What brand smoker?

[Snowman]

I swear there was a thread on this topic but I searched and searched and could not fint it.

I am looking at what the pros (ifish folks) like/dislike about their smokers.

Little Chief is the only one that comes to mind but seems like in the thread I read that there was a preferred brand.

Suggestions?
If anyone has one for sale, I am all ears also.

Thanks
Snowman

[Killertraylor]

I was a "Big Chief" guy for years and switched this year to a Smokey Mountain stainless with propane burner. Found it at Costco for just under $200. It's the best smoker I've ever had - I like the variable temp. and faster smoking time. It's built like a brick "you know what" and does fine sitting outside on the covered porch in the weather.

[MacEFL]

I have to agree with KT. I use mine a lot as well!

[Snowman]

Holy mother of pearl! $200!?!?!
I guess I have no option but to do the little chief for a while. Single Dad of 2 kids = tight budget.

Thanks for the info though!

Snowman

[long_shanks]

I got the same thing except its charcoal, I do like it but thinkin of converting it, If i can, Like you said, faster cooking time

[Captain Kirk]

I bought a Bradley about 2 years ago after trying every other kind and love it. just search for "bradley smoker"
It is spendy but insulated and will smoke even in an Oregon winter. I saw a BIG propane smoker the other day at bimart that was impressive for the price. I never had much luck keeping the temp even on a chief type.

Kirk

[Orion]

I would agree witht he recommendation for Smokey Mountain. Spendy, but well worth it. They are well made, easy to regulate, and hold a big pile of fish.

One More Cast

[wthr4d]

I would also agree with the smoky mountain BUT Ive never used one before they just look like they would be nice to use.

I found my Brinkman propane smoker at a garage sale for $15. I also know of someone who took a brinkman coalburner and converted it to electric pretty easily.

Keep your eyes open at sales, they come up every so often.

Paul

[5-Cents]

Those fancy smokers are cool but I have stuck to the Big Cheif (sp?) smoker. I have 3 of them for the price of those fancy smokers. They are cheap and if one explodes or burns up or something I can replace it for $60! :cheers:

[hoss70]

I reccomend the "lil chiefs", "Big Chiefs" i have both and then got a Traeger Smoker too..This is the best smoker ever. One thing i have learned from years of smoker experience(Texan) if you smoke both meats and fish have a smoker for each. Fish expecially salmon will make all meat taste fishy. I use lil chief= fish, big chief=everything else..

Happy smoking!

[12pulls]

The Smokey Moutain Smoker gives a person the chance to heat it up after smoking to 500 degrees. A little time at that temp and there is no fishy smell on your next job. I smoked a full smoker of fish for 10 hours last week, heated it up to 500 to burn out the junk ( makes the cleanup easy) and today smoked a 10 pound turkey for 6 hours at 300 degrees. Turkey cooked but juicy, and smoke went thru the meat. 2 trays of chips. Wife very happy with outcome and isn't that what we all want? Once a person learns how to run the temp and drafts, it smokes slow for fish and jerkey or higher for other foods. I have one of the $136 powder coated ones from BiMart.

[Johnny Mac]

I'm now a pretty big smokey mountain fan and have been using one for a few months now. I figure hey, if you're going to spend a billion dollars on boats/rods/gear etc., wouldn't you want your final product of all that investment to come out like....a billion bucks also? It's a steep, but hopefully one time investment. It's truly built well, very easy to control and stay on top of, efficient and just makes for a lot of good smoking. I was a chief guy for a while, but the use of the water pan in the SMS has shown me what smoked meat CAN come out like. It's a contendah!! :wave:

[long_shanks]

I also Have the same, except its a charchole unit. I love it athough I wish thay made a conversion kit for winter months LOl Its a lot of work keeping the coals going and the temp up this time of year.

