General Outdoor Discussion
best smoker recomendations
I smoking my food in this giant dyna -glo DGO1890BDC-D wide body vertical offset charcoal smaoker it has capacity to smoke slowly upto 150 pounds of food inside the behemoth main chamber of this grade smoker
cleaning away the ash is easy without disturbing charcoal or the solid fuel which you are using.It has many features that makes it out-stand from other smokers
I got into smoking meat a few years ago and did quite a bit of research and ended up with a Smokin-It unit..These are electric smokers that use wood or chips.. These units are very well insulated and hold temps well in winter. Have smoked numerous times from 0-20 degrees.. One of the best things about the brand is a very good/active user forum on their site.. I learned alot about smoking from other members.. Was also considering a Smokin-Tex unit at the time.. Another well insulated electric unit but you will pay more for these brands over a Mfg like Masterbuilt etc..The nice thing about the Smokin-It is you put the wood in and set the temps you want and leave it alone..Even cold smoked pork belly's (bacon) and venison sausage this year with the unit and both turned out great.. I am never buying store bacon again!!! Lot's of options out there..Good Luck with your search
I am looking for a new smoker and wondering if the big automatic electric pellet smokers can be used in winter. Can they get up to a proper temperature when it is really cold like 0 degrees and windy?
I have had a number of propane smokers and they can maintain a high enough temperature in winter. But I'd like to have the convenience of an electric smoker that automatically holds a set temperature and feeds pellets as needed.
What experience have others had using electrics in cold weather? Are there brands or models that I should avoid?
The only thing better than a big fresh tomato from the garden on your BLT is to add your own home made bacon. This was my first attempt at making it. Takes a week with the curing and then smoking but well worth the wait and effort. It came out really good, a bit more salt than we like but I'll tweak the recipe for the next one.
Bought the Green Mountain pellet grill and have done a couple batches of fish. It is way easier than my old Masterbuilt and better control. I use the meat probe so there is no guessing if it is done. It comes with a real easy to use probe that works off the controls of the grill. I smoked some bows for 5 hours at 150* and then brought them up to 140* with the 200* setting. They were mild and still soft. The next batch was cohos at 150* for 8 hours and then 200* until it reached 145* in a thick chunk. That batch was drier and smokier as expected.The smoky ones are good for dips and spreads. I was searching for the outside parameters. Chicken , Ribs and loin chops have all been good too. The meat probe is way more useful than I thought it would be. Loin chops are done in about 20 minutes at 400*. I would have left them on too long without the probe. Mrt.
BB read some reviews on pit boss. Does your auger run 4 min. after u change heat up or down? They said it did, but may be a older review. I would check temps, the review said 20 degress higher than seton one side and 20 degress cooler than set on other side. Not cutting them, just what I read. The good thing is that the review said everything they cooked turned out good.lol
pellet use depends on several factors...temp you are cooking at weather its smoke setting up to about 500 degrees. Also external temp. Longer cooks like pork I might on average use 2-3 pounds of pellets. Burgers, chicken breast, steaks maybe a half pound. I use my pellet grill about 1-2 times a week and a 40lb bag lasts about 2 months.
Have the small traeger and love it. Have not had a bad meal yet off of it. Different than a regular bbq grill and takes some time to figure out time for different cuts of meat. Seasoned a whole chicken after rubbing on olive oil smoked it awhile set on high for 1 1/2 hours did not look at it or do anythiing to it. Took it off tender as can be with crispy skin. Havent smoked ribs yet will do that when i get back from watching oldest grandson play college ball in Tenn.