Despite the fact that recently a huge number of different devices for smoking factory-made products have appeared on sale, many home craftsmen are in no hurry to purchase them, preferring to make a smokehouse with their own hands. Some of them weld the body of the smokehouse from sheet iron, obtaining a metal box in which the smoking process subsequently takes place. And someone, in a creative search, goes even further, adapting, sometimes, quite unexpected objects for this purpose. One of these non-standard solutions is a DIY refrigerator smokehouse.

Smokehouse from the refrigerator - nothing could be easier

On the technical side, a DIY smokehouse made from an old refrigerator is a fairly simple device. To implement this idea, you will need a few tools that every home craftsman has.

Most of the manufacturing process takes place in the creative phase, where you will need to decide how many grates and hooks will be installed, where to install the smokehouse, and the like. How to make a smokehouse from a refrigerator, and what are its main features?

Design Features

In order not to make mistakes in the process of making a smokehouse with your own hands from a refrigerator, you need to decide what technology you plan to use to smoke products with its help: cold or hot smoking, since the difference in technology makes some differences in the design of the device.

Also, when making a smokehouse from a refrigerator with your own hands, you need to decide: it will be used indoors or outdoors, which also makes certain differences in the design.

Hot smoking

When hot smoking products, the source of smoke (wood chips) is located inside the smokehouse body. In the process of heating it, slowly smoldering begins without the formation of a flame, during which the temperature of the smoke in the smoking box can be 80-120 ° C, and may differ slightly depending on the product being smoked. Using a home-made refrigerator smokehouse for this type of smoking, you get a large capacity container, which will allow you to easily set the required temperature for the process.

To create smoke in a hot smoked smokehouse, the easiest way is to use an electric stove with open or closed heating elements. In the first case, it is necessary to place a frying pan on it, into which wood chips are poured; in the second case, the wood chips can be placed directly on the heating surface of the tile.

Due to the high temperatures of heat treatment, dishes are cooked much faster than with cold smoking, often the process lasts less than one hour. However, while winning in one thing, we lose in another: a hot-smoked product has a shorter shelf life than a similar, but cold-processed one.

Another feature of hot smoking is that under the influence of high temperatures, the product you are preparing becomes soft and is saturated with the smell and taste of smoke, so beloved by gourmets.

With cold smoking, the smoke source is located outside the smokehouse, so you will need to figure out how to connect them together. You can come up with your own unique design or use a ready-made version from the Internet, where you will find many inventions of your fellow “Kulibins”.

For cold smoking, it is very important to maintain the process temperature within a narrower range than for hot smoking. Recommended value is 27-30°C. Since cold smoking lasts much longer (the process takes several hours), at a higher temperature the smoked product will “burn”, and if it is insufficient, it will go rotten.

While losing in the complexity of the technological process, this type of smoking benefits in that the product obtained with its help has a long shelf life, during which its taste is not lost.

We make a smokehouse for cold smoking

How to make a cold smoked smokehouse from a refrigerator St. with both hands? What tool will be needed, distinctive features and possible nuances.

Required tools and materials

To make a smokehouse from a refrigerator with your own hands, you will need the following tool:

1. Drill with drills. With their help, holes are drilled for self-tapping screws, and a contour is outlined for cutting holes in the walls of the refrigerator.

1. Metal scissors. Necessary for giving the refrigerator parts the required dimensions.
2. A hacksaw with a blade for metal or a side grinder (popularly “grinder”) with a disc for metal. With their help, you can saw a metal pipe to obtain a chimney of the required size.
3. Screwdriver and self-tapping screws for attaching elements to the smokehouse body.

The materials you need to make a smokehouse are:

1. Old refrigerator. Any model will do, the main thing is that its body is not rotten and there is no rust.

1. Refractory brick for arranging the combustion chamber. For this purpose, you can also use ordinary bricks, if it is impossible to purchase refractory bricks, but in this case you need to be prepared for the fact that the firebox will last much less.
2. Metal lid for the firebox. Necessary for loading a smoke source into the combustion chamber, as well as for regulating the process of smoldering and smoke production.
3. A set of pipes and angles for creating a chimney. It is recommended to use a metal pipe with an internal diameter of 100-150mm.
4. Hook for creating a refrigerator door lock.
5. Several grates and hooks on which the product will be laid or hung.
6. Exhaust fan to create a stream of cold smoke.
7. Container for collecting drained fat.

Scheme drawings

Smoke generator assembly

Diagram of a smokehouse firebox from an old refrigerator.

A firebox is installed at a distance of approximately 2-3 m from the refrigerator. To ensure a free flow of smoke in the desired direction (from the firebox to the smoking chamber), the firebox must be positioned lower in level than the chamber. If you have a flat area or its natural slope is not enough, a hole is dug in the ground for the firebox and a trench for the chimney.

The firebox will act as a smoke generator; the best option for its manufacture is masonry made of refractory bricks. If you don’t have a brick, but have an unnecessary metal box, then it can also be used as a firebox. If you don’t have any of the above, then you can even get by with a piece of sheet metal laid at the bottom of the firebox pit. The main condition is that the firebox with a smoke generator must have a lid for loading the material, cleaning it from used raw materials, and also adjusting the flow and temperature of the smoke.

