Quality execution smoking is impossible without the use of special equipment. Today, there are whole lines of smokehouses on the market that work on different principles... In particular, models with smoke exposure, units with heat treatment etc. The family of each manufacturer also contains an electric smokehouse, which is easy to use and can be used at home. However, there are also universal devices, the mobility of which makes it possible to process products both outdoors and indoors.
Main selection criteria
To begin with, the direction of the unit and the products that are planned to be smoked are determined. Majority modern models effectively serve fish, meat products, lard, sausage, etc. Further, the capacity of the products is determined. For example, an electric smokehouse entry level can provide a one-time preparation of 2-3 kg. In more advanced versions, it is supposed to load up to 10-15 kg. But it is important to consider that volume is directly related to compactness and mobility. That is, it will be difficult to take a massive structure for a picnic.
Another important characteristic is the smoking time, which is determined by the power. The most productive models from the segment focused on home use, have a power potential of 500-600 W. Again, depending on the size of the load, such an electric smokehouse can perform its function in 2 minutes, and in 30 minutes - subject to maximum filling.
Hot or cold smoking?
The design parameters are usually guided either by one of the types of smoking, or by their combination. Hot processing involves thermal action on the product at a temperature of about 90 ° C, and cold smoking is carried out at 20-25 ° C. In both cases, the cooking time can vary from a few hours to a week or more. However, an electric smokehouse can speed up this process. This method of preparation is more complicated in technical implementation, but the result is justified. In this design, it is assumed that the chimney can be connected to exhaust system in the kitchen, which allows you to use the unit directly in the apartment.
Still, most models only provide for hot smoking. This applies to mobile devices with classic design... The advantages of electric smoking include high cooking speed and ease of use. Such installations do not require the installation of special smoke generators and in just a few minutes they give finished product.
Requirements for functionality
The latest models of such equipment are supplied electronic control with temperature control sensors. In some respects, such devices resemble the operation of conventional stoves - the design also provides a panel with buttons and controls, with which the user sets up the equipment. The most sophisticated devices are those for the treatment of cold smoke. In this case, an electric smokehouse can provide for a separate operation of the chamber or smoke generator. This combination, for example, allows you to use the main chamber as a conventional oven, and the generator for direct smoking. There are other configurations that allow the equipment to operate in different modes.
Additional equipment
Since the organization of the smoking process is a lot of trouble, manufacturers complete the equipment with auxiliary devices. For example, basic sets include trays, bowls, and smoke briquettes. Separate accessory kits are provided for models with smoke generators. For example, a smokehouse for an apartment necessarily requires the connection of special equipment for removing smoke. For this, hoses, pipes and connecting fittings are used.
Manufacturers and prices
The entry-level household electric smokers are well represented in the Greentechs and Muurikka lines. These models are small in size, decent functionality and optimal performance productivity. These are neat devices costing about 4-5 thousand rubles, which are suitable for indoor use. If you need a multifunctional and efficient electric smokehouse for your home, then you should turn to Anuka products. In this case it comes about models with smoke generators, which cost about 10 thousand rubles. If you plan to regularly cook products by smoking in large volumes, then units from Kocateq and Landmann will come to the rescue. A feature of such products is the ability to in-line work with large consignments of meat, fish, sausages and sausages. We can say that these are commercial models, but there are no special restrictions for home use. Of course, if the user's home has room for a massive structure, and he is willing to put up with additional energy costs.
Conclusion
The smoking process can be carried out different ways... The simplest is the use of conventional metal grates and barbecues, for which you cannot do without making a fire. A smokehouse for an apartment with electrical supply, but it also has significant differences. Firstly, the absence of the need to perform complex manipulations with firewood and ignition allows such units to be endowed with modest dimensions. Secondly, almost all owners of such equipment note a high smoking rate, which does not impair the gastronomic characteristics of the product. And the main advantage of electric smoke heaters is the ability to operate at home - not even on the balcony, but right in the kitchen.
