How to Choose a Barbecue Smoker

There are virtually endless variations in methodology depending upon equipment, the style of BBQ or smoker grill and personal preferences. However, here are some universal guidelines for choosing a barbecue smoker grill.

smoker barbecue grill

Cost
A smoker should be a long term investment. As a general rule, buy the best smoker you can afford and justify. Here are some considerations.

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Fuel
If you just don't have time to maintain a charcoal or wood fire for long burns, consider gas or electric. Smoke is generated by heating shavings or sawdust. You will sacrifice the authentic wood smoke flavor and the feeling of pride and accomplishment derived from managing a fire properly for a long time to produce outstanding barbecue.

Good-One Patio Smoker/Grills are portable and easy to use. Charcoal will give some smoke flavor which may be supplemented by adding chunks of wood during the burn. The cheaper water smokers require a lot of fire tending and are usually modified to improve performance.

The Good-One Smoker/Grill is more expensive but is well built, durable, and controllable, holds temperature for a long time and is assembled and ready to Smoke right off the sales floor. Kettles and barrel smokers can be used but special precautions and techniques are required to maintain the proper temperature and avoid flare-ups.

Capacity
Are you just going to cook for family and a few friends, or have large parties or even do some catering?

Portability
This is how easy it is to move the smoker around, all Good-One Patio models come with 10? pneumatic tire for easy portability.

Metal Thickness and Quality
Check the thickness of the metal construction, also look for Smokers that are welded together not bolted. The Cheaper the smoker the more bolts to hold it together, thus causing heat loss among the bolt joints.

Temperatures and Smoke
Temperature is really what distinguishes Smoking from other forms of cooking with fire. Smoking is a form of smoke cooking but smoke cooking (which includes higher temperatures) is not necessarily barbecuing. You may use a grill to make barbecue but it is not grilling (also a high temperature cooking method). Cold smoking is done at temperatures of less than 120º F.

Actually, there are only two rules in Smoking on Good-One Smoker/Grill barbecues...

Low and slow: Long cooking times of four to twenty four hours, depending upon the meat, at temperatures ranging from 200º to 275º F. measured at the meat level allows tough meat to get tender without drying out. 225º to 250º is ideal.

Keep your smoke sweet: Stale or acrid smoke results in a strong, bitter and unpleasant flavor.

Keep a small but active fire
Maintain airflow through the smoker. Keep the upper spinner open 1 ½ turns and regulate the fire with the bottom spinners Do not let the fire smolder or starve for air.

Use high quality wood for smoke
Wood should be well seasoned, only use green wood if you really know what you are doing.

Use only hardwoods for smoke. Hickory, oak and cherry are fine traditional woods and easy for beginners to use. Avoid wood from conifers or needle bearing trees such as pine.

How to Choose a Barbecue Smoker

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Barbecue Secrets - Pizza in the Smoker!

Most people tend to think of a barbecue smoker as being exclusively for meats, fish and poultry. Actually, there is hardly any limit to the types of things that can be prepared in a smoker. Fruits, vegetables cheeses, desserts and even pizza can take on incredible flavors when cooked properly in a smoker.

smoker cover

This article focuses on one of my favorites; the barbecue pizza. There are tons of ways you can do this, but I'll give you a few of my favorites which are guaranteed to please any crowd. The barbecue pizza works best when your smoker temperature is around 275-300 degrees. Many smokers have a difficult time getting and maintaining a temperature much higher than this anyway, so just do the best you can to get yours good and hot. You will need the following for one pizza:

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One already prepared and baked pizza crust. These are available at any grocery store and usually come two to a package. Boboli makes a pretty good one. A bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce. About a cup of cooked chicken that has been chopped into small pieces. The ideal chicken to use would be some that you already prepared in your smoker. Maybe it was leftover from last night's barbecue. Leftover pulled pork works well too. About half a can of pineapple chunks Thinly sliced red onion (as much or as little as you like) Two cups of grated mozzarella cheese

Assemble this just as you would any other oven baked pizza. Spread barbecue sauce over the crust, add your cheese and other toppings and slide it into the smoker right on top of the grates. This will produce a crispier crust, or if you prefer a softer crust you can place the pizza on a cookie sheet. Since everything is already cooked, all you are really doing here is browning the crust a bit, melting the cheese, warming the other ingredients, and incorporating a nice smoky flavor in your pizza.

