Smokers

[bowtechmadman]

Looking good Wolverine! I use a great deal of cherry (have a great deal of it available), oak, maple. Apple and Hickory saved for "special" cooks since I have a very limited supply.
You might want to try skinning/peeling, letting fall off, etc...the bark on the wood. A suggestion a friend gave me and I think he was right, can lead to a hint of bitterness. (not trying to be critical just seen the bark on that apple in the pictures)
Smoke on looks like a great end product no doubt!

 

[Wolverine]

Looking good Wolverine! I use a great deal of cherry (have a great deal of it available), oak, maple. Apple and Hickory saved for "special" cooks since I have a very limited supply.
You might want to try skinning/peeling, letting fall off, etc...the bark on the wood. A suggestion a friend gave me and I think he was right, can lead to a hint of bitterness. (not trying to be critical just seen the bark on that apple in the pictures)
Smoke on looks like a great end product no doubt!

All good, I’m open to criticism. It’s a good way to learn new stuffs. I typically don’t use little mini cookies like that.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

If you want longer burn times, which the Brinkman smokers are definitely NOT known for, get you a Weber Smokey Mountain. With temps in the 70's, I can get burn times up to 18 hours with a full load of charcoal. Depends on the wind and other factors, but 12 hours is easy, 16 hours without much trouble and 18 is my longest burn without adding coals.

 

[USMC615]

I use a brinkman water smoker. I’d love to have a nice big offset, maybe someday. I can produce excellent results with what I have though. Only challenge is real long burns.
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Primarily use apple for smoke, unless it’s a brisket, then I like oak.
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Hard to beat the decades old Brinkmann smokers. First smokers I ever fooled with as a kid back in the 70's.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Hard to beat the decades old Brinkmann smokers. First smokers I ever fooled with as a kid back in the 70's.

They were great...back in the day.

IMO they're pretty easy to beat now-days.

 

[Lightning Performance]

I have two of those upright cylinder smokers. One still new in the box. My question is about the smoking wood. I like to cook with white oak, cherry and maple. Smoke with cherry, store bought hickory or muskeet (sp) chips, chunks of bark free cherry, apple, pear, peach or spring white oak sap wood, bark intact.

Do you prefer the smoke wood to be soaking wet, wet, damp or dry?

 

[Wolverine]

I got one as a 15 years of service gift for the first print shop I worked at in 2005. It’s still in pretty decent shape. Only thing showing significant wear is the charcoal tray. If you take care of them, they are very good pieces, imo.

 

[Lightning Performance]

I just bought a used rotisserie last week with all the cylinder cages and baskets. Three spit lengths, all the brackets, with a good low speed electric direct hookup and really complete. Now it's time to find a smoke box or build one off the cylinder top to feed the grill rotisserie. Fire up the top and pipe in some smoke or set up a smoke pan to the side. I have a few aluminum gas grills here to work with the rotor. Glass faced or solid lids, a few side cookers for pots and some cool wire racks to hold the condiments. Big, ugly and tasty is the goal

 

[USMC615]

They were great...back in the day.

IMO they're pretty easy to beat now-days.

They are 'easy to beat' if referring to the convenience factor of new technology, etc that has driven smokers for years now. From a taste/quality standpoint, that's all in the eyes of the beerholder, and the ol' school Brinkmann's are still made by the tens of thousands to this day. I've got Brinkmann's, WSM's, Smoke Hollows, and a Traeger Pro 34. Now capacity, set-it-and-forget-it with controller smokers, etc, etc...that's simply a horse of another color. But the ol' Brinkmann smoker mentioned above will certainly hold its' own...bar none.

 

[USMC615]

I have two of those upright cylinder smokers. One still new in the box. My question is about the smoking wood. I like to cook with white oak, cherry and maple. Smoke with cherry, store bought hickory or muskeet (sp) chips, chunks of bark free cherry, apple, pear, peach or spring white oak sap wood, bark intact.

Do you prefer the smoke wood to be soaking wet, wet, damp or dry?

