The Smokehouse

Once we started raising pigs in 2010, my husband wanted a smokehouse. It got put on the list and eventually in December 2013 he got it built. We had been to see one in the next town over that sounded just like what we wanted to do, so he got a lot of good ideas.

The first thing was to figure out how to get it higher than the little wood stove we’d been given back in 2010. This little old woodstove is missing a leg but it works fine. David evicted the mice from under it and covered the draft hole to regulate it better.

Turns out we had a lot of chimney blocks left from building the chimney in 1983. So we collected them and stacked them. They made a 32” square base. We got 4 sturdy metal T posts and pounded them into the ground in the center of the blocks to keep them steady.

The wood was cut and milled here in town. It was pine, 2” x 8” rough cut.

There are 1” x 2” horizontal supports inside at 26” and 44” and around the base. The height is 4’ to the edge of the roof and 5’ to the peak. The door measures 24” x 16” and fits tightly.

Looking up at the roof, you can see the 3 wood racks we hang the meat from. They are 40” from the diffuser on the floor.

The top of the diffuser is 5” above the sheet metal floor. The sheet metal floor rests on the lower supports.

The vents are cut 4” from the peak. We used tin can lids to close them off.

There is an outer trim piece of 1” x 4” to keep the structure on the bricks.

We used an indoor/outdoor thermometer to monitor the smoke temperature. Because it is reversed for use, you read the outside temp instead of inside temp.

The stove pipe is kept horizontal to slow down the smoke so it can cool before entering the smoke house through the floor.

Soaked hickory wood is added after the fire built of seasoned maple has gone to coals.

The goal is an inside temp between 80 - 90F as this is cold smoking.

Smoking well, so this is when he hangs the meat inside.

Bacon hung from the top racks. We use bent coat hangers for hanging hooks.

We also collected a couple oven racks for things that can’t hang up.

Anything not on the purchase list is something we had leftover from previous projects or on hand.

Total cost to build:
Rough cut wood: $35.00
Screws/hardware: $10.82
T posts for support: $20.24
2 more blocks for base: $2.98
Total: $69.04

The finished product: top is the herb, bottom 2 are maple.
The first time he smoked it he did it for 8 hours. That was too long, flavor was too strong. This last time he did it for 2 hours. It was just right.

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