This is just one idea. The sky is the limit with pizza so use your imagination. The recipe above works great with shrimp or salmon instead of chicken or pulled pork. How about a dessert pizza? Take the same prepared crust and spread it with a thin layer of softened and sweetened cream cheese. Top that with small pieces of fruit like fresh chopped pineapple, sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on top, and you've got yourself a hot dessert with a subtle smokiness that is fantastic!

Barbecue Secrets - Pizza in the Smoker!

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Learn How to Smoke Barbecue - What is a Water Smoker?

There are a few types of different styles of barbecue smokers for making smoked barbecue. The first is the offset smoker. With this type, the fire box is on the side of the smoke chamber, and the meat sits on grills inside the smoke chamber and is subjected to low heat (approximately 235 degrees) and wood smoke. The second type is the Kettle type smoker (an example of this is the well loved Weber Kettle that everyone owns, or at one point in their life has owned.) The third type of smoker is the vertical type. In the vertical type, the fire is built at the bottom of the smoke chamber (picture a large cylindrical object, like a large garbage can,), there is a pan over the fire which contains wood chips that when heated will provide additional smoke. Above this pan are racks that the meat sits on while smoking, and above the meat is a tight fitting lid that has some type of ventilation system for smoke flow release.

smoker box for gas grill

A water smoker is a type of a vertical smoker. A water smoker, in addition to the pan with the smoking soaked wood chips, has a pan of water which sits directly above the wood chip pan. This pan is filled with water. The water in this pan helps keep the meat moist during the low and slow cooking process. As the fire burns, it heats the liquid in the water pan, which causes water vapor to mix with the smoke and help keep the meat moist during the cooking process.

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Learn How to Smoke Barbecue - What is a Water Smoker?

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Barbecue Smoker Grill Cooking Tips

When you are grilling with your BBQ smoker grill, you are actually entering into a practice that folk have been doing for millenia. Smoking beef adds an additional dimension of flavour to your barbecue, and it also insures that the beef is cooked more exhaustively than with normal open-flame barbecuing.

smoker grills

There are many different ways you can get a hazy flavour into your meat. Cooking your beef over an open pit is the oldest and, potentially, the most efficient strategy. It also takes more effort and time than other strategies.

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You may try and add a hazy flavour to your beef using liquid smoke. This product is added directly to the beef, usually as a part of the marinade.

There are a number of different brands and kinds of grills available on the market today that offer you a smoke trough. You can place chips of wood (mesquite, hickory and alder are a selection of the most typical types) in the trough, which should then add smoke to the cooking process.

One of the biggest differences between smoking your beef employing a BBQ smoker grill and employing a standard grill is where the heat comes from. The heat in a smoker grill is a firebox, instead of open flames.

This makes it so that the beef doesn't seal. While a traditional grill will cook your meat at five hundred degrees or more, a smoker cooks it at about 2 hundred degrees.

One of the things to watch out for when you're smoking meat using a BBQ smoker grill is your cooking time. You want to lengthen the cooking time, as it requires a while for the smoke to be absorbed into the beef. You need to use a lower temperature when you are smoking the meat than you would if you were just grilling it.

One thing that you can work out in time is that specific types of woods tend to accent certain meats. As an example, if you'd like a mellow flavour for the meat, consider using apple wood chips. This is especially good for meats like pork and lamb.

Hickory and alder are superb for ground beef. Cherry and mesquite do very well for steaks and roasts.

Utilizing a smoker can actually add a whole new dimension to your barbecuing. You can almost guarantee that your visitors will see, and appreciate, that smoked flavour when they take that first bite. For better tasting barbecue, consider a BBQ smoker grill.

