OT meat smokers and recipes

I would like to buy a smoker and learn how to smoke beef, poultry etc. What kind of smoker do you guys recommend gas charcoal or electric. Any brand smokers you prefer over others. I know you can home build one but have a few extra dollars and would like to buy a good one. I would be interested in some of your favorite recipes if they are not family secrets.

Brinkman...70 bucks....electric....buy a little thermomete to sit on the rack. I smoke my stuff with a little Brinkman...Home Depot sells them...round, like a squat bullet...does a great job...put a pan down for the wood and you won't have to clean out ash out of sand of pebbles.
No charcoal...to much work..

I have about 3 different types. The Masterbuilt, ( I think that is the name). Electric. I really like it. I have worn out 3 or 4 of the Brinkmans, the one that look like a little R2-D2. They were all charcoal. The last time I smoked brisket, I rigged up some metal supports and actually sat a Brinkman smoker on top of my Gas fish cooker burner. Then drilled holes in a charcoal pan to let the heat through and put 8 or 9 briquets in the pan to make smoke. I kept adding charcoal as necessary, but the gas allowed me to keep the heat constant all day. I kept it on for about 12 hours if I remember right. I drilled a hole in the domed lid and stuck in a better thermometer, and also had a therm. probe type in the meat itself.

Get that brisket around 155 degrees and take it off. It will keep cooking a little after it is off the heat.

Oh, A metal rib rack is handy to hold multiple racks of ribs or briskets in place.

I also have started using a Weber kettle grill, with a meat rack that folds on the edges to allow you to add charcoal. Also they sell holders for the charcoal that allow it to stay on the edges while the meat is in the middle, keeps the heat indirect.

Good luck, Gene

I have an electric smoker and I think it's a Masterbuilt. I have used it for at least 15 years and have always been happy with it.

I generally use cherry wood chunks because I have a lot of cherry trees on the property. One thing that I did a while back was buy an insulating blanket for it from Cabela's. Keeps the heat in and allows lower power settings. This makes the temperature more consistant especially if the unit is outside and it is at all windy.

I line the water bowl with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean. Spray the racks with Pam as well.

Last time I used it I monitored the temperature with a digital cooking thermometer. I just slipped the end of the sensor into one of the vents in the lid and dialed the heating element in the get the right range.

I like smoked chicken, turkey breast, and especially salmon. I used to use an injector but I'm not sure that they are worth the hassle.

I built my own. 50 gallon hot water (glass lining is super to prevent heat generated rust out) lying on it's side on a mobile platform (used an old riding lawn mower platform and worked perfect)

I put two life up doors on one side, a handle on one end for mobility and duals as a place to put a shelf for assistance items, a lift door on the other end almost as large as the diameter of the cylinder. Put 4 grates in the interior: 3 that are just below the bottom of the doors and one on the bottom in the fire end to support the fire. A large SS bowl of water sits on the grate above the fire. There is a smoke stack on top at the end where the handle is.

I try to position it such that the wind is blowing from the load end to the vent end. I use Hickory, Oak, Mesquite, and Applewood charcoal and also wood chips soaked in water.

I start out with a good hot fire and after the cooker has come up to temp, place the meat the alum foil grate covering, especially made for pits....has a slick surface and things don't stick...at your local grocer. I have one of the Harbor Freight infrared thermometers and try to keep the cooker around 150F give or take... surface temp. Obviously the fire end is hotter than the vent end.

I use course ground sausage that comes from the German areas of Central Texas. I find coarse ground has better texture and the spices they use are perfect. Additionally I use Baby Back Pork Ribs (small bones and very lean and meaty....worth the extra $$) and cook them and the sausage whole. The day before I start cooking I marianate the meat in the ref in a solution of Italian salad dressing and popular BBQ sauces, using about a 1-2 part mixture. The ribs are rubbed with BBQ seasoning available at most grocers.

BBQ has to be done slowly and the fire has to be maintained on the low side. 140F is what the famous chefs like to use. Don't get hung up on the USDA 160F thing. You aren't frying a chicken in a skillet of grease for 15 minutes. Gotta keep the fire producing smoke which requires pretty much continuous attention if you want it perfect. The water in the bowl should be boiling (it's sitting right above the fire on an grille) and replace as needed. The water keeps the meat moist.

