Amateur smoker looking for tips. No pun intended.

[The Knize]

Did you mean SAVE? That makes a lot more sense and is as true as a rock will fall if dropped.

I need to get to Plano and pick up a new stick burner...mine's getting wore out.

I definitely mean "save"

you guys make me buy stuff.

But in this case it is as much for your family as for you! Sorry, I am not usually the guy encouraging someone to buy a new shaving brush or DE, when he already has a bunch. In this case, I think we are encouraging you to buy your first DE razor as shaving by holding a blade in a pair of pliers is not working out for you, even though the folks who manufacture pliers claim it can be done and sell various accessories for doing it.

I remember agonizing over it when I first bought a smoker, thinking it was expensive and would lead to a bunch of new accessory toys, and I might not use it and my wife would be annoyed. But in this case your fam likes smoked food. My wife not so much. Treat yourself!

 

[CurtisB81]

I’m looking at Weber 22 inch as a smoker for what I won’t to do...

 

[eelhc]

I’m looking at Weber 22 inch as a smoker for what I won’t to do...

Spend a little extra for the 26". There's a reason why Craigslist is full of 22" Weber kettles while the 26" are hard to come by.

 

[paintflinger]

Spend a little extra for the 26". There's a reason why Craigslist is full of 22" Weber kettles while the 26" are hard to come by.

At a minimum it makes smoking easier because you can get more fuel in there and keep the meat more offset from the heat.

 

[ruckin]

Just a random point of order: I am also trying to figure out this smoke/bbq thing. I definately come from the wrong side of the tracks cooking wise. I currently have a propane webber and a flat top griddle. Neither is good for smoking.... I have a weird affliction with pellets and want to be able to smoke a 25lb turkey all the way down to various cheeses.

So do we talk about it here or do I start a thread about pitts&spitts vs Mak or derail this thread?

 

[eelhc]

Just a random point of order: I am also trying to figure out this smoke/bbq thing. I definately come from the wrong side of the tracks cooking wise. I currently have a propane webber and a flat top griddle. Neither is good for smoking.... I have a weird affliction with pellets and want to be able to smoke a 25lb turkey all the way down to various cheeses.

So do we talk about it here or do I start a thread about pitts&spitts vs Mak or derail this thread?

Expensive equipment won't help you learn how to smoke food any better.
BBQ was and still is cooked on a hole dug in the ground (pit).

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[Osborn Cox]

Expensive equipment won't help you learn how to smoke food any better.
BBQ was and still is cooked on a hole dug in the ground (pit).

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

And lawns used to be cut with non-motorized push mowers, and still can be. I COULD use a push mower to cut my grass, but I choose to use my riding lawnmower to make it easier, does that make my lawn worse? I don’t understand your point, newer style grills may not make the bbq better, but it certainly makes it easier, and practical for those that don’t have the desire/spare time to spend endless hours tending to a smoker. I understand that there is a pride of accomplishment when you are a bit more involved in the process and that is important part of it for some people, for others the end result of tasty food is the only thing that matters. To each their own, but I don’t understand the dismissive attitude towards anything other than stick burners, as if learning how to manage a fire is the key ingredient in the tastiness of a piece of meat.

 

[KUfan]

So much for owning a Weber 22" kettle. I get better results smoking on one than I do my dedicated barrel-type Brinkman charcoal smoker. I will get a woodburner next, mainly because my neighbor keeps extolling the virtues of his woodburner to me. But I have eaten enough smoked meat from different types of units to realize the difference (to me) is minimal. Alot of smoking meat prowess comes from technique and adjusting to what your cooker can and cannot do. Or maybe I will get a 26" Weber, a relative got one a few years back and later gave his Traeger to his son. Or maybe not, I have too many cookers (5) already.

