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Cured Meats & Food Preservation => Cured meats & Food Preservation => Charcuterie: Ham, Bacon, Sausage, etc. => Topic started by: Pam Gould on January 04, 2019, 06:26:16 PM

Title: where do I drill holes in my tabletop smoker
Post by: Pam Gould on January 04, 2019, 06:26:16 PM
Hey..I am dry brining some bacon..got 4 days to go. I got a hanger today in the mail. I have a tabletop smoker, small but works for me.
I need to drill holes for the hanger.  see pic under. should I drill holes in the top ...or..holes in the side and run a rotisserie rod thru it and hang the hanger on that?
I need suggestions on how to plug it up after I do this also. I know you guys will have suggestions for me..
ALL suggestions are welcome  .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.
Title: Re: where do I drill holes in my tabletop smoker
Post by: Salmonsmoker on January 04, 2019, 08:17:53 PM
I would go with the rotisserie rod. Much easier - like hanging clothes in the closet. You can keep the rod close to the top too. Hold the hanger up inside and slide the rod through the hanger. That'll give you max room underneath and still easy to hang.
Title: Re: where do I drill holes in my tabletop smoker
Post by: GusRobin on January 04, 2019, 11:07:44 PM
Not knowing what the smoker looks like, how tall it is, or what it is made of ---I'll take a shot.
The hanger you show seems to be long and not knowing how big your pork belly is, you need to take into account how low the meat would hang if you put a rod in & then hung the hook. On a smaller smoker this could take up a good % of the space.

I would get a stainless steel hook similar to the one in the picture below.
(https://i.imgur.com/3FXYezd.jpg)

But I would look for one that has more of a bolt end then a screw end. In the top of the smoker, drill a hole the same size as the bolt hook. Then put the bolt hook through with a washer both on the inside and the outside. Use a nut on the outside to tighten the hook in place.

I would then take your hanger and cut off the top hook where the red line is in the picture. I would leave the "loop" on top of the hangers. See picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/yQZsPhl.jpg)

Hang your meat on the hanger then put the hanger on the hook you installed. (hang it by the loop.)

What this design does--puts a minimum size hole on top. If you want to smoke something without using the hanger, you can remove it and plug the hole with a washer and a minimum length nut and bolt.

It takes less space so you have more space to hang meat.
The one thing is when you hang the meat you have to make sure it is centered on the hangers so it hangs evenly.

Well, that's my idea