Preparing the body

1. The lining and all plastic elements are removed from the inside of the refrigerator. The magnetic strip on the refrigerator doors does not need to be removed. The cracks that appear during dismantling will serve as exhaust openings in the future smokehouse.
2. Holes of the required diameter are drilled in the required places and gratings and hooks are installed using self-tapping screws.
3. A hole is made in the lower part of the refrigerator body for the chimney pipe. To do this, a circle is marked on the bottom with a diameter corresponding to the pipe used. Next, using a drill, marking holes are drilled along the contour, after which a hole is cut out using metal scissors.
4. A similar procedure must be performed in the upper part of the refrigerator body to install the exhaust fan. The size of this hole is selected according to the diameter of your fan.
5. A locking device (hook) is installed on the door, ensuring its tight fit to the refrigerator body when closed.

Considering that when creating a cold smoked smokehouse from a refrigerator with your own hands, the design has a relatively long chimney between the combustion and smoking chambers, and they are also located at different heights, then the need for an exhaust fan may disappear.

You can initially skip step 4 and try to operate the smokehouse without an exhaust fan; if the smoke flow is sufficient, you can leave the structure as is. If the flow is weak, you can always add an additional hood.

Chimney installation

After the firebox and the refrigerator body are installed in the places where they will stand in the future, they are connected using a metal pipe (chimney). If it is necessary to bend the pipe, use corners with the required angle. The connections must be made airtight so that the cold smoke required for smoking does not escape outside the smoking chamber, reducing the efficiency of the device.

Manufacturing of gratings

When making a smokehouse from a refrigerator with your own hands, you will definitely need grates on which the product being processed will be placed. Of course, the best option is to use stainless steel grates. However, if it is difficult to obtain such a grill, then you can use a ferrous metal grill. For smoking small pieces, a wire grid with a diameter of 2 mm is sufficient; for heavier pieces, the thickness of the wire should be greater.

One of the main requirements for the grill when making a smokehouse from a refrigerator with your own hands is the absence of paint on its surface. Therefore, you can use the grill that comes with the refrigerator itself. To get rid of paint, you can beat it off with a hammer or burn it over an open fire.

Making a pallet

Any unpainted metal container can be used as a tray for collecting fat. Its dimensions must be selected in such a way that the fat dripping from above does not fall past the pan.

Rules for using the smokehouse

When smoking food in a smokehouse from the refrigerator, you should use the following simple rules:

1. It is necessary to prepare in advance a supply of wood chips or sawdust in quantities sufficient to ensure continuity of the process throughout the entire smoking period.
2. Light a fire in the firebox and warm up the smokehouse.
3. Place the product on a grid or hang it on hooks. Try to avoid contact between pieces of product to ensure maximum quality smoke treatment on all sides.
4. Close the smokehouse and wait for the smoking time according to the recipe. Please note that it is not recommended to open the chamber at the time of smoking, this violates the temperature regime.
5. During the process, it is necessary to ensure that the wood chips do not ignite; it is necessary to maintain only its smoldering. Add wood chips if necessary.
6. It is also necessary to maintain the fire to ensure smoldering of the wood chips. When working with open flame, follow fire safety requirements.

Selection of raw materials for smoking

Traditionally, the best raw materials for preparing food, both over an open fire and using smokehouses, are wood chips or large shavings:

• fruit species: pear, apple, cherry, apricot and others.
• deciduous trees: alder, oak.

Small tricks

• Use old Soviet-made refrigerators, they contain very little plastic.
• You can cut a rectangular hole in the refrigerator door and stick heat-resistant glass on it, in this case you can observe the smoking process without opening the door.
• Use well-dried wood chips or sawdust, otherwise excess moisture in them may lead to condensation on the product.
• Do not use softwood wood chips or sawdust as this will cause a bitter taste in your product.
• To save on fuel for the fire, install the smokehouse in an area where there are no drafts.

In this article we will look at the principle of operation, successful home-made designs and step by step we will analyze how to make a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands, photos, video reports.

Not every one of us will refuse a piece of smoked meat, poultry, lard or fish. But you are not always willing to buy these products, since in stores the price for them is too high, and the quality is questionable. However, there is a way out.

Do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse, structure and principle of operation

The principle of cold smoking is that food is processed with smoke whose temperature does not exceed 32 °C. So what scheme should you use to build a smokehouse in order to properly organize the cold smoking process?

The smoke is cooled in a kind of tunnel that connects the firebox and the smokehouse itself (the compartment in which the products are placed). This compartment and the firebox should be located at least two meters from each other and at most seven meters. This distance will determine the length of the chimney through which smoke enters the smokehouse.

It is possible to place the firebox and food compartment at a greater distance, however, then problems with traction may arise.

Below is the operating principle of such a smokehouse

Products in a smokehouse can be processed for at least 3 days, and sometimes for several weeks. To ensure that smoking occurs evenly, the types of products in the smokehouse are not mixed and cooked in one step, without adding food during the process. They also try to sort food by size. Otherwise, some of the products may be spoiled.

Smokehouse design

You will need to dig a hole about 50 by 50 cm under the firebox. Larger sizes are also allowed; the width and depth of the hole can reach a meter. The depth of the firebox is also about a meter.

