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Admirers of homemade smoked meats are well aware that the best-tasting product is provided not by huge smoking cabinets, but by relatively small devices. Therefore, a do-it-yourself bucket smokehouse, with the right approach, can be considered one of the most optimal options for making smoked mackerel or ham at home.
The best smokehouse option is an enamel bucket with a lid.
Pros and cons of a bucket smokehouse
The advantages of using a small container in the form of a metal tank or bucket are clear and obvious even for a person who is far from the technology of smoking products. In order not to go deeper, you can only point out two main advantages:
- Small weight and dimensions of the device. Therefore, the bucket is suitable for smoking on a gas stove in an apartment or summer kitchen. If desired, such a device can be easily washed and hidden in a closet or on a mezzanine;
- The small volume provides uniform smoke treatment, there are no cooled and overheated areas, as is the case in large devices. As a result, a hot smoked smokehouse from a bucket in its capabilities is practically not inferior to industrial factory samples.
In addition, many amateurs note a simple bucket-based smokehouse device. It is easy to modify it at home, and if something does not work out, you can always eliminate flaws with minimal losses. Another significant plus is that the processing process is faster, less fuel is consumed, and there is no need to warm up or, as they say, accelerate a huge massive metal structure in order to smoke a few fish for dinner or lunch for a family.
Travel option of the smokehouse
This scheme also has enough negative qualities. For example, if the bucket is made with a zinc coating, then it can only be used for smoking on charcoal. In addition, the small volume is partially eaten up by the grate and dripping plate. It is well known that the smoking process involves the release of a large amount of active organic substances, due to which the metal of the bucket, even being galvanized or enameled, corrodes quickly at the slightest damage to the coating.
If you heat a bucket for smoking on a gas burner, then after a couple of years of using the smokehouse, the metal will burn out to holes, and the device will have to be sent to a landfill. It will not work to use the bucket in the same quality, since the water poured into the container will give off an unpleasant smell of rancid fat and burning. Therefore, building a smokehouse from an enamel bucket with your own hands is like a one-way road, it is best to buy a new container and give up the idea of using it later for other purposes in advance.
The second negative factor, which gourmets most often complain about, is associated with the small dimensions of the smokehouse chamber. It is believed that the optimal size for a fish is a 20-25 cm long carcass. On the other hand, this is not enough.If it becomes necessary to smoke a broiler or a whole poultry chicken, then you will have to come up with additional options for the apparatus, assembly, or making a smokehouse with your own hands from a bucket and a pan instead of a lid. This will help increase the volume of the chamber.
Selection and preparation of containers
If there is no desire to buy a new bucket, then you can use what is already available in the household. But do not grab the first container that comes to hand, at least a metal bucket, regardless of its size, must meet three main criteria:
- The body is not damaged or corroded;
- The seams in the bottom of the container are not rusted and withstand the water poured into the container;
- The bucket has a working handle for carrying the smokehouse.
The last point is the most important, since the device will have to be installed either on a gas stove, or on an open fire, or in some other way subjected to heating. The temperature of the case will be high enough that the grips and mittens will not work. And besides, removing a bucket without a handle from the fire, there is a certain risk of turning the contents of the smokehouse inside and spoiling the precious product.
It's good if you can find a stainless steel container for your home smokehouse, but such a metal is incredibly difficult to wash from grease and soot
The bucket will need to be washed with hot water and soda, no detergents or cleaning powders, otherwise the smokehouse will smell of perfume, which manufacturers like to add to SMS. If the bucket was previously used for pouring technical liquids, paints and solvents, gasoline, then it is better not to use such a container. In addition, to make a full-fledged smokehouse from an enamel bucket with your own hands, you must definitely pick up a lid. This is not difficult, since about half of the range of enameled dishes, including buckets, are sold with lids.
Can I smoke in a galvanized bucket
Zinc is considered a toxic metal, but only if heated to temperatures over 200aboutC. In this case, metal microparticles begin to separate on the galvanized surface, with stronger heating, more than 400aboutC, vapors with high toxicity appear in the air.
