Smokers

[Bushman]

I have had a Little Chief smoker for over 30 years, for smoking fish I have it down to an art. The problem is it is very limited as you cannot dial in temps and I would really like to get into other meats for smoking. Does anyone have suggestions for a smoker to purchase?

[pfshine]

My brother loves his traeger. It's all automatic, set it and forget it. My brother in law loves his green egg it's more work but it makes good food. All said and done I would go with the traeger due to the flavor being the same and ease of use. Plus it m lazy.

[rumBum2]

I've been using the Canadian version of little chief... just a thought but could one use a 110v controller to dial in the temps you need??

[T-Pee]

Don't see why not.

Oh. Love my Traeger.

tp

[Truckinbutch]

My Smokevault and cold smoking methods are too crude to even mention here .

[corene1]

I have a friend that has the green egg and he loves it , very controllable and puts out good food. Myself I am old school I run a home made reverse flow wood fired smoker. The kind you sit around with your friends , drink and tell lies till the meat is done.

[CR33G3R]

I'm a big fan of my Akorn by Char-griller. It's a kamado style cooker that starts at a price point lower than the Big Green Egg or Kamado Joe.
It's a very versatile cooker.

[buflowing]

I've had a New Braunfels vertical charcoal fired water smoker for 20+ years. I modified the charcoal pan with adjustable ventilation which makes it easier to get to smoking temps. It's a good, very robust, smoker. However, I have a new toy. I was recently given a Camp Chef Smoke Vault. After three or four uses, I've found this 18" propane fired rig is a nice solidly built unit. The propane allows quick heat up to a wide range of temps, even when it's 20F outside. Takes about 15 minutes to get the temp fine tuned to where you want it. And once there, holds it quite well. Temp recovery after leaving the door open for long periods is very fast. For wood, definitely use chunks, not chips. Thin blue smoke is easily attained and maintained. I'll be craigslisting my charcoal unit.

[Bushman]

I have a friend that has the green egg and he loves it , very controllable and puts out good food. Myself I am old school I run a home made reverse flow wood fired smoker. The kind you sit around with your friends , drink and tell lies till the meat is done.

Now that is living, although I like to smoke underneath the covered porch when it's raining. Will look into the trailer, our hot tub place carries the green egg but didn't think it looked like a great smoker but will have a closer look.

[bitter]

The little chief and Big Chief (What I have) are not bad smokers but you need to be aware of some things.

1. 4 hours is the maximum smoking times for larger pieces of meat unless you use nitrite and/or Nitrate cures in your meat. Its the general rule about 165F in 4 hours to stop things going bad. I always use prague #1 for most the things I make

2. You can finish cooking in an oven after smoking is done.

The Big Chief makes good jerky, smoked fish, cheese etc. But I like to do my smoking when its below freezing.

Look at the bradley smokers. The Digital one is pretty nice. It allows you to both hot and cold smoke depending if you just use the smoke generator. The downfall with the bradley is you need to purchase there wood pucks for the unit to work. The benefit of the pucks is the smoker is almost set it and forget it. It feeds the pucks to give a steady supply of smoke. You also don't get the ash tastes you can like with the pan type smokers if you let the pan run too long before dumping it.

the other option are charcoal smokers like the green egg but you need to learn how to use it and control the temps. Most the pro's that use these types of smokers use a pid and fan to control the temperature.

B

[Bushman]

Bitter, I smoke fish with my little chief and it takes a lot longer than 4 hours. I also like it not real dry. My brother in law has the Bradley and loves it (his food is very good), do you have one you would recommend as they come in a huge range of prices. He bought one with a glass window and said it was a waste as it gets build up on it right away and doesn't really work.

[bitter]

Bitter, I smoke fish with my little chief and it takes a lot longer than 4 hours. I also like it not real dry. My brother in law has the Bradley and loves it (his food is very good), do you have one you would recommend as they come in a huge range of prices. He bought one with a glass window and said it was a waste as it gets build up on it right away and doesn't really work.

I also smoked fish in mine but in most cases fish is small enough pieces that it hits 165 F (depending on outside temperature) within 4 hour.. At least the fish I did got there. Also it decreases the risks. If you are using cures (Nitrite or Nitrate based you can do much longer) Not everyone follows that rule, but it good to keep in mind. For example when I smoke chicken I brine it with pickling salt (1/2-1cup per gallon) and brown sugar(2 cups per gallon of brine) then smoke using something like mesquite for 4 hours max, then finish on the BBQ to 165F. If I am doing things like this I normally do in winter, spring or fall when below freezing as the smoker is cooler. At -20C I can truely cold smoke at about fridge temperatures so in those cases no worry about the 4 hour rule even with unbrined chicken.

