Currently, there are several common options for smoking products. One of them is hot way. To obtain the most delicious and refined dishes, you must have a smoking chamber. It can be purchased at point of sale or assemble a device such as a hot smoked smokehouse with your own hands. To do this, you need to study the design features of this device and the procedure for creating it.
Unlike the cold method this method implies a stronger temperature effect on products. On average, this figure is 100 ºС. The duration of the cooking process is less than when using devices that operate on wood.
Types of smoking: hot, semi-hot and cold. Do-it-yourself smokehouses made of brick, stainless steel, barrels. Tips for assembly and operation.
It is not necessary to draw up a drawing of this device yourself. On the Internet you can find a huge number of ready-made diagrams containing all the necessary sizes. A drawing is made with your own hands only when you need to make a device that will best suit individual needs.
A small smokehouse can be made quite quickly - in just 1-2 hours
For example, there may not be a drawing on the Internet that is suitable for some non-standard slab options. You will also need a diagram if you are making a smokehouse from improvised materials. A do-it-yourself hot-smoked smokehouse drawing should include the following details and their detailed description:
All of the above elements are necessary in the design of the simplest metal hot-type smokehouse. It is important to remember that the dimensions of this device must correspond to its purpose. A small portable smoker can be done quite quickly - in just 1-2 hours. Before you begin making this device, you need to purchase the appropriate tools and materials.
Note! Undoubtedly, the best option is to draw up an individual scheme. This work will allow us to produce the most suitable design for a particular case. To save time, on specialized websites on the Internet you can find photos of drawings of hot smoked smokehouses. It is much easier to assemble this structure with your own hands if the work is carried out according to a diagram drawn up without errors.
To fix the grates on the walls of the smokehouse, you need to make special corners in advance
To assemble the smokehouse body you will need a sheet of stainless steel or galvanized. Regular steel is not recommended as it has lower resistance to high temperatures. You should also prepare a metal grill in advance, which you can get from an old refrigerator. Metal corners are used to secure the chamber walls together.
And finally, you will need a tray and a thin tube that will remove the smoke outside the chamber. If necessary, you can buy such a device for a very reasonable price. The price of a hot smoked stainless steel smokehouse is 4-5 thousand rubles.
Next you need to buy everything necessary tools. To assemble the smokehouse you will need a hacksaw, a file, a mallet and wooden block. In addition, the work takes into account the use of drills and welding equipment.
Each process that takes into account the installation or assembly of certain structures can be divided into several stages. Creating a device for smoking food at home is no exception to this rule. Let's look at step by step how to make a hot smoked smokehouse with your own hands.
Stainless steel sheets for making a smokehouse must be at least 2 mm thick
First of all, you will need to take a sheet of stainless steel or galvanized steel. Based on the drawing drawn up earlier, you need to cut out a box from it. The individual sheets are connected to each other using welding equipment and a bar. The block must have a 90° angle so that the edges of the box can be aligned using it as a mold. The leveling tool is a regular hammer. Next, the resulting structure is connected by welding.
The next step is to make a lid from a metal sheet. It is advisable to equip it with curved edges. They can be obtained by welding or you will need to cut the edges and bend them. Then you need to make a hole in the lid for the smoke pipe. After this, all that remains is to weld the tube to the desired location. Care will allow you to competently assemble a hot smoked smokehouse with your own hands. The drawing and dimensions indicated in it should always be at hand.
Thus, making a smokehouse with your own hands is not as difficult as it seems. At the next stage, it is necessary to place the corners inside the metal tank on which the grease tray and food grid are installed.
Note! In order not to make mistakes during the assembly process, it is recommended to watch a training video on this topic.
To assemble a device equipped with hydraulic valve, first of all, you need to prepare a sheet of stainless steel. It is worth noting that such models are often small in size, which makes them easy to transport.
When choosing a material, you should pay attention to its thickness. It is not recommended to use thin-walled stainless steel, as it may not withstand high temperatures. However, overly thick sheets of metal are not good choice, since their use does not provide the conditions required for smoking. If necessary, you can buy a hot smoked smokehouse. The price of a device equipped with a water seal ranges from 4 to 7 thousand rubles.
The water seal itself is quite simple. It is a groove that can be welded in the upper part of the chamber (around the perimeter). In addition to organizing the groove, the cover of the device should also be modified. Sides directed downwards are welded to it.
Before you start building such a unit, you need to download from the Internet or make your own drawing of a hot smoked smokehouse. The principle of operation of the hydraulic valve is to immerse the protrusions of the lid in water, which fills the groove. This design prevents air from entering from the outside, ensuring proper sealing of the chamber.
The differences between the smokehouse with a hydraulic shutter and other models do not end there. The bottom in this design has one feature: it is removable. The metal sheet that performs this function is equipped with sides that have an upper direction. It is also recommended to add legs (bottom) to the bottom.
Smoking is a method of preparing food that involves processing it with heat and smoke. Most often, this method is used to obtain meat and fish dishes. If desired, other foodstuffs (for example, cheese or vegetables) can be subjected to similar treatment.
When cold smoked, the final product has a more refined and subtle taste. The difference in this case lies in the temperature and duration of the process. The first indicator should be lower, and the second, accordingly, higher. Cold devices are most often used for fish. How to make a cold smokehouse at home? This question can be answered by studying information on the Internet.
As for a hot smoker, its use can significantly speed up the process of smoking products. This is due to the fact that the temperature in such a unit averages 100 °C. For example, hot smoking lard takes no more than 1 hour. Moreover, after 20 minutes of cooking, the temperature in the tank must be reduced to 90 °C. The shelf life of lard prepared using this technology is only a few days.
Helpful information! The shelf life of any product that has been smoked in a hot smoker does not exceed a week.
So how to properly smoke food in such devices? It is worth remembering that the smoldering temperature of the fuel (chips) during this process should be in the range from 300 to 350 °C. In this case, the smoking temperature will not go beyond the required values, which range from 70 to 130 °C.
Before using a unit of this type, it is recommended to study video materials on this topic. They will allow you to quickly understand how to smoke lard, as well as other products, in a hot smokehouse.
Hot smokers are a good alternative to devices designed for cold smoking. The speed of bringing products to readiness in such units is tens of times faster. When making a hot smoking device yourself, it is recommended to first study the drawings, work plan, and also watch training videos on this topic.
