Gunna build me a new smoker!

[SDale]

Well, my CharBroil Grill/Smoker is nice but I use it for BBQ AND smoking. It's also a little on the small side. I'd like to have something dedicated to just smoking.

I've seen some homemade jobbies that are pretty good. I'm going to make a nice CHEAP large sized electric smoker from a Hot Plate and a 35 gallon steel garbage can. I'll be mounting the hotplate in the bottom center of the can and relocating the controls to the side of the can. Add a grill, chip and water pans and VOILA!!! Instant electric smoker!


Hopefully I'll get all the materials this week and have her done by next weekend! I've got a few nice ribeyes and some tri-tip I wanna slow cook all at the same time hehehe

[Dcnlarry]

Whatever you do PLEASE do not use galvanized for the can, not a good idea. I have a competition BBq team and I have seen people do this, the results are not good. Good luck with the smoker and good Q

[ronbeaux]

I concur. Heat and galvanizing is not a good combination.Get you a standard unlined steal drum and build a fire in it like this

What team do you have Dnclarry? My wife and I have one too.

[joe-joe guns]

I'm not one to tell a man how to cook his meat but I built this one one the cheap with mostly donated parts.IMHO wood fire is the way to go,although I have had some good Q from an electric smoker.

[SDale]

I planned on using a galvanized can 'cause of what I remembered from welding school... The Zinc doesn't flash off until 500 degrees or so. I plan on using this one at around 230-250 degrees. BUT, just to be on the safe side I talked to a buddy of mine where my company buys steel. He's gonna hook me up with a nice length of 46 inch diameter stainless steel tube hehe. I guess it pays to be the parts runner at times eh???


What I was planning on was to slow cook for a few hours in the smoker then do a quick charring on the grill. Just like grandpa used to do!!!

Now thats a nice lookin rig Joe Joe!!!


Hopefully if California Salmon Season ever opens back up or if I can get my hands on some good quality herring, I'll be doing some fish too!

[ray1377]

I did some surfing online about smokers last week and read alot about folks using of all things two big clay flowerpots stacked together with a hot plate in the bottom and they worked pretty good for most.
Ray

[Dcnlarry]

My team is the Pampered Pigs, we are in the Hudson Valley of New York.

[Dcnlarry]

Check out UDS on the net, just google it, they are way cheap and will out cook almost any other smoker out there for the money. I use a ceramic egg and I have a Stumps Prince for competition, but believe me, the UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker) will hold you for years, I  get beat by guys and gals that use them in comps on a regular basis. Good luck with your build.

[brokenarrowjbe]

The clay flower pots works great, AKA alton brown did a show on smoking and you can use a cardboard box in an emergency. I have a weber and I still prefer the flower pots and hot plate, easy temp control, holds the heat, plugged the top with a cheap grill thermometer from wally world. Ready made magazine http://readymade.com/projects/article/southern_style_barbecue has a nice recipe good luck, John

PS heat and galvanized don't go together because galvanized steel is coated with a passivation chemical to prevent "white rust". A common passivation chemical used is Hexavalent Chromium; a very harmful carcinogen when ingested, absorbed by the skin, or inhaled. Welding and other heating of galvanized steel can allow the passivation chemical to be liberated and thereby create a health concern. I think the temp is 730 f or 750, how ever, if wrong, could be detrimental.

PPS http://cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html apparantly this guy did your homework. John

[crowpopper]

i took some leftover plywood sheet and built and "outhouse"
out of it it is 5 foot hight 30 inches deep and 24 wide it can hang a turkey uptop no problem
i use my small webber grill for hot smoking and then my electric hotplate and a chip pan for cold smoke it has 2 vents in to and 2 in bottom i can just open and close for more or less heat and smoke
ill dig it outta the snow and take a pic for yall tomorrow and heck maybe even toss a turkey in it    lol

[bodiej]

been watching the show "pitmasters".  Team "slap yo daddy bbq"  converted a big green egg to automatic with an internal thermometer.  Still have to watch water and chips, but set it and forget it!

[Dcnlarry]

Not hard to do, just use a thing called a Guru, it's a controlled fan with a temperature feedback, you plug it into the air intake and set the temperature you desire. One probe on the inside of the egg and one probe in the meat, Set the dome temperature and the desired meat temperature, and the Guru will tell you when done. There are others out there, but this one works really good, some are even controlled from a distance, Ie, a PDA or laptop. you can watch the temp curves and even readjust the settings without even being near the egg or other cooking device.

[bodiej]

good idea, but's it's all cheating!  I don't even like the  electric bit (certainly not propane)..  Wood and tender loving care is all you need - it's the best excuse to stay out of the house and avoid other chores