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Post by WILL on Jul 8, 2012 6:07:28 GMT -7
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to efficiently store meat in an extended SHTF. My next project is to buy or build a wood fueled smoker. I'm not interested in electric or propane powered units. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'm a beginner at this and don't know much about smoking meat. I've seen small smokers selling from $75 at Wal-Mart - $5,000 stainless steel closet smokers online. I have no idea where to start.
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Post by wtrfwlr on Jul 8, 2012 6:40:18 GMT -7
Will, ,I would suggest picking up a copy of this book. It is an excellent source of info. on all aspects of smoke cooking. It will explain the actual preservation of meats and even how to build an array of smokehouse from very basic simple ones out of what you have laying around to elaborate ones. It also has all sorts of recipes and different brines and such. I had an extra copy of it but already passed it along to Dink, but they are very cheap to buy off of Amazon. That is where I would start, hope this helps and good luck with it. I love smoking meats. Keep us posted www.amazon.com/Home-Book-Smoke-Cooking-Meat/dp/0811708039
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Post by geron on Jul 8, 2012 7:03:28 GMT -7
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Post by woodyz on Jul 8, 2012 7:11:18 GMT -7
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Post by Cwi555 on Jul 8, 2012 7:22:36 GMT -7
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Post by wtrfwlr on Jul 8, 2012 7:28:11 GMT -7
5 grand for a smoker??? I could buy a good mig welding machine, the wire for it, and stainless 316 barrels to make one for that much. And I have no doubts that it would be a much better piece! Just gotta remember there are a whole lotta folks out there with alot of money and zero skills.
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Post by woodyz on Jul 8, 2012 7:58:20 GMT -7
I used to take the inside tank from water heaters and make ones like this side x side. Now I just buy um. These I will burn a hole in in about 2 years, the stainless would last longer. These tower units hold a lot more and bigger pieces of meat. The trick of both is the indirect heat and keeping the heat vented and down. I like hickory wood for flavor, second would be pecans, then mesquite. I get a good hot fire with kingsford in the fire box, then let it burn too coals I put my meat seasoned to taste, I use a dry rub, in the cooking box. Once the meat has warmed, (10 min) I add some sticks of hickory I had soaked in water over night. You don't want the hickory to burn, just smoke. Once the meat appears dark and starts to get a skin on it, I set my air intake to keep my cook box between 250 and 350. One the side by side unit if I fill the cook box with say, country style ribs, I don't do anything else but keep the heat in the range I want it. The ribs take from 2 4 hours, depending on how much meat there is. edit for spelling
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Post by geron on Jul 8, 2012 16:03:18 GMT -7
I just bought one of these to cook up some meats while the kids are here. Plans in the making to build one in the side of the hill next to the root cellar using plans from the book I suggested above. It is either propane or wood (charcoal). Not exactly what you're looking for.
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Post by tjwilhelm on Jul 8, 2012 16:43:24 GMT -7
Here's a "smoker" story you might be able to do something with... About 4 years ago I participated in a Faculty Exchange program between Community Colleges here in the USA and techical colleges located in Europe. My exchange was made with a welding instructor from Finland. She came to our college here in the USA, and lived in our home for 2 weeks. Then I went to Finland to see their training and I lived with her family for two weeks just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle. As part of their welding program, all students are required to fabricate a stainless steel smoker! These smokers are sold as a fund raiser for the school. Here are a few pics... The body of the smoker is double-walled, like a thermos bottle. It also contains two distinct, internal chambers. The lower chamber is the firebox. The upper chamber is the "smoker" section. Flames and smoke from the firebox never enter the "smoker" section. Instead, the flames and the smoke from the firebox travel through the spaces between the double-wall and create an essential oven out of the smoker section. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr The chimney is removable for cleaning purposes. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr This picture shows the two internal chambers. There is an open grate in the bottom of the lower firebox and an ash pan below that. In the firebox, there are openings into the hollow cavity between the two walls of the unit. Air comes up through the bottom grate and the air, smoke, and flames circulate up around the "smoker" box and exit the chimney. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr In the photo above, and the photo below, notice that in the very bottom of the upper "smoker" section is a lipped pan. In operation, this pan is filed with water-soaked chips of hickory, apple-wood, or whatever your preferred "smoker" chips might be. The meat or fish is spread out on the wire grates. There is a drip pan below the grates, yet above the "smoke" chips pan. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr This smoker design seemed to work VERY well! YUM! If you know your local welding teacher, you might encourage him or her to take on a class project like this...and then you can buy one for yourself!
