Smoker Frig

[SoCalAngler]

People asked me to post some pics a while ago of my frig turned into a smoker. Well here you go.










This smoker only has been used around 4 times so it has not had a chance to build up that brown patina yet of a well used smoker but soon enough it will look like my last one.

[seaeagle2]

Have you ever heard the thing about not using fridge racks for smokers, to use oven racks instead, something about the coating on fridge racks and heat ?

[SoCalAngler]

I have not but thanks for the heads up. As far as I can tell these are just stainless steel without any coating. I have scrubbed the racks with steel wool to clean them and just hose them off after. I have not seen any type of coating on the wire racks and they don't rust either, their heavier than aluminum so my guess is that their just made of stainless wire. I have seen some frig's with coatings on their racks that are white in color but these are only bare metal as far as I can tell.

[TomT]

I smoked salmon for many years in a similar set up.  The main difference was my fridge was an older all metal one. And my burner had no thermostat--it was either plugged in or it wasn't.  Never had the "smoker" get too hot and never had any problems with the fish.  Not really related to this type of smoker, but we always smoked the "bones" too.  They went back out on the boat for snacks.  Seemed like the bones always were better than the rest of the smoked fish.  Probably because it was thinner and had spice rub on both sides.  All smoked fish is Good Eats!!
TomT

[Tightlines667]

That looks like it should work just fine.  Plenty of capacity for most jobs.  This reminds me of my favorite home built smooket which utilized 2 old steel pressure tanks (1 for wood burning stove, 1 to allow smoke to cool  if cold smoking), and an old firehose cabinate with removable racks.  They were connected with steel tubing and I had baffles which allowed me to control heat, smoke, and airflow.

[Reel 224]

That is a good idea and has been done before, I'm not sure of what safety issues there may be using a Refrigerator, I have several smokers three are the small Little Chef type, and another that is larger with a temp control that is great for cooking and smoking meats.

The best type of smoker is one that is considered a cold smoker, where the smoke is produced from a separate area and piped to the smoke house.

Anyone interested in smoking meats or fish may want to look into the Sausage Maker Catalog on line, they have everything you would need to make brine or season your fish or meat.

Smoked hot peppers are great dried and used as a condiment on pizza or any other dish that may call for hat pepper flakes. I use it on everything except peanut butter and Ice cream.  

[Keta]

Have you ever heard the thing about not using fridge racks for smokers, to use oven racks instead, something about the coating on fridge racks and heat ?

Cadmium plated, oven racks are chrome.

[PacRat]

Nice setup. It gives "Smokin Reefer" a whole new meaning. I've always wanted to make one of these but I don't have the space.
Check those racks with a magnet. If it doesn't stick it's a pretty good chance they're stainless. Some stainless alloys are magnetic though.
I read the previous post about cad-plate and that could react badly with brine.
-Mike

[jonnou]

As long as it has no plastic coating. I would Take my chances. My smoker Has a variety of racks most steel with a protective layer of fish oils and Feo2 some had plastic on them once. I will have to post pics one day. The fridge smoker is very common in New Zealand. Tried and tested Design

[raumati01]

To help it get the coating I spray olive oil on the inside , it helps the smoke stick to the walls and prime it. Mines a drying cabinet which is about the same size as a fridge, I use a gas ring because gas is a wet heat and help keeps the fish moist. You might want to put foil on the bottom shelf to stop fish juices falling into the smoke, the smoke it produces is pretty acrid and can taint the flavour.

Also if you are smoking and have room left over put in cocktail sized onions, garlic or steamed sweet potato on the top shelf they taste fantastic after a good smoke .Lemons cut in half and put on the top shelf also add fantastic flavour to fillets of fish when you squeeze the juice over fish fillets.

[jonnou]

To help it get the coating I spray olive oil on the inside , it helps the smoke stick to the walls and prime it. Mines a drying cabinet which is about the same size as a fridge, I use a gas ring because gas is a wet heat and help keeps the fish moist. You might want to put foil on the bottom shelf to stop fish juices falling into the smoke, the smoke it produces is pretty acrid and can taint the flavour.

Also if you are smoking and have room left over put in cocktail sized onions, garlic or steamed sweet potato on the top shelf they taste fantastic after a good smoke .Lemons cut in half and put on the top shelf also add fantastic flavour to fillets of fish when you squeeze the juice over fish fillets.

Some nice tips there.

