Do-it-yourself cold-smoked smoker: material, drawing

If you prefer natural products, instead of surrogates treated with liquid smoke, which are mainly found on the shelves, then a home-made cold-smoked smokehouse made by yourself is what you need. In the article, we will consider the main issues related to cold smoking: the principle of operation, advantages, types of structures.

The principle of operation of the smokehouse

The main condition in the smoking process is a constant and measured supply of low-temperature smoke into the chamber with products. The smoke obtained from the smoldering of sawdust or wood chips is supplied from the furnace to the smoking chamber, through a pipe or tunnel at least 2 meters long. Passing through the pipe, the smoke cools down to the optimum temperature and enters the smoking chamber with hung products.

As a result of prolonged exposure to smoke on the prepared raw material, it is dehydrated, impregnated with aromatic components and colored in a golden color. The taste is bright with a smoky imprint.

It is important to maintain the same temperature and smoke density throughout the entire smoking time.

An automatic smokehouse using a smoke generator requires minimal human intervention. It is enough to lay sawdust in the allotted container and turn on the device.

Which is better: cold or hot smoking

In addition to the cold method, to smoke meat or fish, there is also a hot one. The difference between them is significant, since not only the method of cooking changes, but also the taste of the final product. Main differences:

• Time for preparing. With hot smoking, products are cooked for half an hour or an hour, with cold – from a day.
• Temperature regime. During cold working, the temperature usually does not exceed 25 degrees. When hot – reaches 120 degrees.
• Shelf life. With hot smoking, products are cooked at high temperatures, so they are baked simultaneously with smoking. Because of this, the shelf life is reduced to a month. The shelf life of cold smoked is up to a year.
• Useful material. During cold smoking, products are dried, with the preservation of useful substances – vitamins, amino acids.
• Consistency. During the cold procedure, the products are made dense and do not break into pieces. The high temperature during hot smoking gives the meat product softness and juiciness.
• Equipment. Hot smoked smokers are simple and miniature.

The common thing that unites both methods is carcinogenspassing from smoke to product. But their number can be minimized by using good wood chips and proper smokehouse construction.

Let’s take fish for example. Taking into account the method of smoking, products get a specific taste and aroma. During cold processing, the fish receives:

• deep smoky aroma;
• dry pulp;
• golden skin;
• expiration date 1-2 months.

After hot smoking, the fish becomes soft, with a more delicate taste and a golden hue. But it is recommended to store it for no more than a week.

Pros and cons of cold smoking

The benefits of the cold smoking process are mainly related to the finished product. Advantages of the method:

• Long shelf life.
• Preservation of nutrients.
• Less absorption of harmful substances than with hot smoking.

Cons:

• Difficulty in organizing the process.
• Cooking duration.

Smokehouse device and drawing

The device of the cold smoked smokehouse has a rather demanding design. The smoke, before it enters the smoking chamber, needs to cool down, as well as be cleaned of harmful resins and soot. A standard smokehouse consists of three main parts:

• A ball. It can be made of metal or brick. Have a container for collecting ash, as well as an adjustable flap of incoming air to control the smoldering process.
• Chimney. The length of the pipe must be at least 2 meters and not more than 7 meters. If you do not follow this rule, then there will be problems with traction. Pipes with a diameter of more than 150 mm are best suited.
• Smoking chamber. Due to the low temperature, any material can act as a smoking container, in particular, wood, brick or even plastic. Therefore, for the construction of a home smokehouse, finished products of sufficient capacity are suitable.
  

Quite often, barrels of 200 liters, refrigerators or gas cylinders are used as smoking chambers. Given the low temperature in the chamber, the choice of material is wide. As a basis for a homemade smokehouse, you can take a wooden box, and the outer skin can be made of plywood, galvanized and even film.

Site Selection

Given the principle of operation of the oil lamp, as a place for its installation, a site in the country or near a country house is best suited. It is quite possible to build an oil lamp in the garage if the smoke from smoking does not interfere with anyone. To make a simple do-it-yourself oil lamp at home, you do not need a lot of material.

Types of structures

Smokehouses based on the cold smoking method can be divided into two main types according to their design. The division is based on the principle of producing smoke:

1. Wood burning.
2. With smoke generator.
3. Electrostatic.

The most popular are designs based on the use of firewood. In oil lamps with a smoke generator, smoke is obtained as a result of smoldering wood chips fed into the chamber with the help of a compressor.

Electrostatic smokers can be both wood-burning and with a smoke generator, but with a high-voltage (HV) device. The potential difference created by the BB generator significantly reduces the cooking time during cold smoking.

How to make a smokehouse

It is not so difficult to make a smokehouse at home on your own. The question is what you want to get as a result. If you want to smoke professionally or the building should please with its appearance, then it is better to build a brick smokehouse. When it doesn’t matter how it looks, as long as it performs its function, then you can use any suitable materials.

So that the smoke can pass from the firebox or stove through the chimney into the smoking chamber, need good traction. Therefore, the firebox should be as low as possible relative to the smoking chamber. The path from the furnace to the chamber must be airtight.

