After i first tried homemade self smoked salmon and bacon! i was hooked, so i read some online and looked into getting myself a smoker, but they were waay to expensive for me to buy, so i decided to convert an old soda refridgerator to a smoker kabinet.
I went online to find a suitable refridgerator that was cheap enough or free and found one that did not work and had been used as a storage locker, i got it for free, i had to wash it out 4 times to get all the old smells out of it, i stripped out all the electronics and the condencer.
I went online and bought a cheap maze smoker witch holds enough sawdust to keep the smoker going for up to 10 hours.
i also mounted up an electric coal grill igniter to provide heat in the kabinet for heat smoking, i connected the igniter to a temerature controlled switch so i could control the temperature.
I removed the plastic handle on the igniter before i mounted it so it would not melt or catch fire.
I left the refridgerators built in fan stay as i could use it to move the air around in the cabinet to evenly heat up and spread the smoke. I also left the metal back panel witch the fan sits monted on stay as that send all the heat and air from the fan in a canal to the bottom of the cabinet as to protect the food from the igniter with i fastened behind the metal plate.
I drilled out 2 large vents one in the bottom right, and another in the upper left corner, the one in the left corner i mountes a smoke pike witch points upwards as to direct the smoke away from the cabinet.
In the maze smoker i use sawdust made from apple trees, but there are several kinds of sawdust you can use witch are often sold in different stores witch have camping and hunting equipment, the sawdust witch i have made using an electric chainsaw with generic food oils in the oil slot as not to pollute it, the sawdust i grind in a electric coffee grinder down to a finer dust.
I usually buy whole sides of pork ribs, i remove the bones and use them for spearribs, i place the porksides in a big container filled with rocksalt and leave the pork sides to sit for 24 hours covered in salt, i then rinse off the salt and pat dry, and hang the pork sides up in my smoker to air dry in a cool place for 3-6 days, i then fill up the maze smoker and let it smoke without the heater for 10 hours, and i let the sides continue to hand in the smoker to air dry for another day untill i cut them up in chunks and vacuumseal them and i place them in the freezer untill im going to use them.
I also smoke som salmon and other fish in here but they dont need more than 6-12 hours covered in salt and 1-3 days to dry, and another day drying after the smoking.
while i have something going in the smoker i also like to put in some cheese and butter as they also tase very good when smoked.
I hope some of you can get inspiration in this post as i would really recommend people to be able to make their own smoked foods as the storebought painted on smokeoil just dont cut it.
Notice! All Images and text is my own! Feel free to use the images and or the text, but please credit my original post.
