Smoking Meat (3 page)

Horizontal offset smokers

Another very popular style of charcoal smoker is the horizontal offset smoker. The Char-Broil Silver and the Brinkmann Smoke ’n Pit are two of the most popular, but there are untold numbers of other brands and models that all basically work the same way, with slight differences in metal thickness and grate size.

The design is quite simple: a large horizontal barrel is cut in half lengthwise. The top half is the lid and the bottom half is the cooking chamber where the grate sits and the meat is cooked. A smaller barrel, called the firebox, is attached to one end of and just slightly lower than the cooking chamber. A cutout between the two barrels allows the heat to pass between them. The firebox has a lid to facilitate the adding of charcoal and wood, and adjustable vents allow much-needed air to enter and stoke the fire. The larger smoke chamber usually has a 3- to 4-inch diameter chimney protruding up about 12 to 16 inches, which allows the smoke to escape.

This design requires that adequate air enters the firebox, quickly passes through the smoker, and exits the chimney at the far end of the cooking chamber. This rapid movement of air prevents the smoke from getting stale and from forming creosote on the meat or on the interior walls of the smoker.

While this style of smoker has its faults (such as uneven heating), you can, as with the upright bullet smokers, make some simple modifications that will improve its performance. One of these modifications is to place a water pan on the grate next to where the heat enters the smoke chamber. This creates steam and helps to control the heat. Another useful modification is to extend the chimney inside the cooking chamber so it’s at grate level or slightly lower.

Brinkmann Smoke ’n Pit charcoal smoker and grill.

To set up this smoker for cooking I recommend preparing a single chimney full of lump charcoal and pouring it directly into the firebox. Leave both the firebox lid and cooking chamber lid open for about two minutes to let the heat build, then close both lids to let the heat stabilize in the cooking chamber. If the cooking chamber fails to get hot enough after about 15 minutes, consider adding another batch of charcoal to give the smoker the boost in heat it needs to meet your goal temperature.

Once the heat is holding steady within your desired range, add the meat to the grate and quickly close the lid on the cooking chamber to limit heat loss. Add a piece of wood about 2 to 3 inches in diameter and 10 to 12 inches long to the top of the charcoal. Alternatively, you can add four to six fist-sized wood chunks to the top of the charcoal to get the smoke flowing through the smoker, which will help to flavor the food you are cooking.

Electric Smokers

If you want to take it really easy, or if you aren’t interested in tending a fire or managing hot coals to maintain a consistent temperature inside a smoker, there is hope for you. The electric smoker is about as easy as you can get; operating many such models is as simple as plugging them in and walking away. Others have rheostat or digital controllers that allow you to manage the temperature.

Brinkmann bullet electric smoker

The most basic of electric smokers for beginning outdoor cooks is the Brinkmann bullet smoker with an electric element. Like its charcoal counterpart, it has an 18-inch barrel with a water pan and two grates for food. Instead of a charcoal pan, a heating element and lava rock are at the bottom of the barrel. Wood chunks are placed around the element to provide the smoke flavor. The heat from the element warms the water in the pan above and creates steam to help control the ambient temperature in the smoker. This smoker is nonadjustable in that you cannot control the temperature by means of a dial or controller. It is designed to maintain a temperature of about 250°
F
at all times.

This smoker does what it is designed to do pretty well, and I have nothing derogatory to say about it. For those all-night briskets or any other meat that requires many hours of heat and smoke, this is ideal—especially if you have a hectic schedule.

I won’t go into a lot of detail on this smoker, since it’s about as simple as you can get. But I will say this: keep a watchful eye on the water pan. The temperature of 250°
F
remains consistent only as long as the water pan is full. If you let the water pan get low, the heat will begin to rise (and really spike), which just doesn’t jive with the
low and slow
we’re looking for. Other than that, relax and enjoy the smoke.

