Alton Brown's Cardboard Smoker Takes DIY To A New Level

Usually, do-it-yourself projects are limited to little things around the house like painting or replacing broken faucets. Alton Brown, no stranger to reducing cardboard waste, has brought DIY to new heights with his smoker made from a cardboard box. A smoker is a handy tool to infuse a savory, smoky flavor to almost anything — aside from the obvious meats, you can smoke tofu, and even make smoked olive oil!

Smokers work by trapping smoke in an enclosed space and cooking food with low, indirect heat. Smokers have three main pieces: an air intake, a fuel burner, and a cooking chamber. For his DIY smoker, which he first came up with on a 2001 episode of his show, "Good Eats," Brown replaces the chamber and air intake with a cardboard box with holes and burns the wood with a hot plate and cast iron skillet. Making the smoker is a great way to feel like you're the "Good Eats" host himself, blending science and cooking in the comfort of your own driveway.

The construction for Alton Brown's cardboard box smoker isn't too complex. The basic structure is a heavy-duty cardboard box with wooden dowels inserted to house everything separately. A hot plate to heat a cast iron skillet (which holds your wood chips) is placed at the bottom. An aluminum pie plate with holes punched in it covers the wood chips to control the smoke while a disposable roasting pan is used to catch drippings. A metal cooling rack holds your meat (or whatever else you're smoking) while a foil-wrapped brick is placed on top to keep the box closed during smoking. When you attempt this DIY yourself, it's important to build it outside on a level, nonflammable surface and have an outdoor outlet nearby. Also, make sure you have a fire extinguisher on hand!

The genius of Brown's method lies in his usual use of everyday items. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a rather large piece of specialized kitchen equipment, which Brown famously despises, his method requires a few parts from a hardware store and some pieces you may already have at home. Of course, this is the same man who developed a method of cooking meatballs in cardboard egg cartons! This remains his favorite smoker to this day, and it's easy to imagine he's tried more than a few!