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Hoopz:
The hardest part of smoking meat (to me so YMMV) is controlling the temp. Ideally, you want it around 225. Using wood, it's hard to gauge when to add more because you don't want it to hot but you don't want it to cool down and have difficulty getting the wood started. Without doing it all the time, I never got in a good groove with understanding the timing.
Having one with propane or electric heating eliminates that issue and adding the wood, adds the flavor. The heat source cooks it but the wood adds the flavor.
CT, agree or disagree?
ChadTower:
Pretty much agreed. Wood smoking is of course better but it's a lot more work. The true purist, or someone doing it professionally, would go all wood. Joe Schmo like us can still get great results with a smoker that's fueled by propane and flavored by wood.
I have smoked meats using a bunch of different methods. When I was a kid we had sheds for cold smoking fish by the thousand. You could smell those suckers half a mile away if it was windy.
The main smoker I have now is a relatively small propane unit:
That trapezoidal pan near the bottom is solid cast iron for wood. It has a lid with holes for limiting the oxygen to the wood. I use mostly 2-3" hardwood chunks. Type depends on the meat in the smoker. The pan right above that is the water pan.
This particular unit has its advantages and drawbacks. Advantages are that it keeps a super stable temp so long as the environment does not change. It gets itself up to temp in minutes and stays there for the most part.
It can be affected by wind or rain because it is mostly stamped powdercoated steel. Not a lot of mass to it. On really windy days I have put up plywood surrounding it as a wind break. I got some granite landscaping blocks and lined the bottom with it to help with heat retention/stability. That helped a lot.
I modified mine by putting a needle valve in line with the propane tank. This allows me much finer flow control than the stock valve did. That lets me run it at much lower temps. Before the mod I could only keep it stable as low as 170 or so. With the mod I can keep it stable at 110. 110 is great for dehydrating and I put a lot of fruit slices in there. I cannot cold smoke in this unit because of the direct type of heating - you can't make wood smoke at 110 this way.
I can fit 45lb of pork in there in a single run. Usually don't do that much, of course, but in the past I have and vac sealed it all for the deep freeze.
Vigo:
Thanks guys! :cheers: Some really good info in there. I think I might just add a simple propane smoker on to my christmas wish list.
ChadTower:
One thing to consider here is that almost all of the work involved is the first piece of meat. It's a bunch of work to do one butt of pulled pork. It is only a little bit more work to do five of them. Keep that in mind when choosing your smoker. You may find yourself wanting to do large batches and freeze most of it in meal sized bags. This stuff keeps perfectly in the freezer for up to a year if you vac seal it.
And you're going to end up making your own BBQ sauce. You make your own marinades. Using someone else's sauce or rubs is going to be offensive to you.
Hoopz:
--- Quote from: Vigo on April 09, 2013, 02:34:21 pm ---Thanks guys! :cheers: Some really good info in there. I think I might just add a simple propane smoker on to my christmas wish list.
--- End quote ---
Have your wife check with the neighbors first so she gets one that's acceptable for them too.
Seriously, that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- never gets old. It's like how much is free shipping and will it fit in CT's car.
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