I would not recommend a window on any smoker. Huge cleaning PITA. I used a digital bradley at a fiends, it was on sale at crappy tire when he bought it. I like its set and forget. Another thing that nice if smoked meat with a given temperature schedule its easy to obtain. I also used the non digital version but it was harder to use as the temp was off and I had to adjust for things (It would creep some up or down). I want to buy one guy here watch crappy tire for a sale cheapest have seen was 329 but normally about 399-449 for the digital one on sale.

B

[Coyote]

Have two Treager's. One still new, never fired, won it an FFA fund raiser event. My old one
get several hundred pounds of pellets through it each year. Spring Salmon are coming and it will
run nearly non stop for two weeks

Great units, I can highly recommend


Coyote

[bitter]

As you know you can make a bunch of different things in a Big or little chief.

I made this summer sausage posted here ( http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =7&t=60789) in my big Chief and then finish cooking to 160F in my oven. Most recipes say to goto 152 but I like to error on the side of safety and hit closer to 165F

B

[Bushman]

I should clarify bitter that the fish I smoke are 20 + lb salmon. Also I like using my spent JD chips in my little chief and would like to find something that would allow re-using chips as I am not as thrifty as Cranky but do believe in getting the most out of what I have.

[contrahead]

My Smokevault and cold smoking methods are too crude to even mention here .

My methods are crude too. Although I drool at the prospect of having one of those fancy Traeger grills there ain’t no way that I’m going to throw down a thousand bucks for the luxury. Besides if I can make my own still I figure I can make my own smoker.

You’re not going to be able to properly smoke one, let alone 2 or 3 hams in one of these things. To properly smoke ham or bacon you need a smoke house and TIME. Today we (and commercial meat processors at large) prefer to take the short route – by injecting meats with smoke flavor, salt, nitrites, nitrates and sulfides. * Perhaps I should not mention that these days, before slaughter we feed animals antibiotics, steroids and miscellaneous additives like ractopamine hydrochlorid. About 70% of all chicken and beef sold by the grocery in the U.S. and Canada is actually treated with carbon monoxide before you buy it. Traditionally it has always taken time and constant exposure to the pyroligneous acid from creosote in wood smoke to properly dehydrate and antiseptically preserve certain types of raw meat. Hams and bacons should be smoked for a month or more; not for just a few hours or a few days.

Getting back to the OP’s (Bushman’s) topic, I’ve had no experience with store bought smokers and their dandified digital controllers. No offense – I’d love to have one. A while back I did make myself a large meat smoker from masonry (adobe bricks) which had separate firebox and smoke chambers. I use this once or twice a year but find it too labor intensive and also lacking in temperature control.

Bradley is a company that makes smokers, but importantly for me it sells its hockey puck loading smoke generator separately for about $170.00. Reviews were good and bad, and some of the complaints were concerned with cost of the hockey puck fuel. An Internet search revealed a couple YouTube videos for pressing your own wood fuel hockey pucks. Another item of interest (to me) was a homemade version of a small cold smoke generator known as the "Big Kahuna" (by Smoke Daddy for $125.00). The idea uses a stainless steel can with draft holes in its bottom. A tiny fish aquarium type air pump pulls air up through smoldering wood ships, providing about 3 hours of burn time for twelve to sixteen ounces of wood chips. The following image was constructed for cheapskates like me. This homemade version uses a stainless steel martini shaker as the can.

[Bushman]

I like the idea of building my own smoker. I haven't had any experience with cold smoking but would like to add it as an alternative method.

[nerdybrewer]

I like the idea of building my own smoker. I haven't had any experience with cold smoking but would like to add it as an alternative method.

I've been using a Brinkman Pitmaster Deluxe for many years but it's too small for my current needs.

My project smoker consists of an all steel fridge from the 50's and a 4' x 4' piece of extruded steel that I will cut to size for shelves.
Those old fridges can be really expensive especially when you look in places like Seattle for them, I guess they are chic or something.
However oftentimes you can find one east of the cascades for free, worth the drive if you ask me.

I have a nice electric element to put in the bottom and will build a steel wood box to fit it.
I fish in Alaska every summer and have a big job of getting the salmon smoked and stored away so this will make it much easier to get a lot done per batch.

