ideas for my fridge smoker

[aczeller]

although I am no stranger to eating smoked meats, I am about to take on the challenge of making my first dedicated smoker. I have made more than my fair share of "grill/smokers" and modified grills to indirectly heat meat and produce smoke. However, those can only go so far. I finally started smoking this past month or two after about 6 months of snow and ice... FAR too long. After doing some research, I have figured out that with a properly insulated smoker, one can smoke year round.

Long story short, about a month ago, I started doing some "passive research" in my spare time and started looking at feasible options. After a little looking and helping a co-worker look on Craigslist for some new appliances for his home, we came across some OLD fridges. I thought they would be perfect, but i didn't have the cash, or willpower to spend $300-$500 on a fully functioning unit, when I knew I would be ripping the guts out of it anyway. Well, today we came across one that someone wanted out of their garage. It aledgedly doesn't work, so they only want $20 for it. granted, it's 45 minutes away, but it's only $20! we are going to pick it up after work tomorrow.

Now, to the real meat and potatoes of this thread (no pun intended), I have a few questions:

1.) how heavy are these things? I have seen people talk about them online and their opinions range anywhere from 150 lbs to 400 lbs. personally, I can't see these things weighing 400 lbs, but i honestly don't know. I have no problems getting a trailer if need be (instead of loading into my truck), but i don;t want to go get one if I don't have to.

2.) I plan on attaching a firebox to the side, but am unsure how to go about it exactly. I am thinking of putting the box about 6" from the fridge, and couple the two together with a volume damper. does this sound reasonable?

3.) is there anything that I need to be aware of before getting into this? obviously, they can be made... people have done it before, and i'm sure someone else will make one long after many of us are gone. I just want to know if there is any special things I need to do before it's safe to cook in (sandblast/burn out the interior paint, remove/protect insulation, etc)

4.) how hot can I expect the main fridge housing to get? I am currently planning on putting this on the side of my garage, which has vinyl siding. After it's set, i don't want it to move until I decide to move to another house. That being said, I wan to make sure my garage will stay in one solid, non-melting piece while I am smoking.

anyway, after looking around for the last couple hours on your guys' site, I think there is a lot of valuable info on here... I am definately going to be doing a "build thread" as this whole situation progresses.

I know it's fast-paced, but i am planning on having this whole thing ready for at least an initial smoke by the 24th for a BBQ i am planning.

the pictures that I have so far are the ones that the couple sent me that currently owns my soon-to-be-beast. I'll get more as soon as I get the baby dropped of tomorrow night.





thanks!

Later,
Andy

[Gunslinger]

Hey another Cornhusker. Neat old fridge you got there. Someone that has done it will be along in a minute, like Tip. I just wanted to say "welcome" from a Hawkeye.

[Meat Hunter]

1.) how heavy are these things? I have seen people talk about them online and their opinions range anywhere from 150 lbs to 400 lbs. personally, I can't see these things weighing 400 lbs, but i honestly don't know. I have no problems getting a trailer if need be (instead of loading into my truck), but i don;t want to go get one if I don't have to.

2.) I plan on attaching a firebox to the side, but am unsure how to go about it exactly. I am thinking of putting the box about 6" from the fridge, and couple the two together with a volume damper. does this sound reasonable?

3.) is there anything that I need to be aware of before getting into this? obviously, they can be made... people have done it before, and i'm sure someone else will make one long after many of us are gone. I just want to know if there is any special things I need to do before it's safe to cook in (sandblast/burn out the interior paint, remove/protect insulation, etc)

4.) how hot can I expect the main fridge housing to get? I am currently planning on putting this on the side of my garage, which has vinyl siding. After it's set, i don't want it to move until I decide to move to another house. That being said, I wan to make sure my garage will stay in one solid, non-melting piece while I am smoking.


Later,
Andy

First off, welcome aboard Andy, great to have you here with us.

1. Those old fridges are heavier than todays, but nothing that 2 people should not be able to load in the back of a pickup. I have 2 1950 Fridgidaires, they maybe weigh 150#. Remove the old compressor unit and you eliminate about 50% of the weight.

