Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Blind Squirrel]

I remove the grates in my grill. I put the item(s) to be cold smoked on a 1/2 sheet cooling rack that has small squares and put the A-MAZE-N smoker on the other side. Pack the smoker with the saw dust of your choice (like rolling a cigarette), and light one end of it with a small propane torch. Cheese takes 1/2 of one row to smoke (about 2 - 2 1/2 hours). I get plenty of air movement and good smoke flavor.

I guess you could take the BMW approach and over-engineer the beejeepers out of it like the example above, but I would ask why?

 

[Knifemaker]

Well I'm a bit intrigued by this thing:

https://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnps5x8.htm

Looks like a tiny "minion tray" I'm guessing.

I'm just not sure how those pellets stay burning (or technically smoldering) without moving air on them or some kind of chemical (like potassium nitrate) in the pellets to keep them going.

I in fact have a couple bags of those pellets. Local food store had them for a buck each. I got a table saw with dust collector and a butt load of hickory here that I could quickly produce a few bags of sawdust with it.

Wouldn't mind learning how to smoke cheese or salmon.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Well I'm a bit intrigued by this thing:https://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnps5x8.htm

Looks like a tiny "minion tray" I'm guessing.

I'm just not sure how those pellets stay burning (or technically smoldering) without moving air on them or some kind of chemical (like potassium nitrate) in the pellets to keep them going.

I in fact have a couple bags of those pellets. Local food store had them for a buck each. I got a table saw with dust collector and a butt load of hickory here that I could quickly produce a few bags of sawdust with it.

Wouldn't mind learning how to smoke cheese or salmon.

This should give you the basic idea of how to do salmon: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/smoked-salmon-recipe.html

Cheese is even easier. You can smoke any cheese you like, but I am partial to mozzarella. I either use the pre-cut mozzarella sticks, or cut a block of mozzarella into sticks. Smoke for a couple of hours, keepingh the temperature under 90 degrees to keep the cheese from melting.

 

[rjrettig]

Well I'm a bit intrigued by this thing:

https://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnps5x8.htm

Looks like a tiny "minion tray" I'm guessing.

I'm just not sure how those pellets stay burning (or technically smoldering) without moving air on them or some kind of chemical (like potassium nitrate) in the pellets to keep them going.

I in fact have a couple bags of those pellets. Local food store had them for a buck each. I got a table saw with dust collector and a butt load of hickory here that I could quickly produce a few bags of sawdust with it.

Wouldn't mind learning how to smoke cheese or salmon.

 

[Hudson]

Got up early to get these two pork butts going on a Kamado Joe smoker. 12 hours later, they were ready to pull.

Brioche buns, jalapeño slaw, and spicy or sweet sauce made for good sammiches.

Got a new pair of Bear claws that made the pulling part easy

 

[Fred W]

Great looking pulled pork there, Hudson!

I guess you could take the BMW approach and over-engineer the beejeepers out of it like the example above, but I would ask why?

Why? Well, because we can, of course!

The tinkering is half the fun. The cooking is the other half, and well, then the eating that's the third half.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I visited Wally-world yesterday much to my dismay. Not one of my favorite stores. But I did take a stroll through the garden center where they keep the grilles. I ended up going back later to pick up a smoker they had on clearance. Ended up the two they had assembled were gone. But they did have a new pallet there with the same smoker sitting in boxes. I loaded one up in the truck and brought it home. I believe it is the same one FRED W has. Do you know how hard it is to find all the improvements he's done so far. This is a long thread. So I am reaching out to Fred to see if he can compile a list for me.

Dave

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I guess you could take the BMW approach and over-engineer the beejeepers out of it like the example above, but I would ask why?

Why? Well, because we can, of course!

The tinkering is half the fun. The cooking is the other half, and well, then the eating that's the third half.

You must have some German blood in you Fred!

 

[Fred W]

Dave, If you got an OK Joe Highlander, it's the same one I have. Congrats on the new toy.

I didn't really do all that many things, but I have some ideas on things that I could have done better.

PM is coming your way.

 

[Knifemaker]

I visited Wally-world yesterday much to my dismay. Not one of my favorite stores. But I did take a stroll through the garden center where they keep the grilles. I ended up going back later to pick up a smoker they had on clearance. Ended up the two they had assembled were gone. But they did have a new pallet there with the same smoker sitting in boxes. I loaded one up in the truck and brought it home. I believe it is the same one FRED W has. Do you know how hard it is to find all the improvements he's done so far. This is a long thread. So I am reaching out to Fred to see if he can compile a list for me. :winksmiley02:
Dave

Well I know the first thing you should do is do a run without cooking any meat to season it (wipe/spray all the insides with canola oil)... While doing this get a piece of chalk and mark everyplace you find a leak. (Just close the smokestack vent some and you'll see where they are)



There is a bit of info online / videos about modifying the OK Joe Smoker...

