www.sausagemaking.org

Bionic, because we can "re-build him" having reclaimed him.
Have gathered the pieces not already used for d.i.y. or scattered to the winds despite careful storage.
It's not a thing of beauty, however it is giving me an insight into an indoor cabinet of modest proportions which can be stowed or assembled in a couple of minutes, (far less time than cleaning & drying my csg).

Spare wood from recent super insulation of airing cupboard (now it only measures 18 degrees in there, but yet to thinsulate the inside of the door, which will hopefully knock back the heating cycles some more), spare dowel, 12 years of screws & pocketed items that may come in handy "if only I can find em when I want em"
various brackets, hooks, bungee's & general hardware locks, good old cardboard boxes, making me think about edges with seals that can be locked into place guide straps you'd set your backpack load with or tightening down expandable luggage, ..just not yet,

The MK1 prototype smoke cabinet has a height (without chimney flue) of : 67 inch
Width:
Internal rack dimension: 325mm x 270mm.

Anticipate 5 removable racks in total (eventually)
Anticipate 1 dowel to hang that salmon from the top.
Airflow from the bottom (exposed) with a temporary
2(original) doors to access low & high level racks in an attempt to limit total loss of smoke output. when doors opened. ..may have to move one, thank goodness for dremel tools.

would I be ok sticking (cut to size) some clear poly plastic sheeting in or would it react badly? (big sheet left over from the "floating ghost hologram" effect for Halloween).

Would you use silicone sealant to form a better air seal around door joints?
How long would you allow any silicone to cure / air time, in order not to taint foodstuffs thereafter?
Should I use another gasket seal such as a ultra thin silicone coated glass fibre rope? (as per seals on a woodburner)

chimney will be a tumble dryer wall kit on a 90 degree ish moulded bend then vented outside through a window, possibly eventually a high pipe wall exit.
Mk1 is going to leak like a sieve!

(I SO look forward to messing around with a solid frame unit like a fridge, but beggars can't be choosers right now).

Pictures to follow, when I follow through (oo-er) to something resembling completion sometime in 2014.

Any advice for ad-hoc wire racks? or should I cut down & edge some cheap baking racks? (NOT the wife's).

Hi Gus,
Here are my uneducated opinions;

would I be ok sticking (cut to size) some clear poly plastic sheeting in or would it react badly? (big sheet left over from the "floating ghost hologram" effect for Halloween).

I dont know if there are any offgassing issues with poly...however it would certainly color very quickly.

Would you use silicone sealant to form a better air seal around door joints?
How long would you allow any silicone to cure / air time, in order not to taint foodstuffs thereafter?
Should I use another gasket seal such as a ultra thin silicone coated glass fibre rope? (as per seals on a woodburner)

I believe silicone is a no no. Maybe weather-striping? In the US (as I'm sure you pommies can) we can buy this "striping" in varoius widths/lengths. It like fridge seals that are adhesive but with out the magnet component. Generally used for external doors.

Mk1 is going to leak like a sieve!

Adhesive flue foil...it's cheap and awesome!

I look forward to seeing your creation.

I'm contemplating converting my smoker to a curing chamber and my fermentation fridge into a smoker

Yep...not much to do in winter here for me.

Thanks Dingo.

Correct, I meant offgassing / reactions to smoke ..just less eloquent than yourself.
..things to look into with the door seal material then.

The tape you are referring to is, (I assume) aluminium class 5 adhesive foil tape? the type used to seal pir foam / foil insulation slabs, which is what I possess from sealing insulation for our woodburner, loft insulation & hot water tank cupboard, I certainly hope so! ...I'd considered it already so good to see possible confirmation.

Sounds even more "bodgey" but I was thinking of cutting to size cardboard or metallised card for the interior to effect a better seal & make it easier to clean / strip out & replace / protect & limit any leaching from unknown materials, sound feasible to you?

It has opened the possibilities of a waterproof simple foldaway sealed gasket unit to my minds eye.
As to a window smoking up, theoretically it wouldn't be that quick or heavy if you have good airflow ..always desirable eh!? as the wood shavings are very clean burning, a basic narrow pressurised air wash strip could theoretically be built into a window as well, pending air turbulance evaluation, for which smoke is obviously handy for mapping purposes.

You could use stove rope around the door as another option.

Phil

Got a wedge of it to hand, will untwine some of the thick stuff, as per original post should I coat it in something or char it off a bit to tighten & seal the fibres d'yathink?

Dunno. The stuff I got was tightly bound and came with a special 'high temp' glue.

Phil

There are so many types, one of our favourites is a large loose twist, pretty much you can select your own for "stuffing" & mixing into fire cement, whilst others are obviously proper rope type braids, ..guess they're good "as is" bearing in mind they're set into ovens, cookers, stoves etc ..all with close proximity to foodstuffs.
best rummage through my woodburner spares bag.

Air vent:

1 or 2 d'ya reckon?
I'm keen to keep this vermin proof at all entry points (living by a field & getting occasional mouse) so will be meshing the chimney & any air vent access from critters.
Not knowing how this thin chimney of a smoker is going to draw I intend to place a recycled something or other vent low to assist the draw / air for the burner.

Therefore, (& stop me if i'm missing something here) as it's a cold smoker thermal current is insignificant, but I would like a bit of adjustability rather than a whacking great hole.

Chewing over what to use & recycle:

I do have (clean) a good few 5" diameter candy floss pots, which get pressed into use for mortar mixing etc. they have clip lids, unless I can easily & freely obtain proper bbq type propeller vents was thinking these could be pressed into service, cutting back the body of the pot, inserting it into as side wall, meshing over the inside so it's connected to the wood (old sieves maybe)? & using different lids with differing amounts of holes drilled / cut out area till I've an idea of air flow overall, clipping whatever seems to respond to a sluggish air pressure day for example.

(typical uk house leaks like a sieve & prone to air pressure due to location in the dip of a hill).

Any other ideas for a cannibalised vent? i'd love to hear em.

How are bradley's (for instance) vented at the ignition point?

Internal dims (roughly) 11inch x 12 inch, & around 68inches tall cabinet.

Well having been doing some diy plumbing "improvements" i've neglected "Bionic smoker" ...but seeing as the wife came home today with some 14+ LB's of cheese for me ...all for the smoker or to test smoke.

So I estimate we have 23lbs of cheese in the fridge (having just offloaded some)
full rounds of Brie @500g (12p each)
500g of stilton (90p =1/2 round)
various cheese platter packages of fruity cheese 90ish p fer pack of 4..

worth a look in Tesco & sainsbury especially as the official xmas packaged food always seems to be marked down for 4th Jan on clearance, ..getting ready for easter eggs I guess!

But as i've left it alone & am running out of space unless I turn on another fridge, I'm going to turn it upside down & temporary chimney it with a sliver of card & some tape, ..looks like we'll have to buy some new cooling racks so I can slice them to size asap.

Q. better to cut the brie rounds into regular slices or simply smoke em as slabs when this big? I'm a big fan of the "ooze" when cut, myself.

GUS wrote:...but seeing as the wife came home today with some 14+ LB's of cheese for me ...all for the smoker or to test smoke.

A wife like that is a keeper!

Phil