The instructions for a wood shack smokehouse below come from a newspaper article published in 1896. According to the heading of the article, this smokehouse is perfect for smoking all types of meat and fish.
Farm Smokehouse
The illustration, Fig. 1, shows a simple form of smokehouse, arranged so as to give direct action of smoke upon the meat or fish within, and yet free from the annoyance that comes from entering a smoke-filled room to replenish the fire.
The house is square and of a size dependent upon the amount of material one may have yearly to cure by smoke. Ten feet square will be amply large for ordinary use. There is an entrance door on one side, and a small window near the top that can be opened from the outside to quickly free the inside from smoke.
At the bottom of one side is a small door, from which extends a small track to the center of the room, in which slides a square piece of plank, moved by an iron rod with a hook on one end. On this plank is placed an old iron kettle, with four or five inches of earth in the bottom. On this the fire is to be built, when the kettle can be slid to the center of the room with the iron rod. It can be drawn to the small door at any time, to replenish the fire without entering the smoky room, or allowing the smoke to come out.
The house has an earthen floor and a tight foundation of stone or brick. The walls should be of matched boarding and the roof shingled.
The building is made more attractive in appearance is the latter is made slightly “dishing.”
Corncobs make an excellent smoldering fire, with an abundant evolution of smoke. Chips from the woodpile, with some earth and sawdust, if not too moist, also make a smoldering fire that answers very well.
Source: The advocate. (Topeka, Kan.), 11 March 1896.
