Everyone loves smoked meats. And many people want to make them themselves. This requires a smokehouse. But in the store it is not cheap. What to do? It's simple - make a device with your own hands. We tell you how to make a smoke generator for cold smoking with your own hands.
Content
Hot and cold smoking - what's the difference?
The device for hot smoking is simpler. The distance between the source of smoke and the processed product in it is small. Therefore, the latter is also exposed to the heat emanating from the smoldering wood. The processing temperature can be from 45about C to 120about FROM.
With cold smoking, the source of smoke is located at a distance from the product. And the smoke itself is fed through a chimney of a certain length. This allows him to cool down to 20about C - 25about C. Thanks to this, the meat or fish undergoes a more gentle treatment, due to which they acquire a more pleasant taste, a more pronounced smoky aroma.
Cold smoking lasts much longer than hot smoking. But definitely worth the time and effort. After all, the result cannot be compared with hot - it is better.
Smoke generators for cold smoking from improvised means
Absolutely all smoke generators (including those made by hand) consist of three main components:
- The combustion chamber. It is in it that the material that forms the smoke burns.
- Chimney. A pipe through which smoke enters the smoking chamber. As it moves through the chimney, it cools down.
- Smoking chamber. The tank in which the processed product is placed.
As you can see, the device is simple. And therefore, you can collect it from improvised means that are in any household.
Next, we talk about the most popular options for manufacturing a smoke generator.
From buckets
You will need the following materials:
- two buckets or large pots, tanks;
- 4 - 5 skewers for barbecue (or steel mesh);
- metal pipe with a diameter of 30 - 40 mm;
- aquarium compressor.
The assembly goes like this:
- in the first bucket we make two holes (both should be located closer to the top of the tank);
- insert the outlet pipe of the aquarium compressor into the first hole;
- insert a metal pipe into the second hole;
- in the second bucket we make one hole (we place it in the lower or middle part);
- insert the other end of the metal pipe there;
- we bend the skewers so that they form the letter P (while leaving a semblance of hooks at their ends);
- we place the skewers in the second bucket, fixing with hooks.
The design works like this:
- put meat or fish for smoking on the skewers placed in the second bucket, close the lid;
- wood chips are placed at the bottom of the first bucket, set on fire, covered with a lid;
- start the aquarium compressor;
The air forced by the compressor directs the smoke to the chimney, and from there to the tank with the processed product.
The design has both pluses and minuses. The main advantage of this model is the simplicity and low cost of assembly.
The main disadvantage is that the compressor "drives" too much air into the combustion chamber. It leads to:
- initiation of full-fledged combustion of wood chips (therefore, it must be constantly monitored);
- dilution of smoke with air and its insufficient concentration.
The length of the pipe between the buckets should be at least 25 - 30 cm. Otherwise, the temperature in the smoking chamber will be too high, and the technology will be broken.
Burning wood can be avoided by avoiding direct contact with fire. To do this, the first bucket where smoke is generated is put on fire. The bottom heats up, the wood chips begin to smolder and give off smoke, but it never catches fire.
From a fire extinguisher
You will need:
- old fire extinguisher;
- iron rod;
- a spring equal in length to a rod;
- metal grid;
- sheet metal;
- metal pipe with a diameter of 3 - 4 cm;
- aquarium compressor.
To build, do the following:
- grinder cut off the top of the fire extinguisher, carefully clean the container from the contents;
- drill a hole in the bottom;
- 1.5 - 2 cm from the bottom we make 2 holes in the walls of the fire extinguisher;
- we cut out circles from the mesh and sheet metal (mesh - a little less than the diameter of the fire extinguisher, metal - 2 - 3 centimeters more);
- we cut a thread on a metal rod from both ends;
- we put a spring on it, and 3 - 5 cm from the lower end - a metal mesh;
- we insert the rod into the fire extinguisher, fix it with nuts in the hole at the bottom;
- in a circle of sheet metal we make 2 holes - one for the pipe, the other for the rod;
- in the pipe we make a hole for connecting an aquarium compressor;
- connect the compressor.
The generator works like this:
- a little wood chips are poured into the fire extinguisher and set on fire at the very bottom;
- smoldering chips are covered with the rest;
- a sheet metal circle is put on a rod and fixed with a nut;
- the outlet pipe is connected to the smoking chamber;
- the compressor turns on.
