Author Topic: Meat Smokers? (Read 7183 times)

ArcticWilly · « **on:** Feb 14, 2009, 07:03 PM »

Looking to buy a smoker... Kind of leaning towards the six rack digital Bradly.
Wondering if anyone else is using this unit and if so good/bad comments?
Or if anyone really loves what thier using please let me know I am open to suggestions.

CMMahy · « **Reply #1 on:** Feb 14, 2009, 10:31 PM »

I think just about any smoker out there will give you great results, it seems most of the work is in preparing the fish or meat. All it has to do is get some wood chips smoldering at a consistent temp and contain the smoke. I just use a homemade one I built from some sheet metal, pop rivets and an old table top camping BBQ, ugly as sin and it takes a bit more attention during the smoking process, but it smokes my whitefish up to a nice golden brown. Good Luck!

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #2 on:** Feb 15, 2009, 12:32 AM »

The reason the Bradly units caught my eye was they have a smoking element and a cooking element...
I am not sure about fish as I have not smoked any myself, but for other meat if you can smoke the meat cool first before you put temperature to the meat it takes more of the flavor and can element any off putting flavor from heating too fast.

But totally looking at doing my own box cause Bradly sells there smoker setup separate for about $150

You keep your smoker inside a shed or garage or you put it straight outside?

Would be cool to see some pictures of peoples setups.

bushbunny · « **Reply #3 on:** Feb 15, 2009, 06:34 AM »

I have both a Bradley 6 rack digital and an castaway stainless milk cooler converted to a smokehouse. Both work well. The Bradley does the smaller loads and the conversion does the larger loads. The Bradley bisquettes can be pricey, depending on where you buy them. I keep my Bradley on a stand on the south side of the house sheltered only from above by the house eaves, and have used it at -25C.

CMMahy · « **Reply #4 on:** Feb 15, 2009, 09:58 PM »

Mine sits on the grill of my regular BBQ in my backyard when I'm using it, it's just that small. Total cost was less then $35, if you're interested i can take a ton of pictures and show you how I built it and use it. I've only ever smoked whitefish, but have had the pleasure of eating smoked Walleye and have been spoiled! Tried smoking pork the other day on my BBQ and loved the results, definitely going to have to expand my horizons!

perchfinder · « **Reply #5 on:** Feb 15, 2009, 10:52 PM »

i am using a homemade smoker first made of a thin metal box welded 3' x 3' x 3'. made an opening for a door and a sliding vent under the door and added a tin chimney. insulated the outside and added a layer of tin on the outside. added an old propane burner off a cooking stove and a few racks with a drip pan cover and a pan for the wood chips. add a whole sack of fish and enjoy! something this size is also good for making 25 pounds of jerky when the season arises.

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #6 on:** Feb 15, 2009, 11:23 PM »

Yeah CMM that sounds like a cool setup not much fuss, would love to see pics if you have them. Well thats what i want to do start trying stuff i have not before thats what got me thinking of getting something going.. A buddy of mine smokes burgers before he BBQ's them, they rock... just in a little chef from can. tire.
Building a shed in the back yard this year so was thinking of working the smoker into that too...

CMMahy · « **Reply #7 on:** Feb 16, 2009, 11:18 PM »

I'll put up some pictures tomorrow evening, still have to finish un packing all my gear from today and then try and get some sleep, early day tomorrow.

gmanfuzzy · « **Reply #8 on:** Feb 17, 2009, 07:57 AM »

ive been using a brinkman charcoal smoker for years. its my only choice. i add an extra rack so i can smoke 15 pounds at a time. i use a charcoal chimney to get the coals white hot. i soak my fruit wood for over aq day in water. it takes 5 hours to do good job and i add more wood and stir the coals at the 3 hour mark. the secret is in the brine.

CMMahy · « **Reply #9 on:** Feb 17, 2009, 11:35 PM »

Here's a few pictures of my home made, propane fired smoker. First you start with an old, beat up, Canadian Tire special table top camping BBQ.