[salmonfever]

Cookshack. They have great temperature regulation, and work great

[Snowman]

I ended up with a Brinkmann electric smoker. It runs a lot warmer than what I have noted as "optimal". It runs about 250 degrees. It was a free smoker so I cant complain. I tried out 5-cents salmon recipe, smoked for about 3 hours. It was moist (as I like it) and it was fantastic!
On the down side, I am addicted to smoking now! I have been looking for any and all smoke recipes I can find!

Thanks for all the input.

Snowman

[Arima Billy]

Snowman, I have a Bradley smoker that I don't use anymore, I went to an old fridge, I smoke a lot of product and needed one that would hold more. I use to own a seafood processing plant in Garibaldi and the Bradley was like my Enviropac 500 that I had there, the nice thing about the Bradley is that you can control your heat with an element inside the box. I would sell it for 150.00 if you are interested, that is less then 1/2 price of a new one. Arima Billy

[boaten]

I still think the best bang for the buck is the Luhr Jensen's smokers. They just seem to work forever and get that glazed smokey sheen that makes the meat taste better each time.

[Hagar]

Bought a Smokey Mountain from Costco a few weeks ago. Broke it in this weekend. Ribs, etc turned out great. A lot easier than the Big Chief's. I think their was a definite difference in the quality of the meat from a Big Chief.

[dogstyler]

I am seriously considering a Bradley. It looks like you can regulate the temperature pretty closely ---- like when cooking ribs. At the same time you can "cold smoke" at around 165 degrees (luhr jensen).

How old is your Bradley? Have you tried ribs or ?

[Doyle]

I have been looking at the Costco Smoky Mountain smoker. How low a temperature can you regulate this unit to? I had not planned on using the water smoking option for cold smoking and was curious whether you can get enough heat to smoke the wood chips or sawdust and still keep the chamber temperature at or below 100 F.

..Doyle

[Johnny Mac]

Doyle, I don't think you could keep it under 100 and even if you could, it wouldn't smoke the chips. You could get creative with tinfoil though and bypass the chip pan (which is about 1/8" thick) to put more heat on the chips. I still don't think you could go under 100 though.

[Deleted User]

I purchased a propane Smokey Mountain Smoker and have modified it slightly by fabricating an extra Wood Box Rack that lowers the Wood Chip Box to get more heat to it. I am also able to get my smokers temp down to 160/180f by useing the dampers. Also, always keep the front or back turned into any air currents.

** Remember that in smoking meat, fish and especially poultry that pasteurization will not occure below 145 degrees. To remove moisture quickly 165 degrees is about ideal.

My ex-wifes husband put his whole family in the hospital with a cold smoked Thanksgiving turkey a few years back.

The main library here in Vancouver has a wealth of info on smokeing of all types, and you would be surprised at what you can smoke.(popcorn,beans ect.) I have even done cheese with the little chief smoker.

[2slow]

I have a Smokey Mountain too. My last Lil Chief finally gave out and decided to upgrade. I like the faster smoking time, the larger capacity, and the ability to regulate heat. The only problem I seem to have with mine is that the wood chips dont seem to want to burn very well and it doesnt seem like I am getting as much smoke on as I would like. I dont really want to turn the heat up but seems like this would be the solution? :shrug: Anybody got any suggestions?

[walkersteelhead]

I recieved a smokey mountain smoker for an early X-mas present. I broke it in yesterday with a pork roast and beef roast. They both turned out great. The smoker box rack and box I had heard had problems producing smoke at lower temps. I lowered the rack and box all the way to the bottom it worked great plenty of smoke.

[Johnny Mac]

That's right 2slow, just set the pan right on top of the flame. It works a LOT better.

[fish_on]

I have found that if you use the lure jensen wood you don't get good smoke. I went to the smok'n tex wood tht is real chunks of wook just like if you split it your self. I fill the box turn the heat up and pre heat it until the smoke starts then turn it down to 140 and it will really smoke. The chunks create nice coals so when you add more wood they start to smoke fast.