SMOKING MEATS IN A SMALL WAY.
A fairly good substitute for a smokehouse, where it is desired to improvise something for temporary use in smoking hams or other meat, may be found in a large cask or barrel, arranged as shown in the engraving, Fig. [22]. To make this effective, a small pit should be dug, and a flat stone or a brick placed across it, upon which the edge of the cask will rest. Half of the pit is beneath the barrel and half of it outside. The head and bottom may be removed, or a hole can be cut in the bottom a little larger than the portion of the pit beneath the cask. The head or cover is removed, while the hams are hung upon cross sticks. These rest upon two cross bars, made to pass through holes bored in the sides of the cask, near the top. The head is then laid upon the cask and covered with sacks to confine the smoke. Some coals are put into the pit outside of the cask, and the fire is fed with damp corn cobs, hardwood chips, or fine brush. The pit is covered with a flat stone, by which the fire may be regulated, and it is removed when necessary to add more fuel.
FIG. 22. A BARREL SMOKEHOUSE.
ANOTHER BARREL SMOKEHOUSE.
For those who have only the hams and other meats from one or two hogs to smoke, a practicable smokehouse, like that shown in Fig. [23], will serve the purpose fairly well. A large barrel or good-sized cask should be used, with both heads removed. A hole about a foot deep is dug to receive it, and then a trench of about the same depth and six or eight feet long, leading to the fireplace. In this trench can be laid old stovepipe and the ground filled in around it. The meat to be smoked is suspended in the barrel and the lid put on, but putting pieces under it, so there will be enough draft to draw the smoke through. By having the fire some distance from the meat, one gets the desired amount of smoke and avoids having the meat overheated.
FIG. 23. BARREL SMOKEHOUSE WITH FRENCH DRAFT.