I made some side skirts out of plain old auto repair body metal, also from Canadian tire. I left a bit of a gap on one side so I can get a lighter in to light the burner, and pried the top edges out from the side of the BBQ to let the exhaust out. Just fastened to the sides with aluminum pop rivets, coated the outside with flat black hi-heat tremclad BBQ paint

Closed in the vents and holes on the lid with thin aluminum sheet metal, from the same source (can you tell I frequent Canadian Tire a lot??)

Aluminum sheet and pop rivets inside the lid. I never painted the inside to prevent weird fumes, that coating is just resin from the wood smoke

Took the original Burner and hung it underneath with pipe strapping, the kind plumbers use to hang pipe in buildings. Left some slack so I can fine tune the distance from the bottom. Used body metal to close in the bottom openings, it see's direct heat and I thought the aluminum would melt.

Hung the burner down as low as I could manage. It sits on the grill of my regular BBQ during use, and I picked up a $20 adaptor hose from home depot that hooks into a standard 25lb tank, so no worries about running out of gas. I leave it on the lowest setting, fill the bottom of the smoker with a full layer of wood chips and put the fish on the existing rack with a bit of oil so they don't stick. Like I said, ugly as sin, but it does the trick until I get a garage and welding machine and make a better one.

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #10 on:** Feb 18, 2009, 12:32 AM »

Thanks for the pictures CMM. And yeah whats with Canadian tire anyways.... always find myself wandering aound there when I have a "project"...lol

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #11 on:** Feb 20, 2009, 11:44 PM »

Well guys, I broke down and did it... bought the Bradley 6 rack digital smoker.....!!
Just got it home and seasoning it as I type....lol
If any one cares to share any sort of recipes pls post them.... already have a few picked out here and will let you guys know what tastes great! Now just hoping for some nice fish this weekend.

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #12 on:** Feb 22, 2009, 02:25 AM »

Going fishing sunday for trout, so no fish in the smoker yet, but did up some pork short ribs tonight with a hickory smoke for some friends... YUMMY... big hit.... cant wait for them trout to get smoked up, have a maple cure and some maples chips.. think that will be nice with the trout.... will keep posted!

CMMahy · « **Reply #13 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 08:57 AM »

Congrats on the smoker! Let us know how the maple and trout turns out, sounds like a winning combination! I haven't got any special recipes, I've only smoked whitefish so far and that's just rubbed with some coarse salt to sit overnight and smoked in alder chips, but I'm going to try Rumtan's recipe on my next batch.

ryanlookingforperch · « **Reply #14 on:** Feb 23, 2009, 03:53 PM »

great pics CMMahy.

I am going to try this with my lil BBQ I used to take on the pontoon boat, before we got the beast that attaches to the side rails.

good luck!!

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #15 on:** Mar 07, 2009, 04:10 PM »

Well just an update on the smoker if anyone cares.... have not put any local fish in yet, hope after next weekends big trip to put in some whitefish. I have done pork short ribs, bison jerky, and a maple salmon...yum yum, all turned out great so far, jerky didn't last long going to have to do a bigger load next time, who wants to be a guinny pig for my next smoking experiments? Also looking to find wild boar if anyone knows of farms having pest issues with them pls let me know.

dodger · « **Reply #16 on:** Mar 07, 2009, 05:04 PM »

Hi ArcticWilly.
I just posted another site a few questions about a smoker as I am going to be a "Newbie" at this. I am wondering if it helped tenderize the ribs? I know the flavor will be great but I was hoping for tender ribs to go with the flavor.
Dodger.

bushbunny · « **Reply #17 on:** Mar 08, 2009, 05:53 PM »

I use a Bradley digital. I put the ribs on for 4 hrs for back ribs and 5 hrs for side ribs at 300F, smoking them for the last 1 1/2 hrs. Be sure to peel the membrane on the inside of the rib rack. Falling from the bone good!!!!