[raumati01]

To help it get the coating I spray olive oil on the inside , it helps the smoke stick to the walls and prime it. Mines a drying cabinet which is about the same size as a fridge, I use a gas ring because gas is a wet heat and help keeps the fish moist. You might want to put foil on the bottom shelf to stop fish juices falling into the smoke, the smoke it produces is pretty acrid and can taint the flavour.

Also if you are smoking and have room left over put in cocktail sized onions, garlic or steamed sweet potato on the top shelf they taste fantastic after a good smoke .Lemons cut in half and put on the top shelf also add fantastic flavour to fillets of fish when you squeeze the juice over fish fillets.

Some nice tips there.

Cheers, if you have the classic kilwell smoker try what I do and put it on top of the bbq. I put pork chops on mine and they taste superb afterwards, lamb chops are good too. Corn on the cob is another option and tomatoes too and if you do enough you can make smoked tomato sauce. If you put dark chocolate in a dish and smoke it and then put it in the fridge it turns out pretty nice.
Try some pohutukawa next time, its alot nicer than manuka imho and use fruit trees -plum in particular on meat.

[Steve-O]

SoCalAngler - first, thanks for sharing the smoker with us. Heard and thought about one for years but am still using my tiny gas grill smoker which holds 4 Coho fillets and that amount maxes is out for one session.


And now- 1) do you smoke in the garage or wheel the fridge out of doors?

2) do you find it necessary to rotate the racks for even smoking?

3) what wood chips are you using for your fish?

I use Alder and Cedar plus fruit woods when I have them. My fav brine is low salt and teriyaki/brown sugar or  sometimes coconut milk mixed with pineapple juice. No bowl of liquids in with the smoker.

Mine is only 2 cubic feet so it does the job quickly at temps from 120 to 200F.

Lunch today =  smoked salmon, mango slices, avocado with TruLime sprinkled on it and a cold beverage.

TIA-Steve

[Reel 224]

SoCalAngler - first, thanks for sharing the smoker with us. Heard and thought about one for years but am still using my tiny gas grill smoker which holds 4 Coho fillets and that amount maxes is out for one session.


And now- 1) do you smoke in the garage or wheel the fridge out of doors?

2) do you find it necessary to rotate the racks for even smoking?

3) what wood chips are you using for your fish?

I use Alder and Cedar plus fruit woods when I have them. My fav brine is low salt and teriyaki/brown sugar or  sometimes coconut milk mixed with pineapple juice. No bowl of liquids in with the smoker.

Mine is only 2 cubic feet so it does the job quickly at temps from 120 to 200F.

Lunch today =  smoked salmon, mango slices, avocado with TruLime sprinkled on it and a cold beverage.

TIA-Steve

You southern boys sure know how to cook.....I mean smoke food. I like to use a combination of apple and Hickory wood for most of my smoking and cherry or pecan wood for hot peppers. I always start with Hickory. Ive smoked the last several Thanksgiving Turkeys and everyone has loved them. Brine and smoked Pork Tender Loin is the cats meow!! With apple juice and brown sugar.

[SoCalAngler]

SoCalAngler - first, thanks for sharing the smoker with us. Heard and thought about one for years but am still using my tiny gas grill smoker which holds 4 Coho fillets and that amount maxes is out for one session.


And now- 1) do you smoke in the garage or wheel the fridge out of doors?

2) do you find it necessary to rotate the racks for even smoking?

3) what wood chips are you using for your fish?

I use Alder and Cedar plus fruit woods when I have them. My fav brine is low salt and teriyaki/brown sugar or  sometimes coconut milk mixed with pineapple juice. No bowl of liquids in with the smoker.

Mine is only 2 cubic feet so it does the job quickly at temps from 120 to 200F.

Lunch today =  smoked salmon, mango slices, avocado with TruLime sprinkled on it and a cold beverage.

TIA-Steve

1) Yes the smoker is wheeled out of the garage to smoke. You could do it inside I guess but anything above, well anywhere in the garage but mainly above the smoker will turn brown over time and the garage will smell like smoke.

2) No need to rotate racks if all the fish is close in thickness. If not all the thinner pieces go onto one or two racks and thicker ones go on other racks. This way when the thinner ones are done I just slide out those racks and leave the thicker pieces in the smoker until done.

3) I like Alder wood for my chips but you can use what ever wood you like such as Hickory, Mesquite, Apple or whatever flavor is to your liking.