Help with my brick smoker

[Garyclaw]

The fire, for smoke, goes at the end of the tunnel, where the steel plate is. This would be for cold smoking. (hence the wooden doors of the smoke chamber where you hang meat or fish)

 

[jbraveman]

The fire, for smoke, goes at the end of the tunnel, where the steel plate is. This would be for cold smoking. (hence the wooden doors of the smoke chamber where you hang meat or fish)

It seems like a small space to build a fire. The tunnel is only about a foot high. I agree that the idea that this is a cold smoker makes sense.

 

[cowgirl]

You won't need a large fire for the size of your smoker. Burn a couple of logs at the end of your smoke pipe, the smoke will travel down the tunnel into your smoking chamber. You don't want a white billowing smoke, just a gentle one will do.

My smokehouse is larger but works the same. I have a burn barrel at the end of my smoke pipe. By the time the smoke reaches the house, the smoke is cool.

more info on the house...
http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-cold-smoker-smokehouse.html

some cold smoked bacon and other stuff..

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53606

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53606&page=4

cold smoked salmon...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=171404



With your set up, it looks like you should be able to hot smoke inside of the pit too.


Good luck with it!

 

[sslak]

So you bought an old brick smoker on a lot by the lake and they threw a house in for free?

You are one lucky dog.

 

[fingerlickin']

Thanks for all your suggestions. The house was built in 1985. There have been a couple owners before us. I don't know when the smoker was built.

So If I'm understanding things correctly the fire should go at the end of the long channel to smoke the meat inside the large box? I was thinking it worked like my egg with the fire and the meat in the same place.

Is there something missing that would contain the fire on the outside like a drum? I did see something rusting in woods near by.

You could cold smoke ala cowgirl's examples using the tube and firebox or cook right in the main chamber similar to your egg.

With your egg you have a plate setter which causes the indirect heat. If the grates are far enough from the fire you can get away without a heat diffuser similar to a UDS. If it seems too hot you could try building the fire on one side of the floor of the main chamber and place the meat on a rack above on the opposite side.

Now is your chance to become handy. Go for it!

 

[Roast Beast]

I'm not even sure if this is a part for the smoker.

I found that exact thing buried in my back yard this past weekend (did not have the rod attached). Was wondering what the heck it was.

 

[HankB]

The only thing I would not do is get it really hot. Those look like common brick, not fire brick. It may not hold up well to high heat. Wood doors seem to confirm that it was not designed for high heat. Should be good for cold smoking though.

 

[dport7]

I agree with everybody's statements, start a fire in the tunnel and heat it up.
Like cowgirls said, run a fire in the main area for a hotter smoke.

 

[caliking]

Looks like a brick offset smoker. I bet you could do a cold smoke with that if you lit the fire at the end of the tunnel. That is probably why a wooden door never burned down. Noob here so take it for what its worth.

Listen to cowgirl! She's always right :grin:

I would go easy about firing it up to hot. As someone already mentioned, those don't look like firebricks, and depending on how old it is, the mortar between the bricks may not take high heat too well. Also check how the thermometer is calibrated. If it doesn't have high temp markings, that may be another clue that it was used for cold smoking or something.

I found that exact thing buried in my back yard this past weekend (did not have the rod attached). Was wondering what the heck it was.

Looks like a drain cover, but the OP's has been modded for smoking? Did you also find a smoker to go with it? :grin:

 

[Uncle JJ]

Cowgirl is cool.

 

[jbuntingsr]

I saw a setup very similar to that on youtube, looks pretty cool. I'd have fun with that. Keep us posted.

 

[cowgirl]

Listen to cowgirl! She's always right :grin:

I would go easy about firing it up to hot. As someone already mentioned, those don't look like firebricks, and depending on how old it is, the mortar between the bricks may not take high heat too well. Also check how the thermometer is calibrated. If it doesn't have high temp markings, that may be another clue that it was used for cold smoking or something.



Looks like a drain cover, but the OP's has been modded for smoking? Did you also find a smoker to go with it? :grin:

Cowgirl is cool.

lol I'm bookmarking these to show my friends. :laugh::laugh::laugh: Thanks Caliking and Uncle JJ! :becky:

 

[Teleking]

I found that exact thing buried in my back yard this past weekend (did not have the rod attached). Was wondering what the heck it was.

Looks like a cast iron grate out of a sunbeam kettle (green). Looks like the handle was added to hang in smoke chamber.

 

[mikemci]

I believe that "wire" where the heat duct meets the cooking/smoking chamber had the damper attached to it. On your picture of that area on the inside, that was where a metal flap was (damper) it has rusted away but you can see the remains of it. On the outside photo you can see where there is a chain attached to it in order to hold the damper in whatever position you choose. It also seems likely that the round grate was hung inside the cooking/smoking chamber. That would be a lot of fun to experiment with. Great perk to your new home. Have fun with it.

 

[Roast Beast]

Did you also find a smoker to go with it? :grin:

No, but maybe I should keep digging. :wink:

 

[katman]

Go to cowgirl's site and pick up some tips for using it. Looks like it would work for cold smoking and maybe even direct grilling but it doesn't appear to be constructed with the intention of doing long, moderate temp cooks.

 

[MeatCandy]

Send me you address...I'll send you some matches...

 

[jbraveman]

Is there anything that can be done to fix the damper? It would seem that this would regulate the airflow to control the temp for a hot smoke.

I believe that "wire" where the heat duct meets the cooking/smoking chamber had the damper attached to it. On your picture of that area on the inside, that was where a metal flap was (damper) it has rusted away but you can see the remains of it. On the outside photo you can see where there is a chain attached to it in order to hold the damper in whatever position you choose. It also seems likely that the round grate was hung inside the cooking/smoking chamber. That would be a lot of fun to experiment with. Great perk to your new home. Have fun with it.

 

[sslak]

Seems like you could fix the damper if you can figure out how the first one was attached inside the chimney...

you could probably drill a hole through the mortar on each side and insert a new metal rod. If you rolled one end of a square of sheet metal around the rod to give it the shape...and drill a hole on the other side of the sheet metal to hook your chain to. Once the rod was in place you could hang the sheet metal on the rod and just crimp the last little bit down to keep it from coming off...then attach a new chain to the flapping side of the sheet metal (opposite the rod)

Hard to explain...but I'm sure you could rig something up that will work. Last resort...see if the mesh comes off the top part and just lay a flat piece of metal over the top of the chimney and just slide it open/closed to your liking.