Beer keg smoker

damagegt

Im going to try and make a beerkeg smoker for fish.heres a crude drawing i made.Would this work and would anyone have any improvements i could make on it

CJhaughey

You will only be able to hot smoke with that setup. In other words cook and smoke at the same time.
What were you intending on smoking? Salmon or Mackerel?
Usually Salmon is cold smoked and you need a long tube that carries the smoke to the smoker so it can cool off by the time it reaches the food.
What you have drawn is a smoke oven, if you use it like it is shown the inside will get very warm, warm enough to cook the food inside it.
Not a problem if you just want roasted smoked mackerel and the like but it won't do cold smoked Salmon or trout.
You will still have a nice product but it will be cooked.
If you give some idea of what you are smoking I could be of more help.

damagegt

Well since im only starting out hot smoking is what I was looking to do.Im getting alot of fish at the moment mackeral/pollock/cod/bass the odd sea trout.if i was to put fresh herbs or dry spices ie fresh mint/corriander or pepper corns in with the sawdust i have ( I have a bucket of appletree saw dust) would this add different flavours to the smoke ?

If I were to put a plate to collect juices would i be able to roast a chicken or a rabbit in it ?

Curry Addict

i made a tandoori oven out of a large flowerpot, an old boiler tank, fire cement, and lots of gravel. it works great for smoking also. lots of designs if u google it.

CJhaughey

For smoking fish you need to salt the fish beforehand.
Burning the herbs won't give you the flavour, you are better off putting the spices and herbs in the salt and sugar mix.
I am not in Cork at the moment, (NZ) but will be back later in the week and I can print off some recipes for salt cures.
The salt helps the fish take on flavour.
You can cook anything in a smoke oven, rabbit may be lean and need some oil/fat to help it, Chicken smokes very well with care.

damagegt

CJhaughey wrote: »

For smoking fish you need to salt the fish beforehand.
Burning the herbs won't give you the flavour, you are better off putting the spices and herbs in the salt and sugar mix.
I am not in Cork at the moment, (NZ) but will be back later in the week and I can print off some recipes for salt cures.
The salt helps the fish take on flavour.
You can cook anything in a smoke oven, rabbit may be lean and need some oil/fat to help it, Chicken smokes very well with care.

Thanks would be brillent.I was told I need to soke the fish in a brime and then leave it dry off.Would that be true ?

CJhaughey

Yeah thats the procedure, you can brine or dry salt, for me dry salting works better for hot smoking.
When you let the meat/fish dry it forms a pellicle which is a layer of protein on the surface, this allows the food to take on a nice golden colour from the smoke.
I'll pm you when I get back.

damagegt

CJhaughey wrote: »

Yeah thats the procedure, you can brine or dry salt, for me dry salting works better for hot smoking.
When you let the meat/fish dry it forms a pellicle which is a layer of protein on the surface, this allows the food to take on a nice golden colour from the smoke.
I'll pm you when I get back.

Thanks CJ.I look forward to hearing from you.

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

Well since im only starting out hot smoking is what I was looking to do.Im getting alot of fish at the moment mackeral/pollock/cod/bass the odd sea trout.if i was to put fresh herbs or dry spices ie fresh mint/corriander or pepper corns in with the sawdust i have ( I have a bucket of appletree saw dust) would this add different flavours to the smoke ?

If I were to put a plate to collect juices would i be able to roast a chicken or a rabbit in it ?

Hi there,

I recently bought a food smoker. It can cold smoke with an accessory (I haven't tried it yet). I've hot smoked a few chickens and chicken portions.

What are you planning to use as a heat source - charcoal? Will this be exterior to the food chamber? And the wood flavouring - will you be putting this directly into the keg?

Your drawing looks spot on by the way!

damagegt

trackguy wrote: »

Hi there,

I recently bought a food smoker. It can cold smoke with an accessory (I haven't tried it yet). I've hot smoked a few chickens and chicken portions.