Barbecue Smoker Grill Cooking Tips

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Barbecue Grill Smoker - How to Smoke it Right

Barbecue and grilling are one and the same, right? Surprisingly not. Both involve cooking directly over fire however; there is a major difference. While grilling means cooking over high heat for a few minutes, barbecue, on the other hand, refers to slow cooking over lower temperatures than grilling. With slow cooking, you allow the smoke to penetrate the meat and tenderize it. This will also cause the natural flavors of the meat to come out. A barbecue grill smoker is usually used for this kind of cooking.

smoker box for gas grill

Here are some tips to guide you as you use a barbecue grill smoker to cook your food:
Make sure that you clean your barbecue grill smoker before you use it. If you use a grill that is dirty, the smoke get can get too heavy. You do not want this, as this will give your food a bitter taste. Also, control the air vents on your grill to prevent smoke from building up. Position your barbecue grill smoker in an area where the wind will not be much of a factor. Place it in a way that allows the path of the grill's airflow to be in the same direction as the wind. You can also use something to block the wind if it is blowing too much. Combine the use of wood and charcoal as fuel. Why? Charcoal gives your meat the heat it needs and the distinct "smoked" taste, while wood adds to the unique barbecue flavor. To start the fire, stack the charcoal or wood tightly. When arranged like this, the pile is able to conduct more heat. You can use fruit woods such as hickory, mesquite, maple, or oak. Do not use eucalyptus, cypress, or redwood. For the charcoal, use lump charcoal as it burns longer and provides a more flavorful smoke. Soak the wood chips an hour prior to cooking. This will maintain the level of humidity. However, there are times when you will need to add water or soaked wood chips during the cooking. Use a chimney starter (which you can buy in hardware stores) to get the fire started. In this way, you will not be using lighter fluids that can affect your food's taste. Stuff your barbecue smoker grill with sheets of newsprint, then place charcoal on top of it. Light the newspaper, then, expect your coals to be ready in 15 to 20 minutes. Control the temperature of your barbecue grill smoker by manipulating the air vents. Cooking temperature should be between 180 to 220 degrees F. Rarely, should it exceed 250 degrees F. If your barbecue grill smoker doesn't have a built-in thermometer, you can purchase a barbecue thermometer and use it. The question here is how to get an accurate reading. The temperature will not be uniform or consistent inside the grill. So, the best way to do this is to get a reading near the meat, but not touching it. Baste food often while you barbecue, this will help keep the temperature from getting too hot. Aside from adding flavor to your meat, this will also keep your meat and the barbecue grill smoker moist. After using your barbecue grill smoker, make sure that you clean it. Do not allow the greases to accumulate, or you will have a hard time scrubbing these out. You can also make use of washing soda to clean it. Then, store your barbecue grill smoker in a covered area.Barbecue cooking is more of an art than a science, so there is no definite way to do things. You will have to learn how to manipulate your barbecue grill smoker through experience, but you can use the tips mentioned above to guide you.

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Barbecue Grill Smoker - How to Smoke it Right

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Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) Versus Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) - Which One Cooks Better Barbecue?

The Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) Vertical Water Cooker is a great smoker. It's low cost and quality features make it a favorite among the backyard smoker barbecue crowd. The features include a ceramic coated steel body and nickle plated grills. It has two cooking levels that allow you to have two barbecue dishes cooking at the same time.

smoker bbq

The WSM is unique in that it comes with a ceramic/metal pan for holding water that provides moisture to the food while cooking. It will hold a load of charcoal that lasts a solid twelve hours with the proper venting. I use my WSM for pork butts and briskets all the time because it is convenient and easy to use. It beats my bigger offset smoker for the smaller "Q" smoked meat projects.

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Weber just released a new model (22 inches) that is larger than the current model (18 inches). This makes the WSM very similar in cooking surface to the average Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS).

I have friends who are crazy about their UDS cookers. Most UDS cookers start life as a 55 gallon drum that has been cleaned and burned out inside to eliminate any contaminating substances. Holes, for air flow, and grates, for food, are added to make it functional. A charcoal box is also added to be the heat source. Just like the WSM, cooking on a UDS is directly over the charcoals.

The UDS cooking surface is also larger than the traditional WSM. A UDS, as a rule, does not include a pan or bowl for water.

A UDS is the really "low cost" alternative for real smoked barbecue cooking because most projects start by finding a throw away 55 gallon drum. You just have to account for the time you spend making it (which can be substantial) for a real cost comparison. There are several resources on the net to describe how to make a UDS.

For those that don't have the time (or the inclination) to make their own UDS there are ready made ones on the market. The cost is still relatively low and comparable to the WSM.