A pit for the firebox is dug 2-3 bayonets deep with an ordinary shovel. The bottom is poured with concrete or laid with a sheet of metal to obtain a plane. In order for the smokehouse to be used as long as possible, it is better to overlay the inner walls with refractory bricks. Instead of cement for laying bricks, a sand-clay mixture is used. You can buy it at the store or make it yourself. To do this, sand is mixed with clay in a ratio of 50 to 50.

For a chimney, you can use a finished pipe, or dig a trench, cover it and fill it with earth. The chimney should not be narrow and too long, otherwise the draft will disappear. For better passage of smoke, the pipe or trench is made obliquely, with a rise towards the smokehouse.

As a camera, you can use any container of sufficient strength and size. The best options in this case would be a smoker from a barrel or from the refrigerator. In the absence of a ready-made container, you can make a smoking chamber from wood, sheet iron or plastic.

Smokehouse from a barrel

Using a two hundred liter barrel will be the easiest option. For this you need:

• Barrel.
• Metal mesh.
• Strong bars or bars.
• fastener elements.
• Sackcloth.

First we build a furnace and a chimney. How to do this is already written above. A hole is made in the bottom of the barrel for the chimney. The top is removed. Stepping back from the top by 20 cm, we make fasteners for rods or grates for meat and fish products.

A dense burlap is used as a lid to hold the smoke, and at the same time removes its excess volume. To prevent the burlap from falling into the barrel, it is better to put it on a metal mesh.

An excellent solution would be a smoker made from a wooden barrel, although this option is somewhat more expensive. The assembly is similar to the first method.

Old refrigerator

This option is almost as simple and economical as with a metal drum. However, it is more convenient, since there is access to the cell through the door.

To increase the capacity, all plastic parts are removed from the refrigerator, as well as the compressor and relay. All slots are closed with any adhesive tape. A hole for the chimney is made from the bottom or side. The top is cut out and covered with burlap, or an exhaust pipe is mounted.

The same is done when building a smoking chamber from a metal cabinet, drawer or from the body of a washing machine.

Brick cold smoked smokehouse

Before starting construction work, make a smokehouse diagram, or even better, a drawing with dimensions. This will avoid mistakes in work, prepare an estimate and calculate the amount of bricks and other materials.

Necessary tools and materials:

• The brick is red and fireclay.
• Cement.
• Clay and sand.
• Metal grilles.
• The grate.
• Doors.
• Damper (gate).
• Metal cover.
• Hammer, spatula, level, trowel, ordering, plumb.

Construction begins with pouring the foundation. But if possible, it is better to take a ready-made concrete slab – this will reduce the construction time.

The firebox should be laid out with fireclay bricks, as it is more resistant to high temperatures, but in its absence, ordinary red is quite suitable. It is best to make the outer part of the firebox from red brick, and the inner part from fireclay. For bricklaying the inside of the furnace, it is desirable to use a sand-clay mixture.

Masonry is done in half a brick, but it can also be folded on an edge (spoons) if the brick is full-bodied. The design of the smokehouse will turn out to be less durable, but given its small size, it will be enough.

Smoke can be obtained in two ways – directly from the firebox, or from smoldering sawdust in the chamber above the firebox. The second option is preferable, since the smoke will have a lower temperature and a shorter chimney will be needed. The chimney must be long enough to allow the smoke to cool down. With a tunnel section of more than 25×25 cm, a slope with a rise towards the smokehouse can be omitted. We make the smoking chamber above the stove for better traction.

When laying out the walls of the chamber, insert brackets or stops through a couple of rows of bricks, on which you will lay grates with products.

If we make an additional firebox under the smoking chamber, separated from the oven by an iron plate, we will get a universal device for hot and cold smoking. Sawdust or wood chips are poured onto the stove, heating them will give hot smoke in the smoking area. In this case, it is necessary to provide for the installation of a drip pan for collecting fat. Its hit on a stove with sawdust will give an unpleasant smell and bitterness in smoked meats.

How to properly prepare food

Since products are not exposed to high temperatures during smoking, they must be prepared before smoking. Raw semi-finished products are washed and, if necessary, divided into the desired dimensions. Further, the raw material is salted by the method of wet or dry salting. It is important to observe the amount of salt used, because after the end of the smoking process, the water will evaporate, and the salt will remain in the product.

In the Soviet Union, GOST provided for a salt rate of 2,3% per 1 kg of meat, which is 23 grams. In reality, 1-20 grams of salt is taken per 50 kilogram of raw materials, depending on which product is prepared.

If you are going to store the resulting product for a long time, then when salting, be sure to include nitrite salt in the composition, it is necessary for cold smoking. It contains only 0,6% sodium nitrite, which is completely safe. But it will protect against botulism, and in addition, it will enhance the color of meat products.

You can reduce the concentration of nitrite salt by mixing it in half with the usual one.

Salting time varies from half a day at room temperature to 2-3 days in the refrigerator. You can add spices to add flavor to the product.

If the product was prepared in a steep salt solution, for example, fish, then it must be soaked. It is believed that if it took 2-3 days for salting, then you need to soak for 2-3 hours, and change the water from time to time.

