Homemade Sausage Making

My cold new smoker (MK4) is almost finished. This one is going to the penultimate one MK 5 will be cold smoker that I will be able to increase the temperature t that of a hot smoker. I bought an old whiskey barrel. It was missing a ban. A local sheet metal maker made a band for me and cut some shelves to the size I wanted. All I need now are some stainless steel rods.

I will pick those up tomorrow. A friend of mine is a furniture maker (he makes lovely stuff). In a previous life he was a mechanic/sheet metal worker for the RAF. He found solutions to the problems and is doing the hard work and barrel cutting for me. I will post pictures as soon as I work out how to downsize the pictures and upload them. Each one is a massive size file and is on photobucket. I have watched the video on YouTube a number of times.

Looking forward to the photos. It sounds like you mean business! I'm really interested in seeing the work you guys have done.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

My MK4 smoker is finished all bar a "spit and polish". It needs sanding and oiling/sealing. My mate suggested using linseed or teak oil. The smoker will not live outside (it is mobile) and will not be used when it is pouring with rain. Any suggestions for oil or a finish?

This afternoon I learned a lot helping Dag make my smoker. He was very frustrated that he could not identify the type of wood that the barrel was made of. He said that he did not recognize the grain (nor did a couple of people he knows who have worked with wood all their lives he is thinking of sending some off cuttings to a lab for analysis). He did not know the smell of the wood or recognize the smell of the wood when he drilled or cut it. I found a couple of embossed letters on the barrel and a number. The initials are HB LTD. I looked up HB on line and found a Scottish Whisky company with those initials and have emailed them to see if they can tell me what the barrel was made of and when it was made.

The barrels are probably Spanish oak that first held sherry and later whisky.

The Components





I bought the vents online and had another band and the shelving made



Nearly Finished

I have set it up so I can have numerous different types of shelving and hangersNearley . The Three top bars are slightly raised so in addition to being hangers they also act as locators

Hey Markjass

I see you have the Smokai - 3L version. I have the smaller unit and it's currently smoking some Tas salmon (nearly midnight here in Perth but the temp is down to 20 C so that why it's happening late)
Works well and the best thing it works with i find are pellets.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

Steve

Your friend does very nice work.

I bought the larger Smokai because it is large enough for a small shed (may be a aim). It can run for up to 24 hours without being topped up. We do not get anywhere as hot as Perth. We often hit the high 20s and low 30s over the summer. I think the latest I have finished smoking is at 11pm.

Yes, I was lucky to meet Dag. About 15 years ago I missed my bus and popped into a pub for a beer while I waited for my next bus. I had just had a Cabernet made to put my 200 L tropical fish tank and was very disappointed with how it had been made. I got chatting to Dag had bemoaned the quality of workmanship. He said to me what did I think of the wooden bar and its trimmings. It looked fantastic. I told him so and he then told me he was a furniture maker.

The rest is history. He has made me a coffee table, dining room tables and chairs, a bed side table and chest of draws. He also fixed up the aquarium stand (the aquarium is no longer about, thanks to the Christchurch earthquake). Any way here is a picture of my Smokai fixed to the barrel. Oh yes, Kai is Maori for food.

Markjass,
Your smoker is absolutely beautiful. Should work like a charm! Great craftsmanship too. When are you going to fire it up?

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Looks to me like it already has been used


On another note, we also have rellies in Christchurch so we know/have heard all about it.
Hope every one is safe and well down there.

Cheers
Steve

Good spotting I first used the Smokai on my MK3 smoker. It was about 24 degrees and I wanted to monitor the inside temperature of the smoker. Once smoked the bacon was baked in the oven. I have just got hold of a small electric stove and my MK 5 may use this as a heat source. If I do this I could add a thermostat and which would be useful to keep the temperature.

Why go to all this length?
I like the barrel,
I want my system to be portable,
I want to be able to Infrequently load the smoker,
I want to want to eventually smoke air dried and fermented sausages,
Free the oven up so that I can use it to cook and bake bread (I hand make all my own bread).

MK3 smoker





I used a piece of copper piping which by chance fitted inside the smoke tube and a elbow (fitted snugly onto the copper pipe) which fitted through the bottom of the pot. The nut held the elbow in place.

I have some loin pork and lamb pastrami curing in the fridge. They will be ready to smoke on Wednesday or Thursday. The weather forecast is for a min 18 degrees C and a max of 30 degrees C on Wednesday. Thursday's max is 22 degrees with showers. So it looks like it may have to be Thursday.

The earthquake caused dammage to my house. From one end to the other it has sunk by 20cm. It also lists by 5 cm the other way. I am still waiting to find out if my house is going to be rebuilt or can be repaired. The house is weatherproof and safe. One of the many frustrations is the lack of communication between the local gvt and my insures. My insurers have been fantastic, but they cannot get going until the local gvt says so. My land has been drilled (last October and is safe to build on. I have no idea of a timeframe. Whatever hapens I will have to move out for between 3 and 7 months. I class myself as lucky as I nor anyone who is close to me died or lost a limb. There are also lots of people living in substandary leaking places or in overcrowded situations.

I knew that New Zealand was earthquake active. Was your home damaged or did it just move with the land?

Sorry to hear about the damage, and happy that you and yours escaped uninjured. Should we send sausages in "care" packages?

Does your smoker have mesh in the base, or an enclosed base? (I continue to experiment.) It looks like you have a layer of mesh inside, and set the base on a solid piece of metal pot). The hole is for lighting, right?

Using the large clay pot and lid looks like sheer genius. Beloved Spouse complains about my equipment sticking out like a sore thumb. Pots would blend in nicely with the patio decor.

Russ