The unique thing about the UDS is that the drippings from cooking fall directly on the hot coals. This produces a distinctive taste for the meat that many aficionados attest is the closest thing to early times barbecue cooking.

Now, to the question of which one cooks the better barbecue.... If you like the taste of the meat drippings on the coals then the UDS wins, however, you can achieve the same effect in the WSM by removing the water pan.

If you don't like the taste of the drippings on the coals but like the simplicity and cost of the UDS just add a pan and grate below the top grate on the UDS to catch the drippings before they hit the hot coals.

They are both super, low cost, alternatives for cooking great smoked barbecue. It's just personal preference.

Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) Versus Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) - Which One Cooks Better Barbecue?

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Cooking Guide With BBQ Smoker Barbecue

Gas, electric and coal smokers supply heat but some believe wood is solely responsible for giving BBQ smoker barbecue an authentic woodsy smoked quality. Fruit tree woods like apple, plum, cherry and hardwoods like oak, hickory, alder, pecan, black walnut, mesquite, maple are thought to generate hot smoke that enhances the taste of meat. There are barbeque enthusiasts who build traditional fire pit grills to get that familiar homemade b-b-q flavor.

smoker grills for sale

The benefit of gas and electric smokers is getting uniform heat while coal costs the least. Big Drum Smoker, Lang, Char-Broil, Pitts & Spitts, Brinkmann, Super Cajun and other brands of residential and commercial grade modern smokers come with special charbroil grill racks, heat-proof stainless steel bases and covers, pro digital operation and diverse accessories to maximize the cooking of BBQ smoker barbecue.

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To smoke meat is to slow-cook it using indirect heat, originally, through the oxygen deprived burning of wood or coal in a closed cylinder to produce smoke and not fire. Hot smoke is directed to a larger closed cylinder where it becomes a cloud surrounding and slow-cooking meat before getting vented out right away. Hence, tender juicy flavorful barbeque from pork to chicken, beef, turkey and fish.

Popular BBQ smoker barbecue includes Texas Style, Southern Comfort, Memphis Style, Pacific Rim, Chili Adobo and the mouthwatering genuine Southern BBQ flavor many people love. The barbeque smoking apparatus may be an offset barrel smoker, UDS (upright drum smoker), smoke box, vertical water smoker or other modern type like the multi-rack refrigerator style smoker.

Cooking Guide With BBQ Smoker Barbecue

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Using Your Barbecue Smoker in Cold Weather

Not sure what the temperature is where you are at right now, but I did some cooking last weekend in pretty frosty temperatures. Right now it's in the 20's and I have another cook coming up this week. Smoking in cold temperatures and nasty weather can create a whole new set of challenges, and if you are planning to do it, you might want to consider a few tips:

smoker barbecue grill

1. Smokers are made of metal and depending on the thickness of your smoker's metal chamber; it can really be affected by cold temperatures. This means that not only will it take your smoker longer to heat up, but you will use more fuel, it will be more difficult to keep your temperature consistent and most likely longer to cook your food. You can still get excellent results; you just need to be aware.

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2. It's always important to resist the temptation to open your smoker too often when you are cooking. This is especially true in frigid weather. Each time you open that smoker you could easily be adding anywhere from 15-30 minutes to your cooking time so please keep this to a minimum! A great tool that I recommend is a digital programmable thermometer that allows you to keep the lid on the smoker closed and check the internal temperature of the meat as often as you want. You can pick one of these up for about . For a few bucks more you can get a remote one that can be monitored inside your nice warm house!

3. If you are dealing with heavy wind or snow or rain, look for a place to put your smoker that provides you with a bit of cover, especially from the wind. Nothing will screw up you temperature like a strong wind rushing through the smoker's vents and fire box! Also, you will want to position the smoker so that a strong wind is not rushing directly in.

4. You might want to consider investing in a blanket made of fire resistant material to cover your smoker with. This will help hold a more consistent temperature in the smoker, as well as shield it from some of the more extreme elements you might be dealing with.

The bottom line is you can still produce excellent results in your smoker regardless of the temperature outside. It will be more challenging though, and it helps to be prepared. And there really is something extra special about a juicy smoked turkey or a mouth-watering slab of ribs on a cold winter's night! Believe me, it's worth it.

