i have recently gotten into smoking food. I bought a cheep electric smoker. I was going to get a gass one. but i decided i would get the cheep one first. It works suprisingley well. It's one of those with a big water bowl in it so it steems too. anyway my only concern is while using the smoker you pretty much have to place the woodchipps directly on the heating element to really get them to smoke but this causes the wood to burn fast it also creats lots of ashes i am going to have to try to figgure out how to clean out of the lava rocks (gravel) type. Would it be safe to get a cast iron smoker box and place it on the heating element? Do you think it would even get it hot enough. I am smokeing a brisket and a pork roast (wild hot) to day i cant wate to eat tonight.

Boy Zapzoo sounds like you got a problem. I've been using one of the little Chief's for years and haven't had that problem. I was looking to upgrade to a bigger smoker, but the one's I looked at at Cabela's were so expensive. I think I paid 29 bucks for the one I have years ago.

Did you get any directions with your smoker? You might check on the internet and see if there's a downloadable set if you didn't. It doesn't sound like it should be doing that.

I have the same type electric smoker. I place my wood chips in tin foil and poke a few holes in it. This way the wood does not burn as fast and the ashes don't fall down in the lava rocks. I put two tin foil wood packs right next to the heating coil at the start of my cooking. Add a little cheap wine to the water pan for added taste.

Down here we take our smoking Meat very serious. We hold the heat betwenn 190 an 210......one our per pound minumum. Heat at the center of pork to be at 170 degrees. We use mostly oak and bay wood. We also smoke fish and chickens.
Attached are COUPLE OF PICTURES OF MY sMOKER.gRILL.
Regards, James

Boy James, there's a chance someone might steal the meat, but no one is going to pack off that smoker. I'll bet it makes some dandy smoked meat.

The old fella that lives across the street has a big refrig built into a smoker and does a turkey every thanksgiving for me. I should go and see what his setup is as he sure makes dandy turkeys with it.

Yes, use the cast iron smoker box. I use one in a gas grill, just set it on one of the burners.

You see some refrig/smokers dow here! Ghey take out the motor, etc, drill holes in the bottom and put a little stack on top. I had a friend give me a truck load of half blocks and a friend/hunter is a retired brick man. That things about seven feet tall and I can put a whole hog in it. The fire box and inside the smoker is lined with fire bricks. Works good! We stuff our turkey and chickin with onion/green apples and rub y=them with Cajun seasoning.
Regareds, James

That sounds so good James. I do the local Kokonee (landlocked salmon) and trout and deer in my little smoker. The kids eat all the jerky I can make. I'd like to have a big enough one to do larger cuts of meat and even a whole turkey once in a while.

jodum has the best idea for you zapzoo. Soak your wood until it sinks. "Squeeze out the extra water". You can refine your technique over time. Good way to start by jodum.

Cheezywan

What I found very interesting as I was traveling/working was recipes from various parts of the country. Many German areas used a mustard base sauce, where others use tomato base. There are hundreds of different types of smokers...wet or dry. I even was invited to a South Carolina Pig-Picking....but that's another story. Down here the big fish to smaoke is Mullet. We use Lemon/Pepper and Bay wood. I have plenty here on the place. We also use Hickory Nuts....have plenty of them too, and they are not as bitter as Hickoy wood (even with the bark off). When we trim the Pear trees we save that also.....real good for light meat like chicken.
Regards, James

best smoking is cold smoking. fire is in one box a couple feet from the refrigerator/smoker. a 4 inch stove pipe conducts the smoke laterally to the bottom of the smoker/refrigerator. Alaskans turn the regrigerator off and remove the frozen stuff first, but everyone has their own style. there is no heat in the smoke by the time it gets into the meat.

smoked some tenderloins and backstraps for about 4 days. it was the very best meat I ever ate. tender and tasty as candy. I couldn't stop eating it. made me understand what venison is on earth for.

haven't ever done it since, but maybe I'll try it again, we have lots of fish and salmon that's cold smoked can't be beat.

I'm envious of the fancy smokers. I make do with my Weber kettle, it does a fair job though.

One tip on the wood. I have some pecan trees in my yard with low hanging branches. I take a pair of heavy pruners and cut up thumb size branches into 2" pieces and use that.