What are you planning to use as a heat source - charcoal? Will this be exterior to the food chamber? And the wood flavouring - will you be putting this directly into the keg?

Your drawing looks spot on by the way!

I was thinking charcoal or a gas ring or digging a pit under it and lighting a fire and standing the keg on some blocks over it when the flames die down.The heat source will be external and the wood flavouring will be internal.I was thinking too that ill slightly bend the top lip of the cut keg out and the bottom lip in so it will give me a tighter fit and fit a basic thermostat on the top of the keg.So would you think it will work ?

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

I was thinking charcoal or a gas ring or digging a pit under it and lighting a fire and standing the keg on some blocks over it when the flames die down.The heat source will be external and the wood flavouring will be internal.I was thinking too that ill slightly bend the top lip of the cut keg out and the bottom lip in so it will give me a tighter fit and fit a basic thermostat on the top of the keg.So would you think it will work ?

Try and get the tightest fit you can. I have to line my joins with tin foil to tighten them. It's ugly but it works. A thermometer is very useful too.

Look at getting some wood chips or chunks too. They will burn slower than the sawdust and generate a bit more heat too.

I'm not sure if it's possible with your construction but a water/ drip tray is a very useful addition. Placing this between your food and your heat source serves a few purposes. In effect, it takes the direct heat away from your food . It also provides somewhere for the fat to go and not burn. If you fill the tray/ pan with water it will create steam also which helps to 1) keep the food moist and 2) regulate the heat in the unit.

I can send you pictures of my unit later. It might give you some ideas.

damagegt

trackguy wrote: »

Try and get the tightest fit you can. I have to line my joins with tin foil to tighten them. It's ugly but it works. A thermometer is very useful too.

Look at getting some wood chips or chunks too. They will burn slower than the sawdust and generate a bit more heat too.

I'm not sure if it's possible with your construction but a water/ drip tray is a very useful addition. Placing this between your food and your heat source serves a few purposes. In effect, it takes the direct heat away from your food . It also provides somewhere for the fat to go and not burn. If you fill the tray/ pan with water it will create steam also which helps to 1) keep the food moist and 2) regulate the heat in the unit.

I can send you pictures of my unit later. It might give you some ideas.

Well I planned first just smoking fish which wouldnt have much mositure/fat but If im doing other meats i was thinking of putting a plate of some type between the wood and the meat balencing on four bolts screwed in from the outside.

If you could send me some pics that would be great.ill be starting this at the weekend so Ill document it all the way and then write a tutorial on how it went.

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

Well I planned first just smoking fish which wouldnt have much mositure/fat but If im doing other meats i was thinking of putting a plate of some type between the wood and the meat balencing on four bolts screwed in from the outside.

If you could send me some pics that would be great.ill be starting this at the weekend so Ill document it all the way and then write a tutorial on how it went.

Here are a few pictures of my smoker. It's a PRO Q 'Frontier' model. First pic shows the base with the charcoal basket inside. You may just be able to make out the 3 air vents in the base unit for controlling air flow to the fire. The water pan (which is huge!) is beside it.



Second pic shows the next 'stacker' unit on the base with the water pan inside. You can see the access door for adding more wood/ charcoal also. The first food grate sits just above the water pan.



This next pic shows the second stacker added,with both food grates in place. The access door on this level is for adding water to the water pan and checking the lower level of food.



This last one shows the complete unit. There is a vent in top to release smoke and a thermostat.



I know it's different to the smoker you are planning on building but hopefully it can give you some ideas!

damagegt

trackguy wrote: »

Here are a few pictures of my smoker. It's a PRO Q 'Frontier' model. First pic shows the base with the charcoal basket inside. You may just be able to make out the 3 air vents in the base unit for controlling air flow to the fire. The water pan (which is huge!) is beside it.



Second pic shows the next 'stacker' unit on the base with the water pan inside. You can see the access door for adding more wood/ charcoal also. The first food grate sits just above the water pan.