The very sight of smoked food arouses the desire to try it, but not everyone immediately starts rummaging in their wallet - is it worth running to the store or to the market? The number of people who decide to acquire a home-made smokehouse is not decreasing at all. It is indeed quite possible to build your own smokehouse, and we will try to help readers as much as possible in this useful and tasty task.
The financial factor is not the only and, perhaps, not the main one, thanks to which the popularity of home smoking does not wane. Make your own smokehouse correct design means being confident in the quality of the product; if smoked homemade are going for sale - convincingly offer them to buyers. Nowadays this is in no way superfluous: in today’s world, falsification of food products, unfortunately, is widespread and legalized literally everywhere, and smoked products are a favorite object of surrogate producers.
The scale of falsification of smoked products in our time is difficult for the ignorant to imagine. For example, WHO recommends not to exceed the content of polycyclic substances in food aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs, we will encounter this nasty thing again) at 0.62 mcg/kg. In the Russian Federation, the content of PAHs in food products is allowed up to 0.2 μg/kg; A properly built home smokehouse can produce a product with a PAH content of 0.1 µg/kg. And in Germany, which boasts of its environmental friendliness, the content of such a notorious representative of PAHs as benzo(a)pyrene is allowed up to 1 μg/kg. In Russia, benzo(a)pyrene is recognized as a carcinogen of the first degree of danger, and in the EU, doctors consider its harmful effect on animals to be fully proven, but not sufficiently proven for humans. How can we understand this other than as a veiled recommendation for people to buy (and how!) is it something that a dog in its right mind would turn away from? Rats die, but can a person die? If he is an adequate well-intentioned consumer? But let's get back to the topic.
Making a smokehouse does not present any technical difficulties and is inexpensive. The design of the smokehouse is simple, flexible, easily adaptable to the available materials and capabilities without compromising the quality of the finished product. But, before moving on, it would be appropriate to recall: smoking is a process of food technology.
Let’s imagine, by analogy, that someone came up with some kind of ideal, “correct” saucepan in all respects. Will a person who previously had a relationship with cooking only as an unpretentious eater, holding a cookbook before his eyes, be able to immediately cook real naval borscht in it? Another analogy is also appropriate: there is a cheap frying pan stamped from thin stainless steel and an antediluvian electric stove with an open spiral. Will a skilled chef be able to cook at least an ordinary roast with this “equipment” as in his own kitchen?
The conclusion is simple: there is no single “correct” smokehouse. But there are many types of smokehouses in which proper smoking is possible. This is what we will do. At the same time, smoking itself, based on some mandatory requirements for the design of the smoking unit.
The design of successful home smokehouses can be very diverse; See photos for some samples. As a rule, they try to build a smokehouse that provides the possibility of all or most types of smoking (see below). But all this apparent inconsistency fits into just 3 basic schemes smoking installations: vertical (mine), horizontal (tunnel, trench) and chamber. Homemade smokehouses most often combine elements of 2 or all 3 schemes.
Mine smokehouse, on the left on the trail. rice., it is the simplest, does not require any space for it and is the least labor intensive. Initially, it is a conical hut, tent or wigwam, in which pieces of meat are suspended at the top in reserve. In this case (the shaft is conical) and a semi-permeable smoke seal (green dotted line in the figure) is not necessary.
However, the mine smokehouse is not without serious drawbacks:
Note: the last factor is especially sensitive, because It’s just that the excess of PAHs is invisible. On the contrary, their excess can enhance the sharpness and piquancy of the taste and aroma of the finished products.
For a tunnel smokehouse, in the middle in Fig., you need a fairly large amount of excavation work and, highly desirable, a suitable site on a slope: the more free (without a smoke seal) draft in the system, the easier it is to ensure a stable smoke generation regime. Due to the location of the smoke generator hearth in a semi-closed chamber with an adjustable air access lid and a closed chimney, the dependence of the quality of smoking on the weather is reduced: it is possible to use a tunnel smokehouse up to 75% humidity and 30 degrees outside air temperature for up to 8-9 hours a day, in the absence of atmospheric precipitation.
With a channel length of more than 3 m, cold smoking is possible in a tunnel smokehouse; over 5 – fumigation, and over 7 m – 2-3 types of smoking at the same time. A properly constructed and operated tunnel smokehouse can ensure PAH content in finished products within the range of up to 0.2 μg/kg for all smoking modes.
Chamber smokehouses, on the right in the top figure, not so ancient: a tunnel smokehouse on a slope of sufficient length of 10-30 degrees, complemented by a shaft 1.5-2 m high and with a diameter of approx. 1 m, see fig. on the right, this is a chamber smokehouse: a long tunnel and the blind bottom of the shaft serve as a smoke distiller; the latter works as an expansion chamber, where the deposition of residual harmful smoke components sharply increases. Modern industrial smokehouses of enterprises Food Industry are built exclusively according to a chamber design, but compact, with special air preparation units and electric smoke distillers.
Visible smoke, i.e. Unburned fuel particles and ash (mineral) inclusions, strange as it may seem at first glance, do not significantly affect the smoking process. They contribute to the deposition of a glossy golden crust on the product; no harm was noticed from them. And by the type of smoke they allow you to fairly accurately determine its suitability for smoking.
In calm weather, or in a high hut, we will light a fire from slightly damp wood; this is the simplest hearth-smoke generator. Directly above the flame there will be a transparent zone where the pyrolysis gases burn out. Above is dirty gray, perhaps with a brownish tint, rather dense smoke. Even higher - grayish, sometimes with a slight blue, and even higher - translucent white smoke.
Now let's take samples from each zone, except the pyrolysis zone, and do their chemical analysis. Not at home, of course, here you will have to resort to liquid chromatography and other subtle methods. In the “gray-brown” (conditionally heavy) zone, a predominance of carcinogens and other substances with a significant molecular weight will be found. In a “gray”, average, sample, against the background of thinning carcinogens and toxins, radicals of organic acids will appear more. In the white haze of harmfulness, that same benzo(a)pyrene with residues of formic and acetic acid(possibly apple, lemon, etc.), and other light components are exactly those that give the smoked unique taste, aroma and have a bacteriostatic effect, i.e. do not allow the product to deteriorate for more or less a long time; in the smoke from fuel suitable for smoking, they will come to the fore.