2. I have seen build before with a firebox on the side. Although I have not done it, it looks from what I have seen, simple enough. The use of a rotozip would help big time with that.

3. You will need to remove the rubber door seal for sure as well as any plastics inside, rubber grommets and so on. Most of the interiors of these old fridges are enamel which makes for a good smoker, easy clean up but does chip when cut so watch out for that. Also, the interior part on the door on allot of these is plastic so that will have to come off and replaced with either a thin guage steel, or aluminum, depending on your budget. Some have insulation in them, some have foam, some have both. Usually you can remove the inner tub and see. If needed, you could strip out the old insulation and replace with new, more modern insulation or go with a kiln insulation, that will allow you to smoke in the dead of winter when its 80 below.

4. As far as heat, a fairly well insulated unit should pose no problem when it comes to outside heat so against the house should be no problem. Most of your smoking is going to take place in the 200 - 250 range, give or take.

[aczeller]

thanks for the responses guys. I appreciate it.

as far as the rubber seal goes, after I take them off, do I need to replace them with anything? I am thinking about possible the metal/fire-retardent seals, but i'm not sure where to get them or around what price they run.

the insulation shouldn't be too much of an issue. I work at an HVAC company full time during the week, so I can probably find some scrap fire-proof grease duct insulation without an issue. it's rated for direct heat up to 2000 F, so i think it should suffice. lol.

I am currently working on a basic game plan as we speak, so as soon as I get a drawing together, I'll post it up for some critiques before I start hacking away at the walls.

thanks!

Later,
Andy

[aczeller]

alright, here is my plan (very basic, but you get the idea)



obviously, on the left, we have the smoker box. I was thinking afsomething along the lines of 24"x24"x24" I am thinking that should be enough room for nearly any amount of wood and charcoal that I could think of putting in there. feel free to chime in if someone feels differently. this is going to be the best insulated smoker that I have ever seen (in person), let alone build, so I wouldn't be surprised if I need to increase the size of my fire box. I will (of course) have intake and exhaust vents in the box for temp and flame control.

Next, I am planning on putting in a 1/16" thick (16 ga) volume damper to connect the fire box to the "VIP Room". i am thinking that 6" between the fire box and fridge should be enough room to keep the fridge from burning on the side, but not too far to loose a lot of heat during the transfer of smoke.

the fridge is probably going to stay "as-is" as much as possible. granted, I will probably add a stainless steel or aluminum drip pan on the floor, racks, etc, but I don't want to get into the replacement of insulation if possible. that stuff gets expensive quick.

on the sides, I have 2 vents. one high, one low. to me, this should be very nice. I plan on using the low vent 99% of the time while smoking (smoke rises, it stays in the chamber, and then the excess flows out through the bottom as required). However, the top vent will probably be used before I open the "love shack"... try to evacuate a little smoke at least so that I don't get blasted with smoke every time I open to door. Although it is delicious and one of my favorite parts, it' not always the most ideal situation.

other than that, I will probably have it all sitting on a concrete pad after I get it poured. a few days, a few bags of concrete, and a couple diamonds to appease the wife, and I think everything should be fine and dandy.

the only other thing I can think of at this point is exterior paint. I am thinking of a couple coats of Rustolium (probably bright red, but maybe black) after a proper stripping and priming. any thoughts?

Later,
Andy

[Meat Hunter]

Nice draw up. If I may, and its just a suggestion, I would eliminate the damper between the firebox and the fridge itself, as well as the damper on the chimney. Instead, use the draft control on the firebox to regulate your fire/temp. You pretty much want the free flow of heat/smoke when entering the smoker. As far as the duel chimney, if it were me, I would stick with a single unit, that being the one at the top. The reason I say that is this. You want the smoke to enter, wisk by the meat and then exit the chamber. Smoke that stays inside can become stale and over a long smoke, can build up on the meat, (crosote) and give the meat a stinging like or numbing feeling on the tongue. There are units out there that do use a lower exit point, backwoods smokers and I think the spicewine smokers do as well, but these are reverse flow smokers and run on charcoal.