This next pic shows the second stacker added,with both food grates in place. The access door on this level is for adding water to the water pan and checking the lower level of food.



This last one shows the complete unit. There is a vent in top to release smoke and a thermostat.



I know it's different to the smoker you are planning on building but hopefully it can give you some ideas!

You pictures dont seem to be displayed.Can you see them ?

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

You pictures dont seem to be displayed.Can you see them ?

Yeah I can see them. Sometimes pictures don't show up for me either though. Try opening the page again?

Little Alex

trackguy wrote: »

Yeah I can see them. Sometimes pictures don't show up for me either though. Try opening the page again?

I think your Boards album has privacy set on it. There are two places where this can be set.

trackguy

Little Alex wrote: »

I think your Boards album has privacy set on it.

Cheers Alex. Can you see them now or do I need to re-post?

damagegt

An access door.I never thought of that.Thanks .I thought having the water plate so big would block/slow the flow of smoke but i guess not.That helped loads.It seems ever day im adding more and more to my basic smoker

Guill

Where would one source the chippings for a smoker?
What types of chipping would work best for different meats?
How long would it take to hot smoke chicken?


So many questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

damagegt

i got mine from a naighbour that was cutting down an orchard of apple,cherry and plum trees.But i think you can buy them online but I dont know how good they are.

CJhaughey

In my experience Alder is the best for Fish.
You can get Alder almost anywhere it grows wild and very well in Ireland.
It works for meat as well.
I use an Arbortech disc for making wood chips, it is like a chainsaw blade for grinder.
Chainsaw chippings usually have a lot of oil from the lube mechanism and I wouldn't recommend them.
How long is a piece of string?, hot smoking is like oven roasting with more smoke, If you take an average size chicken it takes around 1hr30 mins at 180c to cook. If you smoke roast at the same temp it will take the same, if you use a lower temp it will take longer.
You need to brine though or it won't work well.

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

An access door.I never thought of that.Thanks .I thought having the water plate so big would block/slow the flow of smoke but i guess not.That helped loads.It seems ever day im adding more and more to my basic smoker

Sorry if I complicated things! The water pan need not be as big as the one in my smoker obviously (its not even necessary).

Good luck with the build!

trackguy

Guill wrote: »

Where would one source the chippings for a smoker?
What types of chipping would work best for different meats?
How long would it take to hot smoke chicken?


So many questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought my smoker and some chips from www.hotsmoked.co.uk.

As mentioned, alder works well with fish. Pork and chicken work well with hickory, apple and mesquite amongst others.

Many DIY/ garden centres sell Weber wood chips. They are about €8 a bag.

I smoked 2 chickens a few weeks ago. Took 4 hours. I was cooking them at 220 deg F approx. I used apple wood for flavour. Here's a pic of the finished product!

Guill

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Looks savage!

What it taste like?


(don't say chicken...)

trackguy

Guill wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Looks savage!

What it taste like?


(don't say chicken...)

Tasted lovely. I didn't want to add too much wood as it can be over-powering. Added applewood chips twice during the cooking. It gave the chicken a nice mild smokey flavour.

I only added salt and pepper other than that. It stayed lovely and moist. The strange thing was it tasted even better the next day in a nice salad!

damagegt

So how much wood chips would you use for a chicken that size ?

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

So how much wood chips would you use for a chicken that size ?

I put a fistful of chips in a foil parcel with a small hole poked in the top. I soaked the chips first - ppl are split on whether this helps/ hinders the process.

You can see when they start to light as there is alot Of smoke. They burn quite quickly so I left them on for about 40 mins before remOving the parcel.

I did the same thing again a little while later. Next time I think I'll try a 3rd parcel for a stronger flavour.

Guill

Sorry for hi-jacking thread but i am finding this very interesting.

Should the chips come into direct contact with flame?

Is the heat source a mix of charcoal and chips?

As you can see i dont really ubderstand the science of smoking.

trackguy

Guill wrote: »

Sorry for hi-jacking thread but i am finding this very interesting.

