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| Barbecue (alt.food.barbecue) Discuss barbecue and grilling--southern style "low and slow" smoking of ribs, shoulders and briskets, as well as direct heat grilling of everything from burgers to salmon to vegetables. |
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I want to buy a smoker!!
Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired
of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. Thanks. |
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On 25 Aug 2005 10:19:23 -0700, wrote:
> Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > Thanks. If you mean under $50 (more in Canadian) then the Brinkmann (affectionately known as "El Cheapo Brinkmann" or ECB) is right in there. With a few modifications, you can get some decent smoking done. You can also grill on it. Smoker: http://store.barbecue-smoker-grill.c...24/smgrch.html Mods: http://www.randyq.addr.com/ecb/ecbmods.html Pork Butts I cooked with ECB: http://www.geocities.com/bradhouser/porkbutt2.jpg When you fell like you want more control, etc. you can upgrade to the Weber Smokey Mountain or above. Brad H |
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I am presently looking to get another charcoal grill/smoker companion
for my Kamado #7. It would for big gatherings where I need to cook multiple items while the K's locked down with a low and slow. The Weber Smokey Mountain was a natural choice until I did a benchmark... Weber Smokey Mountain (2x18.5" Grills) $180 Big Green Egg Mini (9.5" Grill) $180 Big Green Egg Small (13" Grill) $270 Kamado #1 Textured (13" Grill) $199 (Sale Price) Kamado #3 Textured (15" Grill) $199 (Sale Price) For reference... Weber Performer (22.5" Grill) $300 Weber Kettle (18.5-22.5" Grill) $85-$150 So if you really don't need the additional space in the WSM, you may want to reconsider. That said... Having started myself with an el-cheapo Brinkmann, I can absolutely recommend it. Or look for a dirt cheap kettle style grill at a garage sale and set it up indirect smoking. There is another smoker only option. The Alton Brown Terra Cotta pot somker. Do a google newsgroup search and you'll find information on this. Essentially a terra cotta flower pot with a $10 electric hot plate on the bottom, pie pan with smoke wood in it on top of th hotplate, a grill near the top of the pot and a terra cotta pot lid with a thermometer in the hole. Basically a poor man's ceramic cooker. If you have an IKEA nearby their patio/garden section has very inexpensive large terra cotta pots that'd be perfect for this. Electric is a lot better than gas (and in some ways charcoal) since it does NOT need oxygen to create heat since it's not burning. No airflow through the cooking vessel... less chance for the meat to dry out. I've been wanting to build one of these for some time but haven't had the time. This may be the best option for colder climates... although wind is really the enemy of these metal water smokers. In any case...one does not need expensive gear to cook good Que. Expensive gear just allows one to be lazy  Be creative and have fun.Yes fun! Check this out... (Trash can smoker): http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html Brad Houser wrote: > On 25 Aug 2005 10:19:23 -0700, wrote: > > > Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > > Thanks. > > If you mean under $50 (more in Canadian) then the Brinkmann (affectionately > known as "El Cheapo Brinkmann" or ECB) is right in there. With a few > modifications, you can get some decent smoking done. You can also grill on > it. > > Smoker: > http://store.barbecue-smoker-grill.c...24/smgrch.html > > Mods: http://www.randyq.addr.com/ecb/ecbmods.html > > Pork Butts I cooked with ECB: > http://www.geocities.com/bradhouser/porkbutt2.jpg > > When you fell like you want more control, etc. you can upgrade to the Weber > Smokey Mountain or above. > > Brad H |
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wrote:
> Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > Thanks. Hey, Bert, Welcome! I don't know much about Canada, but we do have some Canucks on the group, who should be able to help you. ;-) You've come to the right place. Read the BBQ FAQ at http://www.bbq-porch.org/faq/default.asp Also, check out alt.binaries.food for some pics of equipment and food (& beer). The good thing about smoking and Qing is that you get to eat your mistakes. Looking forward to hearing what you end up getting and seeing some of your pics! -- Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled War on Terror Veterans and their families: http://saluteheroes.org/ & http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! ! |
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> wrote in message oups.com... " Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker." I made a lot of decent smoke on the Brinkman with both charcoal and electric. The electric element wears out pretty quick under heavy use and the wind adds plenty to cook times. I moved on to a Chargriller with a side fire box, but I find the wind here makes it difficult to deal with quite a bit. I find my latest Weber Smoky Mountain is much better able to deal with the wind here. Chargriller and Brinkman you can get at crappy tire. On an aside, you can also get the Bradley smoker for about three hundred when they're on sale at crappy tire. The Home Depot has the WSM online and at some stores. They will all special order it for you. Except the Brinkman all these smokers will run you about $250-$300. You got better weather with less wind in Ottawa than me in St. John's, NL so the Brinkman is good beginner's bang for the buck. |
