4 in 1 Portable Smokehouse

Everyone wants an easy life. In business, easy life means less work, withoutcompensating profit. In the fish smoking business, it means less procedure but stillyielding greater and quality output.

This is exactly the driving force behind the fabrication of a 4-in-1 portablesmokehouse device, the latest in fish smoking technology developed by Zaldy A.Fernandez of the College of Industrial Technology, Mariano Marcos State University(MMSU) Laoag City campus. He previously fabricated a multi-purpose, portablesmokehouse device (MPPSHD) in 2003, which also gathered interest amongstakeholders in the fish smoking industry, both smallhold and big time.

The Main Features

As the name implies, the newly-developed device is a 4-in-1 smokehouse thatcarries on the four major processes in smoking fish: marinating, boiling, drying, andsmoking. With this one machine, all these four processes can be done in one majorsweep without the hassle of going from one machine to another.

The 4-in-one smokehouse is like an elongated box (see picture at right) with anupright oven-like feature in the middle. It consists of three major features which arecollapsible for mobility. These include: marinating chamber, boiling chamber, and thedrying-smoking chamber. As a device, it has four main features: the boiler, trays andbody, marinating chamber, and fuel chamber.

How does this 4-in-1 smokehouse processor differ from other conventional types ofsmoking devices like the Pangasinan stove, the pilon type, the drum type, thesmoking pot, the batya for marinating, the boiler developed by the Department ofScience and Technology (DOST), the pugon type, or the MPPSHD.

Simply, this new 4-in-1 portable smokehouse device carries all these features, fromthe old-fashioned batya type of marinating to the pugon type of smoking fish. Thenew device is a shortened version of all the former models.

Performance Capability

The feasibility and portability features of this 4-in-1 smokehouse processor wasdetermined following five efficiency measures: 1) cost of production, 2) fuel

consumption, 3) rate of production, 4) quality of the product, and 5) convenience inoperating the device.

The device was tested using two fish product samples: 30 and 9 kg of baraniti(Caesio caerulaurea) and bangus (Chanus chanus). For fuel, the following were used:combination of charcoal, sawdust, and guava leaves.

In terms of marinating, boiling, drying, and smoking, result of the test showed aperformance average mean of 3.81 for the machine which according to the statisticaltreatment used, falls on a very satisfactory performance level.

The total expense incurred (2006 price) in the fabrication of this 4-in-1 portablesmoke processor is P21, 027.60. Distribution of expenses included: materials(P15,526.00), electric power (P412.60), water (P82.00), labor, 30% of material cost(P4,657.00), and travel (P350.00). The sensory and quality evaluation of the smokedbaraniti and bangus was measured in terms of color, texture, aroma, and taste. Forthe smoked baraniti, the over all sensory evaluation showed a highly acceptableproduct. It was acceptable in terms of texture and taste and highly acceptable interms of aroma and color.

Convenience in Operating

Physically, the 4-in-1 smokehouse processor has more added features, it is bulkierthan the MPPSHD but since its main feature is its collapsibility, it is portable and canbe moved from one place to another. The device weighs about 70 kgs which can beeasily handled by one to two persons.

Fuel can be easily loaded or unloaded because of the sliding fuel and ash basin whichare included in features. Fuel can be easily ignited through disposable or recycledpapers at a maximum of four minutes. When the fire starts, it requires lesserattention and management since it already has a built-in ventilation system duct.Moreover, the 4-in-1, as the evaluation showed, is economical in terms of fuelconsumption.

For easy monitoring during the smoking process, the door of the drying-smokingchamber is made of transparent glass. Likewise, the device has a built-intemperature reading indicator and a controller. It has a throttle valve which ismechanically operated for heat operation and a built-in multipurpose boiling chamber

During the testing, two main problems were encountered: fuel continuity and smokeexhaust that inconvenienced the operator. However, these problems were easilysolved. According to Mr. Fernandez, extra sets of bamboo trays used another form

for the continuous and everyday operation of the smokehouse processor. Meanwhile,a collapsible smoke chimney was fabricated as an extension to the present chimneyto serve as exhaust for the smoke coming out of the drying-smoking chamber. Thiswas also used to reroute the exhaust of smoke. When the inventor was asked theother great things about his invention, he said that aside from its complete features,this smokehouse processor is good for different production sizes: family-size,medium-size, and even for large-production size.

