Have you ever wanted to give your food a smokey flavor but didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a huge smoker? I recently discovered cold smoked food and I’m obsessed! A cold smoker can be made from anything because it does not have high heat or flame. Let’s make one!
DIY cold smoker plans
$9.99
Materials I used to build this cold smoker:
Step 1: Prepare materials for construction
First know that I have a bunch of plans for this as well as a larger unit if you’re interested in building your own. The smaller unit you’ll see me building has four shelves but the larger unit has more.
I have so much scrap wood accumulating in my shop that I haul it out instead of buying anything new. First, I went to the table saw and tore up some material to make the legs. Regardless of whether you use scrap or buy new, do not use anything that has been processed as that will be around the food.
I made two sets of legs using a cross piece to attach two legs together. In all of these joints, I pre-drilled first to prevent splitting. I then made marks for where I wanted my shelves to be on the inside of the legs. This will be what my shelves are based on. I went to my scrap bin to find something suitable and then cut it to size before attaching it. To attach, I used a little Daps Weldwood wood glue and then my 18 gauge nailer. I repeated on the other set of legs. I placed both sets next to each other so I could make sure the shelves were lined up with each other.
The next step is to flip the groups 180 but it is important to keep them in place so the shelves stay aligned with each other. Now I’m going to sheathe this side, which will be the outside.
Step 2: Packaging and creating the leg assemblies
Now the sheathing can be made out of many things, but since you don’t want gaps, I used thin tongue and pine boards that I actually had left over from a project I did in 2013. The tongue and groove feature will allow each piece to connect seamlessly to the next board. Since I had much of the same length needed in this next step, I set up a stop block at the miter saw, then made sure to hold the length of the board between this stop and the blade, because that is the point where it can retract, and then cut the required number of segments.
I took it to my workbench with my leg assemblies and started screwing it on. Again, I’ll use a little bit of wood glue on each one and then put some clamps to hold them together while they dry. I made sure to keep the orientation of the legs as they are not identical, they have to mirror each other but as you can see, it goes well and fast. After I skinned the second side, I joined them together with some cross members at the top. Again, pre-drill and drive in the screws.
Step 3: Attach the bottom and make the back of the cold smoker
To attach a bottom, I stood the unit up and grabbed some scrap cedar since it is 3/4 inch thick. I didn’t bother installing it because I think it may need to be replaced in the future.
I then put it back on and started making the back. This is also made from tongue and groove boards and I just laid out the boards starting on one side and worked my way up and then cut the last piece to fit. Once I liked the fit, I flipped it over so I could attach some horizontal pieces that would keep all of these back panels together. Again using wood glue and flat nails here. Now I can flip it over and lock it in place. To do this, I put one screw at the top and one at the bottom.
Step 4: Make a door for the cold smoker
Oh, now let’s flip it 180 and repeat almost the same steps to create a door forward. The only drawback to these panels is how thin they are. I actually like how thin it is because that means it’s lightweight, but since the hinge needs meat to attach the door to the body, I built up its thickness by grabbing more cedar boards, thinning out the ends, creating a border and then gluing and nailing them to the front side of the boards. I flipped the door on its face to put the clips on the back so you wouldn’t see the holes from the front.
Excellent, now I have a door. To attach it, I grabbed two joints and placed them near the top and bottom, making sure to pre-drill to prevent splitting.
Step 5: Build a roof for the cold smoker
Well, this works exactly as it should. I’ll worry about the handle and keep it locked in a few steps. For now, I’m going to build the roof. The roof is designed a little uniquely as it is important to have adjustable ventilation holes at the top of the unit. In order to do this easily, I attached one cedar board with screws, but then grabbed one piece of that thin board for the next board. This is me nailed Brad into place. Then follow it with another cedar board until you’re done. Screwing this one down as well.
Well then I cut another piece of paneling the same size as the center panel, held it in place, and then used a Forstner bit to drill two vent holes through both panels at the same time. This means that the holes line up perfectly with each other when the boards are in one line. However, if I want to close the vents or even partially open or close them, I just have to move the top panel somehow. amazing.
Step 6: Place ventilation holes in the side of the cold smoker
Okay, okay, now let’s work on the side vents. Now remember I just learned something about cold smoking, so I’m not sure if there’s a better placement for the holes or not, but I put some on the top and some on the bottom. I wanted to make use of some of the panel pieces so I made two short pieces for the top. I glued and nailed them in place with a 23 pin nailer. Then I screwed a full-width panel into place and then another bottom rail, if you will.
The idea is that the full width panel will slide so I attached the tongue and groove feature to the top rails that were already there but then pulled them down a bit to make some room. I glued and nailed it to the bottom rail. I took some measurements and made some marks so I could drill both vent holes, again through both layers at the same time. Now, if everything is done correctly, I will be able to open or close the vents just by moving this outer panel.
Of course what I choose to show on camera is the difficult thing. Ha. This center plate has a slight curvature which makes it stick out a bit, but it’s still easy enough to put on. Here we look at others…see easily. 🙂
Step 7: Add the finishing touches
Well, now just some finishing touches to the cold smoker! On the outside of the door, I placed a handle. Then on the inside, I applied a strip of some foam padding. My thinking here is to close the door better. I honestly don’t know if it matters because it’s not like you’re going to be 100% locked down here, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt. It’s a simple peel and stick process.
Then once that was in place, I worked on the latch. I used a clamp to gently press on the door to get the position of this latch right. This way, when the door closes, the door will put a little pressure on the foam gasket. Yay!!!
Let’s hit the end. I need something food safe for the inside, and I choose this wooden honeycomb from Total Boat. This finish is not only easy to apply, as you can see I just wipe it on, but it is good for anything that will be around food like bowls or countertops. Then for the outside of the cold smoker I will choose Halcyon from Total Boat. This is another product that’s really easy to apply, I chose to use a foam brush, but it also dries to a glossy or UV-fixed finish. I recommend five coats of this but don’t worry, it dries very quickly and you can easily apply it in a day.
Cold smoker test!
Okay okay, let’s try it!
Well, the idea is to put a tube of smoke pellets here. I went ahead and put a piece of steel in case an ember fell out of the pipe. You light one end….not where there is a flame, but just burning. Obviously this will last for hours and you can buy pellets in all different flavors like pecan, apple, and mesquite. I made my unit sized to fit the cooking racks so I can put what I want to smoke on top and slide it in.
I also bought a thermometer so I can keep in touch with how cold or hot the smoker is. For cheese, it should be kept at 80-85 degrees. I’ll tell you right now, this is a blast. The olives and okra only take about 20 minutes and the cheese takes 2 hours. It smells great, tastes good, and is a very quick and easy build. I hope you enjoy following along and remember if you want to make your own cold smoker, I have a bunch of plans for a few different sizes.
