Making an electric smkoer

[OnAFly]

I've been looking at electric smokers lately and saw a lot of them had serious reliability issues and were fairly expensive. So I decided to make one myself.

I'm picking the components right now and I've decided to use a hot plate for a heat source. My question is: Has anyone used one of these before? What's a good power rating? Is 750W not enough? Is 1000W too much?

A little background info:

Box - Probably wooden, possibly metal if I can find a pre-made usable one.

Heat Source - Hot plate (750 or 1000 Watts)

Chip Pan - Old cast iron pan should hold heat well and reduce cycling effects

Drip Pan - Old baking sheet pan

[merkman]

Some of the 1000W hot plates have an adjustable heat setting on them.

That is what I use.

[Surface Tension]

A hot plate with adjustable heat would work. You'll have to watch it because you'll be adjusting to differing outside temps, venting, and even heat from the wood chips.

I made an electric smoker with a Honeywell thermostat and relay. The heating element was off an old dishwasher. I can set it anywhere from 90 to 220 degrees. There isn't anything I can't smoke with it plus I have precise temps control, that is important if you start smoking anything with a casing like sausage and salami.

One thing that will frustrate you is getting enough direct contact to the heat source to ignite the wood chips. My chip holder(a can with notches on the bottom) is open at the bottom and straddles the heating element. No problem getting the chips to smoke. I don't soak the chips either to prevent them from flaming. Instead I choke the air by simply putting a loose fitting lid on my chip can.

[OnAFly]

Thermostat and relay huh? That's interesting. I was just going to try to make smoker jerky and smoked fish, nothing too difficult. But, that would make the process a lot easier.

Thanks for the input.

[FishLocker]

My first home made one consisted of an old electric stove/oven. I ran the thermostat of the oven connected to the large burner off the top of the stove which was relocted to the bottom of the oven. Cast iron skillet for wood chips and loose fitting pan lid with holes drilled in it to keep it smoking without igniting. Drilled a small hole in the side to insert the probe of a meat thermometer for more accurate monitoring of inside temp. Cleaning the glass once in a while allowed me to visually monitor what was going on in there too.

Cheap since it was a free stove/oven. Even came with it's own smoking racks that fit perfectly!