After salting, the products must be dried. During this time, the moisture on the surface of the blanks dries out, and the smoke can penetrate deep into.

How to smoke

After preparing meat or fish, you can start smoking. The temperature in the smoke chamber should be around 25°C. This is for perfect smoking, but some recipes allow the temperature to rise to 35°C. Smoke of the desired quality is obtained by smoldering sawdust, shavings or chips. The most common wood chips for smoking are taken from fruit trees, as well as alder, beech, birch, etc. You can not use coniferous wood – spruce, pine, due to the high resin content.

Since the cooking temperature is low, the smoking process lasts from 1 to 7 days. Products hung in a cold smoking chamber gradually lose moisture and become saturated with smoke substances that penetrate deep into the fibers. The result is a delicacy that is dehydrated, has firm flesh and a smoky flavor.

For the manifestation of a more pronounced pleasant taste and aroma, you need to withstand the resulting delicacy for several more days in the cold. You can store smoked meats from a month to 1 year.

wood for smoking

Another important issue is the selection of firewood. You should take this carefully, since not every type of firewood is suitable for cold smoking meat products. In general, the most popular are:

Please note that the wood material for the smokehouse must be dry. The presence of the fungus renders the wood unusable. Conifers are also unsuitable due to the high resin content. Resin contributes to the fact that the color of the meat will become dark, and the taste – bitter.

To give an original color or an unusual taste, conifers are sometimes used, for example, juniper. However, here you have to be a good specialist, otherwise there is a risk of spoiling the product.

Smokers from manufacturers

If there is no time for self-production of a smokehouse, then there is an opportunity to choose it for your needs in the store. Options are available with an accelerated process of smoking, with mini sizes, and even for smoking in an apartment.

For apartment

The device of a cold smokehouse, due to its size, does not imply its use in the house. However, there are mini options for smoking food in the apartment in the kitchen.

In the store you need to look for multicookers with a smoking function. Such models are, in fact, universal – they can work in cold smoked, hot and combined modes.

In multicookers with this function, a heating element is installed inside. A container for sawdust or wood chips is attached to it. When the element is heated, the sawdust smolders with the release of smoke. Products are fumigated with smoke, which is why they are smoked.

The temperature in the multicooker is about 30 degrees, so the process takes a long time. However, given that the pressure inside the appliance is higher, the time required to cook food is less.

During cold smoking, some smoke may come out through the lid of the multicooker, but normally working ventilation will easily cope with this.

The best among multicookers with a smoking function are the models:

• Polaris PMC 0529ADS.
• Vitesse VS-3005.
• Redmond RMC-M110.

With smoke generator

Another way to simplify the smoking process is to purchase a smoke generator (DG). This is an apparatus for producing low-temperature or hot smoke. The principle of its operation is simple. Chips are placed in the smoke generator and ignited. The compressor supplies air to the ejector. In the ejector, the air flow picks up smoke from smoldering sawdust, mixes with it and cools it, after which it is fed into the smoking chamber.

The smoldering of the loaded chips is slow due to the small thrust created by the compressor. The duration of smoking one filling depends on the amount of wood chips poured in, the air flow from the compressor, and also the air coming through the blower.

A classic smoke generator consists of three main parts:

1. The combustion chamber.
2. Compressor. Air blower with a capacity of 1,5–2 liters / min.
3. Ejector. It mixes air from the compressor and smoke and feeds it into the smokehouse chamber.

To improve the characteristics of the diesel generator, its set can be supplemented with a dephlegmator (a device for rapid smoke cooling) and a condensate collection tank. Some models of diesel generators are equipped with a smoke temperature sensor in the smoking chamber, which makes it convenient to control the temperature.

To learn how to make a smoke generator yourself, read our article.

Electrostatic Smoker

Electrostatic smoking is generally used in industry. The principle of its operation is based on the work of electric fields. Smoke under the influence of an electrostatic charge penetrates faster and deeper into the products.

A high-voltage electrostatic field is created in the oil lamp. The negative electrode (cathode) is connected to the grate with products, and the positive one (anode) is connected to the chamber body. Smoke has an ionized composition. Negatively charged ions are attracted to the anode, depositing on the case. Positively charged ions are attracted to the cathode, with products located on it.

This method allows you to reduce the smoking time from several days to hours, while maintaining the taste.

It is quite possible to assemble a smoker on the electrostatic method with your own hands. However, the complexity of the installation increases, the need to obtain a high voltage of 10-20 thousand volts. But such a generator can be purchased or made independently.

Reviews

Positive reviews left by buyers indicate a really useful purchase. The procedure for cold smoking has been greatly simplified and human participation in the process has been reduced to a minimum.

Here is one of the responses:

Andrey, Kursk

Heard about smoking at home, so I decided to try it. A small cold-smoked smokehouse with a smoke generator was needed. I found this in your online store, thank you for the fast delivery, the quality does not raise any questions.

I decided to smoke the fish. I honestly didn’t expect it to work on the first try. But my expectations were not met. It turned out delicious, fragrant meat with a pleasant smoky smell. Relatives appreciated, and I was pleased with what happened.