 

[Tannhauser]

A large part of it will always be learning/knowing your cooker, be it a kettle, ceramic, offset, barrel, UDS, gravity feed, pellet pooper, etc.
You can do a helluva lot with just a good old Weber kettle and some cheap firebricks to easily hold the coals to one side. Fancier things like a Slow'n'Sear and a Vortex can turn the kettle into a do-it-all. I really do need to get around to selling my Big Green Egg someday in order to buy a kettle+goodies instead.
Personally, I loved my Pit Barrel Cooker. It was a true "set and forget" cooker. Gave it to my BIL when I got my Lone Star Grillz offset, though.

 

[TexLaw]

Man, I'm sorry about missing this for a week. This is one of my favorite topics. When it comes to low-and-slow cooking (or even lower smoking), I currently own an offset stick burner (Klose), a pellet cooker, an electric cabinet smoker, and a 22" Weber Kettle. I've also used a couple of barrel/bullet smokers (such as a Weber Smoky Mountain). I've never actually owned or done much of anything with something like a Big Green Egg or a propane smoker, but I have talked to many who have.

Weber Kettle - Smoking on a Weber Kettle most certainly can be done, but it's about the most difficult way to go about it, especially considering what you can do with it. It used to be my only home option, and I got away from it as soon as I could. Yes, it can turn out some great stuff, but fuel and space are so limited. I did ribs, butts, and even briskets on that thing, but I was so relieved when I got my offset. The best thing to do is what you're already doing with it. Just pile up some charcoal and top it with chips and chunks. Replenish fuel and chunks as needed. That box doodad you have actually is handly.

WSM and other bullet/barrel cookers - Probably the easiest, non-automated way to go about it. Pile in your charcoal, add in chunks, light her up, and you're good to go for some time (look into the Minion Method for fuel management). It makes good food, and it's relatively inexpensive for smokers.

BGE and other ceramic cookers - Pretty much the same as bullet cookers, but they also do a very good job of working as a grill. They'll cost 2, 3, 4 times or more what a WSM will cost you, though.

Offset Cookers - They can be a lot of work tending the pit, but you get a lot of leverage for space. They also make the best product, but I don't see much difference between an offset and a WSM or pellet cooker. Space can be a drawback, as they take up a fair amount of it on their own, and so does the wood you need to fuel them. I love running my offset, but they take more attention than anything else. If I'm doing a long cook (briskets or butts), that's my day. Prices are all over the place, depending on size, material, workmanship, brand hype, customization, etc.

Pellet Cooker - This is what I've used most over the last couple of years, since getting one. Heat and smoke are generated from burning wood pellets (although an electric hot rod ignites the pellets). Once I've set a temperature, the only real "tending" is making sure the pellet hopper doesn't run empty. They tend to take up less space than offsets. Sacks of pellets take up a whole lot less space than wood for an offset, and it's easy to have a library of different woods for blending or just switching between cooks. The cookers are very efficient, too. A long cook often results in only a couple or few tablespoons of ash, if that. Camp Chef and Traeger are common brands (mine is a Camp Chef), but I have a friend that swears by his Bradley (it uses pucks that are similar). Prices run from a few hundred bucks to a few thousand. While some advertise that they also double as a grill, there really hasn't been a good one of those to hit the market (at least, not one that justifies the price).

Electric Smoker - Very easy to use and control, especially with the digital controllers that are on many models. Are are not particularly good for long cooks at temperatures above 170-180F, but they are good for smoking at lower temperatures and even cold smoking. Heat is generated by an electric resistance element, and smoke is generated from "sawdust." Due to the fact that you aren't burning wood for heat, you get little or no smoke ring, if that's important to you. The flip side of that is that it's easy to keep from oversmoking something, as the amount of smoke anything gets is independent of the amount of time it's in the smoker (just remove the smoke pan or don't put much sawdust in it in the first place.) They sawdust is easy to store and blend, and it just takes moments to replenish the sawdust bowl. I'm using mine mostly for smoking cured meats at lower temperatures. When the weather cools down, I'll see about smoking cheese. I might look into fish, too. These are easy to use, but they can get expensive.

