Learn me smokers.....

[hbliam]

my neighbor has a traeger, i make fun of his 'outside oven'
real men use wood.  

Traeger men do use wood........... wood pellets. I'd like to see you tend that chargriller on smoke for 12 hours. I did a 14 hour pork butt a few weeks ago...perfection. I will admit we have to have an electrical connection.

[rgramjet]

I've had my green egg go 8 hours smoldering along at 250 doing a brisket.  It would have gone longer as the coals weren't all gone when I fed her in the morning......

[hbliam]

I've had my green egg go 8 hours smoldering along at 250 doing a brisket.  It would have gone longer as the coals weren't all gone when I fed her in the morning......

I thought we were talking about smoking? What flavor smoke do coals produce?  

[rgramjet]

I used almond wood chunks on that particular brisket.  Beautiful red ring. One of my finest cooking moments.  Charcoal=heat, almond wood=flavor.

[Speedbag]

I really like my 2 other weber grills, and want a smoker.  This just might be the one I want.  The green egg and traeger seem like too much, and the electric ones don't seem well built.  

What do you use for charcoal and wood?

mitt

Price on the WSM was closer to reality for me, plus a hardcore-BBQ friend let me in on the tip that the competition guys use them, which speaks volumes. They're built pretty well too.

Charcoal: I've found that Kingsford is best.

Wood: I use hickory, mesquite, and apple mostly, have used pimento for jerk (although mesquite is very close). Depends on what you're making.

[TAftonomos]

I wasn't even considering spending BGE money, but after a little researching it's not as bad as you might think.

Lifetime warranty on the bits
Company has been around ages
Ability to nearly set/forget it on temps
It smokes
It grills
It sears
It takes the place of a large gas grill and a smoker, and is nearly the same cost as an avg version of each

And they hold a "eggtoberfest" about 2 miles from me here in GA, where I can get a demo with goodies for a few hundred off.

There is a cooking class next week I signed up for that uses BGE's, so I'm going to go check'em out.

[mitt]

just got a weber smokey mountain    I have a lot to learn!


mitt

[Drunken Monkey]

Buy a cheap electric one for $40.

If you're serious about smoking you'll throw that POS out and get a real one eventually.

If you're not, you're only out $40.

I was serious about smoking meats for about a year, but ultimately I wasn't up for getting up at 2AM to start smoking the Best Thanksgiving Turkey Ever.

And I was only out $40.

Also, avoid mesquite. It's good for people who want a quick smoke flavor in a BBQ. Put mesquite into an 8 hour smoker and what comes out tastes like tar.

[Speedbag]

just got a weber smokey mountain    I have a lot to learn!


mitt

But it's delicious learning.

[lawbreaker]

..This thread came along at the perfect moment


I'm planning on nabbing a smokey mtn and givin' her a whack this weekend

[ZLTFUL]

I currently am down on smoking woods...need to replensih. I only have about 2 cords of seasoned cherry, 1 cord of seasoned maple, 3 or 4 cords of seasoned oak, 2 Jack Daniels barrels worth of whiskey soaked oak chunks, 1/2 cord of pecan and a very large pile of hickory chunks left.

I made my smokers. The big one resides at my grandparent's place and used to be a fire department water tanker trailer. I can get 3 or 4 whole pigs in there or 2 healthy sides of beef.
The patio smoker looks like most side by side smokers but is far more sturdy. I will post up pics after this weekend. Having some friends over for a dinner party and I picked up 27lbs of brisket, ~20 lbs of pork tenderloin, shrimp, 15lbs of chicken wings (a few hours in the smoker and then slow simmer in various sauces...)

Damn I am getting hungry now...

I am mostly (90%) wood fired but I do have a propane burner in the little smoker to help regulate temps a bit better.

[pitbull]

I built a small one with a tin garbage can, hotplate and some cooking racks. I put the smoker box right on the hot plate on low and it does a reasonable job. I've done some decent ribs, brisket and pork shoulder on it, but eventually I'd like to spring for something a little more substantial.

I have a buddy from work who built a smoker out of an old steel fridge, stripped of it's guts and uses the steel fridge racks for cooking racks. It works very well.