Just ordered a smoker -UPDATE

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I looked at yours at Home Depot last week and see that it has its own temperature probe.
for the price, I think it is just the right size for a small family or single person.
my last smoker/cooker was a 275 gallon oil drum converted to a mobile catering rig.
40 chickens, 12 slabs of ribs or a whole 96 pound HOG was the normal cookout for me LOL.
sold the cooker and all the equipment that went with it and now I'm really (I mean REALLY)
craving something smoked and dripping with sweet goodness !!!

congrats and Bon Appetit !!



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woooo hoooo !!

did you use the probe thermometer ? one of the good points of it is to prevent overcooking.
once the internal temp is reached for the degree of doneness desired, it is DONE !!
bring the meat to room temperature prior to cooking - - - you will have more accurate probe numbers.

probe.jpg



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I stopped cooking by time it is strictly temp for me I pull the prime rib at 132 double wrap it in foil for 15 mins
and omg cut with a fork tender and med rare
 
Johnny, thank you for the temp color guide. I used it today while cooking a deer roast. 2.5# @216 for 5 hours. I was shooting for 250 pull temp. Pulled at 260. Tastes great and tender. I will laminate your temp guide tomorrow at work.
 

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everyone will give me crap, but my smoker is the old stove out of my kitchen. I replaced it as it looked rough probably 20 years old at least, two burners on top you either got stone cold or red hot. So it was just sitting with my to be scrapped stuff behind the shop, until one day I was looking at smokers in home depot or somewhere. When I got to looking at them I thought these are just 110v ovens, with a wood/water tray right over the heating element to get the chips smoking. I thought you know what I have an old over already, wonder if it still works. Well went home wired a cord on it plugged it into the shop to see if it still worked after sitting out a few months, sure enough oven came up to temp just fine. I found an old stainless pan at goodwill that sat on top of the oven heating element just right. I took it home threw some chips in it turned the oven on 220, had to leave the door cracked just slightly to make the heating element come on enough to smoke the chips. It may look redneck, but you know what it works great and holds temp even in the coldest conditions. I smoked a turkey around Christmas when the high only got to 25, something I know guys I work with who have little electric ones have had problems with. As from what I've heard they have a hard time holding temp in cold weather. Anyways that old oven is great smoker even has two burners on top for simmering my home made bbq sauce when I have a pork butt, or ribs in it. Although the fiance is now pressuring me to get rid of it for a real smoker, since we have been living together the past few months she doesn't care for the looks of it. I can't blame her I'll admit it does just look like an old stove sitting under the awning in front of my shop :LOL2: Rack full of chicken quarters and paddlefish
 

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good job Andy !!

please don't feel bad using any kind of box for a smoker.
my father took a new metal trash can and cut a hole in the bottom
big enough for the electric cord and put a hot plate in the bottom
with wood chips and made a grate and smoked all kinds of stuff in it !!!!
(and now you can actually get directions on the ole innerweb: https://cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html)
After I left home, I carried on the trash can tradition for years until
I finally found an aluminum warming box that a resteraunt threw away
complete with shelves !! made a small propane burner in the bottom
and it worked for years until I moved and gave it away.
so you can make a smoker out of just about anything that will hold smoke.

remember - to "cook" in a smoker, pull the meat out at the correct "internal probe"
temperature; not the temperature of the box.

probe.jpg

of course if you want the "suggested" cooking temperatures,
you can go directly to the USDA website and make your own decisions.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/safe-minimum-internal-temperature-chart/ct_index


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handyandy said:
everyone will give me crap, but my smoker is the old stove out of my kitchen.
Seems like a fine smoker to me. Down here in coastal south Georgia, I've seen people repurpose old refrigerators as smokers, as well as stoves.

I have a decent offset smoker that I use to smoke mostly pork shoulder/butt, and ribs. I really enjoy it, but it is hard to justify the time and effort when there are at least a dozen excellent barbecue places within a few miles of here. I pass by this place [link] every morning on my way downtown. They always have all three of their smokers going, with the smoke wafting across the road. It smells soooooo good.


Also, it is worth noting that the temperatures in the graphic above are pretty far off of what most people consider the proper temperatures for cooking meat. Rare at 140 is ridiculous, and their target of 155 is not medium, it is well. Rare is in the 120-130 range. Look up the old numbers.
 
Johnny said:
good job Andy !!

please don't feel bad using any kind of box for a smoker.
my father took a new metal trash can and cut a hole in the bottom
big enough for the electric cord and put a hot plate in the bottom
with wood chips and made a grate and smoked all kinds of stuff in it !!!!
(and now you can actually get directions on the ole innerweb: https://cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html)
After I left home, I carried on the trash can tradition for years until
I finally found an aluminum warming box that a resteraunt threw away
complete with shelves !! made a small propane burner in the bottom
and it worked for years until I moved and gave it away.
so you can make a smoker out of just about anything that will hold smoke.

remember - to "cook" in a smoker, pull the meat out at the correct "internal probe"
temperature; not the temperature of the box.



of course if you want the "suggested" cooking temperatures,
you can go directly to the USDA website and make your own decisions.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/safe-minimum-internal-temperature-chart/ct_index


.

Well I might finally get a commercially made smoker as the women isn't too found of having the old stove smoker sitting on the back deck of the house we are living in together now. It's still sitting at my old house under the awning in front of my old shop. Might have to make an awning behind the new shop building to hide it out of her view. But she still wants to have a smoker as she has enjoyed some meals out of the ole smokey stove, so it's an excuse to get a new toy for me. I've been thinking about one of those masterbuilt ones like the op got affordable they seem to work well what more can you ask for.
 
handyandy said:
I might use that hot plate idea to make a smoke box to attache to the side for cold smoking.
Be prepared to rewire the hotplate. Modern hotplates contain a thermistor in the control circuit that turns them off when they get too hot.

One of my previous (temporary) smokers was based on a hot plate. Every time it got hot enough to generate smoke, the hot plate turned off. I bypassed the thermistor, and the whole thing melted down.
 
huh, good to know I have couple old block heaters for diesel engines that just plug in and get red hot might use those instead rigged on a timer to cycle them.
 
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THANKS MAN !!!


my antique Bradley smoker died last year and have been looking for another one.
I just ordered the Masterbuilt 30" Electric Smokehouse smoker
from Wal-Mart and it will be delivered (free) Wednesday...... (over 700 positive reviews).
I have smoked many a turkey but this year the turkey will go in the oven
and after the smoker is fully broken in and all smoked up, I will try a brisket and see how that goes.
I really, REALLY miss my smoked meats !!!

I have learned one thing over the years - - - - if you ever smoke MULLET in your smoker,
you will never get that smell out..... and everything after that will have that lingering mullet taste.
other fish such as salmon, snapper, bass, etc are fine to do. but mullet is a big no-no.
 
Andy - I have some friends that do "cold smoking" and what they did
was build wood boxes the size of an outhouse out of oak lumber with room to hang big pieces
of meat and wire racks for smaller items. pretty nifty setup.
used oak lumber can usually be found just about anywhere these days. (or cedar or other wood of your choice).
no need to purchase new wood from the Big Box Stores at a hefty price.
if you google "wood smokehouse" you will find hundreds of excellent examples and great ideas.
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/smokehouse/?lp=true
and then you can get rid of your old stove LOL.

wood smokhouse.jpg
I guess it goes without saying as to DO NOT put a GAS heat source inside the wooden box ???
I see many on the innerweb that do just that - and to me - that is just asking for trouble.
Danger Smoker.jpg


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