Has Anyone Made A Smoker?

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An old fridge,the rounded ones their steel lined not plastic.
This is what my old man had years back,fire was in a pit and earthenware pipes took the smoke to the fridge.

Batz
 
An old fridge,the rounded ones their steel lined not plastic.
This is what my old man had years back,fire was in a pit and earthenware pipes took the smoke to the fridge.

Batz
I ferment in one of those and have been waiting years for it to die so I can have a bigger ferment fridge and the best smoke box there is.
 
This is what I've come up with, very simple, but works well.

bbq.jpg


Simply remove the solid hotplate, move the grill across, place a water tray under the grill, and the cast iron smoker box on top of the hot rocks. Use the burner furtherest away from the meat, and Bob's your uncle.

I've also had good results with the Weber, but using wood chunks on top of the coals instead of chips in the iron box.
 
to be honest I dont agree with dry months. I tend to apply a more moderate approach to cutting back. Less beers in one session, less beers early in the week, etc. And keep this going for the longer term. I find by watching others that cold turkey is usually cancelled out by binging afterwards. And besides that why punish yourself so severely.

Smoking might be different (I dont smoke so dont know), but if we treat drinking in the same way, shouldn't it be something we are aiming to stop altogether?? Finding a manageable healthy pattern of drinking is my preference.

A old biscuit tin, with the chips inside topped with chicken wire will work on top of a gas stove in the kitchen....
 
Looks great Katie, I've never tried Hake in my smoker. The usual for us is Mullet, the Mullet up here is nothing like the garbage from the southern states and tastes great smoked.

Andrew

Turned out quite well except a little salty.... ended up putting it in a creamy pasta...

Yeah Im not a a fan of mullet... all has being from south!
 
Yeah Im not a a fan of mullet... all has being from south!
Katie, I occasionally slip out into the sound from Freo and collar me a couple of dozen herring which filletted , pickled in a sweet brine for a couple of hours then smoked gently for an hour or so are usually the hit of the party. I have done the same with local mullet purchased from the fish shop and they have tasted at least as good.
 
Katie, I occasionally slip out into the sound from Freo and collar me a couple of dozen herring which filletted , pickled in a sweet brine for a couple of hours then smoked gently for an hour or so are usually the hit of the party. I have done the same with local mullet purchased from the fish shop and they have tasted at least as good.

I think Mullet has a bad name... Though I am thinking it would be good smoked. My seven year old daughter has just got into fishing so we are off again on Sunday Morning, going to try the jetty at Woodman point! Apparently herring...

We did not brine the hake above (as we usually do with our smoked foods)...
 
For anyone planning on making a drum smoker and lives in or around Bega NSW, someone on eBay is selling a brand new Weber lid which should fit nicely on top of a 44 gal drum.
 
I was big on smoking foods but haven't blown the cobwebs off my smoker for months now. I needed a cold smoker for delicates and raw products that were to be processed or cooked later. This is what I came up with. Sorry 'bout the sideways images :rolleyes:

smoke_generator.jpg
It's basically a $30 hotplate with an inverted stainless steel bowl and plumbing. I drilled holes through the bowl and into the hotplate (judge your depth wisely!) and riveted it together. The other attachments are galvanised downpipe connectors. You can extend the length of piping to anything you want.
Pre-heat the hotplate then reduce the temp and put in a solid chunk of pre-soaked Hickory (from Bunnings BBQ section). It generates tons smoke for about one hour.

smoke_chamber.jpg
This was an old locker I salvaged from a past workplace. You can use anything here. Even a cardboard box! There's no heat from this setup. It's perfect for anything that should be cold smoked. Like cheese, fish, spices, butter, grains...the list is endless.
There is an 2 bar heater element at the bottom to warm it on really cold days. It can get up to 40C if left on. On top is a chimney with a flue and an extraction fan that mounts it. This helps to regulate the smoke/air mix and to clear the chamber when resting the finished product.


 
Cheers Katie, i'm smoking an aussie salmon tomorrow and was going to ask what to flavour it with!
 
Cheers Katie, i'm smoking an aussie salmon tomorrow and was going to ask what to flavour it with!

We are growing, cinnamon, anise, lime and ordinary basil so I'm really (and all other herbs) looking forward to using lime basil its lovely... Also growing lemon verbena which I think would work.

We used to sell at our Bistro, red emperor pan fried in a, caper, lemon verbena butter sauce. One of our biggest sellers.

But gibbocore you can't go wrong with good old DILL with salmon.... along side a german potato salad... YUM!

Picked up a bottle of mango wine, which I think we will put in the brine for the chicken.. Then stuff it with a mixture of herbs while smoking (still working on the herbs)... any ideas?
 
oh now you're talking my language.

I love sage, and lemon thyme, i have a jamie oliver book where he recommends stuffing the herbs under the skin.
 
oh now you're talking my language.

I love sage, and lemon thyme, i have a jamie oliver book where he recommends stuffing the herbs under the skin.

Growing sage aswell... a fantastic herb... mmmm sage butter poured over kilfer steamed potatoes and let the butter melt into the potato's while you cook your'e fish...

yes that is the perfect way to roast a chicken, I put butter under the skin also, then lemons, garlic in its clucker! perfect roast chicken...

Im pissed off with Jamie Oliver at the moment, only last week I found he has his name on pasta sauces . Doesnt that go against everything he teaches. How hard is to make a pasta sauce FFS!
 
That is a shame, he's one of my favourite chefs, i agree though it does go against his teachings.

sage and pork are also good friends, sage and garlic in some butter, degalze with some red wine, let your roast pork go for a swim in that.
 
Zest one lemon and rub into 1 Tbs butter very well and add one clove garlic crushed. Microwave the lemon for 30 seconds (it helps release the juice) and slice in half. Carefully push your hand around the chickens clacker, removing the skin from the flesh all the way down to the neck, doing the legs and back as well. Spread the butter around as well as possible. Shove the lemons in the chicken with some lemon thyme or kaffir lime leaf and a thinly sliced birds eye chilli. Pour over boiling water, pat dry. Rub olive oil over the whole chicken. Foil the wings and ends of the drumsticks. Season with salt and pepper. Hot smoke for 1/2 hour then finish in the oven. Drain juice from chicken cavity into roasting pan to deglaze. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine. Reduce by half. Strain, bring to a boil and add 1/2 cup cream, simmer and reduce. Taste for seasoning and add a knob of butter and whisk through. Serve with steamed baby potatoes and rocket with a fresh crusty white bread and any of the dry white that's left. :icon_drool2:
 
You can smoke using an oven tray, cake cooling rack, alfoil and a stovetop to begin, oven for finishing.

Get a good size oven tray. Heat on stovetop. Add whatever dried smoking paraphenalia you like (tea leaves are perfect and you can add dried herbs, woodchips etc). Get some smoke happening. Salt whatever foodstuff you intend to smoke.

Place cake cooling rack inside tray. Place foodstuff on cooling tray. When smoke really gets going, cover with alfoil and place in oven. When foodstuff is nearly cooked to taste, remove from oven and allow to sit away from heat but still covered.

Recommended foodstuffs: Tomatoes (roma, cherry etc)
Kangaroo
Chicken
Duck
Capsicum
Venison
 
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