Let's continue the series of experiments, lighting a fire from different types firewood of varying degrees of humidity, with the addition of green leaves and grass of different types and each time changing the combustion mode. And it turns out that in this case the concentration of benzo(a)pyrene and acids in white smoke changes by 2-3 orders of magnitude, and in the finished product benzo(a)pyrene is found from 0.1 to 62-65 μg/kg.
All PAHs are by no means harmless to humans, but benzo(a)pyrene stands out among them, firstly, due to its optimal, from the point of view of poison, chemical activity: under normal conditions it is quite inert. Secondly, “meanness”: once in the body, benzo(a)pyrene attaches to DNA, thus affecting heredity. Even the ancient authors knew, although at that time, of course, no one controlled the content of PAHs in products, that those who love to overeat smoked foods have weak-minded, frail and sick children much more often than those who support moderation. Thirdly, its ubiquity: due to the characteristics of its chemical activity, benzo(a)pyrene has a cumulative effect and accumulates in soil, plant and animal tissues, and also migrates along food chains. Fourthly, durability: at the temperature necessary for the formation of smoke smoke, a significant part of it does not decompose, but is sublimated from the wood. Fifthly, by “cunning”: as mentioned above, detecting an excess of benzo(a)pyrene in food is only possible by chemical analysis; an increase in taste and aroma can be caused by other, harmless and even beneficial substances.
The fight against any evil is effective in its infancy, therefore measures to limit the content of benzo(a)pyrene in smoked meats are carried out in the following order:
pp. 6 and 7 represent preventive design measures, and items 8 and 9 are operational measures to prevent the accumulation of PAHs in smoking products. Their essence is that you need to build a smokehouse in such a way as to either prevent PAHs from reaching the products, or organize the smoking process so that the PAHs, without having time to be deposited in the smoked product, fly out into the chimney. pp. 3, 4 and 9 relate to culinary technology, so further we will limit ourselves to what applies to paragraphs. 6 and 7 and partially to paragraphs. 3, 5 and 9, how much they affect the design of the smokehouse.
As for acids, they are involved to one degree or another in the creation of smoked products. It may raise doubts in some people formic acid, but it is also registered as food supplement E236. Its influence on the bacteriostatic properties of smoking is especially strong. You just need to remember: everything is medicine, but everything is poison. Salt necessary for a person - sodium ions regulate cardiac activity, but if you eat half a glass or more of kitchen salt, a painful death is guaranteed due to a severe imbalance of sodium in the body. Fortunately, if measures to limit the migration of PAHs into the product are carried out and give the proper results, then everything is fine with acids. An exception can only occur when smoking with unsuitable fuel or in a primitive smokehouse during extreme heat or bad weather.
Smoking is usually divided into cold and hot. This idea arose at a time when no one had any idea about PAHs, their migrations in nature and their impact on humans.
From the point of view of modern biochemistry, it would be better to highlight the following smoking methods:
We do not consider the last method. Firstly, because foods baked in smoke cannot be stored; they must be eaten freshly prepared. And secondly, because there is no need to eat a smoky casserole at all: in terms of benz(a)pyrene content, products baked in smoke are not inferior to those processed with liquid smoke, i.e. 100% falsified; For more information on liquid smoke, see the end.
Fumigation with smoke cooled to room temperature 18-25 degrees (for fish - up to 22-35 degrees) lasts from 24 hours, for small fish like sprat, to a week or more, for wild boar or bear ham. To prevent the raw material from spoiling until it has been smoked enough to prevent the development of bacteria, it must be salted in brine in advance. The consistency and structure of the raw material practically does not change, and there is almost no migration of fat inside the piece.
The main advantage of this smoking method is that the shelf life of the finished product is practically limited only by its drying out to the point of inedibility. In a properly equipped cellar, smoked ham or brisket can be stored for up to 3-4 years without losing its taste, which this type smoking provides the highest. The method of neutralizing PAHs in this case is their natural deposition in a long chimney. Acidification of products is possible as an exception, using very poor fuel or when smoking in extreme heat: acid radicals react with water vapor and precipitate into condensate faster than benzo(a)pyrene settles.
Note: storing smoked products in any way in the refrigerator is unacceptable - the water condensation that settles on them not only spoils the taste, but also begins chemical reactions, making the product harmful. An exception is boiled-smoked sausage, stored for up to 4-7 days at a temperature of +(4-8) degrees, i.e. on the bottom shelf or in the vegetable compartment.
Taking breaks in smoking, as they say in old manuals, is unacceptable during fumigation according to modern ideas: cooling the load of raw materials during the break and subsequent starting the fire sharply increases the concentration of PAHs in the products. The same thing will happen when the fuel smoldering mode changes. Therefore, it is possible to hope to maintain normal levels of PAHs during fumigation only by using a smoke generator long burning open type naturally aspirated, see below. To install a smokehouse-fumigator, a flat slope with a suitable slope is required, see above, because suitable for this case smoke generators operate on good natural draft.
Cold (in the old sense, semi-cold) smoking occurs at a temperature of 40-50 degrees for 2-36 hours. Products smoked in this way are not inferior in taste and aroma to those smoked with cooled smoke, but their shelf life does not exceed 170 hours. The raw material softens, but retains its structure. Easily melting fats migrate along the bones and layers until they are visible from the outside. Preparation of products - soaking in brine (fresh saturated brine) for 4-24 hours, then soaking for 1-6 hours and quickly drying from the surface without heating, for example. blotting successively with 2-3 clean cotton rags.
The main danger during cold smoking is the acidification of products due to the upward spread of the acidic smoke zone. You can avoid it by smoking only with alder or fruit chips in suitable weather. The requirements for the stability of the smoke generator mode are the same as in the previous one. case, but since the smoking time is reduced several times, it is possible to use a simple hearth.
A homemade cold smokehouse is most often built on the basis of the design of Yu. Chmyr (in the center in the figure), and he, in turn, set out to make the earthen smokehouse, on the left in the figure, more accessible, which has long been known to fishermen and commercial hunters who supply production directly to the market. It is difficult to find a place for a dugout smokehouse; the soil there should be clay or dense loam. It is also not easy to break through an adit and shaft with a total length of more than 2.5 m by hand; the smoke from the fireplace is improved by lining the fire with leaves of wild currants, blueberries, lingonberries, and ferns, which is also a problem.
