Lidl deals racking for peanuts ..& smoker projects

[GUS]

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-249 ... 18907&ar=3

DIY gifts from 8th December...

Just a thought for those who have bits of wood, around, but want a frame to clad & turn into a smoker.
the shelves would need cutting to accomodate other forms of mesh or to overlay chrome wire racks etc, however the frame does make for some easy work, as do the nut & bolt access holes to clad out quickly & easily with "whatever" covering material is too hand. silicone ( look out for a neutral cure) to help seal prior to using some aluminium tape on remaining edges.

Just remember to seal the screws / nuts on the initial assembly as you assemble it regardless, (tiny blob of silicone) to minimise initial leakage.

or for a smoke shed where basic weight bearing racking is envisaged

ORDEX Household Shelving

Made from sturdy galvanised steel
Easy to assemble with protective feet
Max. load capacity per shelf (kg): 50
Size (cm): H150 x W75 x D30
Buy 2 for £25

[wheels]

Blimey that's cheap - £12.50 each.

Phil

[GUS]

Yes indeed, strong, light, easily adaptable framework with easy to locate drilled & adjustable basic unit to clad with what you want be it wood (csg containment) or metal material Hot smoke a-go-go.

Or if you have a large enough shed, easy to set up a couple & hang some poles between to secure all that lovely sausage / fish maybe.

Wheels, would your preference be to turn the shelving slats over (so they are more tray like) in order to allow better flow & simple change over / containment of any fine - wide mesh types you cared to "lay down" ?
or to simply measure & cut some more metal shelving (leaving a couple of these as standard to maintain structural integrity then turn the edges so drilling through & slotting pins could be easier to pop in & out ?

[wheels]

For a standard CSG, I think that I'd just use the top two thirds. From the top, I'd leave the top and third shelves as is. If the shelf steel will stand it, I'd get the centre of the 2nd shelf cut out as much as possible and some form of mesh put on it to hold the product to smoke.

...In reality, I'd ring my nephew, tell him what I want, and leave him to sort it for me!

Phil

[slemps]

Just a warning though, my understanding is that galvanised metal is a bad idea for smoking. I think at high temperatures it can emit zinc fumes (look up metal fever).

While cold smoking might not cause this, I don't think I'd risk it with food.

I guess you could try and clad the inside so there is no metal exposed to the food area?

S.

[GUS]

Slemp, plenty of documentation on zinc & temps required to get it "nasty" ..the commonly accepted perception is that typically (& bearing in mind food smoked is temp monitored right)!? that it i hard to enter the zone for damaging material absorption, unlike spraying an air freshener around your room I hasten to add!

Also, if building a framework, that frame may not necessarily be an exposed inner frame, all depends on how you build stuff, but yes point taken.

For instance, myself I would (for the sake of smoke permeability create an inner & outer frame (insulated & taped up, with this galv framework sandwiched in the middle, as far as the shelves are concerned I would keep one either end for structural integrity then fashion something to replace anything in-between that would be subject to heat extremes, (if ever).

Modern materials such as foil faced pir foam, or steel faced pir foam ..both with extremely high insulation values work well in this instance for the purpose of efficient heating / cooling & retention, also being lightweight material they do not adversely stress the load-bearing capability.

[slemps]

Cheers Gus. I'm certainly no expert on it but had always heard to avoid anything galvanised for smoking. What sort of temperatures do you have to hit?

S.

[GUS]

Slemps..

A quick rootle round here in the search box...

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11388&p=96836&hilit=galvanised+steel#p96836
(key words: Galvanised steel)

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=800&hilit=galvanised+steel

[slemps]

Thanks Gus!