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In article .com>,
had this to say about that... > Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > Thanks. > Me too, I've been lurking on this group for a while, these people drove me into a frenzy as well. I just picked up a cheap offset smoker at Canadian Tire at Hunt Club and Merivale. [They still had some left last week] It was pretty cheap, [$140?] but I figured it would be OK to fool around on. It was easy to assemble and the instructions must have been written by an American, I could actually understand them! Pick up some Royal Oak Lump while you're there, I enquired and they stock it year-round. #317 |
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In article .com>,
had this to say about that... > Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > Thanks. > > http://tinyurl.com/9dn67 #317 |
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> > Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > > Thanks. > I built one with a 30 gal. barrel down in the ground next to it for a firepit., with a tunnel connecting the smoker chamber to the firepit. I used 2x4 ribs and batt insulation between the double 1/2" plywood walls and cieling so it is very well insulated. At 3' x 4'x 8' high it is big enough to do a lot of stuff. the floor is dirt covered with 3" of lava rock all around the grate that lets the smoke in. There is also a hot plate buried into the lava rock. It is connected to a digital thermostat control ($59). The whole deal cost around $300 and a couple of weekends. It has 2 modes of operation: For slow cooked ribs, I run it around 200-225, only have to add a chunk of wood to the firepit once an hour or so after getting a good bed of coals. I cook ribs in tin-foil for 5 hours or so, and unwrap them and do it another 2 hours, puching the temp up to 300 at the end to get a little crunch on the exterior. It goes to 300 with no trouble at all, and so far fire has not been a problem, although that is about as hot as I would let it get (It is capable of self immolation, if you allow it). For slow cold smoke, i just use the hot plate and digital thermostat with a dutch oven (with tight cover) with chips in it. For dried beef, I set the thermo to kick in at 105, and run up to 130. This gives it enough time to ignite the wood and you get some smoke, then it shuts off until the temp drops to 105 again. By experimenting with drilling holes in the dutch oven and cover, it now burns about a half a gallon of chips in 24 hrs, so I only need to open the door and refill it once a day. After a week of this regimine you have the very best dried beef I ever tasted. This thing only takes a little space, cost only $300 or so, and I wouldn't trade it for any commercial smoker on the market! (The only drawback is neighbors wonder why you have an outhouse in your back yard) |
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> wrote in message > only once (1 time!) have I made somethin that I didn't think > was better than most resturaunt barbecue I've had (and I like > Texas BBQ), and then I just drank too much and wasn't payin > attention and over cooked a brisket. You must have passed out for half the day if you let it overcook on that machine. You sure it was not undercooked? |
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In article >,
wrote: > wrote: > > Hi there.I'm a complete newbie,and I MUST have a smoker.lol.I'm tired > > of the propane grill I have.What I was wondering is...does anyone know > > of a inexpensive smoker for the inexperienced? I'm in Ottawa,Ontario. > > Thanks. > > I've been smokin about 5 months now. I highly recommend the > El Cheapo Brinkman. At my local Academy Sports it cost me > a grand total of 30 bucks. Wal Mart sells 'em for about $30, too...IF you can find 'em! > I wont surprise myself if I 'graduate' to a Weber somethin-er-other > one day, but I think learnin how to do it with just the barebones > stuff will only let me appreciate that better. > > only once (1 time!) have I made somethin that I didn't think > was better than most resturaunt barbecue I've had (and I like > Texas BBQ), and then I just drank too much and wasn't payin > attention and over cooked a brisket. > > All that said, it is work. every 30-45 minutes you gotta add > water and check on the fire. 3.5-4.5 hours for ribs. > 1-1.5 hours per pound for brisket. 30-45 minutes?! I never have to add water that often with my ECB! With an almost-full water pan, I'm usually good for several hours. And I rarely ever have to "check on the fire". I use the Minion method with lump charcoal and get 5-6 hours of steady 250-degree heat. I do usually stir the coals every couple of hours, but fire control is not a problem with the proper modifications. -- Stan Marks A waist is a terrible thing to mind. |