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #18 on:** Mar 08, 2009, 10:01 PM »

Bush

Don't you find smoking before full cooking imparts a better flavor?
Using the digital 6 rack here too, all the recipes recommend smoking before cooking... or hotsmoke / cook at the same time.... I will have to try smoking at the end and see how it differs....
happy fishing and smoking!

WIND-BREAKER · « **Reply #19 on:** Mar 12, 2009, 11:06 PM »

Quote from: CMMahy on Feb 17, 2009, 11:35 PM

Here's a few pictures of my home made, propane fired smoker. First you start with an old, beat up, Canadian Tire special table top camping BBQ.

(Image removed from quote.)

I made some side skirts out of plain old auto repair body metal, also from Canadian tire. I left a bit of a gap on one side so I can get a lighter in to light the burner, and pried the top edges out from the side of the BBQ to let the exhaust out. Just fastened to the sides with aluminum pop rivets, coated the outside with flat black hi-heat tremclad BBQ paint

(Image removed from quote.)

Closed in the vents and holes on the lid with thin aluminum sheet metal, from the same source (can you tell I frequent Canadian Tire a lot??)

(Image removed from quote.)

Aluminum sheet and pop rivets inside the lid. I never painted the inside to prevent weird fumes, that coating is just resin from the wood smoke

(Image removed from quote.)

Took the original Burner and hung it underneath with pipe strapping, the kind plumbers use to hang pipe in buildings. Left some slack so I can fine tune the distance from the bottom. Used body metal to close in the bottom openings, it see's direct heat and I thought the aluminum would melt.

(Image removed from quote.)

Hung the burner down as low as I could manage. It sits on the grill of my regular BBQ during use, and I picked up a $20 adaptor hose from home depot that hooks into a standard 25lb tank, so no worries about running out of gas. I leave it on the lowest setting, fill the bottom of the smoker with a full layer of wood chips and put the fish on the existing rack with a bit of oil so they don't stick. Like I said, ugly as sin, but it does the trick until I get a garage and welding machine and make a better one.

HI THERE I built a smoker out of a old 2 door mettle fileing cabnet put 2 racks in it a fire pot in the bottom works good i used fruit wood 4 smoking

CMMahy · « **Reply #20 on:** Mar 13, 2009, 09:50 AM »

Quote

HI THERE I built a smoker out of a old 2 door mettle fileing cabnet put 2 racks in it a fire pot in the bottom works good i used fruit wood 4 smoking

An old filing cabinet sounds like an awesome idea, gives you plenty of room to smoke bigger pieces, plus they're already pretty well sealed.

Arctic, sounds like you're getting some great mileage out of your smoker! How hard is it to make jerky? I'm hoping to finally start deer hunting in the fall and hear deer jerky can be really tasty, wouldn't mind giving that a shot. And anything made from bison is awesome in my books! Thanks for the update!

ArcticWilly · « **Reply #21 on:** Mar 15, 2009, 09:56 PM »

CMM,
I didn't find jerky hard at all... don't have a slicer yet so asked the butcher to slice it for me, brought it home and used a store bought jerky cure and seasoning, and let it sit for 24 hrs. Next day fired up the smoker and did the jerky while i was around home doing other stuff on a sunday. Took about 6 hrs in the smoker 2.5 hrs of smoke and the rest just heat to dry it out. Checked it about every half hour and moved racks around just so it would all dry out even. Turned out so good for my fist try.. vacuum packed it and stored it, but its gone already so the vaccum pack was a little besides the point..lol Did 5 lbs next time probably try 10lbs. Anyways keep in touch, have to swap some recipes.

ryanlookingforperch · « **Reply #22 on:** Dec 31, 2009, 06:28 PM »

Any suggestions for my 4 drawer smoker project??

cheers!!

kspoon · « **Reply #23 on:** Dec 31, 2009, 09:45 PM »

We have rocky mountain propane smoker we love it and were lovers of the low and slow,only paid 140 for it we take it camping use it as oven highly recomend propane for portability and when doing 14 hour cooks

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Author Topic: Meat Smokers? (Read 7183 times)