We all know that smoked products are not dietary products, especially those sold in stores, because they contain a lot of harmful preservatives and additives. This is where a completely reasonable question arises, but how to reduce the potential harm of your favorite products, while maintaining them taste qualities and flavor? There is a way out - homemade smoking. Tasty and, most importantly, absolutely safe for health products can be obtained even at home. And an electric smokehouse, assembled with your own hands, will help with this.
Today there are many drugs that can replace natural wood smoke with synthetic fluids. At the same time, a do-it-yourself electric smokehouse allows you to get a delicious, aromatic smoked product prepared on the basis of a natural haze. What kind of wood to smoke to give preference is already a question of a personal nature.
Experienced experts assure that the most successful meat is obtained if you use oak, aspen for smoking it, while it is better to smoke fish on branches fruit trees: cherry, apple, pear, peach, etc. In turn, conifers are not suitable for smoking, since they contain resins that spoil the taste of the finished product.
When making an electric smokehouse with your own hands, it is better to give preference to the cold smoking method, and here's why. Hot way characterized by temperature treatment in the range of 60-120 ° C, while the process itself does not take so much time (2-3 hours). Of course, it is very convenient, and the taste of the product is excellent. In an electric cold-smoked smokehouse, you can get a product with a longer shelf life, because thanks to the maintained temperature of 20-25 ° C, the product is better preserved.
Let's consider in more detail how to make a cold smoked smokehouse with your own hands.
Smoker from a 200-liter barrel
To make a homemade cold smoked smokehouse with our own hands, we need metal barrel, it is good if it is made of heat-resistant steel. As a rule, chemically harmful substances and liquids are stored in such barrels. If in your household there is no such item, then it can be easily purchased hand-held by flipping through the ads either in the local newspaper or on Internet sites. The main condition is that the barrel must be together with a lid, the functionality of which you will learn a little later.
In addition to the barrel itself, you will need the following items:
- an electric stove, through which the air inside the smokehouse will be warmed up - even the most primitive "stove" or heating element will do
- 4 small wheels with which it will be possible to move the electric cold smoked smokehouse from place to place - they can be purchased both at the flea market and in any hardware store;
- a thermostat with which it will be possible to regulate the temperature inside the device - it is better to give preference to devices with an adjustment field of 20-90 ° C;
- thermometer;
- a container for collecting fat that will be released from products during smoking - this can be any round or rectangular dish;
- drill for metal - Ø10 mm;
- pallet for combustible materials;
- mesh fabric, lattice or hook system on which the product will be laid.
Unit assembly process
It is not difficult to assemble a cold-smoked smokehouse for fish or meat with your own hands, it is only important to follow the detailed instructions:
- If the barrel was previously used to store fuels, lubricants and other chemicals, it must be thoroughly washed. In most cases, baking soda with a stiff brush is used for these purposes, after which it is washed with detergent and rinsed abundantly. Thanks to such manipulations, a possible hit can be avoided harmful substances for smoked products.
- We put the electric stove on the bottom of the barrel so that it does not fall on either side. To do this, you can fix it with metal plates.
- Next, you need to make ventilation, for which you need to drill 5-8 holes Ø10 mm in the bottom of the device. Now you need to fix the area on which the products will be placed - it can be either a lattice or a hook system.
- After all the above processes are completed, we take an armful of brushwood or firewood, put them inside the barrel and set it on fire. This will eliminate the remaining oil and will facilitate additional baking of the walls of the apparatus.
- As soon as a trial attempt of smoking has been carried out, remove the carbon deposits from the walls of the barrel. You can use a wire brush for this. And then we thoroughly rinse out the cold smoked smokehouse, made by hand, using detergent... And don't forget to get rid of the detergent itself.
- We install the device on wheels, screwing them to the bottom of an almost finished smokehouse.
VIDEO: How to make a smokehouse from half a barrel
- Moving on to electric stove, from which, by by and large, we only need a heating element. And even if you have never encountered such devices, you can easily cope with this task. So, taking out the heating element from the electric furnace, you just need to remove the heating disc and disconnect the wires of the heating element. And you can make it even easier, not to "gut" the electric furnace, but to buy a heating element on the market or in a specialized store.
