Comments on: Smoker Bleg

By: emdfl

emdfl — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:12:02 +0000

All of this foolishness about who makes the best smoker and what’s the best way to smoke – bah.
When I was working in the upper Canadian Northwest Territories( Fox Basin area), I BUILT a smoker out of a 30″X30″X10′ wooden crate, four used refrigerator racks and a 220 volt stove element. I used old canvas hose as a gasket on the door(made from the box lid).
The 220v stove element at the bottom of the crate was hooked up to a 110v line. A metal pan with chunks of oak(cut up from the skids on other crates) was put on the burner.
The refrig racks were mounted at the top and about 20 pounds of Artic Char split and laid on the them(soaked in a salt brine for about two hours).
Close door and come back in 18 hour to replace the fish. This is cold smoking.
We ended up smoking about 400 pounds of fish in about a week. We carried coolers full of smoked fish all over the Territories for the next month or so while we were working.
And anybody who has eaten fresh-caught, oak-smoked Char would spit on what passes for smoked salmon down here in the states.
And for those who are into fishing, the best we did in one day was ~100 pounds of cleaned fish caught in a little over one hour.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:52:30 +0000

Growing up with BBQ just means that some of us got a head start, but we’re happy to drag/bring/launch you up to speed.

And my vote is a TX dry rub, personally.

As for the smoke and bag tricks, I’ve also braised ribs for 3 or 4 hours and then slapped ‘em on the grill for a nice glase with a good sauce. It isn’t BBQ, but it’s good.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:30:55 +0000

This could be the start of a decent survey, if you were to correlate the styles of smoker with Glock/1911 ownership. And 9mm vs. .45ACP.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:59:31 +0000

I am sure I will be able to eventually, but I grew up in an area where learning how to BBQ meant learning how to grill. I have no cultural experience with making my own, or the equipment to do it.

By: LC Scotty

LC Scotty — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:55:20 +0000

One last point, Sebastian-I am a yankee that lives in Buffalo, NY. I make ribs that would be right at home in any decent KC rib joint, brisket that would be at home in the pan handle and both kinds of Carolina pulled pork. Don’t let anyone kid you that we can’t make great Q just because of a geographical accident.

By: Bitter

Bitter — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:54:25 +0000

And here I thought you loved me. There will never ever be any Carolina bbq in my house. Ever.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:51:09 +0000

I like Carolina BBQ. But if I tried to feed it to Bitter, it probably would be to die for… namely that she’d kill me :)

By: Robb Allen

Robb Allen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:49:49 +0000

Eastern NC? The good kind with vinegar and crushed red pepper?

TO DIE FOR!

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:47:20 +0000

I can usually tell the difference between a 7 dollar bottle of wine and a 20 dollar bottle of wine, but I can’t really tell the difference between a 20 dollar bottle of wine and a 40 dollar bottle of wine.

As far as BBQ goes, I think when I get whatever smoker I end up getting, and I’m sure Bitter will agree, that we should start off with some nice North Carolina pulled pork BBQ. Yum Yum!

By: Robb Allen

Robb Allen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:32:08 +0000

Concerning the whole electric / propane / heat from combusting a hippie, I’d be willing to bet 99.9% of the populace couldn’t tell you the difference if you provided them samples from each kind.

I found the same thing in wines. Most people can’t tell the difference between red & white wines, much less if the grapes got too much sun or were picked with the wrong hand. But people like to argue those point ad naseum.