Another smoker/food thread...(The BBQ kind!)

Yes, you can smoke on a Big Green Egg....you can also smoke on a Weber Kettle if you have enough experience to control the heat.  If you have no experience smoking meat, and you want it to taste good, buy an electric smoker to start with......easy as hell to use.  They aren't expensive and you'll get some experience before you upgrade to wood/charcoal based smokers.

You could buy a decent electric smoker and a decent propane grill for what you'll pay for an Egg.

x2. This is where I started, since I wasn't sure how often I would use it or how much I would like it.  I have since moved on to a grill/smoker combo. But, I do still use the Brinkman on occasion, due to ease of use and temp control.

This is what I have now.....after years of weber kettles, propane and electric smokers, and cheaper off-set smokers.  I would trade off one of my kids before I'd let this smoker go.

http://www.yodersmokers.com/cheyenne.html

I always thought a smoker would make a great DIY project.  Get a couple 55 gal steel drums and some diamond grating and some L-brackets, couple hinges and knobs...   Good to go.

There are plenty of plans on the interwebz...

OR, halfway through I'll give up and buy the electric smoker for the amount of times I would use it.

Probably a good idea to go less expensive to see how much it gets used. I found amazingribs.com prior to this post...I've heard (from the posts) that the Electric Smokers are the way to go vs. a propane??

I believe I will be getting one before the weekend, no time like before Memorial Day!

Just ordered this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A09SQW/ref%3Das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000A09SQW&linkCode=as2&tag=amazi0a8-20

$95 and it should be here on Thursday! It got a bronze review on amazingribs.com and good reviews on Amazon. It can use propane or charcoal and is a grill or smoker....

Reading more, the electric smokers were suggested more for cheeses, fish but not so much for ribs, briskets.

I'll post pictures of delicious food...hopefully soon!

Wait......you bought a smoker/grill/deep fryer all in one?  That's a bold move.

It had good ratings as a smoker. I'm guessing the main use we will use would be smoker. I liked that it could use propane or charcoal.

. My advice is to start with easily smoked foods - fish fillets, for example.

I agree to start with easily smoked foods, but I'm a meat/fowl eater.  Start with a pork tenderloin, or chicken/turkey breast.....get used to working with whatever smoker you are using and CONTROLLING THE HEAT (the reason electric or propane is best for beginners).  Move up to ribs, then a pork butt, then an eye of round roast (smallish) before you move up to a brisket.  It's a great hobby.....you don't wreck your body, you can drink a goodly amount of beer while you're doing it, and the end result is a great meal.  It's all about the heat......the smoke is really only important for the first 30 minutes to an hour.....then it's patience and a slow cook.

Here's a tip for beginners........applewood chips and apple cider vinegar for pork and fowl.  The chips make great smoke flavor, and the vinegar helps keep the meat moist and tender.  Fill a spray bottle with the vinegar and spritz the meat every hour or so.  Also, don't be afraid to cover whatever meat you are cooking with a tin foil tent.....it'll keep the meat from charring on the surface.

Oh yeah......try smoking a whole chicken sitting upright, with a 3/4 full can of beer stuffed inside far enough to use it as a stand for the bird.  The beer will get hot and the steam it creates makes for one of the most tender and flavorful chickens you will ever eat.

All of this is best done next to a pool with a cooler of iced beer and a baseball game on the radio.....if you want to go full out......a couple of horseshoe pits would help. 

We've used many different woods, and have soaked some of the oak wood in apple juice. That makes for a nice flavor. You are right in that starting on chicken or turkey breasts is a good idea. And a good rub is another step that takes some time and work to develop, but the end result can be awesome. Beer can chicken is a standard in our house.  We are about to start cycling through different beers to see what kind of flavors we can develop.

This thread may make this weekend tasty!

I have never used an upright smoker except for a propane one years ago.  That Pit Barel looks pretty cool but I don't like to have to pull items up with hangers, etc.....and I like a good view of whatever I'm smoking if I want to look.  It's just personal preference, buit I like tinkering with the heat/smoke.fire on an offset smoker....and I like to open the lid and look at the food I'm preparing as the day goes on.  But no doubt, I know guys who are better at it than I am and they can go all day without checking anyting but the temperature.

To the other post, yeah, a grerat rub is key.....and so is brown suger on pork.

I have the smoker/grill set up and it's currently "seasoning". I've got chicken breasts in the fridge for tonight!

I'm going to go with the propane and I have hickory wood chips. I read I'm supposed to soak the chips for 20 minutes to 1 hr ahead of time. I also read to flatten the chicken breasts, which I've never done but makes sense.

Will keep the tin foil tent in mind.

Not 100% sure about the time for the breasts. The manual talks about whole chickens so I'm going to use that as a guideline. But I'm thinking I'll cook it on low heat for a while (an hour or 2) and then bump the heat up to get the chicken cooked. I'm guessing it won't take long. < and an hour?? But feel like the longer they smoke the more flavor?!?! We'll see how it goes!

GO!!!

I always bring the meat/chicken to room temp before I put it on, it will give you a better smoke.

Something else you can do with chicken.......melt 1 stick of butter and 1 stick of margarine (it doesn't burn) and add garlic powder to taste.  Brush the buitter/garlic on every 20 minutes or so.  SOOOOOOO  GOOOOD!

Well...I'd say it was successful! Chicken cooked, no fires and it was pretty good!

I used propane and hickory chips. With the propane keeping the heat constant was pretty easy. There was a deep fryer thermometer in the box and I tested it with boiling water and it was pretty much at 212F. So I "balanced" that in one of the vents in the lid. It was probably 6" above the grill, but I figured it would be close enough.

I have a digital cooking thermometer that has a long wire, that is oven safe. So towards the end I stuck that in the chicken and ran the wire out so I could watch the temp. Worked pretty well.

I just did plain chicken breast because I just wanted to start basic, I think I will enjoy pork and beef better on the smoker than chicken. (Except maybe the beer butt chicken!)

It's supposed to rain later today and tomorrow...Maybe buying a tent canopy will be the next purchase...one that is tall enough to leave plenty of room for heat!

I do have a question, that is probably an opinion question...The way the grill/smoker is set up is that there is an option for grates to cook on. One grate can be set just above the water bowl and the other grate is above that by about 6". And then on top of that is the led. Basically the 6" space is a "spacer" of sorts. If I only use one grate do you think I need the "spacer"?? The manual shows that you use that with smoking and leave it off for grilling. I used it because I was thinking it would help give more air to circulate, but I'm not sure it really matters...