If desired, the bottom of the firebox can be made of brick, but without using mortar, the bricks are simply rammed together. For these purposes, they use refractory bricks (although if there is no refractory brick, you can use ordinary red bricks). In addition, you can also use ceramic bricks, if, of course, you have one.

After this, a tin sheet is placed on the bottom. The sides of the firebox can also be paved with brick. To fasten the bricks in the walls, use clay mortar.

The chimney is dug in the ground, from the firebox, to the place where the smoking chamber will be located. The chimney should be about 25 cm in diameter. We dig a trench under the chimney, and put sheet material on top. Slate, iron or other durable non-combustible material can be used as sheet material. Again, if desired, the chimney can be lined with bricks. To prevent smoke from leaking out, earth is poured over the sheet material.

The second edge of the chimney should end with a smokehouse. Where the chimney will connect to the smoking chamber, a filter will be required. As a basis for making a filter, you can use a metal mesh with small cells. A dense mesh material is laid on top of the laid mesh so that soot does not get on the food. The food chamber can be made of any non-toxic material; it is best to use wood.

A cold smoked smokehouse (with your own hands) must be securely secured so that no one accidentally knocks it over. In the smoking chamber, at the top, stainless steel rods with a thickness of approximately 8-10 mm are installed to hang products on them. Fastening of products to the rods is carried out with special hooks. Sometimes rods with hooks are replaced with a regular grill.

A simple and reliable do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse

The task performed by a cold smoked smokehouse is to supply cooled smoke to the area in which the products are located. To ensure the supply of even and stable smoke for, for example, a week, it is not necessary to build something like a mausoleum. Let's see how quickly and inexpensively you can make a simple cold-smoked smokehouse with your own hands.

To begin with, since the smoke must be cold, even in the simplest cold-smoked smokehouse, the chamber with food and the chamber with firewood should be at a distance. Since our smokehouse is designed to save time and materials, a distance of 2 m will be sufficient.

To make a smokehouse we need:

• Tin sheet;
• Metal barrel;
• Metal grid;
• Lattice;
• A piece of burlap firebox;
• Several bolts;
• Shovel and other tools.

Oddly enough, this is where the list of items needed to make a simple cold smoked smokehouse ends. Now you can proceed directly to the construction process.

To begin, we dig a hole under the firebox and place a piece of tin sheet at the bottom. This is necessary so that sawdust, chips or twigs smolder more evenly.

Now, let's move on to the chimney. It should be a shallow trench, about 25 cm wide and the length described at the beginning. Now this trench needs to be covered with any available non-combustible materials (since everything is simple with us, slate will do just fine) and sprinkled with soil to ensure tightness.

Now let's move on to the smoking chamber. The simplest option is a regular metal barrel. We disconnect the bottom of the barrel and install a metal mesh underneath, onto which we will place the burlap. These materials in pairs will do an excellent job of filtering soot. A strong mesh or grate is attached to the bottom of the barrel, on which you can place a filter. Burlap can even be replaced with straw, although you can certainly find burlap.

Now, the final stage, in the upper part of the barrel, using bolts, fix the metal grate at a distance of approximately 20 cm from the edge. It is on this grill that the food will be smoked. The grate can be replaced with rods with hooks, but since we are talking about a simple smokehouse, the grate will be a more rational option.

Do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse video instructions

The fact that during cold smoking the smoke temperature should not rise above 30 ° C, and the prepared products should be exposed to smoke for a long time, has already been said more than once. Much has also been written about how to make a smokehouse. But until you see it with your own eyes, it’s difficult to understand what a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands should be like. Video is a great way to remove all unnecessary questions.

But before watching, it’s still worth remembering the theory. So, cold smoking lasts at least 3 days. And if you decide to smoke, for example, whole beef or pork hams, then you will have to smoke for at least a week, or even more.

Cold smoking means that the products slowly lose moisture, dry out, and the smoke and its components penetrate more and more deeply into the products. As a result, good dehydration of lard, fish or meat occurs, without loss of fat, and the products acquire excellent taste and aroma.

Cold smoking allows you to store products for a long time. However, if the meat was not particularly fatty or the animal was old, then, in the end, the product may turn out to be harsh. Therefore, first, it is better to try proven cold-smoked recipes. And after this, when experience has already been gained, it will be possible to slowly experiment with different innovations for variety in shades of taste.

Well, now, in fact, let’s look at the homemade cold-smoked smokehouse, about which so much has been said.

How to choose a cold smoked smokehouse

So, you decided not to build a smokehouse yourself, but to buy a ready-made one. But a wide choice opens up before you, and the question naturally arises: “Which one is better?” A cold smoked smokehouse is a product that you don’t need to rush to choose, but rather understand the selection criteria that are important for you.

Most often, a smokehouse is a closed box with several grates inside (on which food is cooked) and a tray (in which smoldering of fuel occurs). You need to choose a smokehouse with a capacious body, since it smokes meat, fish, lard, cheese, vegetables or fruits more evenly.

The main task of the smokehouse is smoking. However, when choosing a cold smoked smokehouse, you should not forget about its weight (a box with a wall thickness of 6 mm and dimensions of 500 by 500 by 800 mm weighs about 60 kg - think about how much this suits you).