Be aware that this green wood with the bark and sap is much stronger than dry wood. A double handfull will give you about all the smoke you need.

I use mesquite in my grill and smoker. I used to love hickory but my stomach just will not handle heavy smoked food any longer. Mesquite is the only flavor smoke that doesn't come back to haunt me all night. I wonder what would happen if I just used Malox tablets in my grill for flavor?:)

Another vote for Pecan, I found a chunk of log, have been chopping off pieces for a while now. Any wood from a fruit or nut tree will work, within reason.
I greatly prefer lump charcoal for heat, but it takes getting used to.
Andy

A cut-up chicken is a good, cheap place to learn to smoke meat. A drip pan full of water (between the meat and the heat source) is a must in my view.

Get the heat source up to speed and the water in the drip pan to a "rolling boil".

Put your meat on the rack and put water-logged wood(of your choice) on the heat source. Add more wet wood as needed(to achieve the flavor you enjoy).

I use a charcoal smoker here. Sometimes let it run out of fuel overnight. Cold chicken by morning. No trouble. Micro-wave to "steaming hot" for supper (important to remember to get meat to a temperature that will "kill all bacteria").

KEEP WATER IN THE DRIP PAN to avoid dry meat! Enjoy!

Sidenote: The chicken fat that floats to the top of a drip pan may hold potential as a bullet lube? It sure is slick!

Cheezywan

I sure agree on chicken....but I do it a little different. I use a whole hen, stuffed with sweet onions and green apples (cut up into quarters). I rub the ouside with Olive Oil and dust with Cajun seasoning.
I have found that Hickory with the bark sliced off is not as strong as when used with the bark on.
Yes, a water pan is very important! As for charcoal, I start my big smoker with a 10 pound bag. Then when I get a good bed of coals, I add my Oak (or whatever)....my smoker holds the temp for about one hour before I have to add another log. I adjust my burn by cracking the fire box door.
Regards, James

I use a "True North" electric smoker, which is slightly wider than the "Little Chief" smokers. If used much, the cheesy little wood chip pan will corrode away into nothing in short order from any salt-based soakings you do to the meat. No worries though, just buy a small stainless bowl that nests in the electric element and it lasts a long while. Usually takes 6-10 hours, depending upon the outside temp

I've used apple, mesquite, and alder in this smoker, and Alder is what I favor. Any of the fruit woods will give you more of a sweet flavor, and mesquite is good, but alder gives me that - IMO - better "smoke" flavor.

I normally cut up leftover steak packages (along about September or October) of deer or elk into 1/2" to 3/4" strips and lay on the racks with enough space between pieces to get the smoke on them and dry to what I desire. A couple smoker loads get me through scouting and hunting seasons. If you eat it for dinner, you'll need to make more.:p

Years ago my Dad had an old freezer with a side burn box with 6" stove pipe into the bottom of it. We could really load that one up with some poundage, and up to 4" or 5" thick pieces. Wood we used was up to 2" thick plum or apple wood. Some of the best eating I ever had!

It all sounds gret to me!....Regards, James

Note that the water pan does more to regulate the temperature, than to actually make the meat moist. Keeping the meat at low temperature is what keeps it from drying it.

I can't detect any flavor difference either way, but some professional cooks say that dry smoking (no water pan) is the only way to do it correctly. But either seems to work for me.

A handful of pecans in the iron smoker box works great, too, if you have a large tree that produces more than you can eat (or you have picked up cracked ones from the yard, etc.). Note, however, if they are water-logged.... will sound like grenades going off when they heat up (steam explosion) :eek:

Iron box is a must!!!

For jerky, is it better to smoke it dry, or to use the water bowl?

Griz, on that cold smoking, do you cook the meat at all either before or after smoking?

I'd like to get back into smoking some chicken, venison, and jerky. I once made a smoker from a metal trash can, which worked very well for whole chickens, but results were inconsistent and it's been a long time.

Keep in mind that when you are smoking meat like chicken and pork that you need to get the internal temperature up to a safe level. Trichinosis is supposedly about gone from domestic swine but I don't know about wild hog. At any rate, I prefer pork well done.

The thing I found with the garbage can type smokers, which include those Brinkman water smokers, is that the outside temperature plays a huge role in your success. In cold weather you can't hardly get them hot enough which is, I suppose, why they make those insulating jackets for them.

