During the early occupation of the Harrison property, rural family life included hunting deer and raising cattle and hogs for meat, and the Smoke House was central to preparing food for the family. The outbuilding was used for butchering, smoking meat, storing canned foods, and serving as an outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchen fires were common, and the Friesenhahns' kitchen burned down in 1953, after which the kitchen was moved indoors while the replacement structure continued to be used for smoking meat and storing food. The Friesenhahns primarily prepared link sausage and bacon there. Smoking was done by placing a wash tub in the middle of the room with sand in the bottom covered with wood coals burned down to a "cold fire." Oak and mesquite wood from the farm were used to make the coals, and fresh wood chips, typically pecan, were added to produce smoke. Sausage was made from whatever meats were on hand, including pork alone or pork mixed with beef or venison, then smoked for 3-4 hours and air dried for 2-3 weeks. Bacon was typically smoked for 2 weeks and then cured with salt. Rural families used every structure as efficiently as possible, and besides functioning as a kitchen, smoke house, and storage building, the porch was used for laundry. In earlier years, large cast iron kettles near the porch heated water for washing clothes, which were dried on a nearby clothesline. Later, a wringer washing machine dating to the mid-1900s was placed on the porch in place of the kettles.