Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Smokers. What do you like?

i like to smoke fish and duck

There are some good ides there Mossy. Did my first "Hot Burn" yesterday to burn off the manufacturing oils.

What fuel stack methods do you like for the 22"?

I like setting a charcoal starter in the center of the ring and putting briquettes around it and putting about a dozen briquettes in the starter. Remove the starter leaving an empty area of charcoal in the center and after lighting the coals in the starter and waiting for them to be good and hot adding them to the center of the coals.

That is what I do as well. Going to give the snake method a try for a long Boston Butt smoke soon.

I used a Luhr Jennesn Little Chief for 40 yrs. till the heating element gave up the ghost, just purchased a Mastercraft which will see it initial use this weekend. For wood I am a long time Alderwood user preferring the flavor it imparts over Hickory, I use it for all fish and red meat. For chicken I like Applewood's milder flavor, I like to smoke a couple of Rock Cornish Hens the small birds are easily prepared and turn out very flavorful.

While looking, I saw a Mastercraft propane that has a thermostat just like a gas furnace. I thought that was cool. (pun intended). I'll try some Alderwood. Hard to find it around here. I have an older Weber Kettle that I use to test flavors. Cornish hens always make a good meal. Just bought some this past weekend. Also ordered a Thermapen Mk4.

I just put on two shoulder butts a hour ago. I've been using the weber products many years and I've been grilling/smoking meats for 45 years. I tried using a gas grill but experiment didn't last a month. 18 inch WSM

Used to be Lucky Strikes.

Later on I switched to filtered Marlboros.

hard to beat the wsm for the money. i've had the 18" for 7-8 years and love it. i fill the basket with kingsford and start start 8-10 bricks in a chimney and then scatter them on top of the unlit. put the meat on over a full water pan and leave all vents wide open until its 200 and then crank the bottom ones down to 1/3 open and it will go from about 10PM to 6AM at 225-250. this is good for brisket and pork shoulders.

I agree......the wsm fits my needs. It was a well thought out and just works.

I have wine barrel I use for a smoker. Electric heat and a pellet tray for smoke. It’s killer for fish, jerky, cheese.......basically anything I want to smoke from room temp to maybe 160 degrees. It’ll get hotter but then it really depends on ambient temp, wind, etc.....

I use a Weber kettle with the smoke tray for other items that are cooked with smoke.

Big cooks, multiple butts, whole pig, etc..., I put together a concrete block cooker and use charcoal and wood.


Newest cooker is some contraption called the “Big Easy” roaster. So far I love it. No direct flame, built in pellet burner, grill top or roasting basket. It is awesome for roasting things like whole chickens and lamb roasts or grilling some items like big steaks or chicken. It’s awesome for ribs as well.

It can’t do direct heat so things like flank steak that you want to put a bit of char on in a short amount of time, it ain’t the best. It does get pretty hot though and you don’t have any flare ups. For everything else it’s replaced my Weber though.

You have it covered. I used the same setup yesterday. My Kettle is not as fancy as yours.

Cooked a room temperature beef standing rib roast. Used the Kettle to sear it for 15 minutes. Then it cooled while I placed it in the WSM. Kept the WSM at 200-205F for almost 5 hours. Removed at 128F internal. Four degree rise during rest.

The 22" tends to burn hotter. Used Weber Brickets using the snake method with very little Mesquite and a couple of Pecan chunks.

It turned out very good. The wife liked it since I stayed out of her kitchen and did not use the ovens. She made homemade rolls.

Two things learned:

Those Weber Brickets are the best for controlled burns. (Kingsford Blue Bag only for grilling.)

The Termoworks "Smoke" thermometer is well worth the money spent.

I fell in love with the WSM.

When the time came for a new weber kettle, this one was on sale at $100.00 off, at Lowes.

My wife certainly didn't mind as I grill sometimes twice a week and do most all the cooking, retired.

I didn't know weber offered briquettes. I use Stubbs briquettes but I'm trying the weber briquettes next time, if I can find them.

The maverick thermometers I use are fun to use but not really needed.

What is needed is a good pin thermometer and I use the Thermoworks "Thermapen".

That thing is FAST! I've started using it for steaks, especially

when we have guests over when some like rare, medium or done.

Mostly use apple wood for smoking, sometimes I'll put a very small amount of hickory with the apple.

I have the MK4 Thermapen also. Love all the features. Fast and accurate. I got the silicone boot to put on it.

Going to smoke three slabs of Baby Backs this afternoon. (Costco pack)

Will be making a batch of "Secrete Sauce".
Standing guard. Also Have to alert the NSA and CIA to not overfly with their satellites. The ingredients need to be protected.

Late to dance on this thread, folks. Apologies.Above quote fits my needs to a T.

I've always enjoyed the wonderful flavor of charcoal along with the option of adding various wood species which has me ready to order a Pit Barrel Cooker Junior when they become available again in May.

Wish me luck !!!

https://amazingribs.com/smoker-tailgater/pit-barrel-junior-review

OJG

Looks like a good unit. The price is right.

Holy crap Gibby. You scared the [bleep] out of me for a minute there until I re-read it. At first I thought you were buying a propane smoker. The WSM is a damn good smoker and I've seen more than one guy win comps on them. Just two words. Use lump.

Mike!

Had one for many years and loved it until I let my best friend talk me out of it.

OJG

I use lump when I need a hot,hot fire on the Kettle. Nothing better for that. Perfect sear fuel.


The WSM has a lot of room for ash. Unlike the Big Green Eggs. The 22" WSM tends to burn a little hotter than the 18" and 14" ones.