How to quickly and easily make a smokehouse from medical bix

Having a smokehouse at home is the dream of every housewife, but such devices are quite expensive and have considerable dimensions. Meanwhile, it is quite possible to adapt a medical bix for home smoking; this will require a minimum of effort and time, and the result is no worse. If you have such a sterilizer lying around, then our instructions will help you cope with the task with all 5 points.

How does medical bix work and why is it suitable for a smokehouse?

Medical Bix is ​​ideal for a smokehouse:

1. Made from durable stainless steel that is heat resistant. There are also nickel-plated biks, but for a smokehouse it is better to use stainless steel.
2. Thanks to the manufacturing material, this smokehouse can be easily washed from soot and grease using any detergent, without any consequences.
3. The lid of the bix is ​​hermetically sealed and is held on the body by a special hook, so marinated products prepared for smoking in such a container can be carried without fear.
4. There are holes for steam to escape, which in this case will be adapted to remove smoke.

Beaks can be round or rectangular; any design solution is suitable for a do-it-yourself bix smokehouse.

Preparatory work

A smokehouse made from medical bixa can be made quickly with your own hands if you have all the necessary tools and available materials. To make a convenient, mobile and safe smokehouse, you will need a special medical smoker, which is not used. This is a kind of metal box with small holes, designed for storing and sterilizing linen and dressing materials. It consists of a lid on a special hinge and a cylindrical body.

Photo: medical bixa

As for the cover of the device, it is fixed with a special hook and placed on the ear of the case. Thanks to the holes in the walls, it is possible for steam to enter, which is important in the sterilization process. The dimensions of the medical bix come in a wide variety. To make a homemade smokehouse, it is advisable to take a body with a height of 390 by 190 millimeters.

In addition, you will need two grates made of high-quality stainless steel. This will help avoid unnecessary chemical reactions and oxidation of products. One must be higher, the second 8 cm lower. For such purposes, an ordinary metal mesh with small cells or an unnecessary dumpling maker is suitable. Ideally, it is better to use a metal grease tray, as well as one grate.

When using such a smokehouse at home, you need to worry about preparing the wood raw materials that will be used in the process of smoking products. The final taste and aroma of the snack directly depends on their quality, variety, and type of sawdust. To achieve the best result, you can combine sawdust and wood chips of different types.

Thanks to oak sawdust, a light and inviting aroma appears, aspen gives a more pleasant and delicate taste, birch imbues it with bright qualities and gives a spicy tar taste.

Sawdust, branches of apple, cherry, apricot and other fruit tree varieties have excellent qualities. Fish and meat products will turn out piquant and delicious if you add mint and juniper to the sawdust.

Smokehouse from a medical sterilizer

A medical container is a container with a lid in which surgical instruments, gowns and other devices are sterilized. They are made in various shapes and sizes from stainless steel. Such a device can be used as a camp smokehouse.

In addition to the sterilizer itself, one or two grates for food are needed. They are made from a dumpling maker, a dumpling maker or the racks of an old refrigerator. They must be installed on stands at one or two levels. The convenient design is made from stainless electrodes or thick stainless wire. This grid is assembled using electric welding.

Some models of sterilizers are made of nickel-plated steel, but the service life of smokehouses made from this material is limited - the bottom burns out.

Construction of a hot smoked smokehouse made from medical bix

A mini smokehouse made from bix has many advantages:

• medical steel is durable and can withstand high temperatures;
• Stainless steel can be easily washed from grease and soot using detergents and steel wool without damaging the surface;
• the lid closes tightly and is secured with latches, which makes it safe to carry the smokehouse;
• on top of the lid there is a handle for carrying the device;
• There are holes on the sides for steam to escape during sterilization, and when smoking, smoke comes out through them.

Sawdust is poured onto the bottom of the smokehouse, and a tray must be installed on it to collect fat. Instead, you can put a cabbage leaf with the convex part down.

The following figure shows a drawing of such a smokehouse.

What difficulties might arise?

A homemade smokehouse will not work without properly selected fuel. After everything is ready, you need to put wood shavings and sawdust on the bottom. Better to use:

1. Fruit-bearing trees such as apple, pear, peach or plum.
2. Birch branches or linden sawdust.
3. Wood shavings obtained from alder. It should be pre-soaked and then dried. This way you can avoid the appearance of a sour taste in smoked food.

