Old time smoke house

[Kentucky45]

I'm interested in building an old time smokehouse. I'd guess that many old timers, trappers, mountain men, who built huts or cabins had smokehouses. This is what I was told buy an old Texan, former Kentuckian on building a smokehouse. He said on their farm the smokehouse was about 8'x8' with an 8' roof. It was built with oak and had 2"x6" rafters and 20 penny nails to hang the meat quarters on. The roof was covered with rolled tar paper. There was a hole dug in the center of the dirt floor with about a foot long end of a 55 gallon barrel buried for the fire logs. It had an adjustable stove pipe high on one wall. He stressed the smokehouse had to be as tight as possible so that no smoke escaped. Even the door was sealed well. According to him it took about three days to smoke a quartered animal. Anyone know a different way to build a wooden smokehouse, and can other woods such as pine be used?

 

[William O.]

Just from my knowledge of woodworking I would not use pine unless it was my only choice. Even when kiln dried, pine tends to be a "wet" wood, always giving off pine oil which might impart a bad taste to the meat. Oak because of it's availability and durability would be a very good choice for making a smokehouse, as would other hardwoods.

 

[BillinOregon]

Make the smokehouse outta hickory and no worries, mate!
:wink:
Actually, I think there are smokehouse plans in one of the Firefox books ...

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

If it was that well sealed up, including the door; wouldn't going in to stoke/feed the fire be pretty risky? it also would allow the smoke and heat out. I think the description lost something along the way. The "hole in the center" may lead to the smoke tunnel, ending in the part of the drum for the fire-pit outside. Like in this very old-world stump smoker.
stump smoker

 

[Blizzard of '93]

do not use any evergreen wood to smoke with.
hardwood only - oak, hickory, about any fruit tree wood, in Alaska 'alder' (IIRC) is used to smoke fish. grape vine can be used.
my granddad had his smokehouse built into the slope of a hill aways behind his home. it was around 10' sq. he hung hams and had rabbit cage wire 'platforms' he layed bacon on. he always had meat because folks for some ways around brought him their meat to smoke for them, he was well known for his craft and come hog killing time his smokehouse was so full he had to 'wiggle' around in there.
he also smoked beef and turkeys for folks.
he had a pipe of terra cotta run from the 'stove' he had made from brick useing an old cast iron stove door mounted on hinges set into the masonry. the pipe was around 8' long and came out into the middle of the shed which itself was tightly sealed with a small cap atop that was adjustable. he never used more than a small fire but it had to be tended night and day.
there was a large cellar under his house that he built racks into and had large wooden boxes where he would cure hams and bacon by covering them with a mixture he made up of salt, brown sugar and spices (red & black pepper and others) and let them 'rest' a few days before they went into the smoker. also he smoked ropes of link sausage in his smoker.
there was another old timer on the other side of town, down near the river that had an even larger smokehouse - they were pals from 'way back. between the 2 of them they had half of the area around town (or more - but there was lots of folks that fattened a hog in a lot near the home back then) covered for smokeing meat.
the best ham - man when grandma would fry up that ham sliced thin to place into biscuits you could smell it a 100 yds away or more.

 

[rafterob]

That is the best design right there for a smoke house. A separate fire box at the bottom of the slope piped up to the smoke house.Very safe, efficient and effective. Here is what I have done in the past for small scale fish smoking. Buy a cheap portable charcoal grill-the rectangular box types are the best, I have paid as little as $14 for them.Cut a hole in the top big enough to fit dryer vent pipe. Dig that about 1/2 way into the side of a steep slope about 8-10 feet below the crest. Dig a trough deep enough to bury a lenghth of dryer vent pipe-I use the flexible stuff it usually lasts a couple years. Top the vent pipe with your smoke box, this can be just about any airtight container that you modify with some sort of vent. A cardboard box will work for a one time smoking.Pile dirt around the bottom of the box to seal it against the ground. This works for small cuts of meat like bacon also, great for jerky. What is missing in the original description given (I believe) is that the smoke house is built with the floor 2-3 feet above ground and the fire pit is below the floor. The crawl space area is left with open venting so the smoke is drawn up through the house and out the top vent.

 

[sbhg]

You could also use cement blocks, they will hold the heat well and will last a very long time.

 

[longbow-hunter]

just a thought, when I was in Alaska in the army we smoked our fish in a smoker made of an old refridgeorater with a smoke stack on top and a hot plate underneath. Used hickory chips for smoking. Kept in going all summer.

 

[squirrellluck]

Are you talking about hot or cold smoking. Been trying to dig the old ways out of daddy for several years. They had a smoke house but did a lot of cold smoking. Still don't have all the info but it was done at much lower temps. Around 80 degrees if I remember right.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

you're right squirrel - that's cold smokeing. takes days to do properly.
now the mass marketers inject the hams and run 'em through an electric job for a few hours.
don't hold a candle to the real deal.