Wood chips smolder from the bottom up, receiving oxygen from the holes in the walls of the fire extinguisher. Through the cavity formed by the spring around the rod, the smoke enters the upper part of the tank, and from there into the pipe. The air pumped by the compressor drives the smoke into the smoking chamber.
The main advantage of this version of the smoke generator is more saturated smoke and stable smoldering. Minus - a more complex assembly compared to the construction of buckets.
"Labyrinth"
This is perhaps the simplest version of the smoke generator. But it has a number of shortcomings, which will be discussed later.
For manufacturing you will need:
- sheet of metal meter by meter;
- the same sheet of perforated metal (the smaller the holes, the better);
- bolts and nuts for mounting.
To build, do the following:
- we cut the perforated metal into strips 20–25 cm high;
- the lower 5 cm strips are bent at an angle of 90about;
- we make holes in the bends;
- we form a spiral labyrinth of cuts on a sheet of metal (the clearance between the walls should be 20 - 25 cm);
- we drill holes in the sheet for fastening the walls of the labyrinth;
- We connect the structural elements with bolt fastening.
The labyrinth works very simply. A thick layer of wood chips is poured into it and set on fire. Air through the walls penetrates with difficulty, so the wood slowly smolders, and does not burn. During this, a large amount of smoke is released.
- The main disadvantage of this design is the need for a smokehouse in the form of a separate room. After all, there are no devices for injecting smoke here. The smoke generator is placed in one corner of the smokehouse, the products are hung in the other. This prevents them from overheating.
- The second significant drawback is the high consumption of wood chips. To fill a room equipped with a smokehouse with smoke, you need to burn quite a lot of wood.
- Finally, the third disadvantage is low efficiency. The smoke will not be as concentrated as in the other two designs. This means that the smoking procedure will take several times longer.
Therefore, the "labyrinth" is suitable for those who:
- has a separate room for a smokehouse;
- is not afraid of spending on wood chips (or gets it for free);
- has a lot of free time.
Common questions and answers
So much so that most of the smoke reaches the processed product and lingers there as long as possible. At the same time, oxygen must enter the combustion chamber - exactly in the amount that smoldering occurs, but ignition does not occur. There are no universal recipes here, especially in the case of a homemade smoke generator from improvised materials. Everything is determined by eye or experience.
Yes. There is another version of the air blower, completely homemade. It will require a plastic bottle and a computer cooler of the appropriate diameter. We cut the bottle in half and fasten the cooler in it with a wire so that it directs air to the neck. At the latter, we fix the inlet of the pipe.We connect the cooler to a twelve-volt power supply in accordance with the polarity. The efficiency of such a homemade product is lower than that of a compressor. But it still performs its functions successfully.
In fact, any piece of pipe with a diameter of 30 - 40 cm is suitable for this smoke generator. The only difference in the assembly process will be that you will have to cut a second circle from sheet metal for the bottom. Everything else is the same.
Reviews
- Ivan, Kostroma region
“I am an avid fisherman. I used to salt fish all the time. But something bothered me, I wanted to buy a cold smoking unit. But the prices, to be honest, did not please at all - they were in the region of 4,000 - 5,000 rubles. Therefore, I decided to assemble the device myself. I didn’t want to mess around for a long time, so I settled on a design of two large water tanks. What can I say? Works fine. Of course, it was not possible to achieve complete tightness, part of the smoke goes away. Therefore, it takes a long time to smoke. But still he does his job. In general, I am satisfied. Especially when you consider that the assembly cost me almost nothing.”
- Sergey Nikolaevich, Petrozavodsk
“An old fire extinguisher was lying around in the country. I read that it is possible to assemble a smoke generator for cold smoking from it. The scheme was simple, I decided to try. And I didn’t regret it - now I smoke something every weekend. Or the fish you caught. Or meat. Of course, there is no comparison with store-bought meats. They are more expensive and taste worse. For interest, I looked at how much smoke generators cost in the store. And I was surprised - expensive. Mine only required labor. I didn’t pay anything for the materials – everything was at the dacha.”
Summing up
You can assemble a smoke generator for cold smoking with your own hands. There are several design options. The most popular are three: from two buckets, from an old fire extinguisher and a “maze”. All schemes require a minimum of costs - they can be easily implemented using improvised materials that are in any household. At the same time, they work no worse than a store-bought smoke generator, which will cost much more.
Video tips for creating a cold smoked smoke generator