Should the chips come into direct contact with flame?

Is the heat source a mix of charcoal and chips?

As you can see i dont really ubderstand the science of smoking.

Sorry, I should have said, the foil parcel sits directly on the coals. You could also just add wood chunks to the coals directly.

I use JUST charcoal as the heat source. I'm a novice but so far, with my smoker, I've found charcoal briquettes rather than lump charcoal to be far more efficient. They burn hotter for longer in other words.

Prepare to use alot of coals to generate the heat for smoking/ cooking indirectly.

damagegt

Does the smell/smoke from the coals not taint the taste of the final product.This is why Im choosing to have an external heat source.Either gas or a pit fire built under the keg.

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

Does the smell/smoke from the coals not taint the taste of the final product.This is why Im choosing to have an external heat source.Either gas or a pit fire built under the keg.

No it shouldn't. You need to use a charcoal with no added chemicals though, no easy-light stuff.

You should also make sure the coals are well lit and almost completely White before adding food.

As long as you have a top vent too, the smoke will not build up too much.

Look up the 'minion method' of smoking. It's almost universally accepted and involves using alot of unlit coals topped with lit coals for longer cooking times.

Don't be concerned about charcoal, it's your friend in the smoking process!

damagegt

Which in your opinion would be a better heat source internal or external ?

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

Which in your opinion would be a better heat source internal or external ?

I honestly don't know enough to say.

Try this site - http://bbq.about.com/od/customsmokers/Custom_Smokers_Build_your_own_Smoker_and_Get_Exactly_what_you_want.htm

damagegt

i think ill stick with an external source for now.Ill change to a grill rack with stainless hooks under it instead of stainless rods so ill have the best of both worlds.

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

i think ill stick with an external source for now.Ill change to a grill rack with stainless hooks under it instead of stainless rods so ill have the best of both worlds.

Let us know how you get on!

damagegt

trackguy wrote: »

Let us know how you get on!

ill document it all and upload it as a tutorial.Hopefully ill be starting it this week ,im just awaiting a few parts to arrive in the post.Would there be anything i could paint it with ? Or would it be like a stove and id have to use enamel ?

trackguy

damagegt wrote: »

ill document it all and upload it as a tutorial.Hopefully ill be starting it this week ,im just awaiting a few parts to arrive in the post.Would there be anything i could paint it with ? Or would it be like a stove and id have to use enamel ?

I'd say go with the enamel. The manufacturer I bought from recently began coating their smokers in porcelain to improve the finish and heat retention.

Guill

damagegt wrote: »

ill document it all and upload it as a tutorial.Hopefully ill be starting it this week ,im just awaiting a few parts to arrive in the post.Would there be anything i could paint it with ? Or would it be like a stove and id have to use enamel ?

If you come accross good site for hinges and grates etc will you post the links. Gonna try this myself with a steel barrel.:D

damagegt

Guill wrote: »

If you come accross good site for hinges and grates etc will you post the links. Gonna try this myself with a steel barrel.:D

I havent come across hindges as i dont think ill be using them,I have found many grates.What size and shape were you thinking about? Iv found them from 4" to 25".Ill be using a 14 1/2" with four 5" stainless steel meat hooks hanging under.Which will give me 2" clearence from the grate to the wall of the keg.

Guill

Inspired by this thread, i made an attempt at a smoker, haven't used it yet (tomorrow).



I used:
2 x Barrels - free
50 pop rivets - 3 cent each.
3 latches - 2 euro each
6 hinges - 1.50 a pair
2 oven racks - free
1 oven tray - free
Pop rivet gun - 9 euro.
grinder - 20 euro


total cost = 41.00, 12.00 if you don't need to buy tools.

damagegt

Im waiting on my bottle green enamel paint and my chimney cap to arrive and ill be all done.I cant wait.Whats going to be your first meat to smoke ?

Guill

Might try and get a whole fish tomorrow, that or else a chicken.

Guill

Smoked a whole chicken, it was savage!