Soaking wood chips or chunks has very little if any effect on anything when it comes to smoking...it's been an argument since the beginning of time. I have noticed soaking chips will make them last only slightly longer simply due to the chips' lack of size compared to chunks or cutup chunk pieces...but in the end, no difference.

 

[Locust Cutter]

I've never bothered with soaking them, BUT you don't want to bur green/unseasoned wood as that will definitely impart a bitterness to the meat. Oversmoking is also not advised. Once the pores have sealed, then kick up about 250-350° or so and finish it out. Wrapping in foil also isn't bad to help retain the moisture in the meat.

 

[AKJonsereds]

Started smokin at 13. I cold smoke 200-450+ salmon a year with the family. We smoke with fresh birch. I think the longest smoke was 17 days. We do one day frozen, three day canned, and fourteen day jerky.

 

[AKJonsereds]

Here is a better one of the smoker

 

[Wolverine]

Wow! Wish I could smell that. Looks awesome.




One friend of mine has a food trailer business. They’ve used pellet smokers for a long time now. I’m not huge fan, maybe it’s just their technique. There’s no heavily defined smoke ring like I can produce with my bullet style smoker.



Oldie of some ribs.

 

[Locust Cutter]

Wow! Wish I could smell that. Looks awesome.




One friend of mine has a food trailer business. They’ve used pellet smokers for a long time now. I’m not huge fan, maybe it’s just their technique. There’s no heavily defined smoke ring like I can produce with my bullet style smoker.

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Oldie of some ribs.

That's the one significant drawback of pellet smokers; you don't generate the smoke ring that you get on actual chunk wood smokers, regardless of vertical, horizontal or combo. But, for general cooking and smoking especially in pork and chicken, they do pretty well, plus grill and Wood fired pizzas will change your life! Wood-fired Peach Pie or cobbler is pretty amazing too!

 

[Wolverine]

That's the one significant drawback of pellet smokers; you don't generate the smoke ring that you get on actual chunk wood smokers, regardless of vertical, horizontal or combo. But, for general cooking and smoking especially in pork and chicken, they do pretty well, plus grill and Wood fired pizzas will change your life! Wood-fired Peach Pie or cobbler is pretty amazing too!

Wood fired pizza doesn't have anything on coal fired. I've had some in times square at John's. Amazing. Had wood fired several times. It's good but coal is a level above.

 

[Cigmaker]

Started smokin at 13. I cold smoke 200-450+ salmon a year with the family. We smoke with fresh birch. I think the longest smoke was 17 days. We do one day frozen, three day canned, and fourteen day jerky.

That is bad ass!

 

[kjmatson]

I just have a masterbuilt propane for now but man it's fun. Doing a turkey today.

 

[stihl_head1982]

I have two of those upright cylinder smokers. One still new in the box. My question is about the smoking wood. I like to cook with white oak, cherry and maple. Smoke with cherry, store bought hickory or muskeet (sp) chips, chunks of bark free cherry, apple, pear, peach or spring white oak sap wood, bark intact.

Do you prefer the smoke wood to be soaking wet, wet, damp or dry?

This is a long debated subject among those who smoke. I've never soaked any of the wood as you mentioned. Not saying there is not value in it. I would say, however, people assume you need double digit hours of smoke on your meat. I have not found that to be so. I've cooked for small and large gatherings and never had people complain that the meat had no flavor. You could do a test yourself with your cooker. Soak your smoke wood (assuming you soak the pcs that you intend to produce smoke for your cook) and taste your meat afterwards. Do a cook without the soak and see how significant it is. The final test is FLAVOR! [This refers to smoking on a small scale 1 day cook and does not apply to the Salmon smoke pictured above]

 

[stihl_head1982]

Started smokin at 13. I cold smoke 200-450+ salmon a year with the family. We smoke with fresh birch. I think the longest smoke was 17 days. We do one day frozen, three day canned, and fourteen day jerky.

I bet the flavor of that is out of sight.