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In article . com>,
"eelhc" > wrote: > > All that said, it is work. every 30-45 minutes you gotta add > > water and check on the fire. 3.5-4.5 hours for ribs. > > 1-1.5 hours per pound for brisket. > > Fill the water pan with sand and cover it with foil so you won't have > to deal with that... Use the "Minion Method" with gaaak! Kingsford > Briquettes (Briquettes will burn longer than lump). I get 5-6 hours of fire on one pan of lump charcoal using the Minion Method on my ECB.  -- Stan Marks A waist is a terrible thing to mind. |
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Hey,well thanks for all the suggestions.Going to go shopping around
today,but it looks like I'll go for the Weber Smokey Mountain.Thanks again everyone. |
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eelhc > wrote:
> Wow! I find it hard to overcook a brisket since the window to pull the > meat off is so large (190~200*C? gives me at least an hour or so...). ya it took special alcoholic effort. It was the first time I used a meat thermometer instead of just knowing how long its supposed to take and pickin up with tongs and testing for right floppiness. so i go over when I think it should be done and check it, and the floppinness seems right, but it reads 185, and I'd read 188 was "perfect" so I decided to leave it on. 1 bottle of wine and a few beers later I go check it and its freakin 210 degrees. woops. pretty dumb. -- I used to think government was a necessary evil. I'm not so sure about the necessary part anymore. |
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Stan Marks > wrote:
> 30-45 minutes?! I never have to add water that often with my ECB! With > an almost-full water pan, I'm usually good for several hours. ya if it starts out full it'll last several hours. but I don't want a grease fire to I try to keep it at the same level all day. I just use a little 6oz coke bottle (which so far is my preferred method of adding water to ECB's) and most of the time when I add a little to the fire (don't know/haven't tried this minion thing yet) I also add 6oz of water. works for me. im kinda fidgety about the whole thing anyways, so if I've got something else to do I'm not tempted to take the top off really until I think its time for somethin to be done. -- I used to think government was a necessary evil. I'm not so sure about the necessary part anymore. |
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On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 09:26:39 -0500, Stan Marks
> wrote: > Wal Mart sells 'em for about $30, too...IF you can find 'em! Just bought one today which I'm gonna send over to family in Europe. Paid $28.88 at WM. Prolly gonna pay that and more to have it shipped.. -- //ceed ©¿©¬ |
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In article >,
wrote: > Stan Marks > wrote: > > > 30-45 minutes?! I never have to add water that often with my ECB! With > > an almost-full water pan, I'm usually good for several hours. > > ya if it starts out full it'll last several hours. but I don't want a > grease fire to I try to keep it at the same level all day. I just use > a little 6oz coke bottle (which so far is my preferred method of > adding water to ECB's) and most of the time when I add a little to the > fire (don't know/haven't tried this minion thing yet) I also add 6oz > of water. It's from the Virtual Weber Bullet website, but it works very effectively in an ECB, too: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/fireup2.html#minion Instead of Kingsford, though, I use lump charcoal. You need to drill several large vent holes in the bottom of the firepan, if you haven't already done so, and a charcoal grate in the bottom of the pan seems to help, too. I found one at Home Depot that was made for a Weber grill, but it fits just fine in the Brinkmann pan. Sounds like you're making things a bit difficult for yourself with that 6-oz Coke bottle. I use a small, cheap plastic garden watering can (about 1 gal capacity) to add water when needed. I usually only need to do that on extended cooks, though, like when I'm doing a pork butt or brisket. -- Stan Marks A waist is a terrible thing to mind. |
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Stan Marks wrote: > In article . com>, > "eelhc" > wrote: > > Fill the water pan with sand and cover it with foil so you won't have > > to deal with that... Use the "Minion Method" with gaaak! Kingsford > > Briquettes (Briquettes will burn longer than lump). > > I get 5-6 hours of fire on one pan of lump charcoal using the Minion > Method on my ECB. > > -- > Stan Marks > > A waist is a terrible thing to mind. I've had cooks of 18 hours+ on one pan using lump and the Minion method on my WSM. It just goes to show what efficient airflow control can do. But yes, before I got the Weber, I did have some great results on my old ECB. *Insert comments by pottery users here* Jim -- "Some people are like Slinkies. They really aren't much good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs." |
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