# Using a working fridge as a cold (very) smoker?



## GBov (May 4, 2008)

Last winter I turned a shed into a smoker and, while it worked really good, it still got well up over a hundred degrees. This is Florida after all so a really cold day to smoke food is a rare thing.

My smoked cheese and butter, well, they tasted great but were more a drink than a spread!

And I was worried about the fish going off before it smoked nicely.

So I got to wondering if I could use a working fridge as a smoker? Just cut a vet hole at the top on one side and pipe the smoke in from the bottom on the other. As long as I am careful I shouldn't break it so it could run while the smoke is working its magic.

How well do you think this might work?


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## arrocks (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm not sure why you find a temp of over 100 degrees unacceptable for meat and fish since the recommended temp is at least 150 and preferably 200-225 or you will have to cook the fish immediately after smoking. What am I not understanding?

See this link for more details of Smoking Fish at Home Safely. Perhaps it will answer your questions. http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/cepublications/pnw238/pnw238.pdf


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

arrocks said:


> I'm not sure why you find a temp of over 100 degrees unacceptable for meat and fish since the recommended temp is at least 150 and preferably 200-225 or you will have to cook the fish immediately after smoking. What am I not understanding?
> 
> See this link for more details of Smoking Fish at Home Safely. Perhaps it will answer your questions. http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/cepublications/pnw238/pnw238.pdf


 COLD SMOKE is what I am after, like for smoked salmon, rather than hot smoked fish like I am doing now. Right now my fish come out of the smoker piping hot and ready to eat but, as I love smoked salmon so much I would like to try to do a home version but with spotted sea trout. Salmon don't like it all the way down here so that's as close as I can get lol.

And smoked butter and cheese are a favorite but in the hot smoker they are a dead loss and my attempt to make a walk in smoker worked just fine but was still waaaaaaay to hot for things that delicate.


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## MrSmith (Jun 24, 2009)

What is your source of smoke? I saw a video online of a gent that used an igloo cooler with ice in it and a venturi smoker to smoke cheese in the summer, and it appeared to work well. I see no reason your idea wouldn't work as long as your smoke source isn't too hot, and you get proper airflow without letting out all your cold air and overworking the fridge.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

I'm curious as well, most cold smokers have the Burn/smoke box well off the "house"

And bury the delivery pipe.

Arrocks, over 100 your cooking more then smoking.

As far as the fridge thing... seems it would be hard to hit the 80-100 degrees you want for cold smoking... 

With out some modification seems a nightmare...

What about a pit? Just about any where you go in the world 4 foot under the ground is 50 degrees?


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

||Downhome|| said:


> I'm curious as well, most cold smokers have the Burn/smoke box well off the "house"
> 
> And bury the delivery pipe.
> 
> ...


Its about 73f down here in Florida, with a VERY high water table. Plus all the digging and suchlike, I just cant see myself doing all that work on the offchance of its working for me. 

The cooler with ice idea is rather good though, and I have a spare cooler to use so might give that a try!


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

I was looking for the cooler build and ran across this one.

Could one put a block of ice in the bottom?

[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LrKB1E-UCDA[/ame]


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

You can cold-smoke at some pretty cold temperatures. For mine I aim for 35-45F. A fridge should work fine.

For the smoke, I use a soldering iron that was bought new for that purpose. I scrubbed it clean and coated it with vegetable oil, then let it heat and cool a few times, just like if I was seasoning cast iron, before I let it near the wood chips. This gives me a concentrated point of heat, without heating up the whole smoker. I'm still working on getting the wood chips to self-feed, but I use cast iron pipes to hold the chips and to pipe the smoke into the chamber.

I should take a picture when I have it set up in a few weeks. I cold-smoke in winter so I can use the weather to my advantage, but that might not work in Florida.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

My husband uses the weather, too. He should start smoking cheeses for Christmas here in a week or so.


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

Do NOT use a frig or freezer for a smoker! The insulation will cook off and poison you a little at a time. Years ago I smoked turkeys in a chest freezer till I received a stern NO from the County Extension office.

So I scrounged up old chimney bricks and built a brick outhouse styled smoker.

Adding to this. I poured a 4 ft X 4 ft base. Then mixed mortar and built the brick walls. I left a couple bricks out so the smoke would not get stale. The top I built a form, put wire in and 2 eye bolts, and a vent pipe, on the ground. I lifted it with the tractor and gently sit it down on another layer of mortar. Oh I put in rebars a brick down from the top for hanging sausages from. I could open or close the top vent to regulate the heat.


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## MrSmith (Jun 24, 2009)

Please search Venturi smoker. I made one with an aquarium air pump, decorative metal tin, and one piece of copper pipe. Less than $30 invested. No heat to speak of. Will try to get pics soon. You could easily use a fridge as there is No Heat Generated, no harmful cook off. A fridge cooling power would be more than enough to overcome any heat generated. The little weber and flex pipe is amateur hour compared.


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

oldasrocks said:


> Do NOT use a frig or freezer for a smoker! The insulation will cook off and poison you a little at a time.


How hot were you smoking?

A fridge would not work for a hot-smoker, but this discussion is specifically about COLD-smoking. There shouldn't be enough heat to cook anything off.


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