Smoker how to.

biggoofy

biggoofy

Utah Jeeper
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
SLC, UT
Well I bought a grill awhile back and it has a smoker attachment and I would really like to start using it. I believe it's setup for indirect I bought apple wood chips and natural charcoal yesterday I really wanna do a bacon and sausage wrap deal. My smoker is a chargriller if that helps.

Thanks in advance.
 
Temp control is key.... Bring it to the next work day and i can show ya!!!!
 
I love my Chargriller but don't have the side smokerbox so I just pile coals and soaked pieces of wood on the end opposite the smokestack. I have a small cast iron box for wood chips I use sometimes too. I like to soak applewood chips in apple cider. Beer, wine, liquors and other fruit juices or combinations w water to soak wood pieces for all kinds of flavors. I soak split pieces of White Oak, Hickory, Apple, or Grapevine overnight, start a good pile of charcoal and put the soaked wood ontop to keep the heat down and the fire will last a long time as the wet wood slowly burns. A pan of water or other mentioned liquids above of the fire can help the meats not to dry out and add more flavor. Lots of good recipes and advice online for smoking. I think you'll like the Chargriller alot it's a great grill and smoker too.
 
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EdJonesJeeper said:
Soak the chips in water for 24 hours.
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This and you must have beer, don't want to get dehydrated why waiting. Also bacon on a smoker is awesome, and like snappy said temp is key. I've played around with adding spices and beer to the water tray along with mixing types of chips/chunks. For our smoker we use chunks, the propane just burns them down to fast.


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i picked up a brinkman electric smoker at the flea mkt a while back, i put a thermometer on it and i been messing with it on the weekends while piddlin in the shop and i have learned alot, and i can control my temps with a windbreak in front of it, i am a fan of mesquite chunks soak em 24hrs leave them about baseball size fill my water bowl with apple juice or beer, hand rub whatever meat i have decided upon with a good mix of spices and just check it to make sure it doesnt dry out, on venison i also bacon wrap it the bacon turns out great!!! just don't worry too much i have had some homers and some strikeouts(some creameted beef ribs most recently) different meats just cook a little different!! good luck and have fun

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I have the same one. I usually put charcol ( kingsford) in the side box, light and let the coal get hot. Then I add a pile of real lump charcol and get that all fired up ( vents wide open) Once it is all going well, I will choke the side vent to about a quarter open and the top vent about 3/8 open. This will normally keep my temps around 250 - 260. A lot has to temp outside, wind, location of grill ect. ( warning never use a grill indoors as this can prove to be fatal...just felt like saying that) As stated by others, make sure and soak you wood. I usually let mine stand overnight. Depending on what I am cooking and how long it takes, I will add some wood about evey45 minutes or so as I check on the temp. also add charcol as needed to keep it at temp. Just takes some time trying different things. Main thing is to make sure you have enough heat in the box and have beer.
 
Newcastle or other dark beers give a whole lot more flavor than pilsners, try it w a beercan chikin sometime. Coals on both sides, well seasoned chicken or 2 in the middle, more seasoning and Newcastle in the can. I put slices of lemon and onion in about 1/2" of beer in the pan too and add more beer if it dries up.....drooling.
 
Not to hijack your thread Goofy, but are the electric smokers even worth the investment? Looks like you can get them for as low as 150-200.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Not to hijack your thread Goofy, but are the electric smokers even worth the investment? Looks like you can get them for as low as 150-200.
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If you don't like cleaning up a mess then yes. My pawpaw has one, I personally prefer gas over anything. We had a charcoal smoker for a while and they get to be a hassle. With gas all you had to do maintain the water tray and chips, plus you can keep temps steady easier.


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I started on a ECB...real cheap way to learn and have fun and once you learn your smoker and do a few mods to it you can turn out some decent meat for such a cheap smoker...i mostly just use it for "fattys" now at local cookouts due to it being so portable..
Building a UDS at the moment but its going slow.
 
The usd smoker would seem to be a better smoker than the cheaper electrics. You can make one for around $100, just depends on what you have laying around. I built one over the xmas holiday and it has been working out pretty good. So far i have loaded it with 28 lbs of charcoal and had 8 cooks three of which were 8 hours or longer and i still have plenty of charcoal left.
 
light the green end, thats all I remember...:huggy:
 
congrats on the smoker! They are a lot of fun.

Rule number 1, Never, ever choke the exhaust. Leave the exhaust flap wide open and control the temperature with the intake.

Rule number 2, never use matchlight charcoal, or any other coal soaked in flammable stuff. You'll taste it in the food.

the term "smoking" can be misleading. You never want to cook on white smoke. Little wisps of blue smoke are what you are aiming for. any thicker smoke and your food will taste bitter.

With my chargriller I would load the firebox with charcoal, then start some in a chimney on the side burner. I would pour the hot coals on one side of the firebox and let the fire creep across as I cooked. I would lay split wood on top of the coals for flavor. I would keep the temperature between 225 and 250, you don't want to be much higher than 250. A remote meat thermometer is a nice tool to have.

here is mine, the exhaust is closed because I was burning off the shipping oils before using it for food. Never cook with the exhaust closed.

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And what I think you are cooking...

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^^^Damn^^^^That^^^Looks^^^^GOOD^^^^
 
Any pics of how you load the side box
 
Thanks 89Wrangler! They are fantastic, as long as you don't tell the Dr. what you ate!

@biggoofy, I don't have any pics of the box loaded. But I'll do my best to be descriptive.

I would take unlit charcoal and lay it all across the bottom, usually 2 or 3 layers deep.
Then I would take a chimney full of coals and put them over the burner until they ash over. Usually about 45 minutes. I'll post a link to the chimney at the bottom, I definitely recommend it!
Once the coals in the chimney ash over I would pour them in a pile on one side of the box, on top of the unlit coals. I would usually pour them on the side away from the intake, but I don't think it matters. the coals took about 45 minutes to ash over.
I would lay a split piece (or 2) of wood on top, one end in the hot coals and the other toward the intake. Knots make white smoke, and white smoke is bad. Save the knotty wood for the camp fire.
As the wood burned down I will add some all day, maybe once ever hour or so? never really timed it...
If you need to add any coals later in the day start them in the chimney.
Loading the box this way will allow the fire to burn from one side to the other all day, keeping your heat pretty even. If the wind didn't shift I wouldn't have to mess with the intake once I got it started.

Just remember to take your time getting the fire right before you start cooking. If I planned dinner for 4p, I would be up at 6a starting the fire with the meat on around 8a.

here is the chimney, http://www.walmart.com/ip/Backyard-Grill-Charcoal-Chimney-Starter/19581245

and a website that really helped me when I first bought my grill www.thesmokering.com
 
Thanks a bunch man that's the info I was looking for how big a chunk of wood do you use. I have a bunch of oak
 
How do you weave the bacon blankets??? I like to split wood into 3-4" thick pieces, then saw it into 6-8" long pieces and lay or stack the soaked wood onto hot coals, but the burn from one side idea sounds like a good one too. I read alot of the factory smoker temp guages are inacurate so pros often check and/or replace them. I've been sticking a long deepfryer one down the chimney to check the temp.

I also like the high walls and smoker guard dog in you pics :D
 
The high walls are why I want out of here! Every backyard is like a mini prison! :D

the bacon weave is REALLY easy. Here is a video, watching this is easier than me typing a how to. I strongly recommend thin bacon for a smoker, thick bacon stays really chewy.

EDIT: I prefer to keep my weave tighter than the video, and do not cook it before wrapping the sausage.

 
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