Yu. Chmyr managed to reduce the size of the mud smokehouse and its dependence on the nature of the soil by adding a chimney chamber from a 200 liter barrel and reducing its loading level. Thus, an expansion volume was formed at the bottom of the shaft chamber. This, firstly, made it possible to smoke wood containing gum and tannins, see below, and obtain products of exquisite taste. Secondly, setting up the smoke generator was reduced to changing the width of the window for air access using an additional sheet of tin or just a piece of board. Thirdly, the short internal chimney (chimney) made it possible, if necessary, to reconfigure the smokehouse for hot smoking, and when building it from brick, to smoke simultaneously in 2 ways, but only homogeneous products (meat-meat, fish-fish).
But the main secret of Yu. Chmyr’s smokehouse is the method of neutralizing PAHs. Their molecular mass in general, more than substances useful for smoking, and the moistened (not soaked in water!) burlap covering the smoking chamber creates, as it were, different drafts for different components of the smoke: the light fractions remain in the smoked area, and the PAHs are below, gradually settling and burning out in hearth. The burlap must be natural, hemp or jute.
Note: You need to keep 2 pieces of burlap ready - the first time it dries, the fresh wet one is thrown over it, and the dry one is carefully pulled out. You can’t release a cloud of smoke; the PAHs will rush towards the food.
Soon after the appearance of this smokehouse on the pages of MK, another interesting feature of it was discovered: if you cover the shaft instead of burlap with thin branches of willow or willow, laid in 3-4 layers crosswise at intervals, you can fight off the natural odor of some types of game, and make old beef softer. The author of this article knew a fisherman who became adept at smoking even coots and cormorants in this way. Those who ate had no idea that the fresh meat of these birds smelled unbearably of rotten fish.
Further, Yu. Chmyr’s smokehouse was independently improved by several authors: they lengthened the chimney somewhat and made it tapering towards the smoking chamber, on the right in Fig. With the resulting dimensions in plan approx. A 1x3.5 m similar smokehouse can be built in a 6-acre dacha by allocating a barren area for it. In this case, if the soil is loose and permeable, the hearth chamber and chimney must be coated with clay with a layer of 5-10 cm. There is no need to lay it out with bricks, because it is porous, will strongly absorb PAHs and release them back when heated; For more information about brick smokehouses, see below.
Note: The popular Finnish above-ground smokehouse-grill Apetit is built on the same principle; see its dimensions in fig. Instead of a smoke seal made of burlap or branches, this design uses a hip roof for the smoking chamber. The solution is certainly more effective and simplifies the maintenance of the unit, but also more labor-intensive.
These types of smoking are carried out at temperatures of 60-80 and 80-120 degrees for 1-3 and 0.5-1.5 hours, respectively. Neutralization of PAHs is mainly carried out using the “breakthrough” method: a fairly dense crust forms on the products quickly, after a few minutes, and it is easier for harmful smoke components to fly out into the chimney than to be absorbed into the product. Light useful components pass through the crust more easily, i.e. the raw material creates a protective barrier for itself. Therefore, the requirements for the material for hot smoking are less stringent; wood with tannins and gums can be used, which gives the products a special taste.
During hot smoking, the raw materials undergo heat treatment, so the product comes out tender, with a more delicate taste and aroma. During hot smoking, fat is partially rendered. The shelf life of the finished product is up to 36-72 hours, depending on the product. No preliminary preparation of raw materials is required, which is good for products with a refined natural taste: poultry, delicatessen fish. In addition to the well-known mackerel, bluefish and white fish, fresh frozen (not salted!) sea bass and shrimp herring are very good for hot smoking. Cheese and homemade sausage are also smoked only hot and semi-hot.
During hot/semi-hot smoking, burnt fat is added to possible sources of PAHs and other harmful substances, so its entry into the fireplace is unacceptable. A stationary hot-smoked smokehouse must be equipped with a tray for fat in the smoking chamber or designed in such a way that fat does not enter the smoke generator of any type, see below for samples of smokehouses.
To smoke small, completely fresh fish, which will take 20-40 minutes, it is possible to use a hot smoked smokehouse without a tray with a smoke generator closed type on alder shavings, such as in a bucket smokehouse (see figure) and similar structures. You should linger a little while on the bucket smoker, because... information about her in many sources is distorted. As for stationary hot smoked smokehouses, they will be considered further in the order of sorting through images of finished products.
Firstly, the bucket must be made of stainless steel. The coating of a galvanized bucket will burn out very soon, but the point is not that the vessel will become unusable. Burnout of galvanization means zinc oxidation. Zinc oxide subimites, i.e. sublimes without melting, and its vapors are a carcinogen and a toxin no worse than PAHs.
Secondly, you need to install the grids in the bucket smokehouse exactly at the levels according to the diagram and not lower. The smallest and, most importantly, skinny workpiece is laid out at intervals on the lower mesh, and the larger and fatter one is laid out on the upper one.
Thirdly, putting juniper chips in a bucket and burning with alder, as has been shown here and there (let’s not point a finger), is generally nonsense. The alder flame is not very hot; even if it heats the juniper through the partition to the point of smoldering, the content of PAHs in the product will be almost lethal in the literal sense. Juniper chips, like last year's conifer cones, are conditionally suitable for smoking by fumigation in a natural draft smokehouse with a chimney no less than 10 m long, and only smoking materials that do not contain resins are suitable for hot smoking.
Smoke generators for smokehouses are made of open (hearths) and closed types, with supercharging and natural draft. Sometimes half-open smoke generators - braziers - are used. In the first, the heat necessary for the thermal decomposition of the smoking material is obtained due to its own smoldering, i.e. The smoking material is also a fuel. In a closed smoke generator, heating of the smoking material is carried out from an external heat source in the chamber through a metal partition; air is inflated or sucked into the chamber through an air duct.
Supercharged smoke generators make the smokehouse more compact and make it easier to create smoke. Supercharging is usually provided from low-power sources: aquarium compressors or 12-25 W fans. However, in addition to the fact that the smokehouse becomes energy-dependent, supercharged smoke generators have a serious drawback: the deposition zones of harmful smoke components shift towards the products. Simply, the boost blows everything indiscriminately towards the smoked material, interfering with the natural distillation of the smoke.
