Smokers

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:04 pm

My OL is going to get me a smoker for XMAS. Any advice on types/brands I ....errrr.... she should consider?

Nothing too expensive. Simple but effective is what she's after, but I don't think the converted water heater ('sup Dins) idea will do in this case. She doesn't have a welder.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:48 pm

I think Home Depot has that cheapo char broil one on sale for $150. It's not that great, but it has nice surface area for $150 as well as a smoker box. My neighbor has one.

Actually, here they are for $100. Might be able to snag one at the store on clearance.

Char Broil Smoker

And save the "That's a BBQ, not a smoker" Dins.

Oh, and when you're smoking, might I suggest a BBQ sauce for you? ;)

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:14 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:And save the "That's a BBQ, not a smoker" Dins.

I get the impression the terms "smoker," "BBQ," and "smokerque" vary by region.

I'll defer to the Texan for the definition.

The water heater tank is what I/we call a "smokerque," or a "wood fired barbeque."

A "smoker" is generally an aluminum box with a small electric element on the bottom, which you put pans of wood chips on. I've owned several, and I'm not completely sure I have all of a working one at the moment...which speaks to my lack of time on the river lately.

With an electric smoker, it's great for doing fish, and makes bitchin jerky. If you want to do poultry or roasts or whatever, you use it for a few hours to create the smoke flavor, and then finish cooking to the right internal temperature in the oven...oversmoked poultry is nasty.

Around here, the Little Chief series from Luhr Jensen rules the land. I'm not sure how far from the U&L they sell Luhr Jensen stuff, but I believe it's a well-distributed company nationally. I think their basic smokers start at about $60, but the front-loaders are a little easier to use. Either way, they work great for occasional, basic use.

http://www.stevesfishingsupplies.com/Ca ... okers.html

My use of them is alomost always for salmon(:bigshoker: for U&L guy), and it's about perfect. Unless it's really cold or really hot outside, they do a fairly good job of maintaining the ideal 160 degree temperature. For fish, I usually use 3 pans of chips over about the first three hours, and then just keep an eye on it until it finishes(note -- fish continues drying after you remove it, so leave it cooked less than desired). And don't use hickory for fish, it's nasty, although wonderful on beef.

If yopu couple an electric smoker with a gas or charcoal BBQ, you're set.

I'm assuming that was the type of smoker you were talking about?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:51 pm

Dinsdale wrote:

I'm assuming that was the type of smoker you were talking about?

In my dreams I was imagining something like this:

But at about 4 large it's a little pricey for my backyard kitchen.
I may have to settle for something a little less ambitious.
(plus I probably wouldn't need to do more than say 6 racks, 3 chickens, and a turkey at any one time)

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:45 pm

This is my dream smoker.

It, too, is 4000+.

Just bought a new truck and riding lawn mower today though. This smoker will probably be mine in 2-3 years though.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:53 pm

That's a "smokerque."

Kind of like an old water heater tank, only $4000 more.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:47 pm

I was trying to be at least "quasi" realistic.

Here's the ultimate roadie smoker/grill/griddle from smokin' joe jones...

It comes in at a painless $13K - "whole hog" spit and motor extra.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:21 am

Dins,

That's why I said initially for you to butt the fuck out. We've already gone through this song and dance.

In Texas, we don't consider something you plug into a wall a smoker. Sorry if that doesn't fit the U&L definition of a smoker.

Mkay?

Now Mikey, 13K for that POS is ridiculous. There better be a glory hole with a midget bitch inside for the 13K on that ride.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:26 am

Oh, and Dins, I got too busy at work today to respond to this:

My use of them is alomost always for salmon

Ok, so do you have the smoker on the side of the river already heated so you can catch the fish, whack it on the dome, filet it and throw it right on the BBQ/Smokerque/Smoker (whatever the U&L calls it). If it has to wait in your car on ice, is it REALLY fresh fish? How long can a salmon pulled out of the river sit on ice before it is not considered a "fresh" fish (by U&L standards)?

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:20 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:How long can a salmon pulled out of the river sit on ice before it is not considered a "fresh" fish (by U&L standards)?

12 hours is pushing it.

I know some redneck caterers that have a trailer setup very similar to that, but I'm pretty sure it came from redneck engineering, rather than some commercial outfit.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:33 pm

This is from my convection thread:

FLW Buckeye wrote: Many that had issues thought that spending a few dollars more, you could get a Weber Smokey Mountain ($179-$200). This is supposed to be one of the best on the market, for it's price.

You may want to look into this.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:09 pm

This looks like maybe the one. It's $199 at grills direct and $30 more for the fitted cover.
$30 less at Home Depot.com but shipping is free at the other place. I may have to see if they stock it at the HD store.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:55 pm

They carry something that looks like that at Home Depot. I was considering getting one while considering the convection oven. If I'm not mistaken it retails around $165 but am unsure who makes it.

I was seriously considering it. The Weber 22 & 1/2 Gold kettle grill sounds like what I'll eventually get, but for now the gas grill will have to do. I do need to get two new tanks and fill them which will cost as much as getting the Weber kettle grill.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:45 am

That's the thingy I'm talking about. Some good native hardwoods in that beyotch, and heaven awaits.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:15 am

Mikey I think that's a Charbroil and you may find it at Walmart for even a cheaper price. I heard someone mention it but haven't been over there to look.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:42 am

It's like a Charbroil, but its a CharGriller. It gets great reviews at both places - seems a little more heavy duty than the CharBroil. I like the side-box for the wood and the fact that you can grill in either or both enclosures or just smoke if you want to.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:41 am

IndyFrisco wrote:I think Home Depot has that cheapo char broil one on sale for $150. It's not that great, but it has nice surface area for $150 as well as a smoker box. My neighbor has one.

