you don't say if you want to hot smoke or cold smoke fish. It makes a big
difference. But assuming you want to hot smoke fish in the US of A and,
will never want to smoke meat or sausage, just about any used smoker
capable of heating the fish to 145 F for at least 30 minutes will do. An
electric unit with 3000 watt heaters with oven temp gauge and control is
usually basic to most units. The probes and recorders for checking
internal temperature (to meet FDA requirements) can be purchased
separately. Plan on spending $500 to $1000 US dollars on a single point
circular chart recorder.
If you are just starting a business I advise you to go with a used smoker.
You'll spend perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of a new one depending on
condition (and accessories of course), and they hold their value pretty
well. Add a couple of thousand for a new smoke generator although some used
ones may be around. New smokers the size you are talking about can cost
over $40,000 depending on accessories. Most small fish smoking businesses
fail in the first year because they can't recover their costs and overhead.
It is a pretty tough business unless you are doing it to supplement
another venture - like a seafood market, or it is simply a hobby.
Figure the capacity of any fish smoker at about 3 pounds per square foot of
rack space for every inch of fish thickness. Most of the used units on the
US market will be vertical flow if they have forced convection. But the
old gravity convection smokers like Koch has made for years will do the job
albeit at a slower pace. I've seen some of those sell for as little as 2
or 3 thousand US dollars. Horizontal flow ovens work the best for smoking
fish on racks but unless you are going to smoke fish every day you won't
need their superior performance and capacity. I've made fish smokers
myself (for home use) and have an outline of how to do it. But for
commercial use you'll be money ahead to buy a good used one. My local
building supply vendor sells 4 foot wide stainless steel screen for about
$50 per lineal foot and that is woven wire cloth - not welded mesh you
would want. So make sure any smoker you buy comes complete with racks.
The US FDA has no sanitary standard for fish smokers other that it must be
cleanable (and kept clean) and that rules out wood or galvanized interior
and racks. But be forewarned that the US USDA does have standards for
meat smokers so be sure that is not in your future.
Every fish smoker I have every met has "the best recipe" for smoked fish
and their customers "love it". So if you don't already have yours figured
out you better check to see what you potential customers like. And be sure
to have a HACCP plan in place before you start selling your product. If
you don't know what a HACCP plan is then contact your local state or
federal food inspectors ASAP.
If you want a copy of my procedures manual for operating forced convection
smokers send me a snail mail address in the USA. I'll also send you a copy
of my publication on "Smoking fish at home - safely" which has some ideas
on building a smoker out of parts from an old electric stove. PLEASE NOTE:
For an address outside the USA please send me $10 to cover postage and
handling. For more information on specific brands and styles of fish
smokers contact me privately by email or phone.
Ken Hilderbrand
*******************
At 12:05 AM 11/22/98 -0800, Leanna J Harder wrote:
>Hello everyone
>
>I'm a first time writer to the seafood list. I'm trying to start a small
>smoked fish business & was hoping to find out if anyone would mind
>sharing any thoughts on purchasing a used commercial smoker vs a new one.
> We've checked into some new "Koch" smokers, but we were hoping maybe to
>find something a little less spendy to start out with. We are looking
>for a smoker that will smoke up to 4or 500 lbs. at a time. We would like
>to have the temp gauge & probes to tell when the fish is done, (FDA & UL
>approved). Any comments or tips would be greatly appreciated.
>Thank You
>John & Leanna Harder
>hardriverrock@juno.com
>
>___________________________________________________________________
>You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
>Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
>or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
>
>
------------------------------------------------------
Kenneth S. Hilderbrand Jr.
Seafood Processing Specialist
Oregon State University
Marine Science Center
2030 Sth Marine Science Drive
Newport Oregon 97365-5296
telno 541 867-0242 (and voice mail)
faxno 541 867-0138
email <ken.hilderbrand@hmsc.orst.edu> (NEW 6/1/98)
****************************