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escape of smoke and moisture. A slide 

 damper controls the escape of smoke and as- 

 sists in regulating the draft of the fire. 



The house is finished on the inside with 

 2-in. square strips nailed to the sides near 

 the top, and rabbeted cleats or plain strips 

 are nailed to the sides some 4 to 6 in. apart. 

 These strips should not be leveled. They 

 should have a slope of 6 in. toward the front 

 of the house. When trays holding the fish 

 are placed on them this slope will enable the 

 fish to drain while smoking. 



Several removable wire trays should be 

 made to slide on the rabbeted cleats. 

 Fish not put on trays are hung 

 from the horizontal rods of 

 wood or iron which ex- 

 tend across the house 

 from side to side. 



To insure successful 

 smoking it is most im- 

 portant that the smoke 

 spreader be properly con- 

 structed. This is a rect- 

 angular iron box 1 ft. 

 square and 2 ft. long. 

 Holes % m - m diameter 

 should be punched in the 

 sides and ends at frequent 

 intervals to induce 

 the smoke to 

 spread evenly 

 throughout the 

 house. 



Dig a trench 

 from the house 7 

 ft. long, 8 in. wide and 8 in. deep. Place in 

 this trench three sections of ordinary stove- 

 pipe, fitted at one end with an elbow. In 

 the middle joint of the pipe place a stove- 

 pipe damper. As the handle will be too 

 short, fit it with an extension so the damper 

 may be operated from above when the pipe 

 is covered with earth. This damper is very 

 important as it is the principal fire and 

 smoke control. The pipe is lightly covered 

 with earth. The elbow projects upward 

 into the house under the smoke spreader 

 extending about 2 in. above the surface 

 of the ground. 



The firebox, which is at the other end 

 of the pipe, is sunken. It is 14 in. wide, 14 

 in. deep and 24 in. long. It should be built 

 of brick and covered with a heavy piece of 

 sheet metal, which in turn is covered with 

 earth. Firing is made easier by having a 

 sloping trench in front of the firebox. 

 After the firebox and flue are completed and 

 the house is set over the open end of the 



Popular Science Monthly 



To insure successful smoking it is important to 

 have a properly constructed smoke spreader 



elbow, earth should be banked carefully 

 all around the bottom of the house to pre- 

 vent outside drafts. 



Before smoking, fish should be split 

 and the entrails removed. A fish having a 

 dark abdominal lining should be scraped 

 until the lining is removed. It is not 

 necessary to do anything further with small 

 fish before placing them in the brine. 

 Large fish, however, if they are above 2 lb. 

 in weight, should be split down the back 

 from the inside, severing the ribs close to 

 the backbone. They should be so split that 

 they will lie flat. Very large fish should 

 be cut in two or more lengths 

 and split in the same way. 

 This must be done to 

 permit the salt to pene- 

 trate and to make the 

 fish smoke evenly. 



Brine is prepared by 

 dissolving common barrel 

 salt in fresh water until 

 it will float an egg. 

 Place the fish in the 

 brine, scale side down, 

 and leave them over 

 night. When taken from 

 the brine they should be 

 washed in fresh water 

 and placed on sloping 

 trays or hung up to dry. 

 Fish should be dried for a 

 short time before smok- 



ing. 



Some fish are so soft 

 that they cannot be hung by wires to 

 smoke. These should be placed on trays, 

 skin side down. Firmer fish are hung in 

 wire slings from the rods at the top of the 

 smokehouse. 



The best fuel for smoking is green hick- 

 ory. It gives off a clear white smoke and 

 colors the fish a rich, golden brown. The 

 flavor imparted by hickory smoke is 

 superior to that produced by any other wood . 

 Next to hickory come corn cobs. While 

 they give off dense smoke which darkens 

 the product too much, they impart a 

 flavor which is very fine. Dry oak dis- 

 colors the fish a little too much and gives 

 it a mild acid flavor. Soft and hard maple 

 are used, but these burn too freely. How- 

 ever, the maple has a flavor much liked by 

 some people. Green ash gives off a light 

 smoke and the flavor is similar to that pro- 

 duced by hickory. Green willow is excel- 

 lent used with other woods as it gives an 

 abundance of smoke. Sawdust may be 