The simplest smoke generator-hearth - a fire made from wood of smoking material high humidity(40-70)%. But the smoke from it does not satisfy modern medical and sanitary requirements: the firewood dries out and bursts into flames. The hearth has to be covered fresh leaves, grass, turf, which is why the PAH will have room to roam.
This circumstance was noticed in ancient times: people forced to live for a long time on smoked foods prepared using improvised materials (explorers, warriors, sailors) grew weak and sick despite seemingly sufficient nutrition. Therefore, even in ancient times, sawdust smoking hearths were developed through trial and error. It is from these that samples of smoked meats that meet Russian standards were obtained.
The structure of sawdust smoking hearths for cold and hot smoking is shown in Fig. Firewood and sawdust are from the same type of wood. The secret of sawdust hearths is that the thermal decomposition of the smoking material occurs at sufficient high temperature, over 600 degrees. This is enough to “tear to shreds” benz(a)pyrene, and the resulting radicals are chemically active and are immediately neutralized by air oxygen and water vapor.
Some PAHs form in the slightly outward layer of sawdust, where the temperature is less than 400 degrees, but they settle in the cooler layers. A burst release of PAHs is observed when the sawdust jacket almost completely decays, but most of them slip into the pipe past the product, which has already become crusty. In any case, the fireplace can be extinguished and a reserve one can be lit, see below, when the sawdust jacket has not yet completely settled.
The disadvantages of open smoke generators are, firstly, high fuel consumption, and smoking materials are much more expensive than firewood from the same tree. Secondly, the duration of action of the foci in Fig. higher - 1-4 hours, that is, if one person is looking after the smokehouse, he will not be able to sleep more at once, and this can continue for up to a week or more if the product is smoked by fumigation. In this case, even during cold smoking, the pit-chamber of the smoke generator has to be made larger, partitioned off with a vertical partition and a spare hearth kept there, ready for ignition, to replace the exhausted one.
You can get rid of the last drawback if you are not too lazy and make a smoke generator for smoking from a gas cylinder (see diagram in the figure). Household gas cylinders of different capacities ensure continuous stable operation of such a device for 6-24 hours.
As you can see, this type of smoke generator for smoking is something like a long-burning stove turned upside down. The perforation of the smoke collector pipe 5 begins no lower than 10-15 cm above the bottom of the fuel bunker 4; its bottom is mesh or perforated. Smoke filter 7 – 1-3 layers of steel mesh with mesh from 1x1 to 2.5x2.5 mm. The initial adjustment of the smoke is carried out by damper 2 according to its maximum expiration. Using gate 9, the supply of smoke to the smokehouse is precisely regulated. Through a tee with gates, this smoke generator is capable of servicing 2 smoking chambers. The dampers must have idle windows with a diameter of 3-5 mm so that the generator does not suffocate; then not only will the product spoil, but the generator will also have to be rebooted, because it cannot be re-ignited.
Note: it is unacceptable to use non-polar organic solvents (gasoline, kerosene, solvent, toluene, etc.) to ignite this smoke generator; It is best to light it with ethyl alcohol.
The advantage of closed smoke generators is, firstly, fuel economy: 2-4 handfuls of wood chips are enough to smoke a boiled ham or a large piece of brisket. Secondly, there is greater stability of operation and less dependence on the weather: the supply air duct can be made longer and some of the heat from the heating source can be used to heat it, thus drying the incoming air. Thirdly, in the independence of the settings: by separately adjusting the heating and air supply, you can quickly and without experience get a white translucent smoke at the output that almost does not eat your eyes, which is what is required for smoking. Finally, not only sawdust, but also shavings and wood chips can be loaded into closed smoke generators.
The disadvantage of closed smoke generators is that the temperature of the smoldering smoking material does not exceed 400-450 degrees, which is not enough to completely decompose the PAHs released from the wood. Therefore, when using them for cold smoking, it is only possible to meet European standards. According to subjective assessments, the taste of products smoked in smoke from closed generators is noticeably inferior to those smoked in the smoke of a fireplace.
In general, the designs of smoke generators for smoking are quite flexible, see the video below; higher value has them correct setting from my own experience.
In a smoke generator-brazier, the smoking material is heated by a flame through a divider, a mesh or perforated bottom of an open tray, or by electricity; then the bottom of the tray is made blank. Smoke generators-braziers are somewhat more economical than open hearths, but otherwise they combine the disadvantages of open and closed generators, without having the advantages of both, so they are rarely used, most often in electrically heated smokehouses.
In Fig. as an example, diagrams of the design of hot-smoked electric smokers from an old refrigerator and a gas cylinder are shown; All that remains of the refrigerator is the steel body. The disadvantages of both, in addition to the very mediocre quality of the product - the heating element or cast iron pancake of an electric stove burns out very quickly. Modern metal-ceramic air heating elements last longer, but if you go by the cost of long-term operation, “cast iron” ones are still cheaper. But not cheaper than ready-made wood chips for a closed smoke generator.
Based on the totality of properties the best material for the smoking chamber is hardwood. But the wooden chamber has to be changed periodically, and not that rarely: the wood becomes saturated with harmful smoke components, and during hot and semi-hot smoking it can crack faster than it is saturated. Also, the wood is impregnated with the volatile secretions of the smoked substance, so you need to keep separate boxes for meat, fish and poultry. For these reasons, smokehouses are built/made primarily from metal, brick and other mineral building materials, either entirely or in various combinations.
Brick, as you know, is a porous material, so a brick smokehouse is plastered inside lime plaster on quartz sand or marble chips with the addition of vermiculite. The plaster also has to be changed, but less often: if the filler is sandy, a layer of 5-6 mm lasts for 1.5-2 years, and plaster on marble lasts up to 5 years or more. The soot from the walls of the plastered smokehouse is periodically cleaned off, and to switch to another type of product (meat, fish, poultry), the walls are brushed with a hard brush and the smokehouse is “fried” by heating for half a day at 150-200 degrees inside.
How a compact outdoor hot-smoked brick smokehouse is constructed is shown on the left in Fig. The base is concrete, steel, stone, etc. durable impenetrable. A layer of stones (10-25 cm) on the grate serves as a grease catcher and smoke filter. Stones should be taken that are not very porous, but with sufficient moisture absorption: limestone, dolomite, shale, sandstone. The lid is wooden with slots. You can insert the outlet pipe of a separate smoke generator into the firebox, then cold smoking is possible.
