Well it's BBQ season, and I'm looking into doing some serious cooking this year. I've shared an old box style stand up smoker w/ my buddy the last few years but I'd like to get my own. Anyone have recommendations for a solid portable smoker for around $200? I'd like to have the ability to throw it in the back of the truck and bring it up to my camp for fishing weekends. Also if anyone cares to share some good dry rub/sauce recipes I'm always looking to try new things as I'm still a beginner.
Kind of disappointed there are no responses here. I am getting ready to add the smoker box to my grill and would love some ideas.
Don't have a smoker myself but am also wanting to start getting into it this summer. I too hope this thread takes off with suggestions.
I use a pellet smoker after being a stick burner. The side fire box is OK but in cooler temps it is a bear to keep the temp right. I will never go back to those after having the pellet Smoker. You can cook everything from pulled pork, ribs, burgers, to cookies and pizza. They are extremely versatile. Here is a pic of a pulled pork cook and a rib cook just to whet your appetite. Pulled pork and smoked baked beans: And a few racks of ribs: Unfortunately, a new pellet smoker is going to be a little more than $200.00 unless you find one on your local Craigslist. I have seen some screaming deals on there for these smokers. Happy BBQ'ing
I have a masterbuilt smoker from farm and fleet I think it was around 150. It works great and is definately portable if you have a truck. I use a dry rub called bone suckin sauce that taste great. Coat whatever you're smoking in mustard then give it a good layer of rub and massage the meat. If you dont like mustard dont worry you can't taste it but it gives a great bark on the outside of the meat. Sent from my SGH-T959 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
Question about something I saw on BBQ Pitmasters, it looks like they're smothering their meat in something that looks like mayonaisse and putting it into foil, is that what it is? Trying to see what the reason for that would be.
I can see using mayo on the outside with rub like Woody's use of mustard-creates a nice bark and/or takes the place of skin on something like a wild turkey. Putting it in foil? Must be a flavor thing....
I believe my father has an old smoker he never uses anymore. I'm gonna give him a call after work and ask him about it. I want to get into it. I really love smoked meats and fish. When I lived in Adak Alaska when younger we would go salmon fishing all the time and smoke them. We had a bag limit of 5 salmon per person per day. Super delicious.
If it was ribs it was probably squeeze margarine. They put that and honey and brown sugar on the ribs to form a glaze on them. It is truly YUMMY!
We have a big offset for when we do competitions but at home it is really hard to beat a Weber Smokey Mountain. Its a little more than the $200 you were wanting to spend (Around $300 for the 18.5" and $400 for the 22.5"), but completely worth the extra money. That thing will sit on the same temp for 10 or more hours without having to touch it.
I have a cheap, charcoal, in-line, water smoker. Think it was about $45 at my local hardware store. Got it a couple years ago, just to see if I like smoking. Well, I like it, my family likes it, we will likely never eat a roasted chicken or turkey again. Even my kids look for the smoke ring when they cut up their meat. Smoked up some pork chops last night - Awesome. I actually kind of like the "work" that the charcoal smoker requires. Only downside is that it is a little harder to set up to smoke on short notice. I don't like the (lack of) rack space on the smoker. I don't usually smoke unless I fill both racks, but for some applications, like jerkey, even a smaller amount requires me to smoke in batches. This is even after I rigged up a way to hang some extra racks from my top rack. Probably going to upgrade to a gas cabinet-style smoker for my birthday this fall. I have not yet done pork butt or beef brisket - those applications require greater attention to time and temperature than I can usually give with the charcoal. Thinking gas may make controlling that a bit easier.
My rub is: Paprika Red Pepper Garlic Black Pepper Salt Thyme Sage Marjorum Brown Sugar I mix it to taste so I can't really say the exact amounts but the Paprika and garlic are about 3 tablespoons and the brown sugar is about a 1/4cup. I rub yellow mustard all over the meat before applying the rub which helps it stay on. I wrap it lossely in aluminum foil before cooking which seals in the juices. I do leave the top partially open. I don't care much for the tough bark on the outside so I usually cook it this way. I have cooked it the other way as well. Both are excellent.
Plenty of smoke, as long as you leave it a little open at the top. With Boston Butts you can add a bottle of Italian Dressing and leave the foil a little loose with just a small opening at the top. If you prefer soft, juicy fall apart tender, this is the way to do it. If you like the bark... cook it dry. If you are cooking lean pork, turkey or venison that tends to be dry, wrap it and add the dressing. I guarantee, you will not be disappointed. The Boston Butt is done when the bone pulls out, the turkey when the leg pulls off, and the deer when the meat will break in half easily. I cook a butt this way in about 6-7 hours on low heat.
As for foiling ribs, you do that after a couple of hours in the smoker without foil so it gets plenty of smoke. You foil to "finish" and can still get a decent crispy bark if you take it back out of the foil for a bit and let it dry back up. Here is our time frame for competition spare ribs (Note: I do not prefer our competition ribs, they are so full of sugar they are almost candied meat, I like mine a little drier and spicier) Rub, put on smoker at 250-275 for 3 hours, foil with added honey and brown sugar for 1 hour, unfoil and back on smoker until done - about 30-60 minutes.
Stupid question.....are you constantly keeping wood going into the smoker to keep smoke coming off or do you let it burn off and just cook with the coals for a while??
I agree with Cubs204. Correct texture is a big part of cooking ribs. I usually begin with the foil, then remove the foil to get the outside a little crusty. If I want a caramalized crust, I remove them, apply the sauce and finish until the sauce is tacky.
Just take an old grill, cut a hole on the lid and use a galvanized pipe as a smoke stack/vent, fabricate a galvanized firebox and attach it to the back of the grill and boom, you have a smoker.
I use the 3-2-1 Method.....3 hours of smoke at 225 degrees, spritzing with apple juice every hour, and then 2 hours foiled, and then one hour without the foil and that is when I sauce them up. Yummy every time! Would like to take credit for it but I learned about it by watching all kinds of BBQ vids on Youtube. Happy BBQ'ing