Therefore, the traditional method of making a smokehouse from a bucket for a galvanized container will work quite well, since the temperature in the chamber does not rise above 120aboutC. A galvanized smoking installation will work no worse than an enameled one, but if there are concerns, you can modify the smokehouse. For example, use an external smoke generator, as shown in the photo.
External smoke generator works with cold smoke
It can be bought or made for a smokehouse with your own hands. True, in this case, a cold smoking apparatus will be obtained from the bucket. Another way is to install an electric hotplate with a chip plate on the bottom of the container. For this method, an ordinary galvanized bucket of 10 liters will not be enough, for a smokehouse you will need at least a capacity of 12-15 liters.
How to make a do-it-yourself bucket smokehouse
In general, the process of making a hot smoker from a new bucket consists of three stages:
- We make grates for stacking products inside the smokehouse;
- We select a container for filling chips and shavings. Usually this is a metal plate placed on the bottom of the bucket;
- We select a method for setting on fire.
The mesh will need to be made from annealed steel wire or taken ready-made, for example, in a microwave oven. Some models use two grids to increase the load, but at first you can get by with one.
Diy diagrams and photos of a smokehouse from a bucket
A standard version of a capsule apparatus from an enamelled tank, pot or any other container is shown in the diagram below.
In fact, such a structure can be assembled even in the field. The lid is usually not fixed, just pressed down with any oppression of a suitable weight.
Higher quality can be obtained in a hot-smoked smokehouse with a water seal; in this version, the lid is not just put on a bucket, it is either wrapped with a wet cloth, or an additional hydraulic hose is installed.
The process is fast, but a lot of smoke comes out from under the lid of the smoker, so the bucket is usually wrapped with a wet cloth.
Tools and materials
To make a smoke machine, you will need 2-3 mm thick aluminum or steel wire, a cloth and a plate for dripping fat. If the bucket is planned to be installed on burnt coals, then you will additionally need to make a tagan or a stand for the container. Almost all work can be done with pliers and a hacksaw for metal.
Lattice making
The easiest way is to bend the grid under the food with the usual spiral winding. A sufficiently long piece of wire, not less than 8 m, should be carefully screwed onto a blank 4-5 cm in diameter.The result is a spiral with a diameter of 18-20 cm.
A stand for a smokehouse over a fire is usually bent from two pieces of reinforcement. Such a tagan will not burn out or deform under the weight of the smoking apparatus.
Assembling the structure
First of all, it is necessary to correctly install the stand under the smokehouse. To do this, two bent U-shaped brackets are driven into the ground so that the horizontal part of the tagan is above the surface of the site at a height of at least 5-7 cm.
To check how stable the structure is, water is poured into a bucket and placed on a cold tagan. If the smokehouse does not swing and stands steadily, then it will be possible to place a plate under the fat, add sawdust and lay the grate.
One of the options for making a smokehouse from a bucket with your own hands is shown in the video:
How to smoke in a smoke bucket
Before placing a container with sawdust and fish or meat laid inside, it is necessary to let the fire burn out thoroughly, so that the coals remain without an open flame. It is in this version that a stable and very powerful heat flux is obtained. Next, fill in the dried alder chips, put a plate and a wire rack. Before smoking, products are usually processed in a spicy brine and dried so that there is no moisture on the surface.
On top of the lattice there will be a plate, then there is another lattice on which the nipples and chicken legs are laid
The apparatus is placed on a stand, covered with a lid and wrapped with a wet piece of cloth. The operating time of the smokehouse is selected individually, depending on the mass of the products, the thickness of the pieces and the intensity of heating.
Conclusion
A self-assembled smokehouse from a bucket is a good way to diversify the menu in the country or on vacation outside the city. The design itself does not require special knowledge and can be easily assembled from any available tanks or pans. True, in order to get a product of decent quality, patience and experience in performing such work are required.
