(07-28-2014 08:13 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  One of my best friend's in Florence smokes all kinds of stuff and it's all good.

Interestingly, he smokes whole heads of cabbage and it's amazing.

Think I'm about to pull a trigger on one, do a couple of quick modifications on it, and go.

I think the first thing I smoke will be a fatty.

Anyone here ever had a fatty?

(08-11-2014 04:22 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Think I'm about to pull a trigger on one, do a couple of quick modifications on it, and go.

I think the first thing I smoke will be a fatty.

Anyone here ever had a fatty?

College, weird times man.

(08-11-2014 04:22 PM)gdunn Wrote:  Think I'm about to pull a trigger on one, do a couple of quick modifications on it, and go.

I think the first thing I smoke will be a fatty.

Anyone here ever had a fatty?

I've been smoking stuff for years now. Had a couple of offsets and now use primarily a Masterbulit XL, propane. Got it from Bass Pro for 159 bucks on sale, normally 199 , I think . They go on sale every Father day I believe.

It's got a huge capacity, and at times you'll need the room. No cutting your rib racks in half, can use a larger water pan (I use a cheapy tin foil lasagna pan) so you can limit the number of times you are opening and closing, and it sips the propane and holds a good steady temp once you get it where you want it.

I would recommend investing in a decent thermometer set as well, regardless what box you buy. You'll quickly realize (if you haven't already) that smoking is ALL about the internal temps of the meat you're doing, next to nothing about the time it takes. The Maverick ET-732 is a pretty good one, not too expensive and gives you a oven temp probe and meat probe. You'll want/need both.

I'm doing some cold smoking this weekend in the late evening/ early morning. The ambient temps are supposed to be as low as 60 deg (!) so I'll do about 8-12#'s of cheeses I collect when on sale or mark down. Top shelf of garage fridge is PACKED with everything from the mundane, but tasty, cheddar/colby Jack/Edam, Mozz etc. to a nice limburger I've been aging now for about 2 years...

Also doing smoked hot paprika, smoked salt (just ran out) and my soon to be world famous Spicy hot mixed nuts. First thig to go at the neighborhood cocktail hours. Oh, and some fresh churned butter I ran across. We'll see how that works out, never done butter before.

It's a it of work but a lot of fun too. Results can be ore than gratifying once you've hit your stride. Only thing I wish about it all is I hadn't given up my cigars, it's like it went hand in hand...

Let me add a couple other thoughts on the smoker itself- And don't get me wrong, an elecric will do a fine job and a TON of people use them with good results.

They had 2 kinda big drawbacks least as far as I was concerned.

1. You'll never get that tell tale smoke ring. Especially in pork or any kind of rib it adds a nice touch to the presentation or look of the finished product. No pretty in pink smoke ring. For many that isn't important, the flavor is still there.

For competitive smokers it's extremely important for the judges etc. I'm no competitive smoker, but plenty competitive when the neighborhood parties are on and I'm putting my stuff out there alongside that clod Mike's gruel from across the street...

2. If I recall correctly some if not all of the electrics max out a realtvely low temp. 275-300 perhaps(?), might even be lower. Again, that may be fine depending on what else you have in your arsenal, but I like having something I can crank up at the end to crispy up some chicken or turkey skin, or to caramelize my pork ribs.

I have also been known to throw 5#'s or so of some crab legs on there at around 350-400 with some apple or cherry for about 20-25 minutes. A. You'll never eat crablegs boiled or steamed again and B. It'll make you wanna slap your momma.

This also works great on a whole main lobster, lobster tail or any kind of fresh whole (cleaned) fish you might want to try- I've done mackeral, trout, bluefish, croaker, spot, any of it. It'll get some smoke to it, and the skin, tail, head get cooked and crispy. If a small enough fish (i.e. no large bones to choke on), eat the whole damn thing.

Good luck. Let us know what happens!

(08-16-2014 12:51 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  Let me add a couple other thoughts on the smoker itself- And don't get me wrong, an elecric will do a fine job and a TON of people use them with good results.

They had 2 kinda big drawbacks least as far as I was concerned.

1. You'll never get that tell tale smoke ring. Especially in pork or any kind of rib it adds a nice touch to the presentation or look of the finished product. No pretty in pink smoke ring. For many that isn't important, the flavor is still there.

I get as good of a smoke ring with my electric smoker as I do with my offset fire box smoker. The only reason someone wouldn't get a smoke ring would be if they didn't use woodchips in it like they were supposed to.