Smokers

[CaptainRon]

So I've never had a smoker. Never even considered one because my Dad doesn't care for smoked meats so I just don't have much experience there. But u think I'd like to try this. On the cheap of course.

What's finally pushed me over the edge, in addition to reading every damn post that pops up here, is a friend at work mentioned his traeger pellet smoker. I'm intrigued! He says he just uses heating pellets and gets the same smoke flavor at a fraction of the cost of using the fancy woods. I'm less concerned about that as I am interested in hearing from the brotherhood of how you smoke your meats... methods, equipment, acessories, etc.

Five minutes of research this morning and I like the idea of the pellet smoker. I think I may try to find a used one, or perhaps even one that uses regular wood on the cheap to give this a shot.

Thanks for any thoughts anyone has!

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[JG358]

The Pellet smokers are nice because they don't require much tending while smoking, you can set it and more less forget it until it's time to pull the meat. Have to watch out what pellets you use, some of the heating pellets use binders that are not food safe. When in doubt, get the pellets that are made for smoking.

I'm running propane smoker, a Camp Chef Smoke Vault 24. Fairly low priced as far as smokers go and not dependent on electricity. Mostly use oak, hickory or apple. Only accessory I have is a dual zone remote temp gauge to monitor smoker temp and meat temp from the house. Very handy for stuff like briskets, pork butt or large roasts that will be in the smoker for 10-18 hours.











Everyone needs a smoker

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[CaptainRon]

I like the look of that one @JG358 how many hours does a typical 20 pound propane tank last? I know these smokers might run for 10+ hours at a stretch. Are you using a full tank each time.

And yeah, I agree about heating pellets. I questioned him about it. I'm not sure how much the cost difference is, but I can't imagine for the occasional smoke that he's saving a ton of cash.

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[JG358]

Honestly, I havent ever kept track of how many hours a tank last. I know I did a batch of summer sausgae(10 hrs) and a couple Christmas briskets (14 hrs) on the same tank. Want to say their were 2-4 shorter smokes on the same tank before it finally went dry.

 

[CaptainRon]

Ok, that's not too hateful then. Didn't want to end up with something that would have me using two tanks of fuel to smoke a single chunk of meat lol

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[havana1]

I like the look of that one @JG358 how many hours does a typical 20 pound propane tank last? I know these smokers might run for 10+ hours at a stretch. Are you using a full tank each time.

And yeah, I agree about heating pellets. I questioned him about it. I'm not sure how much the cost difference is, but I can't imagine for the occasional smoke that he's saving a ton of cash.

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I've done multiple 12 hour smokes from the same tank and still not run out. It really depends on the temperature you are running the smoker and ambient temps. If smoking pork shoulder I run around 250/ 275 and get a couple 12/14 hour cooks from same tank.
The "set it and forget it" with pellet smokers is attractive but I've heard about some issues with the pellet feeders not working thru the night. If you look into all smokers you can find pros and cons.
I absolutely love my new Smoke Hollow 44 propane smoker I purchased at Sam's club. you can smoke about 20 racks of ribs at the same time if you need and I would put the meat that comes out of it against any from a wood burner.....
No matter what type of smoker you decide to purchase be careful. Trying to perfect smoking meats can turn into an obsession. Just sayin'.........

 

[CaptainRon]

With the propane smokers, there must be a spot to put wood that does the smoking? And I guess you just add whatever sort of wood you want to try?

This is so unlike me to actually ask questions. My normal method is to research on my own for extended lengths of time. But I'm actually working at this job and not goofing off most of the day lol

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[JG358]

With the propane smokers, there must be a spot to put wood that does the smoking? And I guess you just add whatever sort of wood you want to try?

This is so unlike me to actually ask questions. My normal method is to research on my own for extended lengths of time. But I'm actually working at this job and not goofing off most of the day lol

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Yup. Bottom has the burner, wood tray above that, then a water pan then your meat racks. I dont have any pics handy but I'll try to remember to take some tonight and post them. Dont have to buy the fancy pre packaged wood either, usually pretty easy to come up with a local source for oak or hickory.

 

[CaptainRon]

Yup. Bottom has the burner, wood tray above that, then a water pan then your meat racks. I dont have any pics handy but I'll try to remember to take some tonight and post them. Dont have to buy the fancy pre packaged wood either, usually pretty easy to come up with a local source for oak or hickory.

Nice!

Ok, propane it is then. Man I want to smoke something now! Lol. I'll keep my eye out for sales/deals and used stuff on CL. All these pictures of good meats has me hungry. And I just finished lunch! LOL

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[JG358]

I want to say the smoke vault 24" was sub $200 out the door with a couple extra meat racks when I found it on sale. They make a less expensive 18" wide model too but its a bit small for doing 3 lb logs of summer sausage. What ever unit you get, dont trust the dial thermometer in the door. They are usually way off... I had one that was off by almost 75*. IMO A good digital thermometer is improtant for consistantly yummy results.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I run a cheap Masterbuilt propane smoker, cost me like $130 I think. The burner is directly below the water tray that has a bowl in the middle for the wood chips. After getting tired of having to fill the water tray every hour, I found I can get a cheap aluminum pan to put on the bottom rack full of water and wind up using less propane since the smoker gets to a higher temp easier without the water tray in the bottom full, and I use less water too. Now I just need to get the damn thing back from my dad so I can get back to smoking meats.

 

[JG358]

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[CaptainRon]

I did a little reading at work instead of working today. It's all becoming clear now

I think I'll try to go the used route to save some money. But by spring time, I want to have a smoker in the backyard stable even if I need to buy new (but on sale, of course).

 

[JG358]

You could always piece one together on the cheap. Food grade barrel, Webber grill grate, cheap turkey fryer burner and a bit of hardware. Lots of DIY smoker plans on meat smoking forums.


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[Mossome]

Here's my setup:

2 Master Forge propane cabinet smokers I purchased at Lowe's. I started out many years ago with a Weber electric torpedo smoker. I graduated to the cabinet about 5 years ago and gave the torpedo away to a buddy who was just taking up smoking. He bought a cabinet last year and passed on the electric as well. I did catch some flack from a "purist" over me using propane, but my argument is that computer controlled fans and Wi-Fi thermometers aren't traditional either. I like that the propane allows me to better control the temp. I like smoking ribs at 225, and poultry at 260. The only drawback to these is that they aren't wide enough to fit a whole rack of ribs. I have to cut them in half. I used to have trouble getting hardwood, but now Kroger carries large bags of both hickory and apple wood chunks and chips.

 

[CaptainRon]

I like seeing pictures of people's smoker setups. Keep them coming!

 

[RacFocus]

Anybody run an electric smoker? I was thinking that route. So I don't have to worry about propane and propane accessories. I used to use a barrel style smoker with side firebox but when I moved I didn't move it.


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[Tigman]

Green mountain pellet smoker/Grill

 

[Tigman]

Love me some bbq porn!

 

[CaptainRon]

For the propane smokers, it seems like a nice feature to have is a second door at the bottom so that you can check the water and wood chips. How important is this? Must have, just nice to have, or not really important at all?

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