The choice of smokehouse largely depends on the conditions of its use. If you decide to go on a long fishing trip with tents and use a smokehouse there, then it is better to choose a smokehouse whose metal is 0.8 mm. It is light, comfortable, and compact (40x27x17). This is very convenient, why bother transporting heavy objects? Since people do not often arrange such a vacation, the smokehouse will serve you for a long time until the walls of the box burn out.

If you are installing a cold smoked smokehouse in the country or in the yard, then it is better to take a heavier and more reliable option made of stainless steel, with a body thickness of 2.0 mm.

If weight doesn’t matter to you, and the main thing is the durability of the structure, then buy a massive cold-smoked smokehouse made of thick stainless steel. It will serve you for decades. It is better to choose a design with additional stiffening ribs to strengthen the body.

If you are buying a smokehouse to prepare smoked delicacies at home, then be sure to buy a unit that contains a water seal, in this case the problems of smoke removal will be solved. And if you decide to transport the smokehouse to the dacha, then the tube can be easily plugged with improvised means.

The essence of food preparation is the treatment with chemicals during the sublimation of wood under conditions of lack of oxygen. The colloquial name is smoking. Happens:

• Hot. Food is exposed to smoke with a temperature of 70-150°C. The process is characterized by accelerated preparation of products (40-180 minutes). Stored at room temperature for no more than 1-3 days.

• Cold. Treatment is carried out with smoke cooled to 20-30°C. Preparation time ranges from several hours to several days. The product acquires a subtle smoky aroma and exquisite taste. The shelf life reaches several weeks.

• Mixed. Flue gas temperature 40-80°C. Processing within 4-10 hours. Shelf life 3-7 days.

After heat treatment, products acquire a number of properties:

• soaked in aromatic substances that give food a unique aroma and taste;
• acquire a long shelf life due to the preservative properties of flue gases (bacteriostatic effect).

The tastiest and longest-stored products are those that have been processed in a homemade cold-smoked smokehouse.

From simple to complex

A cold-smoked smokehouse, made with your own hands, can represent the simplest structures assembled from improvised means. Or display folk art devices that can compete with industrial models.

The most important difference from other types of smoke exposure is the temperature of the gases. A homemade smokehouse must include a device that reduces the heat component. Scheme of cold and hot smoking:

It can be seen that the design of cold smoke generation includes an elongated channel (chimney). Moving through the pipe, gases lose part of their thermal energy. Accordingly, the temperature decreases. This effect is included in most homemade cold smoked smokehouses.

It can be seen that the cold smoked smokehouse, made by hand, includes three main components:

• smoke source (smoke generator);
• smoke channel (chimney);
• container for food.

Hastily

How to make a cold smoked smokehouse with limited materials:

• on a hike;
• an outing into nature (forest, river, lake);
• at the camp site;
• garden plot, etc.

One option is a simple cold-smoked smokehouse based on rods and plastic film. It is not difficult to build such a structure. The main thing is to ensure a decrease in the temperature of the gases from the coals.

The design is based on the principle of a tent, wigwam, tent.

The power frame is made of poles. A plastic film is thrown over the top. Fish (meat, chicken, game) is fastened with twines. The heat source is coal obtained from a previously built fire. Smoke - damp brushwood and branches with green foliage (but not grass).

The coals may be in a bucket or fireplace. The latter is performed in the ground in the form of a hole with an embankment. The advantages are obvious:

• there is no need for special building material. The only imported item is plastic film;
• extreme simplicity of design;
• speed of installation;
• the ability to visually observe the processing process.

The disadvantage is constant monitoring of the outbreak. Open flames are not allowed, otherwise the entire structure will burn; the process can turn from cold to hot. The need to provide coals and green branches during the entire cooking time. However, there is always a person in the company who happily devotes himself to the process of making a smokehouse for cold smoking with his own hands.

A more complicated option is to make a chimney. This is possible if there is a slope. The length of the ditch will be 1.5-2 meters. Depth 30-50 cm. The trench is covered with branches with foliage, spruce branches of pine or spruce. The earth is thrown on top and covered with film. The advantage is the freeing up of time due to the reduction in constant monitoring.

This cold smoking design is very convenient for cooking fish caught in the nearest body of water. Cooking time is reduced, but not at the expense of taste and quality. The finished product can be stored for several days.

More complex designs will require imported dimensional parts. This will already be a home smokehouse.

Stationary samples of smokehouses

Making a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands near your home is an opportunity to diversify the diet of your household, treat your guests to a delicious delicacy, and prepare food for future use. Having your own farmstead with poultry and keeping beef cattle means creating a mini-workshop for processing and further selling a variety of smoked meats on the collective farm market.

The design of the future smokehouse depends on the tasks set - how to make a smokehouse of a certain size for food processing. This can be a simple device assembled from ready-made components and parts. Or a more complex unit using electricity, an electronic control unit. In any case, you will need the following skills:

• take measurements;
• draw up or read drawings;
• own metalworking tools and welding equipment;
• Knowledge of electrical engineering will be required.

Material at hand

The design is implemented according to the diagram shown in the figure:

The most accessible parts are a 200-liter steel barrel, the body of an old refrigerator, an iron cabinet for tools or clothes. For the chimney, metal pipes with an internal diameter of at least 100 mm are used:

• sewer;
• pressure conduit;
• ventilation duct made of tin;
• flexible corrugated pipe for a chimney from a fireplace or stove.