- Fix the heating element in the center with screws smoking plant and next to it we have a thermostat with serial connection... It is advisable to use copper wire, with a cross section of at least 2.5. Now we place its sensor in the place where it will be convenient for you to look at it.
- The next stage in the assembly of the electric smokehouse will be the arrangement of the upper part. At the top, in the wall, a small hole is drilled through which it is necessary to fix the thermometer so that it is inside the device. A Ø5 cm hole should be made in the lid, which will act as a chimney.
- In the middle of the smokehouse, place a tray for collecting fat. This can be an old baking sheet or any other container that is most suitable in size for this design. And a little higher we place the grate on which the products will be stacked.
If you plan to use a hook system instead of a lattice, then you can also do it yourself. Taking rods Ø3-5 mm, twist them with a hook and attach them to a metal bar, in which holes of the corresponding diameter were previously made. This design is screwed to the sides of the barrel with screws.
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The hole in the lid of the device should be closed with a flap and must be closed at the beginning of the smoking process. Otherwise, the efficiency of the unit will be extremely low.
You can use a net or a regular saucepan as a tray for combustible materials. As a rule, a five-liter pot of fuel is enough to run the unit for 8-10 hours at a temperature of 20 ° C or three hours in accelerated mode.
It is advisable to carry out a test heating for a third of an hour in order to "warm up" the installation, after which you can safely put smoked products into the device.
That, in fact, is all the intricacies of assembling a smoking device. Of course, you can buy a cold smoked smokehouse in the store, but you will have to pay a lot of money for it. And the very fact that you make such a device with your own hands will make the finished product even tastier.
VIDEO: Do-it-yourself smokehouse for cold and hot smoking
Smoked products are distinguished by their bright and memorable taste. In almost every home there is some kind of smoked meats. It is good if it is prepared with your own hands, because not everyone is ready to entrust their health to the products offered in stores. Everyone knows that they are not dietary product, and those sold in stores contain a large number of harmful preservatives and additives. The question arises: how to reduce the potential harm of your favorite foods, while maintaining their taste and aroma? Way out - . An electric smokehouse will do the job perfectly. But how to do it yourself?
Video on how to smoke food in an electric smokehouse:
Electric smokehouse for the most delicious meals
Having made an electric one, you can cook, and, moreover, also with your own hands.
How it works
Smoking itself is the treatment of the product with hot smoke from smoldering sawdust of various tree species. Due to the peculiarities of cooking (dehydration of the product occurs), your dish will have more, and the smoke from the sawdust will give a special aroma.
What is the difference between hot smoking and cold smoking?
Hot smoking differs from cold smoking in temperature and processing time of the product. In the first case, the temperature is + 45-120 degrees and the procedure takes only a few hours, in the second - 20-25 degrees and several days. Hot smoking is most often used, since the result is achieved much faster, but at the same time it is stored longer, without becoming covered with mucus, like store ones. But how long can such yummy be stored? No, I want to eat it as quickly as possible!
Making a smokehouse is easy
Making an electric smokehouse with your own hands is not so difficult, the main thing is desire. If you look, then this requires a container with a tight-fitting lid. It is desirable to make the case metal. A grate is attached to the upper part, on which the products for smoking are laid out. It is important that they lie in one layer without overlapping. Place a drip tray under the grate for the grease to drain. Sawdust or wood chips are poured into the bottom of the grate. When heated, the chips begin to smolder, emitting smoke, which is used to process the products lying on the grid. This is the basic principle of smoking. But how to make such an electric smokehouse?
Do-it-yourself electric smokehouse using a refrigerator
Video about the universal electric smokehouse:
There is a fairly simple way to achieve the desired goal, even without special skills and knowledge of electrical engineering. For this you will need old refrigerator, it is desirable small size, and an ordinary electric stove. First, the cooling unit and insulating components must be removed, and second, a small number of holes must be drilled through which the steam will escape. The drip tray for collecting fat can be made from sheet metal... You can also use a regular heat-resistant baking sheet, especially the baking trays that come with old gas stoves work well. The pallet with sawdust must be placed on an electric stove, moreover, the less air flows to the sawdust, the less likely it is to ignite. At the same time, constant duty at such a smokehouse is not required, and it will take up a little space.
