Electric smokehouse for home use
Not always a city dweller has the opportunity to cook something "with a smoke". An electric smokehouse is ideal for these purposes. It does not spread odors around the house, does not require constant monitoring, and will give you the opportunity to enjoy the taste of meat, lard or home-smoked fish.
How an electric smokehouse works
You can cook in it:
- various types of meat;
- fish;
- vegetables;
- sausages.
Processing time is reduced several times. The device does not have time to consume a large amount of energy. Electric smokehouses are safely installed on balcony or in the kitchen. Standard models are designed for 2-4 kg of products.
Electric smokehouse for hot smoking
The heat treatment makes meat and fish safe to consume even without salting. Moisture remains in food, dishes made from it are juicy, fatty. But the absence of preservatives allows food to be stored for only a few days.
Meat is cooked in a few hours at temperatures up to 100-150 degrees. For vegetables, 2-5 minutes are enough with a small load, half an hour - with the maximum filling of the chamber.
Cold smoking
Low temperature processing extends the shelf life of food up to several months. A cold smoked electric smokehouse operates at 20-40 degrees, and fumigates meat or vegetables for several hours. The raw material is pre-salted to exclude the growth of bacteria.
The device is more complicated. It must be connected to the hood so that smoke does not spread through the house. Electric cold smokers are less mobile and tied to the room ventilation system. On the other hand, manufacturers often supplement the device with functions of economical power consumption, generation of liquid smoke.
Homemade device design
Resourceful inventors have come up with several ways to create a do-it-yourself smoking machine. You definitely can't put them in the room, but such smokehouses are used in the courtyard without any problems.
Most often they are taken as a basis:
- metal barrel;
- refrigerator body.
The second option is suitable for creating large stocks of cold cooked meat.
Hot smoked option
To create a homemade device, you need to prepare:
- metal container (barrel);
- a thermostat that regulates the temperature in the range of 20-90 degrees;
- thermometer;
- electric stove;
- fat tray;
- metal mesh;
- electrical cable;
- form for sawdust.
For mobility, furniture wheels are screwed to the bottom.
A cleaned container is selected for the design. All components are removed from the hotplate, except for the heating elements. They are with two wires attached with screws to the bottom of the barrel.
A hole is made just above the tile, a thermostat is attached, which is connected to the heating element. A mechanical thermometer for the future electric smokehouse is installed at the top. In the middle of the height of the drum, inserts a drip tray. A hole is made in the lid for smoke with a diameter of 5 cm.The flap on it opens only after warming up for 10-20 minutes.
A container for sawdust is created from a metal grate or pan. At the top, rods or grates are installed for stacking products.Then the device can be connected to the network.
Such an electric smokehouse with their own hands, when loading 5-6 liters of sawdust, functions for several hours, maintaining a temperature of 60-70 degrees. This will be enough even for cooking large pieces of meat.
Cold working device
To equip a more productive "model" of homemade smokehouses, a small old refrigerator is suitable. All insulating components and cooling elements are removed from it. An electric stove is placed down. Through the back wall, where the compressor was, a terminal block is brought out, connected to the switch.
A heat-resistant baking sheet is fixed above the tile. A saucepan with a volume of 3 to 5 liters is suitable for sawdust. It is placed on heating elements.
Mixtures of alder, apple and other hardwood shavings are best suited for cold smoking. Conifers are not taken because of the emitted resin and giving food bitterness.
The specified volume of sawdust is sufficient for smoking for 10-12 hours. When smoldering, a lot of smoke is generated, so a chimney is thought out in the upper part.
Such a home electric smokehouse for an apartment is definitely not suitable, but it fits into the design of a courtyard, a personal plot, a vegetable garden. To process products in an apartment, you still need to give preference to compact and mobile factory models. Including, today devices are produced that operate on a stove and are attached to a conventional kitchen hood.