 

[Joel Lehman]

Both of my grandfathers had tin smokehouses. One had a concrete floor and one had a dirt floor. They had to keep them locked when the grand kids visited. I once got in trouble for digging a hole into the dirt floor smokehouse and raiding the sausage. They both used rotten post oak for smoking.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

You need to decide if you want to cold smoke or hot smoke. Ghetto is right in having a firebox a distance away with the smoke piped in. The colder the smoke the better. Hence the need to have the smokehouse well sealed. The smokehouse here on the farm has a grill in the middle of the floor and a stone "chimney" that goes under ground and down hill about ten feet to a fire hearth that seals up. We have an old overgrown orchard and use apple wood for smoke. better than hickory

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

More ideas-> Link

 

[Kentucky45]

Are you talking about hot or cold smoking.

What I'd like to do is cold smoke. With a small fire in a building, sealed pretty well but with ventilation, you can keep your fire going all the time. From what I can gather from the older folks around here, you smoke the meat for about two weeks, originally I thought it was about three days. When the meat is ready you then move it away from the fire where it will get a lesser amount of smoke but enough to keep it. It will last a couple years that way. I've been told the smoke is a pretty continual thing. Some say they built their fire in the mornings and let it smoke thru the day. If it went out at night that wasn't such a bad thing, and some have told me it's actually a good thing for the meat to set without smoke a few hours. Then you start your fire again in the morning for that day. An man from Oklahoma told me that their family smoked for many of their neighbors. In return the neighbors helped supply wood and even meat. Kind of a communal thing. Concrete blocks and bricks work fine if available. As far as wood used to build smokehouses the general consensus seems to be oak. The meat picks up the flavor from the fire smoke of course and Hickory, Pecan, and Walnut are used allot. No Cedar, for either the smoke wood or the wooden building, it perfumes the meat and can make it inedible. I like the idea of the dugout smokehouse in the side of the hill but I don't have a side of a hill on my property, it's flat.
You'll love this! Last week guy contacted me about an old Oak barn to be torn down. I looked at it and we agreed on a price for him to tear it down and I'd buy the wood. I was going to pick up the wood and the guy that had contacted me told me the owner of the barn caught him and said he'd better not tear down the barn. He was trying to sell me the wood off of somone elses barn and didn't have permission to do so. Imagine if I'd been driving off of that property with a trailer full of stolen wood and the Sherrif was setting at the end of the drive. I'd still be under that jail right now.

 

[Skylinewatcher]

Man, sounds like some manure I'd get mixed up in. Glad you came out clean.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I visited a smokehouse down in Va that was underground and built up like a cold cellar. The firebox was in the side of the hill and the smoke fed into the smokehouse through an underground chimney. That smoke house must have been 12 feet high and about that big around. The old guy said when they were kids, they would start curing their Christmas hams when they butchered the day after Christmas. They hung in the smokehouse for nearly a year. The first few days were packed in salt (and I think he said some borax but he may have meant salt peter) I have always loved smoked cheeses, which definitely have to be smoked at room temps or below. That old man made some really fantastic smoked cheeses.

 

[The Hermit]

Grand dad had a 6X8 limestone smoke house with a dirt floor. In the center of the floor was a wire mesh grate to keep out the mice. Hooked to the hole in the floor was a 6" stove pipe that lead to a firepit outside. He would build a hard wood fire in a fire ring next to the smokehouse and then shovel the coals into the pit. Then he would put on the coals chunks of apple wood that had been soaked in water, producing the smoke. Then he would cover the firepit and let it go all day. He cold smoked and said you didnt want it to get so hot that the ham dripped. The hams had been salt curred, smoked for 5 days, then hung from the rafters in the cabin I'm living in now. I think the firepit was about 6-8 feet away from the smokehouse. The stove pipe was angled down towards the firepit so the creosote could drain down.Grandma washed down the hams with a damp cloth and kept the string mesh bag on them till ready to eat.There was very little waste, but I always thought they were a little salty.


The Hermit

 

[Birdman]

curious, after smoking the meats would it be better to store them somewhere cool n breezy or someplace warm like an attic. The attic I have now is huge n great for drying herbs n veggies n such n was wondering if the heat might help in preserving the meats by drying it out even more after the smoking? thanks for any info YMHS Birdman

 

[east texas]

howdy :hatsoff: ilive in the piney woods of east texas and one i CAN tell you is dont try smoking with pine unless you want your meat to smell and taste like turpentine! my smoke house is 4x4 with a tin roof and a short stack on top to let the smoke move through the smoke house . in the center of the floor is a stove pipe that runs underground{about a foot deep} to a fire pit 4 foot away from the smoke house. i cover the fire pit when i get the fire going and the smoke is sucked through the smoke house. if you dont have an outlet for the smoke, it will not pull smoke into the house. im sure other people do it other ways, but i can tell you this has worked for me for the last 6 years without fail! i have smoked wild hog, venison{whos hams can be made to taste so much like ham you can hardly tell the difference}chicken ,and of course beef! i ALWAYS use hardwood mostly hickory or oak around here but occasionally can get some pecan.fruitwood such as apple,peach pears etc. work good also a few green limb pieces on thw fire smoke real nice.my grandfather taught me how to do all this when i was a wee lad. im sure its prob hc/pc andall that but food sure taste good around here! the few neighbors we have beg me to smoke their meats! mike

 

[east texas]

ahhhh blizzard your killin me! reminds me of my own youth. god i miss those days too!