually resembles an ordinary cabinet (albeit under a roof) with shelves and hooks built into them. On top it can be equipped with a hood and a pipe; in the lower side there is a pipe for the entry of smoke from the firebox. As a rule, the stove is installed below the “ wooden house", sawdust is placed there, and the products that need to be smoked are suspended in the smoking chamber. This device works quite simply, but the smoked meats are tastier than store-bought counterparts, and the cost is cheaper, and balyks and fish can be produced in any quantity. It is worth noting that the design of a wooden smokehouse can be very simple or complex, with a foundation.

Wood smokehouse design

A wooden smokehouse is easy to make with your own hands; it consists of two parts: a wooden chamber and a stove. To assemble the wooden part you will need: boards, wooden beams, tow, and you can fasten all this together with the help of nails, a hammer and a saw.

Detailed instructions:

First of all, we assemble a rectangular structure from beams, which will become the basis of a smokehouse measuring 2 x 1 m (height to width ratio).
We cover the facade of three sides of the “cabinet” with boards as tightly as possible. To avoid gaps, you can use a floor board with keys and grooves. By connecting the boards using the locking method, you will get a completely seamless surface. To seal the gaps between regular boards, use tow.
It is important that the boards are installed as tightly as possible
Doors will be installed on the fourth side. We cut them strictly to the size of the doorway.
The door must close tightly
We attach fittings to the doors: a latch, a handle. We hang the door on hinges nailed to the body of our building. It is important that it closes tightly.
We recommend making a gable roof made of wood. The floor and walls also need to be covered with boards so that there are no gaps.
We install a pipe in the roof with a wooden valve taken from a stove or heater. A simple option is to attach a wooden board on hinges, which can be closed at any time to prevent smoke from escaping.
The final stage is the installation of internal shelves. We leave gaps of several centimeters between the shelf boards so that the smoked meats cook evenly.
Finishing touch- stretching meshes from unpainted materials. We screw hooks into the bottom of the shelves for hanging products.

It is convenient to lay out hams and other meat products on the shelves, fish on the net, and hang pieces of meat and large fish on hooks.

Important Feature

If you want to make a smokehouse with a foundation, then start with it. After a foundation with a smoke entry pipe has been laid out of blocks or bricks, proceed to the manufacture of a “wooden cabinet” that is installed on the foundation.

If you have designed a smokehouse without a foundation, then make the bottom hole only after the stove is completely assembled.

Furnace installation

To assemble the stove, it is impossible to do without welding machine, grinder, sheet of metal four millimeters thick.

Furnace installation:

On a sheet of metal with chalk we draw three sides (the bottom and top of the future furnace) measuring 50 x 50 cm. You will get a cube that needs to be fastened together using a welding machine.
Inside the structure, four centimeters above the middle, it is necessary to weld a partition from the same metal sheet. This is necessary to divide the oven into functional areas(you will get a compartment for sawdust and a firebox).
We weld the metal cube with an even seam.
We weld a chimney pipe on the side at the bottom, creating a so-called chimney.
We mount another pipe with an elbow on top, bring it to the wooden smokehouse, and make a cutout corresponding to the diameter of the pipe.
Now you need to make metal doors for two compartments. We make hinges and hooks for doors ourselves from strong steel wire.

Note: The furnace can be made of refractory brick, placed below the floor level at a distance of one and a half meters, and connected to the smokehouse with a pipe.

It's time to exploit

Everything is ready, and you can try out cold-smoked wooden smokehouses. First of all, pour sawdust or wood chips into the recommended compartment fruit trees. We heat the stove, hang it on hooks or put fish and small pieces of meat on the net. and warmed up well, the pipe on the roof should be closed. To monitor temperatures, mount a mechanical thermometer on the wall; mercury cannot be used. So, when the temperature in the smokehouse is +50...+60 degrees, open the valve of the top pipe. Let the smokehouse run for about an hour, then you can take out the experimental smoked meat - it should be hot and have a characteristic color. If you notice any cracks during the smoking process, remove them immediately.

Using the method described above, we obtained a hot smoked delicacy. A do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse made of wood should operate at a temperature of +20, maximum +35 degrees. By lowering the temperature, the smoking time increases. With the cold method, the meat is smoked for more than one day. At a temperature of +20 degrees Celsius, smoke penetrates into the fish and the meat becomes almost cold, without heat, so the product must be soaked in a saline solution before the smoke treatment process - this contributes to the death of pathogenic bacteria.

In such a smokehouse you can cook smoked meats for the holidays and even. Try building a smoking chamber with your own hands and blog about your achievements.

Looking ahead, we will talk about such beauty

How to make a wooden chamber for a smokehouse?

Any smokehouse includes three basic components:

smoking chamber;
a heating element;
chimney.