Propane Smoker - Pretty much the same as an electric cooker, but heat is generated from propane (or, perhaps, natural gas). Because you are burning propane (or natural gas), you do get a smoke ring.

 

[Mick]

Don't know how I missed this thread.

I use a propane grill to smoke (when that is all I have). I only use the burner under the "chip box". It "works" better than microwaving brisket.

Down here in the red hot south I have a pellet smoker that is acceptable to my tastes.

 

[_MementoMori_]

Don't know how I missed this thread.

I use a propane grill to smoke (when that is all I have). I only use the burner under the "chip box". It "works" better than microwaving brisket.

Down here in the red hot south I have a pellet smoker that is acceptable to my tastes.

This is all I'm currently set up to do. Sure it's not "real" smoking, but it does flavor the meat and my family and I notice the difference. I'll eventually get a dedicated smoker like people are suggesting, but I'm going to play with this method a while longer. I'm getting ready to buy some of those highly rated Cave Tools stainless steel smoker boxes - a v-shaped one for my propane grill and a standard box for my charcoal grill.

 

[Mick]

This is all I'm currently set up to do. Sure it's not "real" smoking, but it does flavor the meat and my family and I notice the difference. I'll eventually get a dedicated smoker like people are suggesting, but I'm going to play with this method a while longer. I'm getting ready to buy some of those highly rated Cave Tools stainless steel smoker boxes - a v-shaped one for my propane grill and a standard box for my charcoal grill.

I bought the smallest smoker I could find. In fact it is a folding legs portable that fits in the truck of most cars.

Now if I could only find a high quality grill in a small size I would be satisfied.

A chip box is nice but you have to keep a spray bottle handy to keep the chips from flaring up and you will need to continually feed chips to it for longer than a smokey flavored stake takes .

 

[eelhc]

Propane grills are problematic in many ways for barbecue but primarily, many are not well sealed and the propane needs a lot of oxygen to burn. This is a recipe for disaster for barbecue where you're working hard to retain that moisture.

IMO, rubs or sauces with smoke flavor in a kitchen oven are better than a wonky smoke setup propane grill.

Using a smoke tube or tray with wood chips imparts smoke flavor but I find the smoldering, acrid, smoke from such setups just plain gross. Best smoke is barely visible.

On almost every local Craigslist, there are Weber Kettles in decent shape that can be had for under $75. This the quickest, cheapest path to learning how to barbecue.

I've been learning barbecue for a long time, very early on, I went all in and bought a Kamado (2 in fact, original and a Komodo Kamado). 25 years later, I've now actually scratched the surface of barbecue education and have learned that managing smoke and fire as the most important ingredient in barbecue, is the first step. Not rubs, sauces, cooker types...

For folks just learning who are serious, I steer them away from running out and buying a $1K+ cooker. Not needed and that's a lot of meat and coals. Barbecue was and still is cooked in a hole dug in the ground... Literally.

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[CurtisB81]

I have a gas grill, and sometimes I use it for smoking. I didn't know that a gas grill can be used as a smoker, but I had a lot of free time and decided to give it a try. Can't say that the first time was good enough because I made lots of mistakes I could easily avoid. I didn't set up cold and hot zones, so I just literally burnt everything. Besides, I forgot about a water pan. The second time was way better, and everyone loved my smoked salmon. Unfortunately, now my old grill is in bad condition, so I need to get a new one. Now I'm planning to buy blossomz grill because it has a huge cooking area and what is most important, it has 2 different sides for gas and charcoal grilling. Now I will be able experiment I find the best method for grilling and smoking.

A friend of mine used an old barrel to create a smoker. We tried to smoke meat and fish there. We used different wood chips. The best one was an apple tree and pine was the worst because it has a bitter taste.

Stay away from pine . But I’ve use cedar planks and it turn out fine. Tea makes for a good smoke.Whiskey barrel wood chips make a nice and sweet smoke..