After consulting with various experts in various fields, HVAC, OSHA Safety, The folks at both the Sausgemaker and Allied Kenco, Appliance Repair people, and a few electricians….I’ve decided to go with the 5000Watt heating element and control panel from the Sausagemaker as the heat source for the Smokehouse…It will cost a little more but I believe the benefits will out way the costs.
I basically had 3 options…..The first was old school with a fire pit….as much as I would like to have gone this route …its just impractical at this time….
The second option was gas either to move the fryer out of the smokehouse or get the tested gas system from Allied Kenco or the Sausagemaker, or try to put together a similar system on my own….I was advised to by the owner of the Sausagemaker to stay away from Gas combustion can be a pain to deal with…and then I would also have to worry about running out…
Electric gives me the best control over temps and I won’t have to worry about running out of it…
Omnivore sent me this link to help in determining the amount of watts need to heat a shed or garage..
http://www.heatershop.com/btu_calculator.htm
And by comparing the elements in the commercially sold smokehouses to the size of mine…and taking in what the weather is like in the winter in Buffalo…I decided to go big…..another factor was speaking with an appliance repair man…he said I should have a fan to cool the element and help move the hot air in the smokehouse…it will prolong the life of the element…….The 5000w kit has such a fan…
JP is going to fab a smoke generator that will run on either electric or wood…..
