Why Some Homemade Smoker Plans Are A Fire Risk

Ever since I started to learn about hot smoking food I've wanted to build my own smoker so I've done a lot of research to find the best set of plans available. I've followed many and built what I thought was a decent unit only to find that it didn't work and in some cases they caught fire!

Before I explain what happened and the cause, let me first explain how the principle of a hot smoker and how it works.

The process is effectively passing smoke over food at that is being cooked in the smoke oven in a carefully controlled environment for both temperature and humidity. For a smoker to work there are two things that have to be achieved and they are firstly heat and secondly a flow of smoke. Static smoke is not acceptable, it will make your food taste bitter.

Your choice of heat source can and should provide both heat and smoke and this can range from a naked fire to a gas burner. For the type of smoker that I want to build (low cost and easy) then the heat source will be gas because it's controllable and readily available. My smoke is generated by placing an old frying pan on the burner and adding wood chips – it works admirably.

To ensure that the smoke generated does indeed flow over the meat, you need to create a draft and the draft is created using to vents, one in the base of the smoker to provide air to the burner and one in the top (chimney) of the smoker because hot air rises.

So provided we set up our equipment in this way, we can make a smoker. You can build a smoker in brick but remember my initial criteria – low cost and easy – so this isn't where I wanted to go. There are many plans available on the internet for smoker construction from using old refrigerators to wooden sheds and it was the latter that attracted me.

Wood means basic carpentry skills so with my DIY prowess there maybe a chance. I built my smoker out of wood, a firebox in the bottom (with inlet vent) where I could site my burner and above it the food chamber with a chimney at the top. There are countless plans available showing you how you can make a smoker out of wood, I found what I thought looked like the best set and off I set.

The smoker worked well first time out. The second time I did some smoked mackerel – fantastic! And the third time I went for a longer cookout and tried a pork butt. Four hours into the smoking I went outside to check everything (I had checked regularly previously too) to find the whole unit ablaze including the gas pipe.

I quickly shut off the gas, hosed it down with water and I can only count myself lucky that it wasn't any worse.

Since then I've made my own design. It's still made of wood (because wood looks nice) but I've also used fireproof cladding to the internal walls. It works a treat (as my last one did) but now I can cook to my hearts content safe in the knowledge that the thing isn't going to spontaneously combust.

To conclude I just want to offer the benefit of my experience. If you want to build your own smoker by all means take a look at the designs available on the internet because they all have a draft vent top and bottom so in principle they will work. But if you see any design that is made purely out of wood without any fireproof system between the burner and the wood then my advice is steer well clear.