It is imperative to conduct a series of tests. In time you will reach perfect results by balancing the height of the wire rack with the food and the cooking time.
It must be remembered that there is never a lot of smoke in smoking, and if there is not enough smoke, add wood chips.
The electric smokehouse is very popular not only among the owners of their own plots. Compact electrical appliances for smoking are used at home. It is not difficult to make such a device yourself. It is often collected from an old refrigerator or metal container.
Home-smoked products are very popular among gourmets and food lovers. Smoked meats can be prepared at home using a homemade or factory (professional) smokehouse. The electrical installation option does an excellent job. Many people strive to save money and make a smoking appliance on their own.
How does the smokehouse work from the mains?
A home electric smokehouse works according to the following principle. Products are treated with hot smoke from smoldering sawdust and "dehydrated". The food becomes more aromatic, and the taste becomes more memorable and bright. Speaking of hot smoking, they mean fast processing of products with smoke with a temperature of 40-120 degrees Celsius. The cooking time is several hours. Cold smoked food is cooked under the influence of 20 degree smoke. In this case, the process can take from 10 hours to several days.
The advantages of an electric smokehouse
A do-it-yourself electric smokehouse of cold or hot smoking has a number of advantages:
- the unit works autonomously;
- using a thermostat, you can adjust the temperature;
- the installation is assembled from improvised means, there is no need to spend money on a professional (factory) smokehouse;
- you do not need to have culinary knowledge and special skills to smoke products.
Video: electric smokehouse overview
Professional electric smokers have more power than home-made ones. Accordingly, the cooking speed is higher. Factory models have a more aesthetic appearance... The most popular are elongated cylindrical containers. Rectangular smokehouses are no less common. You can smoke in them in any weather. Some even use the units at home, for example, on the balcony. In some devices, instead of sawdust, special fuel briquettes, which are sold complete with a smokehouse. The cost of smoking units in stores varies from 2,000 to 10,000 rubles. Learn more in addition to this article.
Ways to create an electric smokehouse with your own hands
An electric smokehouse for your home can be made in several ways. The most common options are:
- from a metal barrel;
- from the old refrigerator.
Electric smokehouse from a barrel
It is quite simple to assemble a home electric smokehouse with your own hands. You do not need to have serious construction skills and knowledge for this. It is enough to prepare suitable accessories and assemble the unit. The assembly will take no more than a day. What do you need?
- metal container with a lid, the best option- a metal barrel with a volume of 200 liters;
- an electric thermostat that allows you to regulate the temperature from 20 to 90 degrees Celsius;
- electric stove;
- metal tray / form for fat;
- thermometer;
- metal mesh;
- electric cable;
- grate or pan for sawdust.
Advice! For the convenience of movement of the smokehouse, furniture wheels are screwed to the bottom of its body.
An example of a homemade electric smokehouse for the home. Such an installation can be used at a summer cottage.
A small smokehouse is an indispensable attribute of relaxing with family or friends in nature. Deliciously cooked meat will delight everyone.
Do-it-yourself electric smokehouse assembly takes place in several stages:
- Preparing the container. Usually, oil, fertilizers and others were stored in old barrels. chemical substances... Before using such a container as a smokehouse, it must be cleaned and washed.
Advice! If machine oil was stored in the barrel, then it can be cleaned with firewood or sawdust. The wood is set on fire, ash is thrown out and the resulting soot is purified metal brush... Next, the container is thoroughly washed with any detergent.
- Installation of wheels. Furniture wheels are attached to the bottom of the barrel. This will facilitate the transportation of the unit.
- Preparation of an electric stove. The lid is removed from it, and all the insides except the heating element are removed from the body. It is attached with two wires to the center of the bottom of the barrel with screws.
- Installing the thermostat. A small hole is drilled just above the stove and a thermostat is attached. It is connected in series with heating element ovens. The thermostat sensor is mounted at the top of the barrel - where the food will be placed.