A fireplace located in a small pit is suitable as a smoke generator. The top is closed with a lid. More difficult is the use of a metal furnace with separate chambers. One serves as a source of heat, the other contains sawdust to produce smoke.

Important points during design and installation:

• The cold smokehouse must be located at a distance from wood or other flammable materials;
• take into account the wind rose; the air flow should not clog the fire in the hearth or direct smoke towards residential or outbuildings with pets;
• it is necessary to ensure the slope of the chimney to create draft;
• Protect the location of the chimney and stove to avoid burns by curious children or adults.

The length of the pipe or trench under the chimney is 2-5 meters. This size determines the cooling intensity and draft. In winter or autumn-spring, problems with lowering the temperature of flue gases will not arise due to the significant difference between the environment and the heat flow.

More difficult in hot weather. Let us remind you that the effect of cold smoking appears at 20-30°C. Warming up the air to 30-35°C can completely drown out the draft. Flue gases will not acquire the required thermal background.

Making a smokehouse with your own hands for cold smoking begins with completing a preliminary design, preparing the initial components and parts. Next comes the determination of the location on the site. The connection of components and parts is made based on local conditions - by welding, soldering, threaded fasteners or caulking.

Examples of products created by the thoughts of folk craftsmen are presented:

Construction products for smoking

The installation of a smokehouse on your own site can be a stationary outbuilding made of metal, brick or wood. Hence, a home cold smoked smokehouse, assembled with your own hands, should be located in a place where smoke will not reach the home and annoy pets.

Examples of folk art:

In addition to the solidity and substantial volumes, the difference between the designs and simple devices is the presence of a chronometer that counts the time from loading to unloading the finished product. A more advanced version is equipped with an electronic control unit:

• time is counted down;
• a sound signal is given indicating the end of the process;
• temperature control is carried out inside the product;
• a general analysis of gas formation is carried out.

A self-built unit is an opportunity to realize your entrepreneurial spirit:

But for this it is necessary to solve a number of problems. The main ones are cooling the flue gases in hot weather and creating a constant flow inside the smokehouse.

The idea of ​​reducing temperature is shown in the figure:

From the picture you can see that the design resembles a moonshine still. But it is not the “primary fluid” that is cooled, but the flue gas. In practice, the scheme is implemented in several ways.

1. Cooling with water. To do this, the pipe (or part) is immersed in a bath filled with liquid from a well or borehole.

1. Air cooling. The flue gas is partially mixed with air from the compressor (the temperature decreases as it expands).

In any case, forced ventilation will be required. The diagram is presented:

In practice, this is connecting an aquarium pump, or a fan from a kitchen hood, or ventilation for a bathroom:

You can make a smokehouse with your own hands based on industrial designs. But for this you will need knowledge of welding:

This design will be able to implement the principle of hot and cold smoking:

An additional (or main) function is cooking meat: kebabs, steaks, chicken, etc.

Food preparation

Unlike hot smoking, food products subjected to cold smoke processing must first be prepared:

• pickle;
• marinate;
• keep in a closed container with fragrant seasonings.

After salting, the semi-finished product must be cleaned of salt and washed thoroughly in cold water. It is possible that such an operation will be needed to remove excess marinade (initially a lot of vinegar was added).

The salting-marination operation has the function of bacteriological treatment. When exposed to salt, the outer flesh dehydrates. Bacteria in such an environment stop developing. But meat cannot be kept in brine. Otherwise, it will lose a lot of moisture and become tough.

Complex products - sausages, as well as fish, longer than 30-40 cm should be secured with twine based on natural materials (hemp, flax). This method will allow the sausage products to retain their shape. The fish will not fall apart.

A cold smoked smokehouse, designed with your own hands, is a source of pride for the master. A properly prepared product will bring double pleasure.

There are many options for expressing your creative thoughts. Even simple designs can successfully give food an unforgettable subtle taste.

Sometimes you want to try something delicious. One has only to look at the bright advertising photographs of various smoked meats, and one’s appetite instantly works up. It would seem that it would be simpler - you just have to go to the store and everything seems to be there. But no one knows what quality the products will be, how they were prepared and what kind of seasonings were added there. Therefore, more and more often people are trying to get involved in clean food and organize a cold smoked smokehouse.

Process Features

As a result of home smoking, the products have a wonderful aroma and taste. They are completely different from those sold in stores. But the home process also has its own subtleties, secrets and nuances.

In the past, people smoked food because of its ability to last for a long time. Smoked products may not spoil for weeks, months, and some properly prepared products can even last for years. Ancient man was able to afford to make supplies for long journeys or to survive the hungry season.

Modern people smoke foods mainly to give them a unique, subtle taste. “Smoky,” as they say.

There are two types of smoking:

• Hot.
• Cold.

Smokehouses for each type of smoking use the same principle, but there are significant differences. The essential attributes of any smokehouse are a fireplace with firewood, a sealed smoking chamber with hooks and a device for collecting fat. Fat always accumulates as a result of the smoking process. A prerequisite for any type of smoking is that open fire should not fall on the cooked pieces of food. The smoke temperature for cold smoking should be maintained within the range of thirty-two to thirty-five degrees Celsius. When hot smoking, the smoke temperature must be very high.

