I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome and a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?

Hugh G. Rection wrote:

I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome and a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?


This sounds to me like it might be a cold smoker, a very different
animal from the types of smokers generally discussed here. Cold smoking
is the process used to produce jerky, bacon, and some types of smoked
fish, and I believe it's typically done at temps below 110 f. Always
done with meats that have been brined for preservation since the meat
will spend so long at "dangerous" temperatures. I'm just guessing based
on my assumption that terra cotta might break when exposed to 225 f heat
on the inside and room temp on the outside.

"Douglas Barber" wrote in message
...


Hugh G. Rection wrote:

I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome
and a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?


This sounds to me like it might be a cold smoker, a very different
animal from the types of smokers generally discussed here. Cold smoking
is the process used to produce jerky, bacon, and some types of smoked
fish, and I believe it's typically done at temps below 110 f. Always
done with meats that have been brined for preservation since the meat
will spend so long at "dangerous" temperatures. I'm just guessing based
on my assumption that terra cotta might break when exposed to 225 f heat
on the inside and room temp on the outside.


He did a pork shoulder. I don't recall him stating what temps he was
cooking at though. I'll see if I can find a link or something.

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome and
a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?

Probably this one:

http://bbq.about.com/b/a/035246.htm

Dimitri

"Dimitri" wrote in message
. com...

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome
and
a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?

Probably this one:

http://bbq.about.com/b/a/035246.htm

Dimitri



That sounds like the same thing. Does it work very well?

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
| I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker
out of
| a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
| the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome
and a
| replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has
anyone
| tried this? Does it work?
|
|

Google search found this: http://bbq.about.com/b/a/035246.htm

April 28, 2003

Great Homemade Smoker

Tparker424 Writes:

"For Father's Day my twin sons gave me the pieces to make a homemade
smoker they saw on a Good Eats cooking show and it works great. It
consists of 2 large clay/ceramic flower pots, a low cost single burner
electric hotplate, a STEEL pie pan and a 12-14" round replacement grill.
The bottom clay pot has a ID of 161/2 in. and stands about 16 in. tall.
Select the top pot so it will just fit upside down inside the bottom pot
(mine top pot has an OD of 16 in.). Make sure the the bottom pot has a
drain hole large enough to run the hotplate power cord thru. If you have
to buy everything new, should not cost more than $60.00.

To set-up, place the bottom pot on a couple of bricks or 2X4's (the
bottom of the pot stays cool). Place the hotplate in the bottom of the
pot and run the power cord out the bottom. Set the thermostat of the
hotplate on high. Place the pie pan on the hotplate and fill with dry
wood chips/chunks of your choice. Place the circular grill inside the
bottom pot, place the meat on the grill, place the inverted top pot on
top of the lower pot and plug in the hotplate power cord. If using an
extension cord, make sure its rated for at least 15 amps.

Ours starts smoking within a couple of minutes and with a full pan of
wood (using approx 2X2 in. chunks) will generate coupious amounts of
smoke for up to 3 hours before refilling the pan. The smoker maintains a
temp. as measured with a digital thermometer between 170-215 degrees as
the hotplate cycles on and off. We recently cooked a 7 lbs. pork butt
for 14 hours and it came out fantastic. We have also smoked chicken
quarters for 3 hours and then finished them in the oven for about 30
minutes, testing with a internal thermometer for doneness. The pots hold
the heat well but do not get hot enough for bad burns. The steel pie pan
shields the meat from the direct heat and other than filling the pie pan
with wood a few times, not much to do but watch it smoke.

--
Jarhead

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
news

"Dimitri" wrote in message
. com...

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker
out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome
and
a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has
anyone
tried this? Does it work?

Probably this one:

http://bbq.about.com/b/a/035246.htm

Dimitri



That sounds like the same thing. Does it work very well?

Don't know - about 4 months ago I purchased a Char Broil electric smoker for
60 bucks at Home Depot and I have been experimenting with it ever since with
very pleasing results. The instructions are however almost non existent
hence "experiment".

I like very much the thermostat and the set-it and forget it results.

Dimitri

"Dimitri" wrote in message
m...

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
news

"Dimitri" wrote in message
. com...

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker
out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta
dome
and
a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has
anyone
tried this? Does it work?

Probably this one:

http://bbq.about.com/b/a/035246.htm

Dimitri



That sounds like the same thing. Does it work very well?

Don't know - about 4 months ago I purchased a Char Broil electric smoker
for
60 bucks at Home Depot and I have been experimenting with it ever since
with
very pleasing results. The instructions are however almost non existent
hence "experiment".

I like very much the thermostat and the set-it and forget it results.

Dimitri



I'm a newbie but the way the host of the tv show explained it the terra
cotta works as an insulator acting to keep the heat inside the cooking
chamber whereas the metal smokers radiate heat through the smoker walls.
Theoretically this means you would use less fuel in this homemade smoker.
Would there be any other advantages?