- Installing a thermometer. A hole is drilled in the upper part of the reservoir to accommodate the mechanical thermometer. It is necessary to determine the temperature inside a homemade smokehouse.
- Pallet installation. In the middle of the barrel, holes are made for fixing the mold / tray, where the fat will drain. For a stationary barrel, a baking dish with a diameter of 50 cm is suitable. You can use the tray that came with your old gas stoves.
- An opening is made in the lid of the barrel for the smoke to escape. The chimney diameter is 5 cm. The damper is opened after the smokehouse has been operating for 10-20 minutes. It is then that the first smoke appears, and in order to regulate the air flow, the hole is opened.
Advice! If you don't have a lid on hand, you can use burlap, but the cooking speed will increase.
- Installation of a container for sawdust. It is assembled from a metal lattice. If you don't have one at hand, you can use an ordinary cast iron pan.
- Installation of bars / grates. In the upper part of the barrel, metal rods or a lattice are installed for hanging / laying out products.
- Connect the smokehouse to the network and check the operation of the unit. For safe smoking, you must follow the safety rules.
Important! For air intake from below, several holes are drilled in the barrel around the perimeter at a height of 10 cm from the bottom.
To cook smoked fish or juicy meat isn't easy - this process requires certain cooking skills. A self-made smokehouse with a hydraulic lock greatly simplifies the process. It can be used at home on gas stove and outdoors. The cooking time of the product takes no more than 40 minutes.
If you cook food according to the principle of hot smoking (at a temperature of 65 degrees Celsius), then a full load of sawdust (5-6 liters) should be enough for several hours. This time is enough for the product to smoke.
Home electric smokehouse from refrigerator
You can use an old refrigerator as a homemade smokehouse. It is advisable to use a small unit:
- The insulating components and the cooling system are removed from the refrigerator.
- An electric stove or heating element is installed at the bottom.
- Across back wall into the niche where the compressor used to be, the terminal block is taken out and connected to the switch.
- A heat-resistant baking sheet is placed over the heating element.
- A 3-5 liter pan is suitable as a container for sawdust. It is placed on the heating element.
Advice! Sawdust can be used for smoking different breeds trees. For example, a mixture of apple and alder shavings or any hardwood.
Cold smoked products are prepared using this technology. A few kilograms of sawdust is enough for one smoking session - 12 hours.
Homemade electric smokehouse will fit perfectly into the interior suburban area... She diversifies the daily menu with aromatic and unusual dishes- smoked bacon, fish, meat, etc. For home use we recommend using compact factory models.
Unlike expensive imported equipment, which is increasingly replacing natural wood smoke with synthetic fluids, your smokehouse will be as clean as a unicorn tear. In the sense that meat-fish-sausage will smoothly acquire the aroma of a natural haze from sawdust or logs. What kind of wood to choose for cold smoking is up to you.
By the way, it has been proven that the most successful meat is obtained when smoking from oak, aspen, and fish - from fruit species such as cherries. Conifers are not suitable, as they contain resins that spoil the taste of the product.
The second point: making such a device with our own hands, we choose the cold smoking method, and this is the essence. When hot, the processing temperature ranges from 60 to 120 degrees, the process does not last long. This, of course, is great, since you can achieve a result in a few hours. But when processed in an electric smokehouse at 20-25 degrees, the product is preserved better and is stored even longer than the store one. So, let's get to the point.
Do-it-yourself smokehouse from a 200l barrel
The main treasure you will have to get is a barrel made of durable metal, preferably heat-resistant steel. Such, in which explosive liquids or substances, chemicals are stored. It will not be difficult to buy a similar used one, for example, through Avito's bulletin board or at the nearest wholesale warehouse of metal products. Just make sure that the barrel has a lid (it will be clear why later).
And besides the barrel you need:
- Electric cable;
- A bowl for collecting fat dripping during processing;
- Pallet for chips, sawdust, briquettes - in a word, for combustible material;
- Thermometer;
- Drill for metal;
- Mesh-netting or lattice for positioning the product.
