Smoke generator with their own hands: design rules and master classes with a step-by-step description
Home smokehouse - a guarantee of preservation of meat and fish products, a wide range of sausages and other delicacies. If you are a happy owner of a private home, and also a fisherman or a hunter, without this device you can not do without. In this article we will tell you how to make your own smoke generator for cold smoking.
Smoke generator from an electric stove
We will need the following components:
- electric stove;
- unnecessary pan;
- Chimney or an old barrel,
- metal chain-link mesh;
- 2 pieces of rebar;
- Sheet of iron or pressed plywood;
- sawdust, wood chips.
The smokehouse should be located in an open space, away from residential buildings.
To function the smokehouse will need electricity, most likely you will need to use an extension cord, otherwise the smoke will penetrate into the living quarters.
Detailed instructions for making:
- Clean the barrel thoroughly of its contents. From the top of the barrel measure out about 1/3, then you need to pass a couple of rods through its walls. On the rods, fix a grid, on which the products will be placed in the future.
- The barrel should be placed on a fireproof surface and connected to a socket.
- In the pot you should put shavings or sawdust of fruit trees.
- Set the pot to a heated electric stove.
- Use the power control knob to set the optimal heating temperature.
- Place the barrel on the electric stove
- Cover it with iron or plywood from above.
On average, the smoker can work for 6-7 hours on one load. Although this device has disadvantages, many people prefer this option, since to collect the smoke generator is simple and all elements of the design can be easily found or bought somewhere.
Smoke generator from a used fire extinguisher
The first thing to do is to clean the old fire extinguisher well, it is important that there is no corrosion inside.
The manufacturing process:
- Saw the extinguisher with a saw, making a five-centimeter indentation. You will end up with a lid.
- Drill a hole in the lid, screw in a brass splitter (tee) with spigots.
- To one end of the branch pipe we hook the compressor pipe, and to the other pipe for smoke extraction to the smoking chamber.
- In the base of the fire extinguisher you should drill 6 holes in a circle with a diameter of 0.5 cm. They are needed to ignite the wood chips, as well as to adjust the draft.
This device on time can work longer, about 8-11 hours, depending on the draft and wood chips.
Smoke generator from tin cans
Tin cans are good for making an uncomplicated smoke generator.
To create it, you will need:
- 3 cans, 2 the same size and 1 slightly smaller;
- steel clamps or stapling punch tape;
- rubber tape;
- tee and nut;
- a piece of small-diameter copper tubing;
- a piece of large-diameter tubing to connect the smoke generator to the chamber.
Smoke generator with their own hands drawings and step by step instructions:
- Wash the jars with detergent and wipe dry with paper towels.
- Fasten 2 jars of equal diameter with a steel clamp or perforated tape. In advance of one of the cans should be cut off the bottom, you can do this usually with a metal saw, or you can use a band saw.
- At the bottom of the first jar in the side should be drilled 3-4 holes (they are needed for traction and ignition of wood chips).
- At the bottom of the third jar, which is smaller in size should be mounted branching connector. It is necessary to fix it with a nut. So that the nozzle in any case does not let air in.
- To one outlet connect the diverting tube, the connection is thoroughly sealed with fum tape.
- Copper tube should be inserted into the branching faucet so that it protrudes from the other side of the tee at a couple of centimeters. The connection place should be carefully sealed. The ejector is assembled.
- A tube of larger diameter is inserted into the other hole of the connector. The smoker itself will be connected to this part. As a chamber you can take the smoke chamber from the tin in the supermarket, it costs 200-300 rubles at most.
Compressor with your own hands
Many beginners face difficulties in assembling a cold-smoking smokehouse when it comes to the compressor. But in fact, there is no need to worry here, because if you do not have this device, you can make a compressor for the cold smoking smoker with your own hands.
Here is the easiest assembly instruction, you will only need a computer cooling system cooler and a PET bottle:
- A hole is made in the base of the plastic bottle according to the diameter of the fan.
- In the hole made, the cooler is installed, and then it is securely fixed with hot glue.
- A hole is created in the lid for the fitting, on which the silicone tube will later be stretched.
- The cooler is connected to a 12 volt power supply.
How to use the smoke generator and avoid common mistakes
Smoke generator is considered a very flammable device, for this reason, it should be used with extreme caution. Industry-assembled smoke generators are usually equipped with an automatic shutdown system.
But a manually assembled device will have to be constantly monitored. It is important to install the device on a hard surface without a strong slope, preferably in the base lay some sheet of fire-resistant material.
What are the most common mistakes made by beginners in smoking?
Not enough salt. If the meat, bacon or fish is poorly sprinkled with salt before direct smoking, they can simply go bad right during the smoking process. If you find the process of salting products difficult, you can use the state standard, which says to use 2.3% salt per 1 kg of product. Of course, it should be calculated by mass, not by volume. If this amount seems high to you, you can reduce it to 2 percent.
Too much moisture in the finished smoked meat. You should not start smoking fresh foods, but let them dry out a bit. Excessive water in this process is not necessary, because the meat will be smoked on the outside, and the inside will remain raw, because the moisture will not allow the smoke to smoke the product all the way to the center.
Using only standard salt. To smoked meat and fish can be stored for a long time, it is important to salt them with nitrite salt or a mixture of nitrite and table salt. Only such salting will increase significantly the quality of products, and at the same time they will not have botulism.
Over-drying food before the cooking process. Dry fish, meat or bacon should not be more than 9-10 hours, otherwise the products will overcook, become too dry and incredibly hard.
Wet chips. If you moisten the wood chips too much, the products will become very black in appearance, and they will have an unpleasant distinct bitterness. Take only wood chips of fruit trees, alder and beech, can be combined.
Consumption of smoked meat immediately after smoking. When you take the meat out of the smoker, it is important to give it some "air". Therefore, leave the smoked meat in the open air for 10-12 hours. In this case, the pungent flavor will disappear, as well as slightly change the color to a lighter color.
A few safety rules
When you deal with the issue of "creating a smoke generator for the car with their own hands", safety rules should always be observed. So here are the main points that you should remember:
- The wiring must be able to withstand elevated temperatures, and be located away from the heaters;
- The surface on which you will put the smoke generator must be protected from the alleged fires;
- when you choose the material for the device, it is important to focus on metals with a heat-resistant coating;
- if you can, then install an automatic system to turn off the device.
We hope that you will use our instructions and make a smoke generator for cold smoking with your own hands from a pipe or other improvised material. We wish you good luck!