Is a Homemade Smoker Worth Your Time and Effort?







A homemade smoker can be constructed from something as simple as an old metal barrel and electric hot plate, all the way to a brick and mortar masterpiece, big enough to smoke a whole hog.

When choosing the material for building a smoker a little common sense goes a long way. Think about what a smoker does and how it works.

If your are going to make an offset barbecue smoker, it is best to use a new barrel because of possible contamination issues. Remember, whatever you use, it needs to be clean and free of pollutants or you could make someone sick.

When it comes to the heat and smoke source, you have four choices. You could use wood, charcoal, propane or electric. My personal preference is wood or charcoal. If you go with propane or electric you need a pan to place wood chips in. The pan should be on or near the heat source.

Proper venting is critical for maintaining temperature and smoke exhaust. The best way to do this is by installing an adjustable inlet vent for your heat source and an adjustable outlet vent for your smoking chamber.

Depending on your skill level you can be quite creative. If you use your imagination you can be very effective when building a smoker. Smoker plans, available at some of the larger hardware stores, might be another option.

So build your smoker and lets get smoky!



Electric Smokers are very user friendly and make it possible to create down home country meals like a professional Pit Master.

A Gas Smoker is easy and economical to use and you get quality results. You can put this smoker on auto pilot and free your time up.

A Water Smoker is a great way to add flavor and moisture to your smoked foods.

Offset Barbecue Smoker utilize a large smoke chamber with a separate offset firebox. They are popular with many professional and competition Pitmasters.



Return from homemade smoker to bbq smokers

Return from homemade smoker to smoking meat