Basic Cinder Block Smokers

Location

• Choose a flat place away from the house to reduce the chance of smoke permeating your living space. Set up eight 12-inch square patio stones -- four on one side and four on the other. Tamp them down so they are even. At one end, prepare a place for the fire by clearing away any grass, leaves or other debris.

Materials

• Get 42 cinder blocks for this backyard smoker. You'll be making a 6-layer tower of blocks. The smoker itself uses 35 cinder blocks, while the attached fire pit will use seven. No mortar is needed for this smoker. You'll also need various screens, racks and platforms to hold the meat inside the smoker. When you are ready to smoke food, arrange them on the screens and set them into the tower on different levels, depending on flavor intensity. Always use heavy-duty oven gloves to remove screens and racks.

Smoker Assembly

• The first layer of the smoker uses five blocks in a square shape, with one side open. Set it up on one end of the paver stone base. Subsequent layers will use six blocks. Stack these layers up on top of the first layer so the block joints do not match up with the layer above or below. Nudge some of the blocks on the second layer and the fourth layer toward the inside of the concrete block tower just a little to provide a rim or edge to set a rack or screen on.

Fire Pit Assembly

• At the base of the first layer, where the opening is, line up four cinder blocks, two on each side with short ends touching. Lay the remaining three cinder blocks on top, creating a smoke tunnel. Push the cinder blocks up as tight as you can to the smoker tower, leaving no gaps. Light the fire at the opening of the fire pit tunnel. The smoke will be drawn into the tunnel and then up the smoker tower. If too much smoke is escaping where the fire pit tunnel joins the smoke tower, consider adding mortar to the joint.