Using Your Barbecue Smoker in Cold Weather

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The Offset Barbecue Smoker - Three Reasons Why They Make Delicious Meat

The Offset Barbecue Smoker makes delicious smoked meat. They are an excellent choice for the person who wants to make pork shoulder (pulled or chopped pork), pork spare ribs, chickens or beef brisket. Here are three reasons why this type of barbecue smoker makes delicious meat.

smoker barbecue grill

First, what is an Offset Smoker? An offset smoker consists of a firebox, a smoking chamber, a rack system for the meat, and a chimney/ventilation system for the smoke. A charcoal/hardwood fire is built in the firebox, the smoke and a little heat travels into the smoke chamber, the meat sits on the racks and is engulfed by the smoke, and then the smoke exits through the chimney/ventilation system. The reasons an offset smoker makes fantastic meat are these:

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1. The fire is contained in the firebox, so there is no direct heat on the meat. Any heat from the fire is going to be indirect since the fire is offset and away from the meat, in a separate chamber. To make the best barbecue requires low heat, around 235 degrees F for a long period of time. Because the fire is away from the meat, it is easier to keep a nice low temperature going for that long period of time.

2. The meat is suspended in the smoke chamber on racks, away from the fire. Smoke is allowed to flow through the chamber,around the meat, and add the smokey good flavor to the meat.

3. The chimney/ventilation system can be set up to allow maximum smoke exposure to the target meat. The chimney can be set at the opposite end of the smoke chamber from the firebox end, and the smoke must travel all away across the smoke chamber, flavoring the meat along the way.

Those are some of the reasons that an offset barbecue smoker is a good choice for making delicious smoked barbecue pork, chicken and beef.

The Offset Barbecue Smoker - Three Reasons Why They Make Delicious Meat

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Smoking Meat - What Is an Offset Barbecue Smoker?

There are basically three different types of barbecue smokers. The Offset Smoker, the vertical smoker, and the kettle style of smoker. A vertical smoker has only one chamber, with the fire at the bottom of the chamber and the meat supported on racks suspended over the fire. A kettle type smoker is what you may already have, or your father or brother, uncle cousin already has. Think a Weber Grill and that is a kettle type smoker. A weber grill can be set up for smoking barbecue by building a fire on one side, putting the meat on the other side, putting on the lid and opening the vents. The meat will be smoked by indirect heat. This short article will describe the offset type smoker.

smoker box

An offset smoker has two chambers. One is called the firebox. The other is called the smoke chamber. These are offset from each other. That is why it is called an Offset Smoker or Offset cooker. The firebox is off to one side of the apparatus, and that is where the wood or charcoal fire is built. the smoke and heat flows from the firebox into the smoke chamber also referred to as the cooking chamber, and then the smoke flows around the meat and out through the chimney. As the smoke flows over and around the meat, it flavors the meat with a smoke flavor, and the low indirect heat cooks the meat. Most offset cookers can be visualized as a big drum on its side, with a hinged lid cut into it and a little smoke stack chimney coming off the top. That is the smoke chamber. Off to one side and a little lower than the smoke chamber is the firebox, which is often a square metal box attached to the side, but also could be another metal drum. The firebox is usually much smaller than the smoke chamber. An offset smoker burns wood to provide heat and smoke. The type of wood to burn varies on the choice of the pit-master. Many burn whole logs in their smoker, while others prefer to burn wood chunks, traditional charcoal, charcoal chunks or even wood pellets. Different varieties of wood can be burned in an offset smoker to impart different flavors to the wood. Some prefer to burn Hickory, others prefer Mesquite, some prefer fruit wood such as apple-wood or cherry. The secret to using an offset smoker for good barbecue is cooking "low and slow." This means to cook the food at a low temperature for a long time. An offset smoker is great for this as it only uses indirect heat, because the fire is away from the meat in the firebox, while the meat is in the cooking chamber.

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This should help you determine if you should get an offset smoker to make great smoked barbecue meat. You will be able to make great barbecue ribs, pork shoulder (pulled pork), beef brisket and chicken with an indirect smoker.

Smoking Meat - What Is an Offset Barbecue Smoker?

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