Actually, here they are for $100. Might be able to snag one at the store on clearance.

Char Broil Smoker

And save the "That's a BBQ, not a smoker" Dins.

Oh, and when you're smoking, might I suggest a BBQ sauce for you? ;)

Um, Mikey. I posted this about the Char Broil. It's on sale for $100. Not really much different than the one you posted there. Not sure how much more heavy duty that one is, but they look about the same.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:27 am

IndyFrisco wrote:
IndyFrisco wrote:I think Home Depot has that cheapo char broil one on sale for $150. It's not that great, but it has nice surface area for $150 as well as a smoker box. My neighbor has one.

Actually, here they are for $100. Might be able to snag one at the store on clearance.

Char Broil Smoker

And save the "That's a BBQ, not a smoker" Dins.

Oh, and when you're smoking, might I suggest a BBQ sauce for you? ;)
Um, Mikey. I posted this about the Char Broil. It's on sale for $100. Not really much different than the one you posted there. Not sure how much more heavy duty that one is, but they look about the same.

You think anybody actually reads the shit you post?
Gimme a fuckin' break here, OK?

Anywho, the $100 Charbroil has 244 sq in of cooking space and weighs in at 63 lb (also temporarily unavailable)

The $169 CharGriller has 250 sq in in the fire box and 830 sq in in the primary cooking area. Also weighs in at 142 lb, so maybe not more heavy duty but a lot bigger. 244 sq in is not much space.

There's a bigger CharBroil smoker at HD (Silver model - also temporarily anavailable) with 738 total sq in and weighs 90 lb. It's cost is $159.

I'm going down to Home Depot on Saturday and see if they have either in the store, so I can actually look at them.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:03 am

For some reason I think HD has the CharBroil one and I think it's light steel construction. A guy from Texas was standing next to me and said $165 is too much for that one.

I really don't know. If I had a mig welder and a torch, and had a high school education in metal work ,I could build one for $20. However, I've heard you want thicker steel to retain heat if you're smoking with the side style grills.

A former poster DJPI sent me a link to a Texas made one that looks like that but it was around 350 lbs of construction.

So this brings me back to the basics... Can we get a decent smoke result on a Weber kettle (or a gas grill with foil pouches filled with soaked chips)?

It really has to be simple, practical, and relatively inexpensive to be able to smoke, BBQ, indirect grill, or whatever to make it a good buy. I had the best results with an old Weber kettle years ago.

I'm damn serious about finding just one piece of equipment than can do it all but may not be the best at all, yet if you get experience you can take heat transfer and cook anything on one fucking piece of equipment.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:09 am

I have an iron wood chip box that I sometimes use with my Weber gas grill. Results have occasionally been OK but generally not satisfactory. That's why I want to get this thing. I think the side box is large enough to cook with wood alone (no charcoal), which is what I would like to try.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:35 am

Well, that is good to know. I was soaking wood chips and wrapping them in tin foil, puncturing, and all... They would nver smoke unles they were dry. So I figured the lower plates were keeping the foil relatively safe as they take up a lot of surface area where the foil pouch can't get hot enough to produce smoke. I did notice that after the wood chips dried out in the foil pouches when I forget to pull the grates up... they started smoking out the aroma but not enough to make a big difference in the flavor. That's why I'm leery of buying more gas tanks. I don't have enough Alton Brown experience to understand why.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:22 am

Mikey, I was in Home Depot today and they were out of the box end smoker grills. They did have Charbroil electric stand up smokers for $60 and the charcoal or wood version for around $35. So that's an idea. I forgot to look to see if they were front loaders.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:04 am

I stopped by the local HD today and they had one of the CharBroil Silver smoker grills left. They apparently don't carry the CharGriller in-store. Pretty sure I'm going to mail order one of these either from HD or from this place:

http://www.grillsdirect.com/barbecue-sm ... &key=CG013

I definitely want to go with the side-box style, and this is the reason. I like my gas Weber but I want a grill that I can use wood or charcoal in as well. This CharBroiler model will double as a smoker and a wood/charcoal grill. I've been looking for a round firepit to put on the patio that will double as a decorative pit and wood grill, and haven't been able to find one that will cook and also look nice on the patio. This way I'll have my wood grill/smoker and I can get a fire pit that just looks nice.

Plus, you get a free 14 inch table top grill thrown in when you order this thing.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:32 am

Ah, okay now I see what and why you are going this way.

This morning I went into HD @ 6 AM and bought a Ridgid 4 pc combo kit, a Ridgid titanium coated circ blade, 2 brand new propane tanks, a cast iron smoker box (I hope this damn thing works), and a fish grilling basket.

I also bought 3 of those cheap 9V waterproof flashlights for $5/per and the Ryobi multi-task air grip laser level that used to be $50 and now is $10. I highly suggest you pick one of those up as they shoot a beam 30 ft. out and across. $10 for that?

Anyway, the Weber kettle grills were tempting but I had a 20% off gift card and I may get one eventually.

All of that came to a very low price.

The propane tanks weren't there yesterday but were there when I got there this morning.

Here's an idea... ask Y2K about designing a fire pit area for the back yard. He's done them and is going to put one in his own backyard.

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:02 am

The Weber Smokey Mountain is within your budget and all you will really ever need to turn out some championship-quality 'cue, Mikey....