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome and
a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?

That'd be Alton Brown on Good Eats. It's essentially a hybrid
kamado-electric smoker on the cheap. Since it can easily maintain temps at
the magical 225F mark there's no reason it can't produce as good or bad of
barbecue as your skills allow. IIRC he smoked for a while then finished the
butt in the oven, the pulled and served with mustard sauce.

He has another fascinating concept in one of his books where he heats bricks
up then assembles an oven on his driveway from the hot bricks using welders
gloves then bakes bread in the impromptu brick oven. he also has a cool
modification where he mounts a hairdryer to a Weber kettle for more heat. He
also uses a chimney starter with a grate on top to sear ahi tuna.

"Jason in Dallas" wrote in message
...
"Hugh G. Rection" wrote in message
...
I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker out
of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome
and
a
replacement bbq thermometer, he said the total cost was $43. Has anyone
tried this? Does it work?

That'd be Alton Brown on Good Eats. It's essentially a hybrid
kamado-electric smoker on the cheap. Since it can easily maintain temps at
the magical 225F mark there's no reason it can't produce as good or bad of
barbecue as your skills allow. IIRC he smoked for a while then finished
the
butt in the oven, the pulled and served with mustard sauce.

He has another fascinating concept in one of his books where he heats
bricks
up then assembles an oven on his driveway from the hot bricks using
welders
gloves then bakes bread in the impromptu brick oven. he also has a cool
modification where he mounts a hairdryer to a Weber kettle for more heat.
He
also uses a chimney starter with a grate on top to sear ahi tuna.



Yep, that's the guy, kind of a goofy character, but his explanations made
sense to me. But I see some people in this group have negative thoughts
about food tv programs. I might have to give it a try myself just to
satisfy my curiosity.

"Hugh G. Rection" wrote:

Yep, that's the guy, kind of a goofy character, but his explanations made
sense to me. But I see some people in this group have negative thoughts
about food tv programs. I might have to give it a try myself just to
satisfy my curiosity.


I believe most of us like Alton.

If your grill is well sealed, you can try the hotplate in your current
rig.


-CAL

Hugh G. Rection wrote:

I'm a newbie but the way the host of the tv show explained it the
terra cotta works as an insulator acting to keep the heat inside the
cooking chamber whereas the metal smokers radiate heat through the
smoker walls. Theoretically this means you would use less fuel in
this homemade smoker. Would there be any other advantages?

Alton Brown was trying to explain how this as a cheap replacement for a BGE
or Kamado, since -- as *HE*contended -- ceramic and clay pots were closer to
above ground holes than any other type of pit. The pork butt at the end of
the show sure pulled hard for being completely cooked; I doubt it was past
180F.
Dave

I was watching a food tv show last night and saw a guy make a smoker
out of
a large terra cotta plant holder, heating element, heavy duty pan to
hold
the wood chunks and a grill. He topped it off with a terra cotta dome
(snip)

That'd be Alton Brown on Good Eats.

Yep, that's the guy, kind of a goofy character, but his explanations made
sense to me. But I see some people in this group have negative thoughts
about food tv programs.

Alton is ingenious, well-versed in culinary technique and also a good
teacher using my vavorite pedantic vehicle: analogy. In his books he
stresses technique and science so that the reader can apply them at home to
create food instead of simply duplicating recipes. Conversely guys like
Emeril show you what *they* do but don't give you the knowledge to transfer
the art to your own kitchen.

It's a wonderful feeling the first time you go to the grocery store and
instead of shopping from a list you just buy what looks good or is on sale
and come up with a delicious meal at home. My family and friends are
constantly irritated when I cook them a nice meal, they love it and ask for
the recipe, and I'm unable to produce one. "What, you dodn't know how much
garlic you used or how long you cooked it?!" Uh, no, I threw stuff together
until it looked good and then I cooked it until it was done.

Hugh G. Rection wrote:

Yep, that's the guy, kind of a goofy character, but his explanations made
sense to me. But I see some people in this group have negative thoughts
about food tv programs. I might have to give it a try myself just to
satisfy my curiosity.

At least Alton knows the difference between real barbecue and faux.
It's just that sometimes he complicates his cooking by using multitaskers.

--
Aloha,

Nathan Lau
San Jose, CA

#include std.disclaimer

cl wrote:

I believe most of us like Alton.

If your grill is well sealed, you can try the hotplate in your current
rig.

BG I'm surprised you like him, Cal, since he specifically stated that gas
grills can't produce good barbecue due to water vapor levels given off by
burning propane, which don't exist at to anywhere near the same levels as
burning lump, briquettes, or well-seasoned hardwoods. You need to straighten
that boy out.
Dave