Cabinet-style electric smokers

Another style of electric smoker is the cabinet-style model. Two good examples are the Masterbuilt Electric Digital Smokehouse, commonly called the
MES
, and the Cajun Injector Smoker. Both look something like a small refrigerator. The top and sides are insulated, and they have a digital controller with which you can manually set the temperature. The heating element cycles on and off to maintain that temperature. Some models also have a timer with an automatic shutoff feature, and some have a very handy chute on the outside that allows you to add wood chips without opening the door. The trick to using this type of smoker is to replenish the chips every 30 minutes or so to keep the smoke flowing. This should be done for about half of the total cooking time depending on how much smoke flavor you want. For instance, if you are smoking a whole chicken, which takes about four hours at 240°
F
, you would add wood chips every 30 minutes for the first two hours. After that, the chicken will finish cooking with heat only.

Bradley digital four-rack smoker.

Another well-known cabinet-style electric model is manufactured by Bradley. This smoker uses a smoke generator to create smoke from wood biscuits that look like pucks, and delivers it to the cooking chamber. Since the Bradley has two separate heating elements—a small one to convert the wood biscuits to smoke and a larger one to control the heat inside the cooking chamber—you can also easily use it as a cold smoker for foods like cheese and fish by turning off the larger element (see more about cold smoking later in this chapter). Each wood biscuit smokes for 20 minutes, after which it is automatically pushed into the water pan and replaced by a new one.

Controller on a Bradley digital smoker.

This easy-to-use, hands-off smoker is especially suited for all-night smoking sessions. I can tell you from personal experience that the Bradley is not just fun to work with, it also produces some very tasty vittles. I have used it to smoke ribs, meatloaf, bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeños, and many other popular menu items with excellent results.

Briquette feed mechanism on a Bradley digital smoker.

Traeger electric smokers

Traeger produces an electric wood smoker that uses an auger to feed wood pellets into the firepot of the cooking chamber. The pellets are ignited via an electric element and, once ignited, they provide the heat and smoke that cook and flavor the meat. This unit is also great for long cooking times, since it can be controlled with a thermostat to maintain a certain temperature. I know many folks who set these up before going to work in the morning and let them cook supper while they are gone for the day.

Propane and Natural Gas Smokers

Propane or natural gas smokers are also very common, and the concept is quite simple. Instead of a wood or charcoal fire or an electric element, a propane or natural gas tank is attached to a regulator and a burner. Once the burner is lit, wood chunks or chips are placed in a metal box over the flame. The flames from the burner provide the heat source while the smoke from the wood provides the flavor. Although it depends on the model, a water pan usually sits directly above the wood chip box; this creates a barrier between the flame and the food and adds some much-needed moisture to the air.

Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain

One of my favorite propane smokers is Landmann’s Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain (also known as the
GOSM
). It’s superb: it is easy to maintain and can create smoked meat that tastes like it was cooked on a wood-fired smoker. Brinkmann, Cajun Injector, Masterbuilt, and Char-Broil produce similar propane models.

Before you begin a smoking session, make sure your propane tank is full; I also suggest you keep a spare full tank. There’s nothing worse than getting a good start on a turkey only to realize an hour later that your fire has gone out and there’s no propane left in the tank, much less a spare tank in the barn. Allow this to happen on Christmas Day and you’ll be stuck finishing that smoked turkey in the house. Have fun explaining that to your house full of hungry guests who fully expect to be eating that wonderful, smoke-flavored bird just like they did last year, when your turkey was the hit of the party. Yeah, been there, done that (in case you can’t tell!). You should be able to get approximately 30 hours of use from a normal 20-pound tank of propane.

Landmann’s Great Outdoors Smokey Mountain propane smoker.

Jeff’s extended instructions for propane and natural gas smokers

When I first purchased my Big Block version of the Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain propane smoker (which has a much wider body than the standard model), I noticed that the instructions included in the box left a lot to be desired. Due to the popularity of this smoker and the tons of questions I have received about it over the years, I have written some better instructions that will increase your success in the use of this smoker. (These instructions will also work with other propane and natural gas smokers.)