Important! The lack of holes for smoke to escape can negatively affect the quality of the smokehouse. The food will taste bad

The solution to this problem is quite simple: make holes in the walls of the box to ensure the unhindered escape of smoke through them.

Features of bix smokehouses of different designs

There are different types of sterilizers:

• for several syringes up to 10cm high - not used due to insufficient height;
• with holes on the side;
• with holes in the bottom.

Smokehouse made from medical bixa with holes on the side

Most sterilizers have holes in the side walls. Through them, air enters the combustion zone and smoke comes out. In some models, the size of the holes is adjusted by a movable ring.

The operating principle of such devices is no different from processing products in other mini-smokehouses. The following figure shows a diagram of the installation of a metal mesh grill into the apparatus with bolts screwed into the walls.

Smokehouse made from medical bixa with holes in the bottom

In such sterilizers, the holes are not in the walls, but in the bottom and lid. You can make such a mini smokehouse with your own hands in a few minutes. Step-by-step instructions for making a smokehouse consist of several points:

1. cut 2 circles from metal 2-3mm thick and 10mm smaller than the inner diameter of the bix;
2. attach one circle to the bottom with bolts inside the body, and the second to the lid;
3. at a height of 25mm from the lid, drill 5-6 Ø8mm holes for smoke to escape.

A sterilization device with holes in the lid and bottom can be installed in the chimney of the barbecue on a specially made stand or directly on top of the chimney if its height is low. The smoke generated when frying kebabs will pass through the holes and smoke the meat and fish.

Advantages and disadvantages

When removing the chimney through the wall, we can note the appearance of some positive aspects in this design:

Saving internal space. Possibility of installing a channel even after the construction of the house is completed. Installation and assembly of such structures is much simpler than similar ones inside structures. High fire safety

After all, the internal walls can reach temperatures of more than 1000 degrees; indoors this is a huge minus, in contrast to the street, where such temperatures can be ignored. Over time, even the most sealed and high-quality chimneys begin to leak carbon monoxide through the cracks and cracks formed in the walls. In the event of any problems with draft, it is possible to adjust the chimney pipe without damaging or compromising the integrity of the passage points. Disadvantages regarding, among other things, the installation of a sandwich chimney:

Disadvantages regarding, among other things, the installation of a sandwich chimney:

• Mandatory insulation (with the exception of “sandwich”).
• An external channel, in some cases, requires the allocation of the necessary “piece” of land.
• Heat escapes from external systems into the atmosphere when an additional heating source could be installed inside the house.
• It is difficult to match the structure to the design of the structure.
• With large channel sizes, the fastening system may become a problem due to large windage.

How to make a smokehouse from medical bix with your own hands

If it is possible to get unnecessary medical bix, then its best use will be found in the home kitchen. It can be easily adapted to your own small smokehouse, which will look aesthetically pleasing and have good performance.

To make a smokehouse from medical bix, it is better to take a box measuring 39 cm x 19 cm.

An excellent option for assembling a smokehouse

In order to make a smokehouse, you will need:

1. Bix himself. If you can’t find it on the farm, you can buy it at a medical equipment store (the cost will still be cheaper than buying a ready-made smokehouse).
2. Grids for laying out products and a tray for draining fat, which will be installed at different levels.
3. Second option: instead of a secondary grille, a tray “on legs”, smaller in diameter than the bix body.

A bix smoker can be assembled in a few minutes if you quickly find a suitable grate and tray.

How to choose grates for a smokehouse

The main conditions that must be met when selecting gratings:

• heat resistance;
• strength;
• suitable sizes.

A bix smokehouse will turn out to be very practical if you use an old metal dumpling maker as a grate. But this will become acceptable if the sizes match. You can try to adapt the oven grate from an old gas stove for this purpose. In order to adjust it to the size of the bix, use metal scissors to cut off the excess rods around the perimeter. In this case, at least three rods are left, which are used under the legs of the grate, bending them down.

As a last resort, you can also take aluminum grilles from an old refrigerator. However, this design will not last long. The ideal grill should be steel or stainless steel.

How to install gratings correctly

The upper grid is intended for laying out food. Depending on the size of the box, it is installed in such a way that there is space between the products and the lid. This is necessary for high-quality smoking, so that the smoke screen envelops the food from all sides.

