Smokehouses from a gas cylinder: the pros and cons

Nowadays, purchasing a smokehouse for fish and meat is not difficult - the market offers the widest range of products of various modifications. However, if you plan to spend a lot of money on an unplanned purchase, then you can easily construct a smokehouse from an ordinary gas cylinder. In this device you can cook the most exquisite dishes - loin, balyk, homemade sausage. In short, a wide variety of smoked meat, fish or poultry.

Special features

For self-production of oil lamp home craftsmen use a variety of materials. Old ovens, barrels and even washing machines are used. The most popular units are from oxygen, propane and freon gas cylinders.Making such an installation is not easy, but with the necessary preparation it is quite realistic. The cylinders are distinguished by suitable geometry and high quality metal.

If desired, you can make such installations, which can easily be transformed from the smokehouse to the grill, cauldron or grill and back.

The use of cylinders for the equipment of the smokehouse due to the physical and technical parameters of raw materials - cylinders, as a rule, are made of strong material with thick walls, and this means that the device is not deformed under the influence of high temperatures and does not lose its operational characteristics. Any gardener / fisherman or a hunter, as well as a craftsman, regularly resting outside the city, can make a smokehouse.

Before we understand the intricacies of manufacturing structures, let's look at some features of the process of smoking.

They are important to know in order to make the installation correctly and achieve high quality cooking.

The product prepared for processing should receive heat and smoke in uniform portions, otherwise it will smell of hydrolysis and have a heterogeneous in its structure taste.
Smoke must of course be light, that is, its fractions must be precipitated before they come into contact with the product. In the light smoke pyrolysis gases are not present, so it gives a specific taste to homemade smoked meat.

The design should ensure the supply of working smoke in equal portions - it should fumigate from all sides of the product until it completely disappears, at this moment new smoke should replace it.
It is very important to achieve the fulfillment of all these norms, it is in them that the cornerstone of the science of smoking lies.

Smoking can be cold or hot, especially the design features largely depend on its type. The name itself indicates the principle of operation of the smokehouse.

Hot is made in the immediate vicinity of the source of fire. Here the temperature is maintained at 40-120 degrees, it will take at least an hour to cook meat, and the meat will be juicy, tasty and ready to eat right away.

Cold smoked is a little different. - here the smokehouse is removed from the source of fire, a pipe is connected from the firebox, through which cooled smoke is sold directly to the smoking area and soaks the product there.The temperature is maintained below 40 degrees, smoking takes a lot of time. The advantage of this method is the ability to store food for several months.

When choosing any of the two options, the smokehouse from the cylinder will have the same structure, however, their parts will be mounted at different distances from each other.

Kinds

Gas cylinders are most often used to create combined foci, which is why a smokehouse should be designed with this factor in mind.

Consider that when creating a multi-function installation, one cylinder is not enough: at least two containers are used in the work, the first as a brazier, and the second goes to the steam generator. Experts recommend taking capacity of 50 m3.

Each master can make a home smokehouse out of a gas cylinder, but some metal skills will be required.

"In the field," you can make the design of a variety of different materials at hand. Self-made structures are characterized by small dimensions and low weight, most often they use stainless steel sheet, which only needs to be welded around the edges with elements of the sides and bottom, but the chimney is often equipped with bricks and this can be a big mistake.Its walls absorb odors from various tabs and after the first applications, the taste of dishes can significantly deteriorate, so experts recommend using bricks only as a basis that supports the overall structure.

Other options are no less popular.

Smokehouse from nothing

This is the most affordable and easy way to smoke at home, if a gas or electric stove equipped with an exhaust hood is installed in the house, then you should put the cut tin container on a small fire and pour wood chips into it for smoking. Hang pieces of meat or fish in the hood, and under them put a pan for fat. Thus, the smoke will rise, envelop the product and contribute to its smoking. However, this option has significant drawbacks - the smoking procedure will be very long, and besides, a lot of food will not be saved in this way.

From the fridge

Do not rush to throw out the old refrigerator - its dimensions allow you to use the item as an aggregate for smoking large products. To this end, it is necessary to pull out all the mechanisms from it and remove the lining.Insert a pipe into the hole located at the base of the refrigerator, and place its opposite end in a container in which chips are burning.

This option is quite fast and effective. However, it can only be used in the country or in a country house.

These are by far the most primitive models. Smoker “locomotive” can be attributed to more complex and professional designs - this unit not only smokes meat and fish, but also provides several different modes of smoking, and after a small refit it can be used as a brazier or barbecue grill.

