Author Topic: Smoker question?  (Read 1166 times)

sonny

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Smoker question?
« on: May 30, 2018, 02:11:18 PM »
I've been thinking about getting a smoker but know very little about them.

So which would be better,an electric one or a propane one?

Here's a couple that I'm looking at and no I'm not going top of the line smoker just incase I lose interest in them.If I really do enjoy smokeing stuff then I can upgrade. ;)

BruceW

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2018, 06:49:56 AM »
Have a propane one I bought from basspro in Cal. a few yrs ago.  Holding up well, use the heck out of it.  Started because I refused to pay 50 bucks for a single ham off a pig that was selling for around 100 bucks at the time.  (btw, you've forgotten how good ham is until you brine your own for a week and cold smoke them for 7 hrs with maple, drrooool)
A good rub and smoker ribs, homemade sausage, pepperoni, candied smoked salmon, jerky, the list goes on...

At the time the electric ones all used those little compressed pucks, which at least were Very expensive vs cheap chips, and at the time still had the woodworking business so oak and other hardwood shavings were free.

I suspect the electric ones would be simpler to keep a specific temp while the propane one you have to learn to set temp with weather conditions(outside temp, wind) by a combination of vents and flame level, but not a biggie.

Were ours to wear out I'd look at electric options but not hesitate to buy another propane.  Make sure you get one that can hold a decent amount of meat, little one's would not be worth it.  If you can't rack say 10 lbs of jerkey or a half dozen hams type size you likely won't use it much.

We commonly use it for supper (ribs or chicken), but mostly when we do a batch of something.

Hope that helps a little.

sonny

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2018, 09:27:35 AM »
Thanks Bruce that's excellent info. :)

I probably won't be doing as much smoking as you.I was mostly thinking about smoking trout now that I can get into the smaller lakes with my tinner. ;)

Thanks again.

LeverAction

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2018, 11:41:20 AM »
My kids bought me one 3 years ago for Christmas, it's still in the box  :-[, and I get hell from them every time they see it. It's not for sale though and it won't be worn out when I retire. But will be running full out then. I'm not much help I guess sonny.

sonny

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2018, 01:34:34 PM »
Well I ended up buying a four rack Master Chef from Canadian tire.They were on sale for only $249 and they had both electric and propane.
I settled for the propane model.Now I have to go and catch some trout. 8)

greylynx

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2018, 08:19:15 PM »
Have fun Sonny.

You will have to experiment and learn the personality of your smoker.

Start with small experiments on your new smoker. Get to know your smoker's "personality"

It takes time.

Brookies smoke very well.  Make sure the white oil is out of the flesh when you cook them up.

When small turkeys go on sale, pick up a cheap one and try a brine mixture recipe that the lady of the house prefers.

Pork shoulder has been on sale recently in small portions. Again, give that a try.

Have fun. :)







« Last Edit: May 31, 2018, 08:50:44 PM by greylynx »

sonny

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2018, 01:08:38 PM »
Fired it up yesterday and had a problem right off the bat.

The chip pan is way to close to the burner and the wood chips flamed up.The temp went up to over 400 degrees.I guess it's cured now. ;D
Anyway a quick run to Walmart to get a metal cake pan and the problem was solved.Kept the temp down to between 200 - 225 degrees.
Today I tried some Salmon and it turned out pretty good but maybe a wee bit salty.I used a dry brine of 2 cups brown sugar,1/2 cup kosher salt and a table spoon of black pepper.Covered the salmon with the mixture and let it sit overnight.Smoked it today for about two hours.Yup this is going to be a learning process. ;)

Walleyes

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2018, 05:40:17 PM »
Salmon looks good sonny. We’ve found we like a 5-1 ratio on the sugar to salt. 5 cups dark brown sugar, 1 cup pickle salt. If you want some snap to it when you first put it on the racks sprinkle some crushed chilli peppers over it. Also try if you want cut your salmon in thinner strips before brinening and when you put it on the racks brush maple syrup on the strips mmm candy salmon. We plan on doing some up next week will post pics.
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OL_JR

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Re: Smoker question?
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2018, 08:44:04 PM »
         Sure looks tasty, funny you mentioned the saltiness as anyone that I know that is starting out doing more smoking seems to go through the same thing for some reason.  Fish and salt seem to go together really well though and I'd imagine just a minor tweek or two will do it.
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