Basic principles

The secret of the correct cold process is not in the heat treatment of the product, but in uniform fumigation with cooled and carbon-free smoke.

Only when these important conditions are met does smoked meat acquire the correct appearance and the necessary subtle taste qualities.

With proper smoking, you need to ensure that carbon monoxide, along with elements harmful to humans, settles in the chimney, without reaching the smoking chamber. Therefore, the smokehouse is located at a distance of several meters from the fire. The smoke, mixing with air and traveling a long way through the pipe, reaches the end of its journey with a composition suitable for processing products.

When smoke passes through the chamber with food, it must linger there for a while so that it can be soaked.

Food preparation

An important point in cooking is the preparation of future “delicacies”. If you simply hang fish or meat, you can, instead of cooking, only spoil the food.

List of necessary actions that need to be performed before cold smoking with your own hands:

A little about firewood

Firewood must be carefully selected, since each type of wood has its own flavor. Not all trees can be used for smoking.

The following varieties are excellent:

• Plum branches.
• Cherry with the condition that without bark.
• Pear or apple firewood.
• Dogwood or apricot.

Those who love a tart taste heat it with elm or beech, oak or walnut firewood.

When fish caught in mulled lakes is smoked, willow rods, broom or willow are used.

In the most extreme cases, during a camping trip or if firewood from fruit trees is not available, you can smoke using:

• Lipe.
• Poplar.
• Aspen or alder.

Coniferous wood species and those affected by various diseases: fungus, etc. are strictly not recommended for use. Moreover, all trees within a radius of fifty meters from the infected specimen are considered infected, since the pores of the fungus are spread even by a slight breath of wind.

How to make a cold smoked smokehouse is of interest to many craftsmen. The picture shows cold smoking at home. The design of a smokehouse begins with a fireplace or a chamber where the prepared wood burns. Through the chimney channel, cooled and purified smoke enters the smokehouse with products.

To build a smokehouse, an area of ​​up to four meters is usually used. It is best if it is possible to use a small slope. In this case, it is easy to achieve the correct angle of inclination of the chimney.

First stage

First, two holes are dug with a distance of three meters between them. The pits are connected by a shallow trench. It should fit a chimney, which is a pipe with a diameter of one hundred and fifty to two hundred millimeters and a length of about three meters. The distance between the pits should be thirty centimeters shorter than the length of the pipe.

If there is no suitable pipe, the chimney is made of red brick.

The stove should be located lower than the smokehouse itself. The pit for the stove is usually about fifty centimeters wide and seventy centimeters long.

The difference in height between the smokehouse and the stove is fifty to sixty centimeters. The pit for the foundation of the smokehouse has a square cross-section with a side of sixty centimeters.

The depth of both holes should be equal to several bayonets from the location of the chimney pipe.

Pouring the foundation

After the holes are dug, a pipe is laid in a long trench and concrete is poured into the dug holes. For a stove, the floor level should be ten centimeters below the level of the chimney, and in a smokehouse, slightly below the chimney exit.

When the concrete hardens, a firebox is built on it in the first pit. A layer of low-fat clay mortar is applied to the foundation. Refractory bricks are laid flat on top along the perimeter. The furnace walls are made of brick and clay.

The size of the firebox is adjusted to its door. Ideally, the door should be made of cast iron. After installing the door, the roof is constructed. It can be made either from a finished slab, or laid out from reinforcement covered with bricks.

After making the stove, they assemble a square base for the future smokehouse measuring fifty by fifty centimeters. The masonry is made of ordinary red bricks fixed with cement mortar.

When the solutions harden, perform a test kindling. If there are places where smoke can pass through, they are covered with clay or cement mortar..

Final stage

Then a smokehouse frame with a base size of sixty by sixty centimeters is knocked together from wooden blocks. The finished frame is sheathed with one layer of boards. A piece of metal pipe can serve as a chimney that is fixed to the roof. Inside the house, bars with grooves for metal rods are sewn on the sides, on which meat and fish are hung.

A clapboard assembled from coniferous wood is nailed onto the first layer of wood. The lining is mounted horizontally. The door is assembled in exactly the same way. This design allows you to avoid unnecessary losses of warm smoke.

It is advisable to embed a thermometer into the door with the dial facing outward. It will allow you to control the temperature inside the smokehouse.

The entire assembled house is placed on a prepared brick foundation and is attached to the brick wall through the lower bars along the perimeter using dowels. The cracks are carefully and tightly covered with the solution and after it dries, the wood is coated with a protective varnish. The smokehouse roof is protected with slate or corrugated sheeting.

A metal tray is placed at the bottom of the smokehouse. It will collect grease and protect food if it falls off the hook and falls down.

Thus, the question of how to make a cold smoked smokehouse has been resolved.

Smokehouse from the refrigerator

If desired, the smoking chamber can be easily assembled from available materials. For example, a refrigerator.

Do-it-yourself cold smoked smokehouse from the refrigerator is done relatively quickly.

All cracks in the refrigerator are sealed with adhesive tape and a pipe is connected to it, the other end of which is attached to the stove. And also the refrigerator is freed from all internal parts.

A hole is cut out on the top of the body to let out smoke. Sometimes a small fan is mounted there.

Inside the refrigerator, grates are attached to the top on which food can be placed.

Place a bowl on the bottom of the refrigerator to catch any dripping fat.

