Building a smokehouse

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Radio interview source: Cameron Faustman, animal science professor, University of Conneticut

I love smoked salmon. And bacon. And ham! My friend, Larry, goes fishing in Canada and catches fresh salmon to smoke over scented wood chips. He gives us some for Christmas and it's wonderful.

Building a smokehouse is fairly easy to do. Wood is a popular choice. Animal Science Professor Cameron Faustman at the University of Connecticut says there's no need to be an accomplished carpenter. The roof is a little cock-eyed? That's OK! You want a leaky smokehouse so it vents properly.

"The smokehouses I've built I've just basically vented the top by drilling a couple of 2-inch round holes near the top and also making it so the roof sits a fraction of an inch off the top of the walls so that the air can move on through," Faustman says.

Use untreated and unpainted wood, even on the outside of the smokehouse. The high heat might draw the chemicals into your food. Faustman says he uses tongue-and-groove untreated pine.