The wooden chamber for the smokehouse is easy to build and has an aesthetic appearance, is non-toxic, and with proper processing of materials and careful assembly it will last for many years. To build a camera with parameters 1x1 meter with your own hands, you will need the following materials:

frame blocks with a cross section of 25x50mm or 50x50mm, length from 1.3 to 1.5 meters;
lining or boards for cladding with a section of 20-25x150mm;
thin wood screws or nails;
moisture-resistant sealant;
roof material - corrugated sheet, flat sheet etc.;
hinges and door handle;
temperature sensor

It is necessary to clarify that the smokehouse is made from only deciduous wood. First comes the assembly of the frame. The height of the camera with subsequent placement on the pedestal should be 1.3 meters. If you are planning a cold smoked smokehouse with a smoke generator, then the height is left at 1.5 meters, 20 cm of which are added to the legs. Initially, you need to decide on the roof slope, because... with a single-pitched form, the front of the chamber should be 20 cm higher than the back.

First of all, we form the frame using the following elementary blanks:

Assembling the blanks A frame like this emerges

The next operation is covering the bottom of the frame with a board to fix the shape of the structure.

Next, if the roof is gable, guides in the form of isosceles triangles with a median to the base are cut out of the blocks. The tops of the triangles are connected to each other with a block. Now you need to decide on the location of the doorway and decorate it by filling boards 20-25 cm long at the top and bottom.

Assembling the frame for the door Gable roof option

The design of the roof depends on the shape:

single-pitch - boards 1.3-1.4 meters long are knocked down close to each other;
gable - additional blocks are attached to the upper bars of the sidewall frame to support the future roof, boards 0.8-0.9 meters long are nailed with one end to the ridge, the other to the sidewall block.

The next step is to arrange mounts with grooves for placing products. You can make them with your own hands from a board 90 cm long. First, it is cut in half lengthwise, then at intervals of 10 cm, holes with a diameter of 3-4 cm are drilled using a feather drill. The resulting product is sawn along a line and shelves are obtained, which are mounted in two rows on the sides of the camera.

The smokehouse is covered with clapboard on top of the boards to increase thermal insulation. A corrugated sheet or aluminum sheet to size is laid on the roof, then a 15x15 cm window is cut out and a fungus is made to allow smoke to escape.

Cover the roof with a stainless steel sheet

The door is also made by hand. A frame is assembled from the blocks, covered with boards and clapboards, or simply stuffed boards and clapboards onto two parallel bars, a handle and hinges are attached, and hung on the jamb. All seams and joints are sealed with moisture-resistant sealant, and the top of the smokehouse is covered with mastic and varnish. The final touch is drilling a hole for the temperature sensor and installing it. The wooden smokehouse is 50% ready.

Types of smokehouses with a wooden chamber

The rest of the design directly depends on the source of the smoke. You can use smoke from a fire entering the chamber through the chimney. In this case, the smokehouse is equipped with a firebox in which large wood logs will burn. The second option involves supplying smoke to the chamber from a smoke generator.

First, let's look at the instructions for creating a smokehouse with a firebox with your own hands. The arrangement process in this case begins with the choice of location. It should be remembered that during operation the smokehouse emits a lot of smoke, which should not disturb the owners or neighbors.

If the soil at the construction site is loose and subject to flooding, then it is better to start by laying the foundation for the smokehouse. To do this, dig a hole the size of the future structure and a depth of 30-40 cm. The bottom is covered with a layer of crushed stone, and the pits are laid along the walls concrete blocks, tie them up with reinforcement for strength and fill them with cement mortar.

If the soil in the area is hard, groundwater lie deep and there is no threat of flooding, you can do without a foundation. A metal or ceramic pipe is suitable as a chimney; asbestos and polymer pipes are excluded, because allocate harmful substances when heated. The preferred length of the pipe is about 1.5 meters and the diameter is about 15 cm. If the pipe is placed on a foundation, it is lined on all sides with brick, sandstone or cement blocks; if not, the position is fixed with blocks placed on the sides.

A pedestal for the chamber is built from cement blocks over one end of the chimney, the parameters of which are 1x1 meter and a height of about 60 cm. In the case of a foundation, an iron square welded to the size of the chamber is built over one end of the pipe. At the other end they are equipped with fireproof or ceramic bricks firebox and install a metal door.

Smoke generator from a thermos

Making a smokehouse with a smoke generator with your own hands is much easier. Sawdust or wood chips are suitable as fuel for it. A smoke generator can be made from any metal vessel with a tight lid, such as a large-volume thermos or a can.

The body of the smoke generator will be a thermos

Remove the top rim of the thermos and take out the inner flask. The case is no longer needed.

The most difficult thing is that you need to grind off all the sides to get a clean flask like this:

A hole is punched at the top of the container into which a chimney pipe with a diameter of about 3-5 cm is welded. On the upper plane of the pipe, about four centimeters from the vessel, a hole is drilled for a pipe with a diameter of about 6 mm, to which a hose from the compressor is subsequently connected.

We make such an oval hole in the flask We weld the future chimney into the hole We make an outlet for the compressor from a tube We weld the outlet to the chimney The result is achieved

Holes are made in the lower part of the vessel for ignition and for pouring out ash.

The hole at the bottom will allow condensation to escape in cold weather.

The smoke generator works as follows: fuel is poured onto the bottom and set on fire, air is pumped into the pipe from the compressor, which expels the resulting smoke into the chamber.

Any dish, be it meat, lard, poultry or fish, smoked cold or semi-hot at home is a source of pride for the owner. If the smoked meats were prepared in a wooden smokehouse, assembled with your own hands, then the reason for pride is at least doubled!

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