Getting The Smoker Ready

[BlueOvalFitter]

I have been smoking meat on the same smoker since my dad bought it for me at age 18. It's called a COOK'N CAJUN. It's the round type with the dome lid. Sure, I like big smokers, but my motto is, if it ain't broke, smoke it.

My fovorite charcoal is Kingsford using pecan wood. I like cherry wood as well, when I can get it.
I'm sure there are others here that smoke meat. What kind of smoker do you own? Charcoal and wood used?
I will get some pics of it later. Below is what it looks like.

 

[dlundblad]

Oklahoma Joe. Smoke box, charcoal, propane and a side burner. I can't order a steak as good as what I can cook with this thing. I just don't eat steak often.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of smoked whole chicken. Liberally apply Frank's hot sauce and a Texas dry rub seasoning. Cook for about an hr then reapply. Takes around 4 hours or until a leg can easily be twisted off.

 

[InhalingBullets]

I had a new braunfels 48" smoker for years but I grew tired of dealing with the firebox. A few years ago I grabbed a Traeger pellet smoker at Costco and I haven't looked back. It is so easy to get the fire going and it regulates itself. I have found my favorite wood pellets are Alder. We don't normally get Alder here in Texas.

 

[Schmoe]

Got a masterbuilt electric smoker 3 years ago....best thing I've ever bought.

 

[andyd]

heh heh, One BIL would catch some good trout, fillet them and give them to me. I would give them to another BIL along with some apple twigs and get back some great eating smoked trout.

 

[FermeLaPorte]

I wish I had a smoker

 

[28oz]

I've got a Camp Chef pellet smoker (Traeger-like). Love it.

 

[nickaluch]

Just bought a cheap smoker from home Depot just to try it out I guess I'll start with some ribs

 

[zorobabel]

I use just wood in my Brinkman.

 

[hatt]

My Weber kettle does pretty good. Not a lot of room to smoke very much is the only problem. I can get 2 slabs of baby backs or St Louis ribs on there.

 

[PeterPolyol]

Originally Posted By: FermeLaPorte
I wish I had a smoker

Same! Thinking of converting an old metal tub dishwasher

 

[Shannow]

I HAD a Brinkman, made some good stuff, but was unimpressed with the machine.

Had to drill holes in the bottom and top to get it to breathe, and the metal/coating was really thin compared to Weber.

Got about 6 years out of it 'though.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

My smoker is going on 36 years old and is still smoking like day 1. And, I bet my dad paid a whole $20-$25 for it. How much do those eggs cost, about $150-$200, and MORE?
My favorite 2 cuts of meat to smoke are pork loin and brisket. I have come up with my own homemade marinade sauce for each cut. The only time I ever use an injector is when I smoke/fry a turkey and/or chicken.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: hatt
My Weber kettle does pretty good. Not a lot of room to smoke very much is the only problem. I can get 2 slabs of baby backs or St Louis ribs on there.

I own an 18" Weber grill. But, it has short legs on it.
When I lived in FL. a TRUE VALUE hardware store was having a grand opening. They were selling these Weber grills for $20, sort of a way to attract customers. I bought 2 and gave one to my best friend.

https://www.target.com/p/weber-174-18-ch...mp;gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Nyogtha]

Here's an older thread started by car51 on this topic where some of us listed our rigs.

LINK

Here's a thread with pics of my trailer rig.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub...BQ?#Post4694028

I started on a Cook'n Cajun over 40 years ago but it was the bigger style with a big charcoal pan at the bottom and hardly any legs to speak of, identical to the Brinkman Gourmet model. I had one of those when I got married. That design was pretty asthmatic for keeping a fire going a long time but worked well for poultry for me. Now I have a 16" horizontal offset 1/4" steel on the patio, a "bullet" style smoker like the Napolean Apollo on my patio, a 45 or so year old cast aluminum Portable Kitchens grill my mom bought, and my Oklahoma Joe trailer rig. Which tools I use depends on the occassion and number of people to be served.

My favorite briquet charcoal is 100% Hardwood Royal Oak Chef's Select, I don't care for briquets that are blended with mineral coal personally.

https://www.doitbest.com/products/838136

My lump brand varies, most of what I have in inventory is Frontier lump as they offered to sponsor me on the comp circuit shortly before they were bought out by Royal Oak who discontinued the brand.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag95.htm

I really like wild cherry wood for pork & poultry, I got on that while living up north, but I use mesquite, pecan, oak (post oak in TX, water oak in LA), and shagbark hickory as well.

People joke if my garage ever catches on fire it'll be unquenchable from the charcoal stash on one side and the motor oil stash on the other side!

 

[Nyogtha]

I like these fire starters from BBQ Wood Flavors better than any others I've tried. Available at HEB and I don't know where else, maybe Academy?

https://www.bbqwf.com/speciality-products/

 

[Shannow]

Cherry and apple are great.

When I had the Brinkman, I used to make Jerky, using the caterpillar coal method, of snaking briquettes spiral wise around the fire box, with a chunk of Cherry wood every third briquette or so.

Slice the beef into little finger sized strips. Lay them in a container. Sprinkle salt, molasses and seasoning, do another layer, and top off with salt mollases and seasonong.

Leave refrigerated overnight, and the juice would form a half inch layer over the meat. Leave it until the juice is all reabsorbed, then smoke/dry for a day (8 hours).

 

[Nyogtha]

I used some apple when I lived up north but didn't care as much for it, especially with beef, I guess coming from the land of mesquite and oak skewed my palate at an early age for a stronger smoke flavor. The one wood I tried up north and really didn't like the flavor was sugar maple, although many folks up there held it in high regard. Fair enough, many folks say they don't like food cooked with mesquite but I think that's more of a fire management issue or wood that hasn't been well seasoned.

 

[Shannow]

Apple was good for chook or pork, never beef.

Mesquite is a luxury in Oz.

repurposed brand name bourbon barrels are WAY cheaper and easier to get.

re maple, I got a heap of turbine stuff from Japan in 2009, and the crating was compressed chip board (great big chips) from Canada...it was maple chips, and smelled SOOOO sweet, in a turbine workshop that smelled of oils, machined steel and cutting fluids.

 

[Nyogtha]

No acacia in Oz? I've seen meat smokers down there describe using Red River Gum for smoking as well. Guava is a big fruit wood for cooking in Hawaii, along with kiawe, their acacia family mesquite analogue.