Smokehouse
Long time no post. Oh well, here's a little something I've really been looking forward to. A few weeks ago we undertook a nifty little project. Some friends came up for a visit and we took full advantage of the extra help and built a smokehouse. It really wasn't as taxing a project as it might have been because when we purchased a walk-in cooler last year to age our beef, we were blessed by the gift of an extra 5'x6' cooler box (sans the compressor). As we were disassembling the unit, I was wondering what we would do with it. The idea of using it for a smokehouse occurred to me and the group of friends helping us disassemble and remove it were in general enthusastic agreement that that was a pretty dandy idea. These modular units can easily be assembled in less than an hour. A twist-lock mechanism connects the four corners and four sides as well as the top.
I followed the general design guidelines in this book. Kyle and I finished putting some screening on the smoke vent that now fills the opening originally occupied by the freezer compressor and we built a little test fire to check the smoke flow. I am pleased to report that it appears to work really well.
I followed the general design guidelines in this book. Kyle and I finished putting some screening on the smoke vent that now fills the opening originally occupied by the freezer compressor and we built a little test fire to check the smoke flow. I am pleased to report that it appears to work really well. I find it a bit interesting that Kyle's porcine pals were observing our activities from a mere 15 feet away.
Ribs, bacon, country ham. Anybody else getting hungry?
Keith
posted by The Bradshaws at 8:31 PM
7 Comments:
That is one great smokehouse.
Judy at Tabletop Homestead
What a great idea. Those poor piggies watching it all though. =)
Mr. Bradshaw,
How long do you have to smoke the pork?
How much will the house hold, or is it too early to tell?
Chris,
The smokehouse will be primarily, I think, used to cold smoke hams, bacon, cheese and the like for preservation and flavor. The temperature will be held below 80 degrees for perhaps a long day or more.
I will be trying to hot smoke (or cook) some meat in the near future, but I will need to be careful not to get it too hot (< 220° F) considering foam insulation in the walls.
The structure will hold quite a bit but I will need to build some framing to permit hanging hooks and I will also need to add shelving. So capacity is largely dependent on the configuration of the shelving and what I am attempting to smoke. Suffice it to say that I can smoke more than even you can eat in a single sitting. ;)
Keith
:mmmmmmmmm bacon
Hello. I ran across your blog and I LOVE the To Do list function where you cross them out or have a green dot. I was wondering if you could please respond and let me know how that works. Thanks a bunch!
Holly,
Thanks for visiting. Actually it's nothing but a bit of HTML added to the Blogger template and therefore I have to edit the template whenever I get around to accomplishing something. Just view the page source if you want to see the HTML behind.
Keith
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