Simple Instructions for a Cardboard Box Smoker

You can smoke fish and a variety of other meats in your cardboard smoker.

Smoking your meat and fish infuses deep and complicated flavors you cannot get from more traditional forms of cooking, such as grilling or frying. Fortunately, you don't need to purchase an expensive smoker to get the job done. All you need is a rectangular cardboard box and several other household items. Once these items have been set up properly, you can start smoking your food and impress your friends with your homemade smoker. Does this Spark an idea?

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Bowl
Wood chips
Water
Rectangular cardboard box
Box cutter
Hot plate
Deep frying pan
Extension cord
Wooden dowels
Cooling rack
Packing tape (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  
  Place wood chips and water inside a mixing bowl. Allow the wood chips to soak for at least 12 hours. The wood chips must be saturated with water to smoke properly. Dry wood chips burn quickly and do not release smoke.
- 2
  
  Place or assemble a cardboard box where you plan to do your smoking. Cut a hole towards the bottom of the box on one side. This hole, which will give you access to the inside of the box, should be large enough to fit a hot plate and frying pan through.
- 3
  
  Cut a small 20 mm by 20 mm hole in one of the upper corners of the box. This hole will allow the smoke to vent out.
- 4
  
  Place the hot plate inside the box. Put the soaked wood chips inside a frying pan and place the pan on top of the hot plate. Use an extension cord if necessary to ensure that the hot plate can be plugged in.
- 5
  
  Cut two small holes on one side of the cardboard box. These holes should be situated roughly halfway up the side of the box. Cut two corresponding holes on the opposite side of the box and slide two wooden dowels through the holes. Since the dowels serve as the support for your cooking rack, make sure that they sit as level as possible.
- 6
  
  Place a cooling rack over the top of the wooden dowels. Next, place a cooking tray with your food on top of the cooling rack.
- 7
  
  Turn on the hot plate and close the top of the box to begin the smoking process. You may want to seal the top with packing tape to ensure that excessive amounts of the smoke doesn't escape.