serious question...

[tommy261]

I am wanting to make a smoker that is portable (light weight) just curious if it is okay to make it out of aluminium... I know that galvanized material lets off poisonous gases when burned.... does aluminium? or will I be okay making the smoker out of this material..

[11andy11]

melting temp of aluminum is pretty low compared to mild steels. I don't believe it gives of any fumes. I have welded it on a pretty regular basis for years without a respirator and seem to be ok (although the wife would say otherwise), so go for it as long as you are not gonna have a ton of hot charcoal in it. May want to build it with a steel expanded metal basket for the wood/charcoal. Its gonna be expensive for materials though.
http://www.auto-ware.com/techref/meltpoint.htm

[Saltstalker]

The best smoker I ever had was made out of 1/4 in. plywood ,I believe there is something going on between the wood and moisture content. I have a metal smoker now and dont care for it. The temp. should never get hot enough or be close enough to start it on fire. Low and Slow !

[Instigator]

Maybe it was the plywood glue that gave you the great flavor?

[Fisher Lou]

I agree with Andy. Steel is the best way to go... Just depends on what your goal is as far a smoking. I use a horizontal smoker for making sausage because thats all I have at the moment but "vertical" would be my choice for sausage. It works fine for everything else...250 Gal propane tank.

[CoastalOutfitters]

go buy 55 gal one from fiesta and cut the legs off and modify it to a bigger stack w a damper.

put an extra grate or tin under your fire area

[fangard]

You can always go with thinner steel, but then you are going to sacrifice heat retention. They do make thermal, fire resistant blankets specifically for that purpose.

[bostonwhaler]

i would say no...cant really tell why though...lol