Here 's a few pictures of my new smoker project. One side propane or electric(depends on what the budget allows) the other wood from seperate fire box. just a start for now .
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cool beans.. that thing is huge. can not wait to see the end of the job. how thick is that metal??

Its an old Foster refridgerator/ freezer

Sorta looks like the "BEAST" that Rich is puttzin around with. That will be a real nice smoker.

Sorta looks like the "BEAST" that Rich is puttzin around with. That will be a real nice smoker.

Heh Yeah... Remember about the insulation between the walls... that was the killer with mine. Din't want to chance it- it was foam. Had to gut it and build an inside box, as I plan on hot smoking.

Heh Yeah... Remember about the insulation between the walls... that was the killer with mine. Din't want to chance it- it was foam. Had to gut it and build an inside box, as I plan on hot smoking.

I was thinking about that ,thought about just adding an inch of some sort of insulation the reskining the interior .or should I remove the foam? I have the door already stripped of the foam plan on a wood frame to support the door skin as it is really flimsy with the foam removed.

I have finally found time to get back at this project , I have the internal skins bent up, foam insulation out. Now propane or electric?on the one side definatly wood on the other.Electric is proably cheaper to set up temp control wise , propane might be cheaper to run Considering electricty prices in Ontario

Electricity Rates + distribution charges(
Demand
Periods RPP Time-of-Use Price Winter Season
November 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011
On-Peak 9.9 cents/kWh ----Weekdays 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. & 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Mid-Peak 8.1 cents/kWh--- Weekdays:11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Off-Peak 5.1 cents/kWh Weekdays:9 p.m. to 7 a.mWeekends & Holidays:
All Day

Any Ideas are appreciated

wow that thing looks like it'd survive the apocalypse - mind you looking at your 'yard' maybe it already has :whistle: :bounce:

Interested to see how you handle the innards as I'm looking at a similiar type build in the near future.

I have finally found time to get back at this project , I have the internal skins bent up, foam insulation out. Now propane or electric?on the one side definatly wood on the other.Electric is proably cheaper to set up temp control wise , propane might be cheaper to run Considering electricty prices in Ontario

Electricity Rates + distribution charges(
Demand
Periods RPP Time-of-Use Price Winter Season
November 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011
On-Peak 9.9 cents/kWh ----Weekdays 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. & 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Mid-Peak 8.1 cents/kWh--- Weekdays:11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Off-Peak 5.1 cents/kWh Weekdays:9 p.m. to 7 a.mWeekends & Holidays:
All Day

Any Ideas are appreciated

figure at least (2) 1500W elements in there just to the massive size. I am running a single 1500 in mine, and i'm worried that won't be enough for my relatively small fridge.

with that being said, and your rate sheet, i would probably opt for propane too. i dunno how you heat your home of if you have gas there or not, but maybe you could/should hook it up to your home supply?

Later,
Andy

You may be able to set it up as with both heat sources.

My biggest set back with my electric setup is preheating and recovery time, mostly preheating.

I run a 1500 watt element from a wally world electric BBQ grill, and tend to forget how long it takes to "preheat" the my smoker box. Once it is heated, no problems.

Now that is going to be nice !!!!!!:thumb:

I am starting to lean towards propane , and yes the yard at that time looked like a bomb hit thats what happens with too many things on the go instead of doing one project at a time. Just trying to build with as much recycled(free or cheap) materials as posible to keep the Boss happy as I have not started her greenhouse build yet.

Just trying to build with as much recycled(free or cheap) materials as posible to keep the Boss happy as I have not started her greenhouse build yet.

Well, not really a great time to be building a structure now anyway... :whistle:

Early fall work there.

Propane is a good choice for fast heat recovery I think.

Hybrid :thumb: ...... I like it..... I think I would go propane also, due to the size.... I have 2 electric smokers & love them, but they are small compared to yours & as mentioned the recovery time would probably be much quicker with propane.

Well, not really a great time to be building a structure now anyway... :whistle:

Early fall work there.

Propane is a good choice for fast heat recovery I think.

Greenhouse is on skids and being fabbed up inside shop , as for propane what is the best way to control temperature ?

Just trying to build with as much recycled(free or cheap) materials as posible to keep the Boss happy as I have not started her greenhouse build yet.

Man...I hear ya...Greenhouse gig is on for Louie...gathered stuff for a build. :thumb:

I have a very similar set up. Mine had foam in the doors but had a bat insulation in the walls. It is the bomb for holding heat. I use propane for mine and it takes very little to keep it at temp. I originally had a crab cooker burner with a needle valve to control flame length. The burner turned out to be way overkill so I had a small one made and it omakes plenty of heat and Burns nice at low temps. If you could find an old BBQ with a side burner on it I think you would find it would be more then enough. I am in the process of putting an offset firebox on mine to get away from the direct heat thing. I just ordered a Smoke Daddy big Kahuna for it yesterday so I can get a good consistent smoke. Once I do this I can smoke a ton of product in it.

I have a very similar set up. Mine had foam in the doors but had a bat insulation in the walls. It is the bomb for holding heat. I use propane for mine and it takes very little to keep it at temp. I originally had a crab cooker burner with a needle valve to control flame length. The burner turned out to be way overkill so I had a small one made and it omakes plenty of heat and Burns nice at low temps. If you could find an old BBQ with a side burner on it I think you would find it would be more then enough. I am in the process of putting an offset firebox on mine to get away from the direct heat thing. I just ordered a Smoke Daddy big Kahuna for it yesterday so I can get a good consistent smoke. Once I do this I can smoke a ton of product in it.

Thanks ,would like to see some pictures of your smoker