Fridge build question

[rbranstner]

I am finally going to start building my fridge smoker and I wanted some opinions on what to do about removing the insulation and piping. I have an old Gatorade fridge like you would see in the gas station that has a glass door. The inside is all metal and has metal racks so my question is do you think I need to to anything to it as far as trying to remove what ever is on the back side of that metal? I was going to remove the motor and everything I can from the bottom but as far as trying remove any piping or coils that run inside the smoker in the back should I even worry about them since they are inclosed in the smoker and the inside where my meat is going to be is all metal?

This isn't my fridge but I have pretty much the same exact one just so you can see what I am working with.

[rbranstner]

This is a picture of my fridge.

[blues_n_cues]

is it real glass or plexiglass that can handle heat?

[rbranstner]

We are hoping that it is tempered glass that will stand up to around 225-250 degrees but if it doesn't work I will put some type of metal in its place.

[rbranstner]

My original plan was to put an electric heating element inside the smoker at the bottom and then run an Amazin pellet smoker to produce my smoke. I guess I will see what everything looks like this weekend when I start to remove the compressor from the bottom. I have never taken apart a fridge so I really have no clue what is all in there.

[blues_n_cues]

i have a hobart commercial fridge i'm converting. just the compressor weighed 40 lbs. but @ least everything was on top. now i'm reading horror stories about foam insulation & noxious gases after heating....
i'm hoping i don't have to scrap this project.

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8876

[rbranstner]

Yea I keep hearing the horror stories as well that is why I am wondering what to do. I guess I will see more this weekend when I dig into it.

[Checkered Past]

Good luck and keep us posted...like these projects

[nickelmore]

Seal all openings

Not saying this is gospel but only my opinion.

If you seal ALL opening that have exposure to the insulation than there is no way for fumes to get into the smoking chamber unnoticed.

I rarely go over 225 on my smoker and have not had any problems with the door gasket or insulation on my smoker that has a layer of Styrofoam between the panels. I used a gasket out of a Soda machine similar to what you have.

I used a good grade of GE silicone (local hardware store) it says it is safe to use in food environments and most silicone has a melting point of around 450-500. I did not use the "high temp" because it did no carry a food grade standard and I never intend to run my smoker that hot.

I would bet the glass is tempered, it may have an etching in one of the corners if it is.

[rbranstner]

Well I was waiting for the wife to get home from work tonight so I started dinking with the fridge. I was surprised that it only took me 30-45 minutes to remove the compressor and all of the fans and piping. It was barely any work at all compared to what I though it was going to be. After removing the compressor and fan in the bottom of the fridge I opened the door and there were two pieces of angle iron one on each side along the back of the fridge. One side had the copper pipe going to the fan at the top of the fridge and the other side had all of the wiring. I removed 6 screws and the angle iron and everything was exposed and I pulled them both out through the bottom of the fridge. Now all I have is one big solid chamber. Shoot if I knew it was that easy I would have worked on this a long time ago. Now I need to find out what I have for insulation in the walls.

[Richtee]

damn sorry I missed this... see here..twice what you have. The glass will not work well.

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/album.php?albumid=45

[rbranstner]

damn sorry I missed this... see here..twice what you have. The glass will not work well.

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/album.php?albumid=45

Ritch do you think the glass with shatter if it gets up to around 225?

[rbranstner]

Looks like this fridge has the spray foam style insulation in the walls. From what I hear that is bad and it will need to be removed.

[butcher]

I would not take any chances with the spray foam for insulation... IF, it starts to melt on you and producing fumes, it is toxic, and I would not take the chance of going through all that work to build it, prepare meat, then have that all wasted or worse get sick! I have an old fridge that I have converted into a smoker and My research led me to find that the old fridges (before 1961) were insulated with a fire risistant insulation similiar to what you would find in the construction of building and put in celiengs/walls between attatched garage's and the dwellings that surround it. This stuff can be found at you local building center. As for a heat source, if you plan on going electric, I have used this in mine...
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
it works perfect as I put a pan with my smoking chips on the smaller 500w burner, and control the internal heat with the larger 1000w. I took the controls off the front of the little stove top, and extended all the wiring and installed it to the outside of my smoker so there is no opening the door to control the heat.
I've got no problem answering any questions you may have... As for the glass doors... that would be something I would just have a trial run at after the rest is built. if the glass don't survive, it will be an easy modification

[butcher]

You can see the control box on the left of the smoker, I went to a local appiance repair shop and bought 20' of insulated stove wiring and just extended all the wiring incluting the LED lights so I know that it is on and working. I find this unit easy to control my heat for both internal temp of smoker and for the smoking of the chips, as the heat needed to get the chips smoking is much less then getting the unit up to temp.
On the right of my smoker I have drilled a 3" hole and inserted a piece of tubing and just put a "slide" on the outside to control the air intake, the exhaust is also 3" and just simple dryier piping with a damper for exhaust control.