The smokehouse on the right in Fig. universal, homogeneous products can be smoked in it simultaneously using hot and cold methods; in essence, this is a modified smokehouse by Yu. Chmyr. The bottom and walls of the tunnel for hot smoking are coated with clay (if the entire smokehouse is not in greasy clay); tunnel cover - clay coating on the poles and on top of it to reduce heat loss turf. The cold smoking chamber can be built from aerated concrete (not foam concrete!) D200-D400; in this case, plastering of the walls is not required, and it will last for 2-3 or more years.
Channel-chamber smokehouses for joint smoking are often made of welded steel with a thickness of 2-4 mm. Labor costs in this case are much less; a welded smokehouse can be made for sale or transported from place to place. Steel conducts heat quite well, therefore, in the case of making a smokehouse with the possibility of hot smoking from metal, it is especially important to maintain a stable temperature distribution along the entire length of the working stroke: the deposition zones of harmful substances should not shift either to the hot or to the cold side. From the hot end, this is achieved by lining the tunnel with bricks, and from the cold end, by selecting the dimensions of the smoking chamber and installing a hipped vault on it. A less labor-intensive alternative is to select the size and location of the chimney. An additional measure to prevent excess concentrations of PAHs in products is to separate the cold smoking chamber with a mesh bottom with a mesh size of 5x5 to 12x12 mm. The mesh creates micro-turbulences that “squeeze” PAHs down and distributes smoke more evenly in the chamber.
A drawing of a welded transportable combined smokehouse is shown in Fig. External smoke generator. Hot smoking zone – the first 80 cm of the tunnel; marked with color.
Smokehouses with barbecues are mostly made entirely welded. In Fig. 2 common patterns are shown. Left – stationary grill with hot smoking chamber. Its stable temperature regime is maintained, firstly, by the flow of hot smoke from below. Secondly, thermal radiation from the grill. Thirdly, the gap between the smoking frame and the outer walls. The shift of the zone of deposition of harmful substances into the smoking zone prevents an expanded exit from the smoking chamber into the chimney, but there it walks as it wants, so it is impossible to smoke coldly in such a barbecue-smokehouse.
A completely universal grill-smoker “5 in 1” (grill, barbecue, barbecue, hot and cold smokehouse) - the now well-known grill-steam locomotive, shown on the right in Fig. Basic construction material– household gas cylinders of various capacities and calibers. It is possible to smoke in 2 ways at once; in this case, it is advisable to fence off the bottom of the cold chamber (module 1) with a mesh, as in a channel-chamber smokehouse, at the level of the top of the grill/barbecue/hot chamber (module 2).
Making the smokehouse made of metal allows you to use a water seal instead of a semi-permeable tire for the required smoke retention in the chamber. The quality of products from such a smokehouse can be achieved above average, but not elite. But it is possible to smoke at home using gas: so little smoke escapes that it can be caught by an ordinary hood over the stove.
How a home mini-smokehouse works is shown in the figure; on the right is a top view without the lid. Please note that the thermal decomposition of the wood in this product is anaerobic, without access to outside air. This rather rare way to keep PAHs within at least the European norm requires selected smoking material: alder or fruit-free sawdust or shavings without gum highest quality and room dryness, up to (6-7)% humidity. When the humidity of the smoking material increases above 8%, acidification of the products is very likely!
Electrical smoke purification is widely used in industrial smokehouses. To do this, the smoked product is surrounded by an electrically insulated metal mesh, to which a negative potential of approx. 20 kV; The positive pole is connected to the steel hangers for raw materials.
In amateur conditions, such a design, unfortunately, is not feasible, and this is not only due to the danger of high voltage. Ions of harmful components immediately settle on the grid, causing a leakage current to appear. By the end of the smoking process, its value increases to 10-30 mA or more, which at a given voltage corresponds to a power of 0.2-0.3 kW; Usually high-voltage installations for industrial smoking are made with a power of over 1 kW. At a voltage of 20 kV, this is not only a complex and very expensive structure, but without special precautions it is also a deadly structure.
However, there is a way to clean the smoke from a homemade smokehouse. A diagram of an electric distiller for smoke smoke, which can be made with your own hands, is shown in Fig. The smoke generator in this case is a completely original, frictional one: a spring presses a wooden block against the steel shell of a poorly conductive drum (pulley in the picture), but that’s not the point.
A magneto from an old tractor or moped produces multi-polar impulses of varying amplitude, so the mesh often, often shakes itself off and throws off adhering soot particles. Sooner or later it still gets clogged, but the operating time of this distiller is enough for hot smoking of not very large fish or pieces of meat/poultry, respectively. size. The degree of clogging of the mesh is judged by the intensity of the neon lamp.
The motor for this installation requires a commutator motor with sequential excitation, i.e. with a very soft external characteristic, at 200-300 W. If an asynchronous motor is used, its power will have to be increased to 1.5-2 kW. The magneto produces voltage pulses with an amplitude of over 6 kV, so the capacitors must be rated at 20 kV. These can be found in the line scan of old color televisions - “coffins” of the era before monoblock TDKS.
Much has been said above about the requirements for smoking materials. It should also be added, firstly, that the most refined taste comes from smoking with cherry, oak and juniper. Alder, apple and pear do not contain any resins, gums or tannins. Oak and beech produce quite a lot of tannins, which gives the taste of products a sharpness and piquancy that not everyone likes. The wood of other trees of the elm order (maple, hornbeam, elm) is not rich in tannins, but the overall taste is so-so. As a substitute for cherries, with some deterioration in taste, the wood of other fruit trees with gum of the order of pink: plum, cherry plum, apricot.
It is best to cut sawdust for smoking with a hand-held circular saw with a pneumatic waste collector or, much more slowly, with a jigsaw onto the underlying film. It is forbidden to rake sawdust from under the yard circular; contamination of smoking materials is unacceptable! Smoking shavings are easier to make, e.g. on an electric planer or jointer, see video:
With homemade wood chips for smoking, the matter is more complicated. There are many ways to obtain wood chips at home described on the Internet, but in fact it turns out that they are intended for “refining” moonshine alcohol. The smoking chips, on the right in the figure, must be more or less calibrated in all 3 sizes. The point is not so much in their size (chips for cold and hot smoking of different calibers), but in the fact that the pieces need to be approximately the same and not elongated in length. If not, the material will smolder unevenly, leading to a dramatic increase in PAH content.