You can do a real good job with a Weber kettle grill. Put a small amount of charcoal on either side, use one of those throwaway aluminum pans in the middle with some water in it and put the meat over the pan. Add you choice of wood to the charcoal as you need it.

In hot weather I can cook pork shoulders with one firing of charcoal, in cold weather I need another about midway through. An hour per pound of meat is a good guidline.

I'll put my smoked pork barbeque up against anybodies.
The "bad spot" in this pork loin is because it was to tender to lift with a fork.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k191/KGKILBY/Loin001.jpg
A couple of pork shoulders that have been pulled. This is about the max for a Weber.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k191/KGKILBY/Xmas006.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k191/KGKILBY/Xmas011-1.jpg

Geez Ken, I had to order a pizza after looking at your BBQ'd meat there! Not that a pizza compares, but I couldn't wait that long!

MikeG is right on with the "water smoking" being more to regulate temp than providing moisture. At sea level, that water pan will keep the temp around 212F, or something somewhat above depending upon the amount of heat you're adding and where the meat is located with respect to the burn. At higher elevations, that temp will be lower. As long as the water holds out, you get a fairly constant temp. When the water is gone, the temp will rapidly climb.

I've never used a water pan, although probably would if using something other than the electric smoker that I use. The electrics just don't get that hot. With a burn box, I can see the wisdom in using a water pan. I prefer jerky more on the dry side than moist because it will last for weeks in your pack without throwing it back in the freezer, with enough salt in it that is, without molding.

I do jerky dry, just because I want it to dry out.

Another heretic idea.... you can use a gas grill. Just light one burner, and put the meat as far from the burner as possible. Upside with gas is temperature control. Downside is that it isn't a truely dry heat... not that I really care.

Oh and cooking temperature - "it depends." Note that for cured meats (ham, etc.) the curing process kills the critters. Salt content over about 4% will do it. Poultry - definitely want it done in this day and age. However, the smoke itself has something of an anti-bacterial action as well.

jodum, Try prilosec and you can eat anything. The stuff is amazing.

Thanks Chief, I think I will try it. I love smoked food but it had gotten where I just could not eat it. Hopefully prilosec will put me back in business. I will buy some prilosec and a brisket for the weekend and give it a try.

The stuff takes several days to kick in and then you have to keep taking it. It is not like an antacid that you take when you have heartburn. This one blocks acid and it takes a few days to start working but after it does you never have heartburn again. It could mask other problems and it could cause problems but I have been willing to live with that so I can sleep and eat.

I use blackcherry wood for " custom cornedbeef and jerky" I've used it on fish but some varieties of fish will be bitter tasting with it. Use equal parts ( 1/4 cup)of garlic and onion powders, brown sugar, salt, chili powder and two heaping TBS saltpeter. This is enough for 10-14 LBS of meat

anyone that wants to see some real good smokers that I make out of lp gas tanks pm me your email address and I will send you some pictures I did a 14 lb turkey in mine yesterday and it turned out tender and juicy I can cook any kind of meet or veggie in it WARNING do not cut open a lp gas tank unless you know what you are doing it can be hazardous to your health Forest Punch

Sorry about not replying sooner but thanks for all the posts. The pork roast turnd out great!!! I shreaded up about half of it and made pulled pork sammiches WOOO!! The electric smoker was between 225-230 degrees then the sun shined on the smoker and it got up to about 265 there is no temprature adjustment on it I removed the top and pulled it into the shade where it quickly cooled down back to about 230 degrees. From what most people have said this is a little warm for a smoker. It still took 11 hours to cook the pork. I think i am going to get either a charcole or gass smoker. I do not like the temprature thing. I think If I could control the temprature better I would have better control and probably even better results. I am thinking about getting one of those gass cabinate type smokers. I want to build a big one in the back yard or maby even a "smoke house" however i do not have the time right now. Ive got whole chickens in the fridgerator and I am getting up at 5am again on thursday and going to smoke them. I cant wate. I wish I tried this a long time ago. :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I tried the aluminum foil thing and it worked well.

i've been liking apple smoked meats the last couple of years.... i've had apple smoked pork chops and apple smoked bacon and i love it!! i don't smoke my own but i have cooked pork and chicken slowly over apple wood soaked in water in the grill
it turned out pretty good....