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Homemade Smoker Plans

Included in the design of my homemade smoker plans are a couple of rods for hanging fish - a handy feature to use whether you are smoking the fish or just drying them after the brining process.

Why two? It's got nothing to do with the fish, but so that you can use the rods to support the tar catcher if you choose to use one.

I discussed the use of a tar catcher in the smoker parts section and this is essentially a tray suspended under the chimney vent in the food chamber to stop any drips of tar splashing onto your food.

Frankly I rarely bother unless the weather outside is particularly wet because then you can get a bit of condensation around the chimney vent.

The Tar Catcher In My Homemade Smoker

By having these two lengths of dowel across the top of the food chamber it's really easy to just pop a tray on top of them and kill two birds with one stone.

Back to the fish - I've used ¾ inch dowel because any thinner and it would flex under the weight of my fish and any thicker and you're into specialist drill bits.

You can suspend S-hooks from the rods or if you want to be more traditional then there's enough space to allow you to tie string.

Holes are bored into the fire retardant board to support the rods so aesthetically it looks pleasing. What it does also mean however is that it's critical that you get the length of these rods correct and insert them at the right stage in the assembly process.

These two dowel rods are probably the easiest parts to make. The panels are a little more complicated and if you want to find out how to build your own smoker like this one then you can download my homemade smoker plans in this e-book together with complete technical drawings and tips 'n' techniques to help you along the way.