You can use a potbelly stove or electric stove as a stove.. Sawdust is placed on the electric stove. When the sawdust starts to smoke, the stove turns off. Then it turns on again.

The length of the connecting pipe between the stove and the refrigerator-smokehouse is three to four meters.

For your first test run, it's best to prepare some food. This is required in order to determine the exact cooking time and the required amount of firewood to complete the entire process.

Various experiments with varieties of meat and fish begin to be carried out after gaining a little experience.

Large pieces of meat or parts of ham are smoked until tender for three to four days at a smoke temperature of about thirty degrees. After smoking is completed, the finished pieces are placed in a cool place for two weeks. Only after this the product acquires the full possible flavor range.

To enhance the flavor, sawdust from fruit trees is added to the oven. Before this, the sawdust is soaked in cold water for ten minutes.

To maintain a stable temperature, use a lot of sawdust or wood chips.

Firewood makes up about twenty percent of the total wood mass.

Smoking production requires time-consuming technologies, endurance and patience. The reward for your work is a pleasant aroma, delicate taste, elastic texture and long-term storage of products.

Many people are interested in how to make a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands, because everyone loves to enjoy delicious smoked meats from time to time, because these products have a unique taste and aroma.

Previously, smoking was used to extend the shelf life of meat and fish, due to the property of smoke to prevent food spoilage.

Now, meat and fish, smelling pleasantly and smoky, have become a real delicacy and appear in our homes, both on holidays and ordinary days, and are also indispensable in the country.

If you are the happy owner of a summer house or a private home, then you can buy a smokehouse or make a homemade one for hot or cold smoking with your own hands (from a refrigerator, barrel or brick) to enjoy tasty and aromatic products as often as possible.

Important points during production

To build it yourself correctly, you just need to carefully study the design drawings.

You can smoke products using hot and cold smoking. You can smoke various types of meat, lard, fish, vegetables and even cheese.

Hot and cold smoked smokehouses are very similar. They consist of a hearth, an area for prepared foods, a tray for accumulating fat, and hooks for future delicacies.

The structural structure of the smokehouse ensures the movement of smoke, resulting in smoking. The longer the chimney, the colder the smoke will be.

The difference between hot and cold smoked smokehouses lies precisely in the length of the chimney.

The hot smoking process occurs at temperatures from 80° to 150° (for fish) and 35-50° (for meat), so the products are cooked very quickly.

Usually after a few hours you can get a smoked delicacy. These products will have a rich taste and smell.

The temperature of cold smoking, unlike hot smoking, usually does not exceed 40°, so smoking lasts several days.

After cold smoking, products retain their density and texture and are stored for a long time.

Smoking occurs due to the smoldering of wood chips, which produces a lot of smoke.

It is very important that the wood does not ignite or become charred, since in this case carcinogens will begin to be released from the sawdust and, as a result of smoking, we will get harmful charred products.

To prevent this from happening, you need to create a reliable design. The chamber lid must be tightly sealed so that air does not enter the chamber and the wood chips do not ignite.

After repeated combustion, the metal of the chamber may bend, so it is better to press the lid on top with something heavy, for example, a piece of brick.

It is also important to choose the right firewood for the fireplace.

If there are too many wood chips and sawdust in the composition, then smoke smoke will form very slowly due to lack of air. And components that are too large can catch fire, which also should not be allowed.

Therefore, approximately half should be firewood, the rest should be wood chips and shavings for smoking. This composition will provide the right amount of heat.

You cannot use pine sawdust, as this will prevent the production of smoked meats. Tasteless products are obtained when smoking over aspen wood.

The best choice is cuttings and chips from various fruit trees - apple, cherry, apricot, sea buckthorn, which you will probably find at your dacha.

Bird cherry, birch and alder firewood will add a delicious aroma to the product, but you should get rid of the bark, as it can impart bitterness.

How does cold smoking occur?

Cold smoking occurs when heated from 20° to 40° (for fish) and 18-22° (for meat).

When cold smoking, you need to carefully monitor the heating of the smoke.

Unlike hot smoking, cold smoking lasts quite a long time and requires our utmost attention.

It is ideal for very fatty foods. Products need to be pre-processed at home before the process. First you need to sprinkle the meat or fish with salt and leave it for 4-5 days.

After this, to get rid of excess salt, the product needs to be soaked in cold water for several hours.

After this, you should blot the product with a clean towel and hang it to dry in a dry room in your home until the meat or fish is slightly wilted.

Protect the product from insects.

As already mentioned, when cold smoking it is important to maintain a stable temperature. The composition of the firewood plays an important role here.

In this case, you need to use a lot of chips and sawdust, and no more than 20% of the total mass is firewood.

Firewood is placed in the middle of the hearth, and sawdust and wood chips are sprinkled on top. The wood chips should be placed in a pile, and not spread all over the bottom, this way you will get more heat and less fire.

Such a mixture will smolder well and will not ignite, which is very important for successful smoking at home.

After cold smoking, the products acquire a very pleasant aroma and elastic texture.
Such products can be stored at home for a long time without worrying about their freshness.

Let's start making a cold smoked smokehouse

Do-it-yourself cold smoking is not a fiction, but a tool accessible to everyone.