One of the critical issues affecting the fishery sector ispostharvest loss. As peak season entices growth of surplusproduction, a lot of perishable goods is also being wasted.Wastage is now at high levels due to the lack of postharvest.

During peak season, supply of fish is high but because fisherslack the means and knowledge to preserve or store their harvested products, theseare either set aside to rot, unconsumed, or thrown away.

Throughout the years, local fishers have been smoking, drying, salting, frying, andfermenting their surplus fish as a way of preserving and storing them for future useor for the market. Among these traditional methods, drying and smoking are thesimplest and widely used by local fisherfolk. These do not only prolong the shelf lifeof the produce but they also reduce waste at times of abundant catch and permitstorage for the lean season.

On the nutritional side, drying and smoking enhance the flavor making the fish asmain ingredient for soups and sautéed vegetables. Likewise, preserving the fishmakes it easier to pack, transport, and market.

Although fishers have been adopting these postharvest methods to preserve fish, thequality and market potential of the products are still substandard. The traditionalway of smoking and drying is rudimentary and often times unsanitary and thefinished product is prone to dirt and contamination.

A Multi-Purpose and Portable Smokehouse

To minimize postharvest loss during peak season and improve the drying andsmoking process by the local fisherfolk, Mr. Zaldy A. Fernandez of the College ofIndustrial Technology, Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) developed a multi-purpose and portable smokehouse. The actual construction of the multi-purposesmokehouse was done at the Automative Building in MMSU, Laoag City.

The smokehouse was constructed using locally available stainless galvanized ironsheets and stainless round bars. It has a height of 1.83 m and a circumference of2.44 m. It could generate heat of about 148.8 C using 5 kg mixture of charcoal,sawdust, and rice hull.

Isometric view of a multi-purpose portable smokehouse device

The device has three main parts: head, body, and combustion chamber. The head isan inverted cone type that could create a vacuum force such that the heat andsmoke generated in the combustion chamber is concentrated in the body of themachine. The head has a throttle valve attached to the neck and mechanicallyoperated to control the smoke and heat inside the device.

Meanwhile, the body is 0.74 m tall and has a built-in rack that can hold seven trays.The body can accommodate up to 30 kg of fish. Each tray which is removable foreasy loading can hold 3-4 kg of fish. For easy cleaning, a filter is mounted at thebottom of the trays above the combustion chamber. This also helps manage theexhaust coming out from the combustion chamber, so the quality of the fish is notaffected. Likewise, to effectively monitor the temperature during operation, a gaugeis attached to the sidewall of the body.

The combustion chamber has a sliding and removable basin or manifold where thecharcoal and sawdust fall. The sliding nature of the basin gives this device anadvantage over any ordinary smokehouse device because it allows the operator toeasily check, add, or remove the fuel. This also enables appropriate adjustments onthe temperature.

Attached under the manifold of the chamber is a separate depository basin for theashes and fuel residues. To facilitate ignition, a six-ampere blower fan is attached atthe side of the chamber for continuous heat. In addition, an air duct is connected atthe surface of the fan going to the main body of the device to increase and maintainthe circulation of heat and smoke.

Testing the Smokehouse

The device was tested and evaluated by comparing it with the drum type smoker,which is usually used by local fisherfolk to smoke their fishes. The data gatheredwere analyzed using five parameters for the standard characteristics of smokers,namely: simplicity of operation, portability, capacity, and cost and return in smokingfish.

Compared to the conventional drum type smoker, results showed big difference interms of fish capacity, fuel usage, time of fuel ignition, temperature, and smoking. Interms of capacity, the new device can hold three times (20 kg) more than the drum

type (6 kg). Using the same amount of charcoal and sawdust as fuel, the new devicecan smoke an hour shorter than the conventional smoker. Likewise, the fuel ignitiononly takes three minutes compared to the 10 minutes of the drum type. Since thenew device has a built-in throttle valve, temperature can be easily regulated andcontrolled unlike in the old device, thus producing better quality smoked or driedfish.

The total expense to produce the smokehouse device was P15, 000. The labor costwas 50% of the actual price of the materials used. The operational cost for smokingfish in three hours is around P2, 227 with a marketable price of P150/kg of theproduce. The gross income per operation is P3,000 with net income of P623.According to Mr. Fernandez, if the device operates once a day for three hours with20 kg of smoked fish as produce, the break even can be attained within 28 days.