 

[Fred W]

He can seal the joints up with hi-temp silicone sealer during the assembly and put some gaskets on the doors and there will not be very much else to leak.

I think the paranoia of finding all leaks is a bit overblown. The inefficiency of these offsets isn't from air leaks. It's because there is a lot of exposed metal throwing off heat. In other words, it's the nature of the beast. A few air leaks are not going to cause any problems and may actually help the smoke keep moving through the pit, which is something you want to happen.

Definitely make a few dry runs after it's set up to get the hang of things. It requires a little more fiddling than a vertical smoker, but I think the results are worth the extra efforts.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Thanks for the PM Fred,

KM, I did plan on seasoning it prior to doing any cooking. Like you also I need to find a permanent spot for it and get that prepped.

Since Fred has experiance with the exact same model I can avoid some of the pitfalls and I don't want to be taking this thing apart later on.

Stay tuned, Dave

 

[Knifemaker]

He can seal the joints up with hi-temp silicone sealer during the assembly and put some gaskets on the doors and there will not be very much else to leak.
I think the paranoia of finding all leaks is a bit overblown.

Wasn't going for paranoia, just what you said in that first sentence.
I do however think eliminating any major air leaks, especially in the cook chamber can rid you of those variables and make the learning curve on operation a bit easier. If you plan to use the smoker year long, this can be more true, as even with a fairly tight smoker, I have seen the differences between running it on a 100 degree day and a 40 degree day.

As for placement, we deal with a breeze that comes across the lake most always from the north, so I chose a spot on the far side of the driveway that doesn't get much of that. Ideally I'd like to have a three sided shelter for it ...and maybe one of those welding blankets..

 

[Knifemaker]

I bet it's hotter in a week.

Update....a week later...yep. Nicely sweet and spicy, with the accent on the spicy. The stuff is a gloppy yellowish green that looks like something I saw in my kids diapers, but smells a lot better. I can see using it my BBQ sauce or using it mixed with ranch dressing as a dip for chicken.

The wife also made up some homemade slaw using both green and red cabbage, and ...made some "pickled" cucumber...using several of our cucumbers, sliced thin, a white onion and two of the Anihiem peppers also sliced up (not chopped)..each of these tossed into a container with a mix of about 2cups vinager, 2-1/2 cups sugar, and a bit less than a 1/4 cup of salt. About teaspoon of olive oil was added to the slaw. Stick in the fridge and wait at least a day before eating. Olde tymme recipe there from her mom.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Well folks the smoker is assembled with the help of my son Andrew. Four hands are better than two in this case. We did seal the adjoining parts. I hesitated using the RTV since it was rated for up to 600 degrees. I used another type but can't really explain what it is. It's not mortor or cement I don't think but it was rated up to 1000 degrees which made me feel a little more comfortable. Probably a good thing since the smoker was pinned at 600 degrees in the RED Zone for a while. I seasoned it off but still need to add the gasket material but that will have to wait. Pic's below.

That's it for now. I will update as I go. If I remember I will add a pic of the sealant.

Dave

 

[Blind Squirrel]

It rained and brought the temperature down, so I took the opportunity to smoke some more cheese. Since I am lazy, I used mozzarella sticks instead of cutting up a block of mozzarella.

I removed the grates from my grill, put the cheese on a cooling rack, and put the smoke generator on the side:

Here is a picture of the smoked cheese. I let it smoke for about 2 1/2 hours:

 

[Knifemaker]

So, how the cheese taste? I'm going to try this soon myself, I think I'm going to build my own smoker tray out of perforated metal.

Waiting to see your first cook on that Dave....

As I did get a tempature of 750 F off my laser reader of the fire box, I think using what you did to seal it where it meets the cooking chamber was a good move. The red high temp stuff is fine for the cooking chamber of course as it never gets that hot.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

The cheese tastes great. I used Apple wood sawdust. Light smokiness to it, not overpowering.

I am going to smoke some pepper jack next time.

 

[Knifemaker]

More home grown food porn.

Wife made a huge pot of homemade marinara sauce from our garden tomatoes... Served some of it up on some baked spaghetti squash with some mozzarella:

Was very tasty....

 

[Fred W]

Looks really tasty. But where's the fun in that, what with no smoking?