As far as the first post, I should have mentioned about the door seal. Yes, will need to replace that. Most home improvement stores or if you have a Tractor Supply, sell the fire rope gaskets for wood burning stoves. Some even come as a kit with the high temp silicon sealant. They work great are should run no more than 20 bucks.

Your firebox to me seems more than adequate. I don't see a problem there at all.

[aczeller]

very true. thanks.

thinking about taking the fire box one step further, has anyone every put a usable grate on top of a firebox? by this I mean, is there any way to turn the firebox into a suitable sear grate, but then still be able to be sealed tight enough to be used as a good firebox? if no, then I'm not worrying about it. I am just wondering if I need to keep my current grill/smoker, but then again, one can never have enough grill space.

Later,
Andy

[Meat Hunter]

I have never seen a grill/firebox set-up, but thats not saying someone has not tried LOL.

Allot of people do, when making their fireboxes, have the top flat. This allows you to use and residual heat to cook something like beans or keep other foods warm. Your only limited to your imagination, (and pocketbook) when it comes to building your own.

[davidmcg]

Andy, your doing good. Not very many of us around that do this to burn charcoal or wood. Most go the electric route. You have already been told about the rubber, grommets and insulation and replacing the inner door panel with some thin gauge. Thats what I did to mine and its far from completed. I still have my door off, got the kiln insulation in it and the new skin. Then thats where I stalled. Too many things going on this time of year, ya know. Us Jayhawks have to put corn out too. I'll finish mine this winter. I am doing a firebox roughly the same size as what you have in mind. I just haven't decided if where I will put it. I was thinking load door on the back. But a guy over in Leavenworth has one and he made a frame addition and put it right under neath the main smoking chamber. Kind of makes it all a little heavier with the additional framing, damper/tuning plate. I still need to order more kiln insulation and decide how I am going to duct it. I still have plenty of time and material to maybe go a reverse flow or 2 4" stacks. Keep us all updated as you go. Also, welcome to the forum.

[aczeller]

well, we got it home, and this thing is a tank to say the least. it is probably 200 lbs, EASY.

the lady i picked it up from said that it was built into the side of their house and they didn't want it in the living room any more, so they moved it to the garage in hopes of having it as a beer fridge. well, after moving it, it didn't work, so they put it on CL.

after we got it home, I plugged it in for kicks & giggles. the compressor humms, which means it is getting power. one of the easier things to do is replace the start capacitor. the same thing happened with my home AC this summer... the motors hummed, but there was no movement. best case scenario (depending on how you look at it), i could have it fixed and running as another "beverage" fridge for about $20 and 20 minutes. other than that, it could be a number of things, none of which are cheap to fix.

why am I telling you all of this? long story short, my buddy wants a fridge like this that works and is clean enough to use as a beer fridge in his basement next to his big-screen. with a quick wipe-down, a little sandblasting, a new coat of paint, and possibly a power cord replacement (I noticed some dry-rot), it would be as good as new.

why give up my newest prized possesion? I actually found another one about 5 minutes from my house today. he wants $40 for it (compared to the $20 for this one) and his runs, but the one I already have looks nicer in the pictures, at least from the outside. I am thinking about seeing if I can swap some parts out and make a nice, usable one for my buddy (who is helping me pick these beasts up), and make the other one into a nice smoker. I am supposed to go get this other one tomorrow. we'll just have to see what condition it's in and figure out a game plan from there.

anyway, either way, I will have a working smoker within a few days, or at least a big mess of pieces and parts. I would be out there working on it right now, but we jsut got hit with a nice little storm that took out power to a good chunk of the city. needless to say, it probably isn't smart to be out in the shop, playing with fire and grinders.

Later,
Andy

[nickelmore]

Welcome

Looks like your off to a good start,

If you want to go witha a gas burner this place has one he makes for a fridge conversion.

http://gassmoker.com/c-burner.htm

For exhaust, I found some Alum dryer duct at a local hardware store.

I used food grade silicone on my stuff versus "high temp", regular silicone is good for 400-500 degrees.

local scrap yards are always a good source for "stuff" to ease things on the wallet

With a fridge like that I dont think you will ever get any hot spots on the outside

Keep us posted