Anyone own a smoker?

[Lisa99]

Each to his own. I've yet to find ribs in any restaurant better than I can make in my egg.

 

[Rambler]

Each to his own. I've yet to find ribs in any restaurant better than I can make in my egg.

+1 except for mine are in the New Braunfels. My DW loves ribs. She orders ribs almost every time we go out...and she always says to me afterwards, "yours are better".

But, to each his own.

R

 

[SumDay]

I have an electric Masterbuilt which I use every weekend and often through the week as well.

+1 on the electric Masterbuilt. Much less prep and clean up. I feel your pain on the kitchen clean up. When the meat is done, I line the kitchen counters with newspaper, and then put the cutting boards on top of that, then throw away the papers when done. That speeds things up too. Tearing up the pork butt with the bear claws is VERY messy, but after I bite into that first sandwich, I'm pretty much over it.

This is our third smoker. We also got rid of the first two and quit in frustration. After a while we came back - the electric one is far less work.

But hey, if we could get someone else to do it for us, that's a whole lot less work!

Good luck.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I found someone else to do it for us. Just came home from a visit to Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q. I had the all you can eat smoked chicken. The only clean-up I had was washing my hands.

 

[Rambler]

I found some prime tri tip at Costco a few days ago for a party we had at our home today. Tossed it on the smoker today around noon at around 200F. Brought the internal temp to about 125F. Then tossed it on the grill at high heat to get that nice crisp outer crust. Then wrapped in foil and put it in the ice chest for about 2.5 hrs to tenderize. Sliced it at 5:30 and kept it warm in the oven. Guests began arriving at 5:35, dinner started at 7 out by the pool. I made a BBQ sauce to go with it, but didn't really need it since it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. 25 of us devoured 12+ pounds of tri tip and about 8 pounds of chicken donated by one of the guests, plus all the fixins.

Yum-yum. Love that smoker!

R

 

[MuirWannabe]

I started this thread in April I believe and went back today to review all the posts and to see if there were any late comers. Not much activity lately so I'll add one more to see if anyone feels like I do about the smoker. I QUIT!! Did up a batch today and I'm sick of all the work involved so we are giving it to our daughter and hubby. I started with it this morning at 8:30 and just finished with up with all the crap going into the dishwasher.

I think it took about half an hour to get the smoker set and up to temperature with the wood chips. The big pain in the a** comes after every thing is smoked and it's time for cleanup. You've got the drippings in the water pan, racks from the smokier to clean, pans from the prep of the meat, clean up the smoker itself and get it put back in the garage.

Forgot to mention that I always do this under a big umbrella so everything stays nice and dry in case it rains. That can happen because the whole process takes about three hours from start to finish, not including clean up. It's just too much so I'm done with it.

I'd like to hear from all you "smokers" out there as to where I can save some time. Even If I do this at my daughters house, I can't leave her with the mess. No wonder ribs aren't cheap!

Smoking takes effort. There are small tricks that can make some things easier but nothing that will overall reduce the effort you're describing. You need to enjoy it. If you don't then it's not a hobby for you. Drinking lots of beer while smoking can make the time seem to go faster. But that's not the same thing as it actually going faster.

 

[nvestysly]

Smoking does take some effort and if you don't enjoy the "event" you definitely shouldn't do it - even at your daughters house.

A few things to consider - albeit after the fact - so maybe your daughter can decide if this works for her... can you use a disposable pan rather than having to wash the dang thing, do you have to use a rack - I just put my ribs on the grill grate (but your grill may be too small for this), could you fashion a disposable rack out of an aluminum pan or maybe use heavy duty aluminum foil to make an "arm" that will hold the ribs in the correct position, why do you have to put the smoker back in the garage - can you find a place outside and just put a cover over it?

Now that I'm adding $.02 - I use a two-burner gas grill for smoking. I only use one burner when I'm smoking. I put a stainless steel hopper over the burner and use my wood of choice. I put the meat on the other side of the grill for indirect heat. I use a disposable aluminum pan to catch the mess. When I'm finished smoking I remove the chip hopper and the disposable pan and put both burners on high for about 10 minutes to burn off the fat deposits and drippings. Let the grill cool and put the cover back on until the next time.

I can certainly understand those who want to use BGE and Weber Smokey but I'm able to obtain reasonable results with the gas grill so I'm sticking with it for now.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Thanks for all the replies and the help, but I'm sticking to my guns and giving it to our daughter. Maybe I'm just too old for this stuff. Right now, everything I do has to be fun or I won't do it.

 

[audreyh1]

Hmmm - the only thing I really need to clean up after smoking are the racks, and that's not too bad if I have sprayed them properly. The brining pan goes in the dishwasher. The inside of the smoker remains "seasoned".

I can't buy hot smoked salmon the way I like it in the Valley, so it's worth it to me.

 

[bo_knows]

I bought a smoker (Weber Smokey Mountain) last year, and it was the best culinary decision of my life.

We made 2 huge pork butts about 2 months ago, for no reason but leftovers, and I haven't used it since. I really want to do a brisket again... the fat is like butter. I recently found out that I accidentally left the fat drippings in the smoker after the last cook... and theres mold all in there.

But, I hear that a good fire is a perfect solution to that problem. Time for brisket!