The net can be replaced with a hook system, in the end both options can be fitted. It is important that your home electric smokehouse is as easy to use as any professional one.
Electric smokehouse drawing
Assembling the electric smokehouse
In short, the result obtained should be as follows: an electric stove is placed on the bottom of the barrel, ventilation is done and a zone for the location of the product is attached. The barrel must first be washed well (you never know what was stored in it before). Next, you need to put an armful of brushwood or firewood inside and burn them in order to eliminate the remaining oil, and at the same time ignite the walls. Only then do not forget to scrape off the carbon deposits with a metal brush and rinse well with detergent.
As it dries, we install the barrel on wheels and make ventilation, for which holes are drilled in the lower part. The diameter of each circle can be 10mm; in total, 5-8 holes are needed. Further, we proceed to the electric stove: from it, in fact, only the heating element is required. Therefore, if you know how to gut the stove at home with your own hands, go for it, if not, call the master or just buy a heating element on the market.
An open-type heating element will act as a source of fire
With the help of screws, it is fixed in the center of the barrel and a thermostat with a serial connection is located next to it (copper wire at least 2.5 mm2 with a cross section). Place its sensor in an easy-to-view location.
Then we proceed to the arrangement of the upper part. Through a small drilled hole a thermometer is attached, a tray for collecting fat is installed in the middle of the barrel (you can use a regular baking sheet. In the barrel lid itself, you need to make a 50mm hole to drain the smoke.
Attention! The chimney hole should be closed with a damper and should be closed at the beginning of the cold smoking procedure.
The sawdust tray can also be mesh or made from a simple pan. As practice shows, one full 5-liter pot of fuel is enough for smoke for an 8-10 hour session at 20 degrees or 2-3 hours of quick "hot" smoking. Done: the first heating is recommended for 10-20 minutes in order to "heat up" the barrel, and then you can put meat or fish in the electric smokehouse.
Below is a drawing taken from a magazine of the times of the USSR, a manual for amateur engineers.
The figure explains in detail the essence of how to build a smokehouse with your own hands and, due to its small dimensions, you can put it at home, but it is better in the backyard of a summer cottage or cottage. By the way, the dimensions of the camera are as follows:
- Small for the formation of smoke 260x240x220 mm;
- Large for smoking 340x430x220 mm.
A similar home thing useful for lovers of smoked lard or freshly caught fish.
So, in this case, the body is prefabricated from steel sheet, although it is possible to make it from 15mm thick plywood. In this case, you need to consider fire safety by placing smoldering raw materials in a chamber lined with asbestos or other refractory materials. There is no need for a sawdust container - its role is played by a smoking bar that smolders as a result of the rotation of the motor pulley. The motor is powered by alternating current, and it is best to choose it with a capacity of 0.5 to 2 kilowatts (similar household units from broken mopeds, powerful washing machine and other equipment can be bought at the flea market).
You don't have to buy a new electric motor, check out the flea market
In order to select the necessary rotation force for the appearance of smoke, use the adjusting screw, which twists the pulley spring and presses it more strongly, or, conversely, relieves the pressure on the block.
Naturally, the block is gradually erased, so the screw has to be adjusted, and the wood must be changed periodically.
The chamber for cold cooking meat or fish is located next to the smoldering chamber of the bar, they are separated by a grid or grate. In the picture, the food is hung on hooks, but you can place, say, fillets on the wire rack as in the previous diagram. It is important that the separating grid is connected to the negatively charged particle source and the fish / meat attachments to the positive one so that the smoke will be attracted.
We see that a similar home smokehouse has its own magneto, as a voltage source, which is connected to the motor. Scheme serial connection capacitors and their capacities are also indicated. The recommended values at an operating voltage of at least 2 kV are two 2200 PF capacitors and a signal 1800 PF capacitor. To ensure that the magneto works, it is equipped with an LED light.
We hope that these two ideas will inspire you to assemble a similar home structure with your own hands. If there are improvements or suggestions, add them in the form of comments, we will take it into account with pleasure!