I want my ribs pink throughout and the way do do that is smoke. To get smoke to do that it takes hours....I cook for 2 days when I am smoking. Cook about 10 hrs one day, ref the meat over night and back on the pit another 5-6 hrs scheduling the cooking so that the meat will be ready about half an hour B4 serving. I have additional BBQ sauce available but usually no one uses it as I keep the meat coated during the cooking process.

I slice the sausage (which really only goes into the smoker to get hot as it is pretty well prepared when you buy it) and slice the ribs after every second rib.

That's about it and people rave about it.....I kinda like it too.

HTH,

Mark

I remember that mine is actually a Meco, not Masterbuilt. I looked smokers up on the Cabela's website and they have a nice one that is similar to mine.

They also have the insulation blanket for this as well.
Premium smoker

I used an old refrigerator with all the compressor and guts taken out of the bottom. I put a hole on the top of the backside about as big as a quarter and a whole in the bottom as big around as a three lb. coffee can. I use a cast iron skillet full of soaked down wood from which ever kind of tree you like. Pesonally I like apple. Under the skillet I use a hot plate, and of coarse I made a door to get access to the wood and hot plate. For different temp raise or lower the hot plate. Using the fridge you already have shelfs in it.

I use a Brinkman charcoal smoker that I converted to propane. If buying a new one I would go with propane because you can adjust the temperature as needed. The electric and charcoal ones work will also I just find the propane ones a little easier to get the heat right where you want it. I like to use a plywood box around mine to protect it from the wind and to help hold the heat a little better.

The kind of smoker you want depends on how much you plan on doing. I started with an electric one that I got from cabelas. It kept temperature consistently only two problems for me. One it was to small for what I want to do. Second the smoker, can't think of the brand, it only used special wood bisquettes they're little round pieces of saw dust formed in a circle. It's nice cause it automatically feeds them but. They're expensive and nearest place to get them was 60 miles from me. I would get one that could burn chunks. My new smoker is an old fridge with a firebox and the side that I put charcoal in, going to add electric so I can fine tune the temp for sausage. As far as recipes go its trial and error, whatever you like just Google what you are making like smoked pulled pork you'll get a bunch of recipes. Last week I made that the rub was great but the sauce was to tangy. As far as smoking goes meat will only take so much smoke in, its about six hours and after that your kind of wasting wood. Everyone is different so make it like you want and have fun with it.

Here's the one I got for Christmas.I made summer sausage out of last seasons deer.Wow best stuff ever and I had a blast doing it.All my friends say it's the bomb.I looked at many before I put mine together.I kept the one I got under the tree.Liked the idea of propane without all the electrical stuff to go wrong.Good Luck BlaineF(WA)

I agree with Blaine. Propane is great. Once I get it setup, I can maintain 170f for 5-6 hours without any adjustments. The smoker uses very little propane.

I have smoked with wood many times with an old R2D2 smoker and always seemed to be adding either wood or charcoal and messing with the dampers to keep the temperature where I wanted it.

Plus the cabinet style smoker will hold a lot more meat. Paid around $180 for it at Bass Pro shops. It is the bigger of the two models.

Rick

I have heard that if you smoke fish you cant get rid of the smell.I have a smoker but have only done chicken.I have books for sale on smoke cooking in my mail order catalog.Not suposed to use the forum to sell anything even though its done a lot.My email is Hillsbooks@yahoo .com.

(quoted from post at 16:27:29 01/29/12) I would like to buy a smoker and learn how to smoke beef, poultry etc. What kind of smoker do you guys recommend gas charcoal or electric. Any brand smokers you prefer over others. I know you can home build one but have a few extra dollars and would like to buy a good one. I would be interested in some of your favorite recipes if they are not family secrets.

Click to expand...

These folks have some seasoning samples you might want to try!

http://www.hicountry.com/spices-custom-seasonings.html

...and these folks can give you some good ideas about smokers.

http://www.thesmokering.com/index.php


There is a science to a good smoker and allot to be learned before spending your money.