[frodo]

use an old refrigerator as a smoke box, build your own
it is very easy to to.

you can go spend upwards of $1000.00 for a smoker the size of a fridge or you can DIY it for less than $100.00

[nerdybrewer]

In case you are leaning that way:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/app/5487039094.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[WIski]

I like my Green Mountain. You can cook a hamburger for 3 hours and its as juicy as it went in. I've done fish, sausage, prime rib, steak, chicken, you name it. Had mine about 5 years with no issues.

http://greenmountaingrills.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[FreeMountainHermit]

The OP should have state the temp ranges he is shooting for as cold smoking and hot smoking are two different animals completely and discussions such as this quickly intertwine the two as the likes and dislikes of the wide variety of available equipment quickly gets confusing for those looking to make a purchase. Additionally the OP should have mentioned the amount of space required. Smokers are definitely not a one size fits all purchase.

One poster stated 4 hours being the max but someone doing a brisket or a butt for 18-20 hours may want to question that statement.

Cold smoking fish,meats and cheeses is a completely different area.

BGE is $$$$$$ patio bling and as such should be classified as a glorified flower pot that's only lacking dirt and a pack of seeds.

[bitter]

Bushman,

You could easily build an outside smoke house. The cold smoker above could be made with some stainless pipe or you could use the old timers method of putting the smokehouse on a hill and putting a stovepipe under the ground 15-30 feet to a lower spot and made the first there. As it goes through the pipe is it cooled. Depending how hot your fire is you can control the temp in the smoker. I have smoked fish upto about 12-13 lb lakers in mine but get what you are saying with 20 lbs... bit thicker fillet.

The old fridge will work as mentioned above, but the ones that work best are the old stainless ones.. with stainless inside. Anything other than stainless or wood are not ideal. Aluminum can be used for the outside but I like to avoid it if possible even though my Big chief is aluminum.

A venturi type cold smoker can be built really easy for cold smoking. I built one for my BBQ. Be great for cold smoking salmon using a working fridge as the smoker. Set the temp were you want it and have the venturi smoke generator go and smoke as long as you want. Could make a really nice lox that way! In the big chief I had to wait till was really cold to do that, and also used a cardboard box to double the height of the smoker.

You could easily make a smoker out of cedar of white oak also. Even use propane to fuel it.



B

[Bushman]

FreeMountain, thanks for the input I have never done a cold smoke but thought it would be interesting. Having said that I probably would not do it very often if it was available. I also am interested in a bit of mobility so I don't think I will convert a refrigerator.

[FreeMountainHermit]

Low budget as well as compactness coupled with easy temp control may interest you by combining these two products.

http://www.lemproducts.com/product/30-i ... at-smoking" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

http://www.amazenproducts.com/category_s/12.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Fish would be a breeze as well as pork butts and brisket for that BBQ gathering.

I'm a retired Kansas City Barbecue Society judge so I'm fairly well versed in smoking although the electric unit wouldn't be legal for comps.

[cob]

Bushman you haven't stated how big you need your smoker to be. if the season and limits are generous and you need a large smoker

a mini conex could be an option http://www.aplusrentalinc.com/containers.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow given your location you should be able to locate one

electrical service boxes also come in sizes larger than refers. while I really like my kamado, and brinkman pitmaster, and use both for

smoking, neither is a truly excellent smoker.

[Bushman]

FreeMountain again thanks for the links, you sound like one in the know. To answer your question cob I am thinking of the size FreeMountain's link shows 30".

[Pesty]

I learned to smoke and run a BBQ from some good ole' southern georgia folks. Was frying turkeys in the 80's with my dad and his buddies.

I'm still a stick burner and use as fresh as I can get apple wood w/out the bark on it. Dry rub the night before and let my meat smoke from 2-4 hours, then turn up the heat, spritz with apple cider and close the lid for the next 6-12 hours.

I use a basic ole charbroil smoker with a firebox and a bunch of mods to the firebox, lid and smokestack. Once I get back to the country it's an old propane tank custom built into a backyard kitchen.

[Bushman]

I learned to smoke and run a BBQ from some good ole' southern georgia folks. Was frying turkeys in the 80's with my dad and his buddies.

I'm still a stick burner and use as fresh as I can get apple wood w/out the bark on it. Dry rub the night before and let my meat smoke from 2-4 hours, then turn up the heat, spritz with apple cider and close the lid for the next 6-12 hours.

I use a basic ole charbroil smoker with a firebox and a bunch of mods to the firebox, lid and smokestack. Once I get back to the country it's an old propane tank custom built into a backyard kitchen.

I have a great brine for fish but am looking forward too (and I have a book on different smoke recipes) doing more dry rubs.

[FreeMountainHermit]

"Dalmatian rub" for brisket. Very basic and seems to suit all palates equally.Don't forget to foil.Scales well.

½ cup salt
⅛ cup medium cracked black pepper
⅛ cup garlic powder