The smokehouse for the cold process is made so that the smoke along the path between the firebox and the tank for direct smoking is cooled and reaches the billet already cold. Such a device consists of a separate chamber where the product is located, the furnace and the chimney. The principle of operation is the following: sawdust is placed in the firebox, chips from linden, alder or fruit trees are best suited. It is not recommended to take shavings of coniferous trees, it has a high resinous content, which can degrade the taste of the product.

Smoke under the action of natural thrust moves, cooling on the way to the compartment with blanks, and there the smoking of the product begins.

When smoked hot, the product is exposed to smoke at t from 35 to 150 degrees, the treatment goes much faster - about 2 hours. Gourmets prefer this method also because with it the moisture does not leave the preform and the dish goes juicy and bold. The design itself is a fully enclosed space - a reservoir divided by a metal lattice into compartments. Chips burn and smoke in its lower part, and products intended for processing are mounted in its upper part. Smoke covers the raw materials and smoked, and then through the chimney smoke comes out. That is, the principle of operation of such a smokehouse is similar to the principle of a traditional stove.

Both smokehouses can be both stationary and portable. In the first case, the chimney is excavated in the ground, and in the second, the pipe plays a role that connects the smoke generator and the smokehouse directly.

Those who like to feast on delicious meat on a camping trip should think about creating a “hiking” unit. This requires: a dense film, hooks and a few wooden bars. To organize the work, you need to find a place with a slight inclination of 60 degrees, install a frame in its upper part and tightly wrap it with plastic wrap, and in the lower place equip a firebox, and then connect the fireplace to the equipped frame with the help of “pipes”. Of course, very few people carry them on a hike - it does not matter, branches, polyethylene and turf will work as a temporary solution to the problems.

And to create a smokehouse for hot smoking is even easier - you need a bucket or pan, a grate and a lid. Directly under the tank, the fire is set, chips are scattered on the bottom, and products are placed on the grate. All this is closed with a lid, but do not forget to leave a narrow slot to remove excess smoke.

If there is no intention to tinker with home-made mobile structures, they can always be bought in any store for gardeners and gardeners. In addition, electric and gas models are widely represented on the market: they are suitable for smoking at home and differ only in that heating is not due to fire, but due to current or gas.

However, more and more craftsmen prefer to create a smokehouse on their own.

Advantages and disadvantages

The cylinder is good for the device smoking, and the advantages of this are obvious:

2.5 mm wall thickness, the model has a compact size, thereby saving free space of the site;
the housing of the smokehouse is ready, which will significantly reduce the cost of time and effort to manufacture a smokehouse;
low cost - used cylinders are cheap and available to every consumer.

The drawbacks of the material are related to the fact that, with insufficient observance of the safety rules for operating such a smokehouse, it can lead to tragedy - if not to completely remove the remaining gas, then an explosion is possible when in contact with fire.

Step-by-step instructions for making

To make a smokehouse out of a gas cylinder with your own hands, you must To begin with, make a drawing of the planned model, and then follow the following scheme:

take a cylinder of 50 liters or more;
remove all gas from there, rinse repeatedly with soapy water and leave for a few days, then rinse thoroughly;
sprinkle the top valve with soap suds - this will help you make sure that all the remaining gas has completely evaporated;
draw the markings on the walls of the container;

fix the loops, grind all the sharpened areas;
attach the handles on the outside of the door using a grinder;
cut the cap along the marking lines;
connect the cylinder with the doors;
Install the stand and legs of improvised means.

The main elements of the smokehouse are the firebox and chimney - in their arrangement and lies the main difference between the smokehouse for different methods of smoking: cold and hot.

It makes sense to weld the furnace out of steel sheets, or to take a cylinder of smaller volume. It is connected to the balloon through a hole on the other side of the valve. The length of the pipes depends on what kind of smoking you prefer - with hot, the length of the pipes should be minimal, and with cold, it is better to remove elements from each other by a few meters. As the chimney is often used car receiver.

At the bottom of the installation, attach a sheet of metal and wrap with foil - this will be a pan to collect the drained fat.

Tips

Finally, some more tips:

at the end of the work, it is possible to cover the smokehouse with black enamel - according to reviews, the design thus acquires a stylish and aesthetic look;
as the installation is in operation, it will get dirty with soot - this does not affect the quality of the prepared food;
refuse to use metal brushes for washing the smokehouse - abrasives will simply remove the enamel and cause the metal to corrode;
before the first smoking spend idle firebox: so you finally get rid of third-party odors, otherwise the fish or meat can get an unpleasant taste.