I recently converted an old refrigerator (1940s ColdSpot) into a smoker using a Bradley Smoke Generator and could not be more excited about enjoying good smoked meat without having to wait in crazy line here in San Diego, CA.
Aside from the Bradley Smoker, I have made 4 racks that measure 15"X24" with 9" between each rack, and using two 1000W hotplates as my heating source. It is working great and I have been able to enjoy cooking great food and watch my neighbors fill their stomachs with all of my experiments. I cannot really complain but there is room for improvement in my project.
Initially when I was testing it out I was able to get it up to 230 and hold fairly easy. I did this for an entire week while I was waiting for my last piece for the door insert to come in. When the day finally came to smoke some actual food I was unable to get it up past 200 so I added an additional 1000W hotplate and was able to get it up around 230. However that is without food in it. Once I add a couple pork shoulders, some ribs and a brisket it holds at 190. I keep looking at hotplates that offer more wattage but have not been lucky so far. The 40 degree difference is making my cook times closer to 2 hours per pound for shoulders and brisket. Any ideas, once I figure out how to put pictures up I would be happy to.
How long did you wait for the temp to climb after you put the meat in??
Hi mac and welcome. I love the DIY ingenuity of this place. :)
Do you have a vent on top, preferably adjustable? Without proper venting moisture will stay in the box and keep things cooler.
That fridge should probably be in the Smithsonian ;D
If you have access to an Academy they have a 1500 watt element and I have seen or read where someone used an element out of a stove but you would have to convert to 240.
mac
Your big smoker is like a Bradley. The more you put in it the longer its going to take to get to temp. When i fire up my smokehouse i pre heat it to 180* while the items i am going to smoke are at room temp. If you dont pre heat and add cold food it will take some time to temp up.
Do you have vents for air flow?
You need a lower vent for draw and a dampered vent on top. Low and slow for good "Q" 180 to 225*
That was the idea behind me ordering the Bradley Smoker once I had picked out the body for the smoker. All three times I have used it since completion I have gotten it up to between 180-200 before placing the meat in. The meat is usually right around 40 degrees by the time I trim it and prep it for cooking.
I do have a stack for it at the top and I can control the flow out of it. I also placed an 'intake' at the base for air to flow in and out the top. I even placed the stack down about 6 inches so the heat could build up. I can control the air flow at all the vents. Door is sealed with a ceramic rope and it does not allow any smoke out. The seal is good, promise. The walls are insulated (it was a refrigerator) and 2 1/2 inches thick so it holds heat like crazy. I have a feeling it is my heat source that is just not cranking out enough heat for when I want to cook at a higher temp.
Can anyone tell me how to post pics, I would love to show it off.
Quote from: mac_thorp on December 08, 2009, 06:15:57 PM
That was the idea behind me ordering the Bradley Smoker once I had picked out the body for the smoker. All three times I have used it since completion I have gotten it up to between 180-200 before placing the meat in. The meat is usually right around 40 degrees by the time I trim it and prep it for cooking.
I do have a stack for it at the top and I can control the flow out of it. I also placed an 'intake' at the base for air to flow in and out the top. I even placed the stack down about 6 inches so the heat could build up. I can control the air flow at all the vents. Door is sealed with a ceramic rope and it does not allow any smoke out. The seal is good, promise. The walls are insulated (it was a refrigerator) and 2 1/2 inches thick so it holds heat like crazy. I have a feeling it is my heat source that is just not cranking out enough heat for when I want to cook at a higher temp.
Can anyone tell me how to post pics, I would love to show it off.
Here's the link to posting pics Mac. http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=768&postcount=11
Arnie - Careful what you say about the old box. When I first brought it home I had to hurry and start taking parts out before my wife took it away from me. She really wanted to restore it to it's original glory. By the time I am done it will look pretty close to original from the outside. I do enjoy it, more than I should probably. The hobby is quickly taking up all of my free time on the weekends.
One thing that could be causing you a problem Mac, are you running those 2 hot plates off of the same circuit? The 2 combined draw about 16.6 amps which is overloading a 15 amp circuit. Plus if extension cords are added in, that makes it even worse because of the increased resistance. That would cause a decrease in the heat output from the hot plates. If the Bradley SG is on it to, then you are close to 18 amps. Just a couple of ideas.
Try using some bricks in the oven. They will hold and keep heat.
Lumpy
Hawkeye - I was thinking the same thing so I asked my neighbor to plug an extension cord over to my porch and there was a slight increase. I can get it up to 250 when it is empty but I guess I am just looking for a little more power to crank it up when I first put the meat in so it doesn't keep the meat in the danger zone for so long.
I think the fact I am trying to run all three items is the root of the cause, reason why I am looking for a more powerful hotplate or element to replace the 2.
mac, I would love to see it too. I have a fridge make over in Jan and I am always looking for more better.
Quote from: HawkeyeSmokes on December 08, 2009, 06:32:52 PM
One thing that could be causing you a problem Mac, are you running those 2 hot plates off of the same circuit? The 2 combined draw about 16.6 amps which is overloading a 15 amp circuit. Plus if extension cords are added in, that makes it even worse because of the increased resistance. That would cause a decrease in the heat output from the hot plates. If the Bradley SG is on it to, then you are close to 18 amps. Just a couple of ideas.
HES, great observation.
Here she is: I have affectionately named her the "Swine Cellar"
Before I starting working on the inside, still hoping to get a solid year this was built
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/mac_thorp/swinecellar1.jpg)
After I pulled the freezer out, knew the door panel was going to have to go since it was made of some kind of plastic material. The inside was enameled steel.
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/mac_thorp/SwineCellar2.jpg)
My Bradley SG had come in so I installed it and the vents, I have since placed butterfly valves in the vents to control airflow
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/mac_thorp/SwineCellar3.jpg)
Replaced the pan to catch the bisquettes and make room for the hotplate. I used ceramic rope for the new seal since I had to take the old one off and replace the door panel
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/mac_thorp/SwineCellar5.jpg)
Here she is just last weekend with 2 pork shoulders, 2 racks of ribs, and a brisket. Neighbors keep bringing me stuff to smoke, now if I could just get them to order the bisquettes.
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/mac_thorp/smokeratwork.jpg)
Future plans are to paint the outside the same turquoise blue the inside was and I will probably put an old bread box over the stack so it is not so obvious. I cannot complain since it has cooked everything I have put in it. Just a little slower than I would like. Hope you enjoy. Please let me know if there is somewhere I can find a stronger hotplate online.
Now I don't know, but would it be better if your vent tube was flush with your ceiling of your smoker?
Quote from: mac_thorp on December 08, 2009, 06:38:31 PM
Hawkeye - I was thinking the same thing so I asked my neighbor to plug an extension cord over to my porch and there was a slight increase. I can get it up to 250 when it is empty but I guess I am just looking for a little more power to crank it up when I first put the meat in so it doesn't keep the meat in the danger zone for so long.
I think the fact I am trying to run all three items is the root of the cause, reason why I am looking for a more powerful hotplate or element to replace the 2.
I don't think going to 1 larger hot plate will work, unless you can run it on 220V. If you have that option there are a lot of commercial hot plates that should work. But the down side is, they are pricey. Using a gas burner might be an option?
CRG,
I don't know much, but electricity, I do ok. Still alive after all these years! :D I do twitch all the time though. ???
Quote from: HawkeyeSmokes on December 08, 2009, 06:59:19 PM
Quote from: mac_thorp on December 08, 2009, 06:38:31 PM
Hawkeye - I was thinking the same thing so I asked my neighbor to plug an extension cord over to my porch and there was a slight increase. I can get it up to 250 when it is empty but I guess I am just looking for a little more power to crank it up when I first put the meat in so it doesn't keep the meat in the danger zone for so long.
I think the fact I am trying to run all three items is the root of the cause, reason why I am looking for a more powerful hotplate or element to replace the 2.
I don't think going to 1 larger hot plate will work, unless you can run it on 220V. If you have that option there are a lot of commercial hot plates that should work. But the down side is, they are pricey. Using a gas burner might be an option?
CRG,
I don't know much, but electricity, I do ok. Still alive after all these years! :D I do twitch all the time though. ???
I know you know electricity ... You saved someone's life for me one nite. ;D
Quote from: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 07:01:58 PM
Quote from: HawkeyeSmokes on December 08, 2009, 06:59:19 PM
Quote from: mac_thorp on December 08, 2009, 06:38:31 PM
Hawkeye - I was thinking the same thing so I asked my neighbor to plug an extension cord over to my porch and there was a slight increase. I can get it up to 250 when it is empty but I guess I am just looking for a little more power to crank it up when I first put the meat in so it doesn't keep the meat in the danger zone for so long.
I think the fact I am trying to run all three items is the root of the cause, reason why I am looking for a more powerful hotplate or element to replace the 2.
I don't think going to 1 larger hot plate will work, unless you can run it on 220V. If you have that option there are a lot of commercial hot plates that should work. But the down side is, they are pricey. Using a gas burner might be an option?
CRG,
I don't know much, but electricity, I do ok. Still alive after all these years! :D I do twitch all the time though. ???
I know you know electricity ... You saved someone's life for me one nite. ;D
:D :D :D Just glad I could help.
Quote from: mac_thorp on December 08, 2009, 06:49:50 PM
Neighbors keep bringing me stuff to smoke, now if I could just get them to order the bisquettes.
The way it works with my smokes is if some one wants something smoked, they better bring 2. The smoker gets one and does all the work and pays for everything, the smokee gets the best damn smoked food they are going to eat.
Quarlow - I will have to post a sign outside reminding everyone to bring two. Thanks for the tip. I guess I am going to have to be happy with the 190 I get after placing all the food in. I know the point of smoking is low and slow but I was just wanting a little less slow. It is putting out some really good stuff.
Really happy with the advice about the amperage, never even occurred to me.
The bricks may help with keeping a higher heat when I let the air out.
I was told that if I put the smoke stack flush with the inside the heat would run right out instead of staying in, can't remember where I researched that one.
I should have got on this page from the start, would have helped me through a couple rough spots.
Well the vent for the bradleys is flush. I don't know why it would be different. But personally I think you do have a voltage problem. I was plugging my bradley into the same outlet that my computer was plugged into and couldn't figure out why the pucks weren't burning complete. then someone suggested to plug it in somewhere else and it has been fine since. Just food for thought.
mac, you need to come back and talk to a cple guys that really know what they are talking about.
There are some smart guys here and they will help. Don't be afraid to ask.
Thats a nice smoker there mac.
Maybe its too air tight? My smokehouse leaks smoke, not good to be tight, needs to breath.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12928.0
nepas
Mac,
I would suggest that you make your exhaust vent flush with the top of your smoker on the inside. The 6 inch drop that you mentioned I think it is holding to much moisture inside your cabinet. Moisture is your enemy in this situation, it can and will hold down your temps. Over time this moisture will cause bad things to happen, by building up and collecting creosote which will drip down onto your meat and give it a bitter acrid taste and some unappealing black spots on your meat.
Thanks for the feedback 10 pt, I researching it. I think the moisture was to help regulate the temp since I cannot place a water pan in there. I will give it a couple more tries and monitor the buildup on the top. It will be easy to take the excess off but to replace it would be a pain.
if you have to replace it just slit the tube up the side and roll it till it slids in the top.
What happens is that the wet air is so hard to heat efficiently that you can't get it to warm up. We have the same problem with the Bradleys if we close the vent. Then you need alot of heat to try to make the water come up in temp. If you take a pot of water and turn your stove to medium it will probably never get hot enough to boil cause it take so much heat to get the water hot. Because you don't have enough heat to get the moist air inside to get hot you have to get rid of the water.
CRG - That is how I had to get the first one in, the measure twice cut once adage comes to mind. The sealant I used would be a pain to clean and reapply. It is an option though. Looks like I will have some work to do this weekend.
Quarlow - The first time I tried to put a pan of water in it to regulate the temp it took f o r e v e r to get it up to temp. Learned that I would have to keep the meat moist with other options.
When I first gathered all of the parts and started the project I would get regular visits from my wife who reminded me she would have been fine with me buying one outright...A Bradley Smoker that is. Like anything though I was looking for a project and love to brag about the pain I went through to get it to where it is...and when you make one you get to name it.
Well as long as you don't call it "Gabi" you should be fine.
Named it "The Swine Cellar", my wife was going to try and restore the old refrigerator and turn into a wine cellar. I tore it up before she could make further plans in that direction.
mac I use larger pans of water in my bradley but I put in hot or next to boiling water so it doesn't have to heat up.
You know your smoker and what it can do and I applaude you. You know it's ability and it's limits.
I think you got something there that just needs fine tuning.
look at this one..
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=10509.0
CRG - Thanks for the look into what I will not ever be able to do..at least for another 10 years or so. I don't want anyone to take me as being argumentative about changes to my baby. I am proud of it and will improve on it as time goes. My biggest worry is I am going to tackle something big and spend my entire weekend and have to call in sick waiting for a 16 pound brisket to give up the ghost.
The smokehouse is awesome by the way, could not imagine the damage I could do here in San Diego with one of those bad boys in my backyard. I already get complaints about the smoke from my smoker. They are vegetarians, I find excuses to put something in it as often as I can.
Didn't post it for you to change, just wanted you to look and see if anything was of intrest as to how they did theirs.
Have you thought about a propane smoke and using a secondary electric heat element?
Right now I do have two hotplates in it but after some help here it looks like it isn't doing me any good since the amperage is too high for my outlet. My next step is going to be looking into a higher watt hotplate using 220v instead of 110v.
I am trying to stay away from open flame as much as possible for safety reasons. I was thinking about it (propane) initially but with the wild fires we have going on here on a regular basis and the proximity to the house I thought it best to stick with electric. I don't have to pay an electric bill so in essence it is the cheapest option, got to love free electricity.
free elec is kewl
mine runs about $500 a month.
Like i said earlier and I will look for that post... someone use the heating element out of an oven.
If that don't do it, nothing will
Mr walleye will look at this tomorrow and laugh at me and probably give you a simple solution.
Good luck and Good smoke.
Goodnight all, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the feedback. So many questions were answered here tonight, I am excited and when I told my wife about it she just rolled her eyes. See you all again soon.
Yeah the electric should be free in California. They buy it from B.C. and then don't pay us for it. Cheap at twice the price.
Easy Q. ;D
;D ;D ;D
Quote from: HawkeyeSmokes on December 08, 2009, 06:32:52 PM
One thing that could be causing you a problem Mac, are you running those 2 hot plates off of the same circuit? The 2 combined draw about 16.6 amps which is overloading a 15 amp circuit. Plus if extension cords are added in, that makes it even worse because of the increased resistance. That would cause a decrease in the heat output from the hot plates. If the Bradley SG is on it to, then you are close to 18 amps. Just a couple of ideas.
Mac_Thorp
It looks like a fine project you have going there. ;)
Here is a link to mine that I built just for reference... http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=7616.msg82164#msg82164
I would have to agree with HawkeyeSmokes. I'm assuming you are running 1 extention cord to the smoker and plugging in both 1000 watt hot plates and the smoke generator into it. First off the one circuit is probably a 15 amp circuit and this is too much for it. Each hot plate is about 8.5 amps and the smoke generator is around 2 or 3 amps for a total of 19 or 20 amps. In addition, if you are using an extention cord this will compound the problem as HS pointed out.
The first thing I would try is to supply power from 2 separate circuits, 1 to the first hot plate and 1 to the other hot plate and the smoke generator. I would also use good quality extention cords and as short as possible. With the combined 2000 watts you should be able to heat that fridge up fairly well depending on ambient temps of course (-46 with wind chill where I live right now).
By doing this your elements should heat up red hot or close to it. If they don't I would suspect what has happened is the rheostat control (small dial) on the hot plates may have got cooked. The hot plates aren't really designed to be "in" the heated environment and the rheostat could fail. If this is the case you could rewire them direct (bypass the rheostat) but you would want to have some method of controlling them such as a PID or another type of controller.
Just my 2 cents.... ;)
Mike
I want to get on that free electricity plan. Where do I sign, and what's the catch?
KevinG - All you have to do is go talk to your local US military recruiter. Then when they station you on a base you can move into military housing and BAM, free electric, water, maintenance, and 6-8 month deployments away from family and friends.
Walleye - I agree with just about everything you have said. I will have to get a shorter extension cord and try to use two different outlets. My next try will be using a 1500W hotplate to replace the two and I think I will be able to keep it in the range I want.
I just brought a brisket over to my friends dinner tonight, I smoked it Saturday just for this occasion. Nothing but smiles and requests for more. Thank you all for the advice. I will be doing more smoking and tinkering with my creation, looking forward to swapping stories and ideas with you all.
mac, you do have a nice smoker and when I covert my fridge (unless I can find a proofer) I will be looking for input from you.
keep that thing smoking!