smoke your meat

[Thebiglaskowski]

I want to know more about dry curing i.e. pemmican I have been using a "bandera smoker" cabnet type for years for good smoked bbq but I am looking more into a making summer sausage and preserving meat any leads or tips would be great,

[cbprice797]

700bdl do not attempt to soke meat using a refrigerator. Too much stuff that will not stand up to the heat and can poison you. All kinds of plastics and such. The door seal would make you sick as it started deteriorating from the heat. Better to use an old 55 gallon barrel once you scrub it out and make sure it was not used for storing anyhting nasty for you.

[cbprice797]

For a whole deer or steer try guilding an outhouse smoker. Just build a 3x3 foot outhouse. Cut an exhaust hole on the opposite side from where the smoke will enter(will get to that in a sec). Put some kind of cover on the hole in order to keep rain and trash out, a peice of metal screen to keep little critters out when not in use. Along the three interior walls of the outhouse nail a strip of 1x2 to support your wire racks. Put rack shelves 12 to 24 inches apart, depending on the size of the haunches you will be smoking. If you want to smoke a quarter of meat it will need to be hung and this is what you do for that. Mount either a U or V shaped brace from wood blocks, or metal if you have it. Then using a metal pipe preferably, a wooden rod will gradually weaken and one day you will open the door to find your quartered animal on the floor, use it for the support of the meat. Lastly, either make or buy three or four meat hooks to hang your meat while it smokes. For your shelves old racks from ovens work, though the demensions of the outhouse will need to be smaller due to the oven racks not being 3x3. Drill a small hole in the center of the door and then insert a large meat thermometer. Placing it near the center of the outhouse will give a clearer idea of what the temperature is inside without having to open it up all the time. Along with the thermometer you will need some way to regulate the heat inside the outhouse. The easiest way to do this is to build a square opening near the top of one of the walls. Build a small door for it until you need to release the excess heat. Just open the door the heat will rise up and out until the temperature has dropped down tow here it should be to ensure proper smoking. There is no need to even brick up or cement the floor, though of course you can.


Ok, now that the building is done it is time for the smoker section. Cut a hole for the smoke to enter opposite from the exhaust vent and at least 6inches but no more than 18 inches from the ground. The reason no more than 18 inches is then the bottom rack can get to hot and cook the meat instead of smoking it. If you have an old grill or barrel or something along those lines for a smoker that is great, if not just build a basic kiln like structure from large rocks or even adobe. If using a grill or barrel make sure that they are not resting on the ground in order to prevent them from runsting out to fast. Make sure that the level of the top of the smoker is even with the hole that you cut earlier near thebottom of the outhouse. Connect the smoker to the outhouse by some kind of connecting tube, make sure it is NOT plastic. Now it is important to be able to close off the vent leading to the outhouse until the fire has been lit and the smoke has started to really flow. Then open it up and let the smoke go in and start smoking the meat.

[700bdl]

old refrigerators make good smokers after all the cooling coils are removed and a hole is cut in the bottom for the smoke to enter.the stainless wire racks will hold alot of meat.

[themachenic,]

if you can build a out house you can build a smoke house:)

[bart]

i think backwoodsman magazine had a small smokehouse in last issue or one before. will have to check it out.

[kenno]

I've smoked alot of tobacco in my time but have never been able to keep meat lit, and it tastes terrible!

[pathfinder3081]

Dracos,

Do you have any ideas as to how to build a out building capable of smoking/drying a whole steer or deer? Hardwood isn't in short supply here, Oak, Maple, Walnut, Cherry, Hickory...Also lots of cedar red and white for wall planks. I am inventive and adaptive, just need some direction to work with can you or anyone help?

I can't remember but the Link that Bayou Blaster has a little of everything. It has info firing Potery and the huts to build. I am sure it has some Smoke house info there.;)

[waitnc]

Food Smoking Hut/Building?

Dracos,

Do you have any ideas as to how to build a out building capable of smoking/drying a whole steer or deer? Hardwood isn't in short supply here, Oak, Maple, Walnut, Cherry, Hickory...Also lots of cedar red and white for wall planks. I am inventive and adaptive, just need some direction to work with can you or anyone help?

[Dracos]

Don't use pine trees for smoking. Stick to hardwoods. I like apple. It tastes good and I get about 200 pounds a year of it when I prune my trees. For those of you that can get them oak, hickory, and mesquite, are quite good. I dry the wood for about a year, then soak it in water for a half hour. I wrap it in foil to keep it from catching fire. Start the fire with charcoal. Put your chosen wood on top of the coals. One way to tell when it is done is to pull on the turkey leg. If it comes off, its done.

[themachenic,]

i am going to use a grill someone made of stainless steal to make a smoker for backup.i have a steel baox i will cut a hole in the box end.and a hole in the grill.and put them together with 2inch water pipe.the grill will be the smoke chamber.the box will be the fire box.:)

[themachenic,]

if done well its awesome eating!!!:)

[themachenic,]

that is right.:)

[thegrouch98]

I have been dehydrating and smoking my own emergency supplies for several years. It is very cost efficient and you have control over your product. I have an inexpensive Brinkmann gas fired smoker an and a a temperature controlled dehydrator. I then place the end product in a seal a meal storage bag and evacuate the oxygen. my rotation is thus reduced to every 18 months on jerky, etc, and 12 months on dehydrated fruits and vegetables. I agree, temperature and removal of oxygen is critical. Otherwise you have only product to feed your enemies. e.g. Botulism, Salmonella, etc.

[themachenic,]

the temp is critical you don't want botulism.:eek: