Recommendations for DIY smoker?

[pmmpete]

I know somebody who wants to build a smoker.  Can you recommend any books, internet articles, or forums which have information which would help him?

What are your thoughts about building a smoker out of an old refridgerator?  I would worry about the effect of the heat from smoking on the plastic interior and seals in a refridgerator, which weren't designed to handle heat.

[beefmann]

using a fridge with an all steel interior is the way to go,,, plastic can melt and contaminate the food .I for one would not chance it... a stainless steel bakery proofer would be a great way to start   

[weedenb]

With steel fridge interiors pretty much limited to commercial gear these days its very hard to find a good smoker cabinet candidate. Before building my more traditional wood framed smoker I seriously considered using a surplus kitchen range. They are readily available, made for heat and most of what you need is already there. I was going to strip out all the controls and put in a PID running the main oven element. That and a Bradley BSG and you should be good to go? Depending on the main element wattage you might be able to run it on 110v also, that would make it half the normal output but the resistive heat element doesn't care and it would still likely be overkill for a smoker. You would definately want to run a PID to control your temps. Basic Ohm's law calcs would give you the numbers.

V=I*R (volts = current * resistance)
P=V*I (power = volts * current)

If you looked around you might find a candidate with a convection fan built in also.


Another option to think about, good luck!