The Great Smoker Fridge Challenge

[Kawickrice]

I decided to build a homemade smoker made out of an old refrigerator, it will have a firebox mounted to the side and will be wood fired with no electric hotplate.

Me and a friend were sitting around one day discussing what I was going to do with my old fridge. We knew a guy when we were kids that smoked Mullet in an old fridge. That got us thinking. After a few beers I decided I could make a rather large smoker out of it for just about no cost to me.

I have a welder and some 18 ga sheet so thats what I am starting with. I will have to buy some vent and cap and 2 gauges but other than that it will only cost me my time. The purpose of this build is doing it on the cheap with what I have on hand.

I am not done yet I still have to put the shelves in, put a door on the firebox, and get the vent done, and paint it. My firebox design should have been different but you live and you learn. This is mt first try at something like this so this is a learning experience for me. I do plan on buying a firebox in the future because I am not sure how long the sheetmetal will last

Tell me what you think of my redneck build.





Here is what it looked like when I started



After The plastic was stripped I was left with this foam that needed to be removed




Here she is as a cleaned out shell

[Kawickrice]

The sheetmetal

[Kawickrice]

The foam removal is fun

[Kawickrice]

The firebox



This is as far as I got so far

[Fishawn]

Looks like a great start to me.... Good Luck & ask any questions you would like to have advice on, there are a lot of veteran smoker builders here with tons of knowledge, I just don't happen to be one of them....

[Mark R]

Great start, keep the progress pics comin!
I'd get rid of them gaskets too, they gonna melt.

[morkdach]

be careful using gavinized material do not use any inside the fridge!!!

[Kawickrice]

Should I run the vent out of the top, or the opposite side from the firebox, if on the side should it be high or low? What size vent will work the best? Just wondering if one way is better than another before I start cutting

[Slanted88]

Man...Stay after it! Ya got a plan...

[Kawickrice]

I have one sheet of galvanized on the door. I was reading about toxic gases from using galvanized in a smoker. I was gonna use a torch to heat it up good and burn off everything including some foam remnants on the inside. Will this be feasible?


I am going to try to source some used metal gasket from the appliance junk man. I thought I would try the rubber since I had it. I am expecting it to melt but I have to try it. What temp will this melt at anyone know or am I the first one to try something so stupid?

[davidmcg]

I decided to build a homemade smoker made out of an old refrigerator, it will have a firebox mounted to the side and will be wood fired with no electric hotplate.

Good man. Anybody that builds a smoker to burn wood or coals of some type is a winner in my book. That fridge isn't very old.

[Kawickrice]

Good man. Anybody that builds a smoker to burn wood or coals of some type is a winner in my book. That fridge isn't very old.

I heard the humor here was free. Thats why I am here.

[davidmcg]

Should I run the vent out of the top, or the opposite side from the firebox, if on the side should it be high or low? What size vent will work the best? Just wondering if one way is better than another before I start cutting

On mine I cut it dead center top. Be sure to mark it from the inside, not the outside. As for size, that depends on the size of your firebox and smoke chamber. I attached a small excel program for you to use to find the right size.

[davidmcg]

I have one sheet of galvanized on the door. I was reading about toxic gases from using galvanized in a smoker. I was gonna use a torch to heat it up good and burn off everything including some foam remnants on the inside. Will this be feasible?


I am going to try to source some used metal gasket from the appliance junk man. I thought I would try the rubber since I had it. I am expecting it to melt but I have to try it. What temp will this melt at anyone know or am I the first one to try something so stupid?

Take the galvanized off, not worth the hassle or risk. Get some oven rope gasket material. Its available from most hardware stores and any place they sell ovens.

[Whisky Fish]

Take the galvanized off, not worth the hassle or risk.

I can't source my stand on this but I've been welding as an amature for years and I've always heard that welding/torching/burning galvanized is a no-no and you can't burn it off as it will always gas on you. Hopefully somebody will show up with some facts, but I'd ditch the galvy too. Sorry to be a buzz-kill, cause you are doing a fantastic job. Stay with it it's gonna be great!