A crushing (chopping) machine for smoking wood chips costs somewhere from 65,000 rubles. At first glance it seems that it can be replaced with a cheaper one garden crusher, but the author of this publication, when analyzing more than 30 samples, was unable to find a single one in which oil from the chain or gearbox could not have entered the chips.
It also seems that you can crush wood chips for smoking with a grinder (angle drill), replacing the disk with a homemade hammer (knife) made of spring steel. However, the grinder gearbox is not designed for long series of frequent and strong shock loads, and also an expensive tool will not last long in this mode.
Perhaps it is best to split wood chips for smoking using a homemade lever splitter made from a pair of pipes connected by a bolt, to one of which a knife is welded. In half a day, with such a device, it is possible to chop wood chips for smoking up to 10 kg of raw materials, and the calibration of wood chips is possible even more accurately than in a factory by sifting through a sieve.
In some sources claiming authority, for example. Wikipedia, smoking methods include liquid smoke treatment. Yes, the smoke is distilled before condensation, but still, the content of PAHs in the products processed with it is off the charts even according to European standards. Evidence of this is a number of intra-European benz(a)pyrene scandals in recent years. This is especially true for cold smoked products: due to the length of the process, their production costs are high, high prices are justified, and falsification by unscrupulous manufacturers is very tempting. So we’ll tell readers how to immediately distinguish a truly smoked product (on the left in the figure) from one “soaked in smoke”, on the right there.
Real smoked meat when cut is closer in color to raw pink-red meat, once. The crust on it is thick, glossy, two. The cut clearly shows the natural fibrous structure of the raw material, three. Under the crust and on the cut, streaks of fat with a streaky surface are visible, four.
Before “smoking” with liquid smoke, meat undergoes heat treatment, because liquid smoke has almost no bacteriostatic properties, therefore, when cut, the product “smoked” in this way is pale, with weakly expressed fibrousness. The crust is dull and soft; often sticky. If there are streaks of fat, they are barely noticeable, which distinguishes this counterfeit from hot smoked products, as well as the smell.
But an absolutely reliable sign that allows you to immediately recognize a product “smoked” with liquid smoke from a distance is vacuum packaging. Real smoked meats are not vacuum packed; they immediately suffocate. As you can see, distinguishing real smoked meats from fake ones is not so difficult.
Smoked delicacies are integral part any festive (and sometimes everyday) table. You can buy ready-made products in a store, but with a 90% probability you will buy a fake prepared using a flavoring: the so-called liquid smoke.
In addition to differences in taste and aroma, these additives are a source of carcinogens, especially if not chosen correctly. temperature conditions.
And most manufacturers, in pursuit of profit, try to prepare the product as quickly as possible, precisely by increasing the temperature.
There is only one way out: prepare delicacies yourself. To do this, you need to purchase a smoking unit. However, this will result in additional costs.
To make delicious products at the same price as raw meat (fish), you can make a hot smoked smokehouse with your own hands. This is not at all difficult to do, especially if you have a garden area.
Moreover, in the kitchen of an apartment building you can also smoke fish without harming your neighbors. But more on that later... Before learning how to make a smokehouse, you need to understand the basic principles of cooking smoked meats.
There are practically no restrictions on the choice of raw materials. Fatty and lean meats are smoked equally well, with or without bones, river and sea fish, Domestic bird and game. 
Special attention We pay attention to product preparation:
If you take fresh raw materials, no preparatory operations are required. The humidity is natural; during the smoking process the consistency of the water will return to normal. naturally. As well as the “extra” fat will be melted away.
But you will have to tinker with defrosted foods, especially fish. A large amount of water, on the one hand, makes the product juicy (although this is a controversial issue; many gourmets do not like smoked meats that are too soft).
Sometimes there is so much moisture that you will not be able to smoke the product at all, the food will simply cook. On the other hand, humidity seems to dilute the taste benefits.
In addition, flowing water requires constant monitoring of the process: an open flame may flare up. And then your food will simply burn.
Therefore, after defrosting, the workpiece should be thoroughly blotted with paper towels or cotton cloth. It will not be possible to overdry the product; natural moisture will remain inside.
To salt or not to salt. A matter of taste: you can pre-marinate the raw product with salt and seasonings (optional), without adding liquid.
Please note that salt retains moisture. Some preparations are smoked ready for use, for example, dry-salted lard.
Another way is to rub the product with salt immediately before smoking. Ideal for preparing fresh fish.
Little secret: Fish (especially small ones) should not be cleaned or cut up. This applies only to fresh product. Then all the juices and fat will remain inside.
Now about firewood, more precisely about wood chips or sawdust. 
The configuration and size depends on the furnace design. You can use small and large sawdust, wood chips of any size, whole branches or chopped firewood.
This is not the main question. It is important to choose the right type of tree. We reject coniferous species, otherwise the resin will smoke not only the container, but also the product.
The exception is non-resinous varieties of juniper (remember that this is a plant listed in the Red Book). Again, this exotic scent is not for everyone.
Incorrectly selected material can ruin high-quality meat (fish). Any deciduous varieties with a low burning rate (alder, oak, beech) are suitable.
In central Russia, smoking with birch wood is practiced. Here it is important to properly prepare the raw materials: during the period of sap flow there is a lot of tar in the trunk, it is possible bad smell.
Once you understand the basics, it will be easier for you to make your own smokehouse.
The variety of homemade smokehouses can confuse even the most experienced home handyman. Drawings can be found in popular magazines, numerous online publications, and even in my grandfather’s home “archive.”
The smoking period, taste and quality depend on which cooking method is chosen. appearance final result. So, mini-smokehouses for home offer two options:
Tip: A DIY mini smokehouse for home can be of any size, the main thing is to ensure a distance of a few centimeters from the food to the walls of the structure.
Basic information will help when creating a mini-smokehouse with your own hands: drawings, operating principles - all this is accessible to study even for beginners in this matter. Read the article about on our website.
You can choose the layout and means of forming a mini-smokehouse yourself. The main thing is to take into account that it should ensure uniform heating on all sides.