First of all, you need to choose a location for the smokehouse. It should be comfortable so that you can sit down or place food freely.

In addition, the structure is quite flammable, so choose a place so that in the event of a fire the flames will not cause serious damage.

You should also consider where the underground chimney will be located, the length of which should be 3 meters, width 30-50 cm, and height 25-27 cm.

When organizing a smokehouse, you should ensure that there is good draft between the chamber and the hearth.

This is not always possible to achieve, since the draft is affected by the temperature difference between the ambient air and hot smoke.

Sometimes, smoke exhausters (fans) are used for good draft, and collectors are used to cool the smoke. Not everyone can make such a device.

From a barrel - the first option

There is also a simpler scheme for a cold smokehouse. To smoke a small amount of food, ordinary barrels made of wood or metal are useful.

A trench 2-3 meters long should be dug in the ground, which will serve as a chimney.

Its walls need to be reinforced with slate, iron or built of brick, and sprinkled with earth on top.

It is better to make the end of the trench where the fire is located deeper - this way you will provide better traction.

It can also be made from brick. At the bottom of the barrel you need to put a sheet of metal with holes for smoke, and on top of the barrel you need to put a sheet of metal or burlap.

A metal grate should be installed inside the barrel on which the products will be attached.

From a barrel - the second option

There is another option for a cold barrel smoker. At the top of the barrel they make fastenings for products.

Holes for the pipe should also be made in the bottom of the barrel. A stove is placed at a distance of 2-3 meters from the barrel and connected with a pipe.

During smoking, the barrel is covered with burlap.

Made of brick

If you plan to constantly smoke food in the country or at home, then you can make a similar structure from clay refractory bricks.

A structure made from this type of brick will serve you for many years.

The layout of such a smokehouse is not much different from the previous ones. The main thing is to decide on the place where the brick device will be located, since it will no longer be possible to move it.

The firebox and chimney are lined with brick from the inside; the food chamber can also be built from brick or made of wood.

Fastenings for products should be installed inside the chamber, and a door should be made on the top or side of the chamber.

Such a smokehouse will delight you with its proper operation for many years, and it looks much more aesthetically pleasing.

From the refrigerator

Many craftsmen make a smokehouse in the country and at home from the refrigerator. To do this, the body of the old refrigerator is freed from all the insides, and the holes are sealed with adhesive tape.

A hole is made at the top of the refrigerator body to allow smoke to escape, and a fan is installed (if desired).

The schematic drawings presented in the article provide a clear description of the process.

At the top of the refrigerator chamber, grates for food are attached. A potbelly stove or some suitable closed container for the fireplace is connected to the refrigerator with a galvanized pipe 3-4 meters long.

An electric hotplate is placed in the container and sawdust is placed on it. The electric stove turns on, and when the sawdust starts to smoke, it turns off.

As you can see, the design of a refrigerator smokehouse is very simple and straightforward. A similar device from an old refrigerator can be created by any home craftsman with his own hands.

A distinctive feature of homemade smokehouses is their low cost.

Such a smokehouse can be built from scrap materials that are available at any dacha - old barrels, leftover bricks, galvanized sheets.

However, on a homemade smokehouse, even if you did everything correctly, the smoking result is different every time and the products always turn out different.

In addition, it is impossible to cook a barbecue or grill on it.

Often in homemade smokehouses, the bottoms in the chambers or fireboxes burn out from hot air and fire, and changing them is not always easy or convenient, and homemade smokehouses do not look very aesthetically pleasing.

If there is not enough space in your area near your house or in your country house and it is not possible to make a chimney of the required length, then you can make it curved, or install a smoke cooler on the chimney.

To do this, you need to wrap the chimney with a brass tube and run running water through it.

During smoking, fat will be released from meat and fish, so a shallow tray should be placed under the grate so that there are gaps between the edges of the tray and the walls of the box.

Wet burlap can be stretched over the firebox, which will allow smoke to pass through but retain ash and other pollutants.

To check the smoking temperature, you can drop water on the lid of the barrel. If the water sizzles strongly, it means the temperature is high; if it evaporates without hissing, it means the smoking temperature is normal.

At first, to check the readiness of the product, you can slightly open the lid and quickly return it to its place.

Over time, you will already know how much time you need to cook different foods.

When smoking you need to follow important rules:

• Check the temperature of the smoke that is maintained inside the chamber;
• Smoking should be done in good weather, without wind or wet precipitation;
• It is better to prepare for smoking fish and meat in the evening, and start the process in the morning;
• You don’t need to open the camera often and look inside, as this will take a long time;
• If possible, add juniper, grapes, and cherries to the firewood for flavor. This can be done both at the beginning of smoking and at the end;
• You cannot use coniferous trees, as the resin from them will spoil the taste and smell of cooked fish and meat;
• Firewood must be thoroughly dried before smoking. Wet wood will smolder intermittently and the process will take a long time;
• Be sure to install a drip tray, otherwise the fat will drip into the sawdust and spoil the aroma of the finished food. In addition, if pieces of fish or meat accidentally fall, they will end up on the tray.

How to choose a ready-made smokehouse?

If it is difficult for you to independently develop a smokehouse project, and the funds and opportunities allow, then you can purchase a ready-made smokehouse for placement in a country house or on a plot in a private house, which is not so expensive, but looks completely different.