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Post by thywar on Jul 8, 2012 17:00:46 GMT -7
Now that's a cool smoker..
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Post by wtrfwlr on Jul 8, 2012 17:45:23 GMT -7
I just bought one of these to cook up some meats while the kids are here. Plans in the making to build one in the side of the hill next to the root cellar using plans from the book I suggested above. It is either propane or wood (charcoal). Not exactly what you're looking for. I have one that is very similar in looks to that one, it doesn't have the propane deal it is only charcoal. The complaint I have with mine is I cannot keep or control the heat in it. It is make out of too light of metal. I've been wanting to panel the outside of it with fireboard but I doubt that ever gets done.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 18:19:39 GMT -7
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Post by Cwi555 on Jul 8, 2012 18:28:05 GMT -7
Unfortunately, most technical colleges in the states do not have welding programs that would teach the necessary skills for that. For that matter, they are usually doing good to have money for A36 plain steel, much less any grade of stainless that would work. They also don't have the general metal forming gear to perform such a task either. I can only think of one program in a 200 mile radius of here that has a metal break capable of making those angles. There are some excellent instructors out there, but they are usually poorly funded and poorly supplied. For that particular smoker, I would say there isn't more than two to three dozen schools with that ability on the east coast. Modern U.S. academia and public schools tend to portray welders and knuckle dragging neanderthals. Not long back, I instructed a course for ultrasonic examination at a tech college. That was more to the liking of the 'staff', more technical, cleaner, etc. However, I was reprimanded for pushing the need to understand welding, and suggesting the students learn how to weld. It was my first and last course as I informed them of what I thought about their 'attitudes' towards welders. In the end, it will be those 'neanderthals', that will be working when all the paper pushers are lined up at the soup line. Here's a "smoker" story you might be able to do something with... About 4 years ago I participated in a Faculty Exchange program between Community Colleges here in the USA and techical colleges located in Europe. My exchange was made with a welding instructor from Finland. She came to our college here in the USA, and lived in our home for 2 weeks. Then I went to Finland to see their training and I lived with her family for two weeks just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle. As part of their welding program, all students are required to fabricate a stainless steel smoker! These smokers are sold as a fund raiser for the school. Here are a few pics... The body of the smoker is double-walled, like a thermos bottle. It also contains two distinct, internal chambers. The lower chamber is the firebox. The upper chamber is the "smoker" section. Flames and smoke from the firebox never enter the "smoker" section. Instead, the flames and the smoke from the firebox travel through the spaces between the double-wall and create an essential oven out of the smoker section. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr The chimney is removable for cleaning purposes. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr This picture shows the two internal chambers. There is an open grate in the bottom of the lower firebox and an ash pan below that. In the firebox, there are openings into the hollow cavity between the two walls of the unit. Air comes up through the bottom grate and the air, smoke, and flames circulate up around the "smoker" box and exit the chimney. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr In the photo above, and the photo below, notice that in the very bottom of the upper "smoker" section is a lipped pan. In operation, this pan is filed with water-soaked chips of hickory, apple-wood, or whatever your preferred "smoker" chips might be. The meat or fish is spread out on the wire grates. There is a drip pan below the grates, yet above the "smoke" chips pan. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by tjwilhelm148149, on Flickr This smoker design seemed to work VERY well! YUM! If you know your local welding teacher, you might encourage him or her to take on a class project like this...and then you can buy one for yourself!
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Post by tjwilhelm on Jul 8, 2012 19:13:20 GMT -7
Wow! That's sad and shocking, cwi555. I'm glad our school is NOT like that! Our so-called blue collar tech students are treated well, trained well, and are well respected. Our welding students also can take extra courses in our machine-tool program, our fabrication program, and millwright program. They learn rigging, too!
Looks like it's time for me to take a some more welding courses. Maybe I could sell a few smokers!
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Post by wtrfwlr on Jul 8, 2012 19:33:44 GMT -7
We have a technical college here that has an excellent welding and fabrication dept. The welding dept. head is a high school buddy of mine. I saw him not long ago, at a BBQ cookoff of all things! He has a big competition cooker on a trailer he designed and built. It has Oxygen tanks for smoke stacks....but I digress. He told me that he had just ordered a bunch of new welders for the class several Tigs as well as Migs and he said they had no qualms about the 'special one' he thought they needed that, I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something like 10-15K. They also have a really advanced collision repair dept and I have hired several of their students in years past.
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