The lower grate is installed approximately 8-10 cm further. A smaller metal bowl is placed on it to catch the dripping fat from above, but not to prevent the passage of smoke from below. You can immediately install a pallet on “legs”, respectively, smaller in diameter than the bix.

Filter for boxes KF, KSKF steam

Filters for cylindrical medical containers of the KF and KSKF series provide the ability to sterilize medical objects and materials in steam sterilizers under a pressure of 0.2 MPa (2 kgf/cm2) at a temperature of 132 degrees. C for 20-22 minutes. Or under a pressure of 0.11-0.13 MPa (1.1-1.3 kgf/cm2) at a temperature of 120-122 degrees. C for 45-48 minutes. The filters are made of dense cotton fabric - filter diagonal (technical filter fabric) article 2074/100 GOST 332-91, specially designed for filtering solutions in the medical, food, chemical industries, and non-ferrous metallurgy. Filter diagonal fabric is produced by weaving equilateral four-shaft twill. Filters made from this fabric are suitable for reusable use and can be easily disposed of by incineration. The filters are guaranteed to withstand at least 60 sterilization cycles, after which they must be changed. To complete the boxes, a set of filters is used (the kit includes two filters), installed on the bottom and lid of the box using a clamp and a bolt-nut threaded connection, which ensures reliable fixation of the filter between the clamp and the lid (bottom) of the box. When changing filters, you need to unscrew the wing, remove the clamp, remove the filter and replace it with a new one.

Terms of use

Before using the device, especially one taken from a medical institution, it is necessary to wash it, and lubricate the grilles made of carbon steel or from an old refrigerator with vegetable oil and heat them over the fire until smoke begins to emit. After this, you can begin the smoking process. The operating instructions for this device are the same as for the bucket smokehouse:

1. put sawdust on the bottom of the bix;
2. Place a tray on top of the stand to collect fat or place a simple cabbage leaf with the convex side down;
3. install grates and place food on them;
4. A smokehouse made from bixa is installed on a gas stove over a small fire or the coals of a burnt-out fire or barbecue.

The taste of the finished products depends on the type of wood from which the chips are made:

• aspen - gives a delicate flavor;
• oak - strong smell;
• birch - gives a strong smell, but the tar has a bitter taste, so the bark must be removed;
• cherry and apple tree - with woodchips from these trees, high-quality tasty products are obtained;
• juniper and mint - add an unusual flavor.

The prepared products should be placed on the grill in one layer so that the pieces do not touch each other or the walls of the smokehouse.

Possible problems, solutions

The first attempts at smoking in such an improvised device are not always successful. Let's look at the most common mistakes and how to avoid them:

• If the finished product is bitter, most likely you used too many wood chips, which is why there was a lot of smoke, which is what made the dish bitter. Keep this in mind the next time you smoke;
• the dish turned out not as tasty as you expected. Perhaps you ruined the taste due to the fact that you took too fatty a piece or carcass for smoking. Try smoking less fatty meat;
• food burns. Grease the grate with vegetable oil, reduce the draft, try using rhubarb or cabbage leaves.

A few samples will be enough to learn how to cook dishes that are in no way inferior to store-bought smoked meats!

A few tips that may come in handy

1. It is not advisable to take fish or meat with a strong fat content, since the smokehouse is small, the volume of sawdust is small, and it is not advisable to “fill” them with fat. The volume of the installed pallet should be sufficient for it.
2. It is better to immediately divide the meat into small portions. When laying out, leave space between them.
3. The vegetables are very tasty. It is advisable to smoke them whole so that the juice does not leak out.
4. Sometimes smokers use cabbage leaves instead of a tray for fat on the road, which are placed under the food.

What can you smoke in such a smokehouse?

Medical bixa can be used for smoking any products that can be cut into small pieces:

• Fish - all types, with the exception of the fattiest varieties. Fat is rendered during hot smoking, which worsens the taste of the finished product.
• Meat - sausages, chicken pieces, lard, pork tenderloin. You can smoke small sausages in a large pot.
• Vegetables - smoked vegetables are used as a side dish. Sliced ​​eggplants, peppers and young corn work well.
• Fruits are used as dessert. Plums, pears and apples are most often smoked.

The smoking time depends on the size of the smoked meats. Large pieces cannot be placed in a medical sterilizer, so the process takes 25-35 minutes.

Such a smokehouse can replace a multifunctional purchased device, such as a multi-cooker smokehouse.