The hot smoked smokehouse consists of two compartments: one of them contains products, the other contains sawdust. Based on this, you can make a mini-smokehouse yourself using unnecessary things suitable for the material.
Using a bucket as a base is one of the simplest options that ensures high-quality smoking of small volumes of products. In order to start creating dishes, you need:
Find out how to make it and find answers to your questions.
Tip: If it's standing outside rainy weather, the intensity of the fire in a mini-smoker from a bucket can be increased.
For those who do not have extra time and special experience in performing complex plumbing and welding work, but love homemade fish and smoked meats, we offer great option- DIY smokehouse from a saucepan. You don’t need to work hard to make it - just buy or look around the house for some ingredients that will make an excellent mini-smokehouse for preparing delicious, aromatic products for the whole family and even guests.
Compared to the previous one, this installation provides larger volumes of finished products.
One of the most popular options self-construction a small smokehouse involves:
Important: The thickness of the walls of the “glass” should be no more than 3 mm. Moreover, if a wooden barrel is chosen, the glass must be covered with asbestos cloth, which will prevent overheating.
Meat or fish is considered ready when the smokehouse has completely cooled down. At the same time, it may settle on them a small amount of unburned sawdust that must be removed before use.
Another suitable item for making a smokehouse (but not quite a mini one) with your own hands is a used refrigerator. To form the device, a minimum of effort is required:
Tip: When using a mini smoker from the refrigerator, you should increase the cooking time. So, fish will take about 6 hours, and meat a little more.
Typically, the design for the cold cooking method is a stationary installation made of bricks. However, there is a way to create an easily assembled and disassembled smokehouse on the go using improvised materials:
The minimum cooking time in this installation is 3 hours. If necessary, you can repeat the procedure every other day.
Tip: If the smoke turns out to be excessively black, you need to increase the volume of fresh herb.
In addition to how to make a mini-smokehouse yourself, you need to know how to choose the right sawdust for it. The type of wood will directly affect the taste and appearance.
The most preferred are sawdust such fruit trees like apple and apricot, pear and cherry. Next in the hierarchy are oak and alder, aspen and ash, as well as juniper and beech.
Mahogany and oak will help influence the shade of the dish: the first will give a golden color, the second - dark yellow or brown.
There are also a few basic rules:
Video: example of using a mini-smokehouse
As you can see, the schemes for creating both types of smokehouses - with cold and hot smoking - represent a series of simple steps, upon completion of which you can enjoy food that is pleasant in all respects.
Homemade smoked meats are a delicious treat that is hard to refuse. Your own smokehouse will allow you to make delicacies directly on summer cottage. To the owner homestead farming You won’t have to buy products of questionable quality on the market. All that remains is to find the answer to the question that interests many summer residents: “How to make a smokehouse with your own hands?”
Smokehouse for a summer residence from a barrel
When the drawing of the future product is completed correctly, there is no doubt that the homemade product will work properly.
The smokehouse option should be simple. Then the summer resident will be able to make a homemade product in a day or several days. After the product is ready, the owner will have access to an original option for preparing delicacies - smoking.
If the owner of a dacha is a practical person, then he will like the idea of making a useful thing with his own hands. The most common building material wood remains: the products will have a unique aroma. The cold smoked smokehouse is installed on a slope.
Craftsmen can adapt an old refrigeration unit for a smokehouse. 
To completely re-equip it, the master will need only two hours. However, such a device has significant disadvantages:
It is better to replace the old refrigerator with an environmentally friendly one wooden structure in the form of a box or box. Then there will be no unpleasant moments or health problems when consuming smoked products.
When wood is used as a building material, there is no need to worry about the likelihood of the wood easily igniting when it comes to cold smoking: the resulting smoke has a very low temperature. The structure is easy to install yourself. The only one prerequisite is to place the structure on a slope.
Wooden smokehouse option The facility is perfect for preparing smoked meats with a delicious taste. Its components are:
Stages of constructing a cold smoked smokehouse on a slope:
The brick will look aesthetically pleasing. The smoked products obtained in such a facility are no worse than those from a factory stainless steel smokehouse. But the cost of the latter is much higher than the funds you spent on making a useful homemade product. 
A do-it-yourself cold-smoked smokehouse for your dacha will help make meat and fish delicacies even tastier without additional costs. In order not to make mistakes in the calculations, a drawing of the future structure is made before construction begins. So, you can see how much building materials you will need.
Stages of construction of a stationary smokehouse in the country:
This building for a summer residence is quite complex, but it can satisfy any requests of its owners. It can be used to fry, smoke and grill foods. The structure should be located as far as possible from wooden buildings. A solid foundation is made for it. It is good to use rubble concrete.
Step-by-step instructions for building a foundation for a smokehouse Allows you to clearly determine the location for each structural element. It is recommended to use red stove bricks in construction. The firebox is made of thick-walled metal. If you cover it with a stainless steel sheet on top, you can increase its service life.
A grill-smokehouse can have not only a roaster, a smokehouse, a barbecue and a cauldron. The latter requires an additional chimney. If you use iron circles with different diameters, they will fit different vessels in which you usually cook: for example, you can boil a kettle.
A stainless steel barrel with a volume of 100-200 liters is pre-cleaned and washed. You need to cut a hole in the bottom to install the chimney. A stainless steel barrel is placed on a special stand made of bricks or blocks. The top cover should be cut off from the product, which is subsequently fitted under a tray for fat that flows out during the smoking process. Its diameter should be smaller than the diameter of the barrel. Then the smoke will pass through unhindered.
To smoke food using the cold smoking method, you need to make a grate. Alternative option is to secure pieces of reinforcement in a barrel from above. In addition, you can install several grates in one smokehouse barrel. They are installed at a distance of at least 15 cm from each other.
Design diagram and photo of the finished barrel smokehouse To secure the grates, hinges are welded to the walls of the smokehouse.
Skilled craftsmen independently make useful homemade products from stainless steel. To make a camera, you need to take a sheet of stainless steel. The material is cut and bent into a cube without the top side. The seams of the product are firmly welded. Craftsmen adapt an old pressure cooker as a smokehouse.
Do-it-yourself electrostatic structures allow you to cold smoke food. The electric heater acts on the chips, producing smoke.
Meat and fish are fumigated with smoke particles with a pleasant smell. The heating element turns off when the smoke temperature reaches the desired value and penetrates into the chamber.
