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Smoking Food Thread

The mods I did to the Brinkmann were to replace the temperature gauge and then bought a little smokey joe and used that as the fire box. Put the legs of the Brinkmann on the outside and place it on top of three bricks. That way you can lift the whole smoker to add charcoal and also have more control via the vents on the bottom of the lil smokey joe.
 
WFU71 said:
How did you modify the Brinkman?
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I combined 2 different smokers, one my dad had, and one my grandfather had. Its got 3 meat racks instead of the usual two. I'll be using my digital thermometers and I've improved the burn pan to get better airflow. I'll try to take some pictures sometime this week.
 
nomadic said:
All that work or just spend the money and get the weber?
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Seems like a lot of work unless you just need a project to mess around with...as an extremely satisfied Weber guy, I would say go with the WSM.
 
leftcoastdeac said:
Seems like a lot of work unless you just need a project to mess around with...as an extremely satisfied Weber guy, I would say go with the WSM.
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The legs are overkill. I can get the dampers, rope gasket and grate for $35. Since I already have the Brinkman, my only hesitation is will the modification give satisfactory results. Otherwise, I would agree with you.
 
Bears and Deacs said:
Wall Street Journal article about "The New Barbecue." Interesting read.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323716304578482970210059326.html
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I'm seeing similar situations with my BBQ. Where I'm from, everyone cooks it naked on a cinder-block pit and only salts it ahead of time, and uses hardwood coals to cook it. I've had many people give me a funny look and in some case withdraw their orders when they find out I rub my meat down and inject them. Once they try it, they're believers, but its that initial bite that is so difficult for them to take.
 
My bear paws shipped this morning. I'm reeeeally hoping they arrive by the weekend because I'm planning on doing a shoulder on Sunday.
 
Easily my least favorite part about smoking is cleaning up the water pan at the end. So after reading some posts in this thread (mostly Racer) I think I'm gonna line the grate right above the water pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. My smoker is an older vertical so I don't have vents really to control the heat, but the lid is uneven and I guess I can control airflow at the top with that. Or do you suggest I ditch the water pan altogether, just line it with the aluminum foil?
 
JDawg said:
Or do you suggest I ditch the water pan altogether, just line it with the aluminum foil?
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Do you want bark? One downside to the steaming qualities of the water pan is you're less likely to develop the bark most people want. What I typically would do is cook everything with the water pan, then for the last hour or so sauce the meat, remove the water pan and bark up the meat. Its a little more work, but the best of both worlds IMO.
 
I mean I'm just doing pulled pork and last time I used the water pan and everybody still liked it.

I'm really just lazy and don't want to have to spend an exorbitant amount of time cleaning off the sludge or whatever is left from the drippings/grease
 
I thought I had pretty good bark on my last smoke when I foiled over the top of the water pan. I feel doing so allowed me to take advantage of the temp stabilizing quality of the water without adding as much moisture to the inside of the smoker as I would have had if the water pan was completely open. Whatever you end up doing, make sure you let us know.
 
JDawg said:
I'm really just lazy and don't want to have to spend an exorbitant amount of time cleaning off the sludge or whatever is left from the drippings/grease
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Why not just line your water pan with heavy duty foil before filling it with water? Less cleanup.
 
RacerDeac said:
Why not just line your water pan with heavy duty foil before filling it with water? Less cleanup.
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Because I'm an idiot and completely had the wrong imagery in my head when I was thinking up these things.

Although I may still try what leftcoastdeac suggested, we'll see
 
RacerDeac said:
Why not just line your water pan with heavy duty foil before filling it with water? Less cleanup.
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There is only one possible issue I can see with this, and its a stretch, so bear with me. If there are any acidic liquids in the water pan (I'd occasionally use OJ or lemon juice, sometimes a vinegar based dip) it could leave a slightly metallic taste from the acidic reaction with the aluminum. Highly unlikely, mostly because the water would dilute the pH, but you know how some people are super anal and particular with their meat.
 
tsywake said:
There is only one possible issue I can see with this, and its a stretch, so bear with me. If there are any acidic liquids in the water pan (I'd occasionally use OJ or lemon juice, sometimes a vinegar based dip) it could leave a slightly metallic taste from the acidic reaction with the aluminum. Highly unlikely, mostly because the water would dilute the pH, but you know how some people are super anal and particular with their meat.
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I'm pretty sure you're speaking in generalities, but I haven't gotten that advanced yet.
 
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