Today is part two of our three-part series, How to Build a DIY Smokehouse. Last week we gave you a Homemade Fire-Resistant Cement Recipe that was used to build a firebox. That firebox is part of this week’s Smokehouse.
In order to have a working smokehouse, you must have a firebox to put out the smoke and heat. Although, when smoking foods, they actually do not need that much heat, it is mostly the smoke that does the curing.
You may wonder, why smoke your food? Well, here it is, we like our food smoked. Smoking is not only easy to do, it is a healthy way to preserve foods, and do not forget that wonderful smokey flavor. As you know, we are all about being self-sufficient and eating healthy. What is more healthy than smoking your own food? No processing, no chemicals, no preservatives, just good old-fashioned smoke. You can cook with smoke or you can make jerky. And we do love jerky.
So, first, we have built the firebox with the cement pipe. Please see last week’s talk for this part, Homemade Fire-Resistant Cement Recipe.
How to Build a DIY Smokehouse
1. Prep the ground and level it.
2. Lay the first row of blocks.
3. Add sand to level the floor.
4. Add sand to the block spaces, leaving the four corners empty.
5. Use the Homemade Fire-Resistant Cement Recipe to fill the floor.
6. Smooth and Level the cement.
7. In the four corner spaces, fill with cement.
8. Place the four threaded rods into the four corners and finish filling with cement. This will make the corner anchors for the wooden boards that will come next.
You may need to put something in place to hold the threaded rods straight until the cement dries and cures.
You will need to give the cement time to dry before you start with the boards.
9. Start by laying the first board against the cement floor. Secure the board with the threaded rods that you cemented into place.
10. Place corner beams to hold the side boards.
11. Add the side boards and secure them to the ones below. Popi used long screws to hold the side boards in place.
12. Continue adding wood until you have one side, then move to the other side and repeat.
13. Use cross boards to help stabilize the sides until it was all screwed together.
14. Landscaping timbers are placed for the roof beams. And rough cut, 2 x 4 s were also used for the cross sections. Most of this wood was pine.
15. Heat-Resistant Insulation is placed on the beams and tin is placed on top of that. There is a double layer of tin for extra heat retention.
16. Make a door to fit the smokehouse.
Popi made a door with doors planed by a local fellow with a timber mill.
17. Secure the door to the smokehouse with hinges.
18. Add a latch for the smokehouse.
You can buy a latch but Popi made one out of wood.
19. Cut a vent hole in the smokehouse. And add some screen to keep bugs out.
Popi had already cut the vent hole when he got to the top with the boards as you could see in some of the previous pictures.
20. A thermometer is a good idea so you are sure of the temp you are working with.
Popi put his thermometer on the outside so he did not have to open the door and loose heat to check it.
21. A smokehouse will need racks on the inside to hold hooks.
Popi made a set of racks to go inside the smokehouse from wooden dowels. There are also metal meat hooks and a metal grate to hang smaller foods.
22. Place a set of racks on the outside between the firebox and the smokehouse. This rack was to hold firewood and tools but it could also be used for prep work and holding finished foods.
Popi made a coal pusher and fire starter to store on his outside rack.
23. Secure and seal the cement pipe from the firebox into the smokehouse.
24. Add a fire in the firebox or coals in the smokehouse.
Popi started with a simple coal burner for the first time smoking. The grill inside the smokehouse actually gives more heat and better control but the smokehouse door has to be opened to check things out. If you use the firebox you do not have to open the smokehouse door to stoke the fire.
A side note, if you are going with the grill inside the smokehouse, be sure to have goggles, the smoke will choke you and burn your eyes. It is very smokey in the smokehouse, which is the whole point, of course.
25. Now stand back and watch it smoke.
It does take some hours to smoke. Be sure you look up how long to smoke whatever you are smoking. You do not want to try to eat half smoked food.
The first smoking that Popi did was a slab of bacon. It took about 12 hours to get a good smokey flavor but the bacon was not cooked completely. It was later fried to finish cooking it for breakfast.
This was a long project that took several weeks. Popi had a full schedule and weather to deal with but it is done. And it is a totally cool-looking smokehouse if we do say so ourselves. Yes, there are ways to “doll” up your smokehouse, but this is a basic, no frills, no electrics, and non-mechanical smoke house. This is a big step to becoming more self-sufficient. We may run out of electricity but we live in the woods, we can always pick up wood to cook with.
The first batch of smoking Popi did was bacon and sausage. And it was wonderful. Grammy took the smoked bacon and sausage and pan fried it for breakfast one day. As you can see it was even Ducky approved.
We hope you have enjoyed watching Popi with this talk, How to Build a DIY Smokehouse. Remember we have one more talk in this series, next week we will add How to Build a DIY Bread Oven.
Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.
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