Woodsman Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Has anyone converted an old electric range to a smoker? My old range just went t*ts-up and I was thinking with it's all metal construction I could turn it into a a smoker for little money. The storage drawer in the bottom with a little shielding will make a good fire box. Some holes cut into the bottom of he oven will let smoke & heat into the oven area & one burner already has a vent to let smoke out. Built in racks & door already. Years ago old refrigerators worked great but with all the plastics they have used for many years their out. What do you think? Best Wishes: Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBW Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 I think it's a great idea! What about even doing a modification to make it a gas unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Never tried it,but what yer saying,it should work just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsman Posted October 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 What about even doing a modification to make it a gas unit? Sounds like a great idea as my wife claims I have too much gas as it is. Not sure if I want to use it for cooking though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 dont forget, there is a lot of plastics in ranges too. most have plastic rollers for the drawer and clips to hold panels together.Most are made to resist the heat radiating from the oven liner, but not from direct heat from fire.Also ranges are not airtite.Smoke and fire can go between the liner and outer cabinet.also the fibre glass insulation in older ranges will burn if exposed to direct fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue pickeral Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 I think Red Green did this on one of his shows a couple of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robp Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 I was thinking of doing the same thing with an old stove we just retired. It should make a great smoke. Huge grate surface area, thermally insulated, large convenient pull out fire box. I say go for it! Oh and post a report of the build process. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) just watch out for all of the plastic bits and pieces and use extra duct tape. Why not just take one of the burners and put it in the drawer, and then just stick a frying pan on it with smoker chips, then all you need to do is cut a hole in the bottom of the stove to open it up to the drawer, and bobs your uncle? And you can use the oven thermostat to exactly control the internal temp. Edited October 19, 2010 by jedimaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) I was thinking of doing the same thing with an old stove we just retired. It should make a great smoke. Huge grate surface area, thermally insulated, large convenient pull out fire box. I say go for it! Oh and post a report of the build process. Good luck read my earlier post.I have been selling appliance parts for 30 years so i know. Be sure to remove any insulation between the oven liner and the outer cabinet.It WILL burn if exposed to direct flame. Check the drawer also, it slides on plastic rollers or glides.The endcaps on the control panel will melt as well as the knobs and wiring insulation WILL burn.If you decide to go ahead anyways make sure you strip anything flamable off before hand.The parts are designed to resist radiant heat produced by the heating elements, not direct flame. DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED Edited October 19, 2010 by mercman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBW Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 just watch out for all of the plastic bits and pieces and use extra duct tape. Why not just take one of the burners and put it in the drawer, and then just stick a frying pan on it with smoker chips, then all you need to do is cut a hole in the bottom of the stove to open it up to the drawer, and bobs your uncle? And you can use the oven thermostat to exactly control the internal temp. Now, why wouldn't you just keep the bottom element in place, lower a rack to sit on in and use the pan to have the chips smoke? No need to cut a hole now... Unless for some reason the element would cause an arc? If you go with the gas way how's about this? remove all the bad/melting stuff and get a bbq burner and hose and place it in the drawer. All you would need to do there is cut and protect a small hole for the gas line to run out. The the whole base of the inside would get warm and if you drilled a few holes in the base it would then allow for more heat to get through. The base would act as a drip pan as well as your bowl for the chips. As long as you don't have the chips sitting over a heat hole then there shold be no fire in the main chamber. I'm just thinking here of ways to do it and it may not work at all... just saying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 RUN FORREST RUN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikeslayer Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 What Mercman said! I can't see a happy ending here it's a great idea but a bad accident waiting to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBW Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 RUN FORREST RUN okay, i see. it's all this damn accounting homework messing with my brain. that's it. time to go find a beer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 What Mercman said! I can't see a happy ending here it's a great idea but a bad accident waiting to happen. dont like the way the avatar looks that i made you.try this one Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsman Posted October 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 What some seem to miss is this is a very old stove with very little plastic. The fire box will have very little flame mostly coals & shielded from area's with insulation. As for using the electric element for a heat source if that was an option I would still be using it as my stove. As a smoker I don't want high heat. No more than 175 to 200 max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 You have to put the electric smoker chips in a pan and a pan won't sit on the oven burner, thats why I mentioned putting the burner in the tray and let the smoke go into the oven, then use the oven element to heat the box. Then no fire's and no need to worry about all th eother bits. In fact you could just go buy a single element stove thing at crappy tire for 20 bucks and a cast iron pan at the dollar store. I did that a while back with an old rotted out barbeque and it worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 What some seem to miss is this is a very old stove with very little plastic. The fire box will have very little flame mostly coals & shielded from area's with insulation. As for using the electric element for a heat source if that was an option I would still be using it as my stove. As a smoker I don't want high heat. No more than 175 to 200 max. 30 bucks for a bake element. I hope you didnt change the stove because of that new appliance will never last as long as the old one. Lucky to get 5, maybe 6 years out of it before the manufacturer makes the parts no longer available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsman Posted October 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 (edited) If it was just the element it would of been fixed. Only thing that works now is the light and the electric outlet. Although the red lights indicating the elements are on also work none of the elements heat up. Not a fuse issue either. All fuses in stove & electric panel are working fine. BTW: Around here most parts are free. On my way to & from work I drive though an area many think is great for dumping old appliances. Does not take long to strip them of fuses, elements, switches ect. & racks. That's how I kept it going so long. Time to retire it from full time duty now. Edited October 20, 2010 by Woodsman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 If it was just the element it would of been fixed. Only thing that works now is the light and the electric outlet. Although the red lights indicating the elements are on also work none of the elements heat up. Not a fuse issue either. All fuses in stove & electric panel are working fine. BTW: Around here most parts are free. On my way to & from work I drive though an area many think is great for dumping old appliances. Does not take long to strip them of fuses, elements, switches ect. & racks. That's how I kept it going so long. Time to retire it from full time duty now. give it a good send off.i'm a firm believer in older is better.I see it everyday,peolpe phone up with a 6 year old appliance. parts nla(no longer available) yet you can get generic parts for 20 yr old appliance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsman Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 give it a good send off.i'm a firm believer in older is better.I see it everyday,peolpe phone up with a 6 year old appliance. parts nla(no longer available) yet you can get generic parts for 20 yr old appliance. Heck a 20 year old appliance would be considered almost new compared the this one. I've had it for about 14 years & I got for free as it was old & replaced with a new one. Would be at least 35 if not 40 years old. My 15' freezer is even older as my parents bought it new in 1965. Still humming along great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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