Makin a smoker?

I was thinking about trying to make a smoker to smoke some meat and fish instead of buying one. I heard that if i make a wooden one then i can only smoke meat or fish as i cant do both as the wood absorbs the smells from the one or the other unlike the metal ones that you can wipe down. Does anyone know how i can go about doing this. Ive never done this before but i gotta start somewhere?

Gary

Thanx Tas

Gary

I made one about 20 years ago for a guy. 

Best start is an old dishwasher, ugly but work great.  Strip inside racks oout (1o minutes).

The best thing about the dishwasher it has an electric heating element in the bottom, and you need one.  The heater is too hat though, so I put a light socket (the work type with a pig tail) IN SERIES with the heater.  I think I used a 100 watt bulb, but you can try it to see what gives the right heat.  I ripped the gaskey of so it could breath a little.  I put an old metal pie pan above the heater, add wet hickory or apple chips, and instant smoker.  But it looked like hell with out an exterior cover.  Cost invested was about $3.  The guy used it for years till the divorce, ex threw it away!.  I guesss you coould do the same with a refrig, just all a hot plate!  But refrigerators are BIG and heavy.

BEAR

gary -

i can't seem to find what i was looking for, but if memory serves, it was right about the same as the rest of the guys are describing it; electric heating element, etc. i've got a little chief smoker, and it really is alot like a little fridge with the guts ripped out, heaiting element in the bottom and racks installed!

A friend of mine built one out of wood and uses fire for theirs. I heard though with wood though it has to be fish or meat not both as wood absorbs and can taint the taste. Maybe they were blowing smoking up my arse. Ive never tried smoking my own fish and wild meat ever but ive tasted the results and i like it.

Gary

A guy here at work has one he made of plywood. I've eaten his jerky and fish smoked in it and they're both fine. I think the either and not both thing is a wive's tale.

One of the best fish smokers I ever saw was a semi-cold smoker. Kept the fish from getting mushy. This guy took an old fridge (no plastic inside) and just used the racks to place the fish on. He cut a round hole in the top and inserted a 6" stove pipe with a damper. The fridge was set up on the top of a bank. He cut another hole about 8" in the bottom and ran a section of stove pipe about 10' long from a hole dug in the base of the bank up into the bottom of the fridge. He'd build a hickory fire in the hole and partially cover it with a slab of deck plate. The smoke would draw up the hill through the length of stove pipe but would be fairly cool by the time it got there. He'd regulate it with the damper on the top of the fridge. We'd go spearing carp in early may. He'd take 'em home and scrub the outsides with soapy water before he ever laid a knife to 'em. Said it kept 'em from tasting muddy. Then he'd just split 'em down the middle, toss the guts and rub 'em with a mix of salt and brown sugar. Can't remember how long they smoked but I can still taste 'em now. Good as any smoked salmon I ever ate. He claimed that dogfish were every bit as good done this way but I never had the guts to try 'em. RD 

My coworker brought his smoker to to work last night. He smokes a lot of stuff. He'll wait until london broil is on sale at Safeway for $1.99 a lb. and buy 100 lb. He does a lot of salmon too, those he catches himself.

His smoker was made out of scrap plywood and is about 2x2x6 feet. The shelving is the stainless closet shelving you can buy at Lowe's or other home improvement places by the foot.

The top of the smoker has a couple of gaps to allow the smoke to flow through and not get the box too hot. The source of smoke and heat is a propane cooking head like a small crab boiler with an old cast iron skillet to put the wood chips in. The front door starts about 12-14 inches off of the ground to allow some heat out and fresh air in to the burner area.

He did a batch of beef jerky and smoked salmon at the same time last night. I ate a piece of the jerky this morning when he was taking the meat out. He left me a quart baggie of the salmon and I just tried a piece of that. I've eaten a lot of jerky and salmon and I didn't notice one iota of difference from this stuff being smoked at the same time. The key is to make sure the meat/fish has been out of the brine and air dried enough that it won't drip before you rack it and start smoking.