Great Outdoors Propane Smoker

[turnagerg]

pcluff,

I found that wood chips don’t last long enough for me. I have a pretty good supply of scrap hardwood boards around the shop and cut them about 6”X6”X1” or so thick. Just small enough to fit into the wood box. These pieces are dry and burn much as you describe. You don’t really want billowing smoke for the smoker. Just thin wisps of smoke that you can barely notice should last for a couple of hours or so. Look at the picture I posted in my first post and maybe you’ll get some idea of how much smoke mine is generating.
You should have a vent on top of the smoker, as well as on the side near the bottom. I’ve got mine “wide open”. Regulating the temperature takes a little time. Like ListerD says, once you get it where you want it it maintains that temperature pretty well. Small adjustments to the valve take some time to show up on the thermometer so you just have to be patient. I’ve read that you achieve the smoked taste in a relatively short time and that you don’t really need more than a couple hours smoke.

[ListerD]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I’ve read that you achieve the smoked taste in a relatively short time and that you don’t really need more than a couple hours smoke.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's pretty much how I see it. Heck even in my pit I don't do much over 2 - 2 1/2 hours of smoke for anything.

I want to taste the meat in the end with a hint of smoke, not taste the after results of a house fire.

Smoke is a flavor not the main ingredient [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I played with my GO last night some too, I noticed that adjustments to the valve take about 10 minutes to balance out visually on the thermometer on the door.

[lanikai]

Hi! Just bought the wide mouth version of this smoker for Father's Day. I have been googling and stumbled upon your thread here. Does anyone still visit here? Would love to discuss mods/etc on this smoker. We have been enjoying this smoker and hope yall return and put some life back into this forum. Looking forward to hearing from yall.

[ListerD]

Yup and use it fairly often (weekly)... [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

For the price it's hard to beat. My only complaints:

It's not a very good cold smoker. As I said in the PM, I'm debating modifying it to take a Bradley smoke generator to allow cold smoking.

Mine (though a wide front) does not have the side vents. Only the top vent (air intake is in the bottom around the burner).

[GareyD]

I'm no expert, just a southern boy who likes his BBQ and has had a little practice and a whole lotta luck with various smokers...here are some of the things I have found out....maybe they will help [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

First thing I noticed with the GO smoker is that ya need to orient the bottom vent holes with the prevailin' wind...it doesn't seem to draft well on it's own...a breeze blowin' through really seem to help the wood to stay lit better....

On days that I decide to run the smoker, I pull the meat outta the fridge and set it on the counter to come up to or close to room temp....go out a couple of hours later and load the wood box and turn the flame without the water pan in the smoker to get everything warmed up and the smoke to rollin'...when the smoke goes from a "house on fire" dark color and starts to turn light gray, I load the meat and fill the water tray with BOILING water, using the hot water keeps the temp from dropping and having to bring the smoker back up to temp...

Check your thermometer that came with the smoker...put a pan of water on the stovetop and bring it to a boil...temp should read 212 degrees...my thermometer read 235 degrees, so to smoke at 220 degrees, I keep the temp near 240 [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Now I've not conducted any scientific experiments or nuthin' but I've been told that meat will only absorb smoke til it gets to 140 degrees...if ya start with near room temp meat, at 220 degrees smoker temp, it will reach 140 degrees in the first 90 minutes or so depending on thickness...any smokin after that time is pretty much for the operator's benefit [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] I gotta admit, I still throw a chunk or two in when the door is opened later in the "cook" probably don't help the meat, but it sure smells good when ya walk by the smoker [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

There has been volumes written about the wood ya should use to smoke with...I'm lucky in that I live in the country and have a steady supply from my own land and sawmill...I would however be extremely careful using scraps from kiln dried purchased lumber...ya never now what kinda ugly stuff has been sprayed on them boards to keep the bugs in check before ya bought it and sprayin with permethrin is fairly common practice to keep down the powder post beetle [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] when in doubt, light them scraps in a separate outdoor pit and when they are well charred transfer them to the smoker.

Sorry to be so long winded...but as ya could tell if ya could see the spare tire I lug around, smokin' is one of my passions [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I hope some of these ideas help.

[eeeeeeeazy]

Hmmm, just found your site and I just purchased a GO smoker. My question is: "With all the concern about products manufactured in China, is there any concern about the paint that was used on my smoker?" It has the black paint coating and just wondered if the heat would release any potential chemicals in the paint.
Great website folks and hopefully I will learn a bunch from all you "veterans" of country living. We plan on moving out of California this year (retiring) and looking to relocate to a much more peaceful environment. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Welcome aboard! If you make a dry run with no food in it and bring it up to the max temp and hold it there for a few hours you will bake out most of any volatile components of the paint or other coatings. Then at lower temps there would be little or nothing outgassing. Of course, if at any time the internal paint starts flaking you need to brush it off as you don't want paint flakes in or contacting your food.

Best of luck to you with your smoker.

Spice comment to share:

Ground New Mexico Chili Peppers give terrific color to smoked/BBQed food. They make a nice addition to the flavor and are not particularly spicy, no more than a bell pepper so you can use as much as you want and then use other ingredients to add any FIRE you want.

The big retailers like Smart &amp; Finial in California and maybe Sams are good places to find them pre-ground in a large container with a shaker lid. If you can't find pre-ground then buy New Mexico Chiles dried in plastic bags (Wally World and other sources) and heat them at a low heat in the oven to actually dry them as the "DRIED" ones are not THAT dry since they like to sell you the water. Remove the stems and seeds (quit grinning all you refugees from the 60's) and run them through the blender to powder them. If they aren't dry enough they will not grind very well. Put in a shaker top container (recycle some other spice bottle.) This is also good over fried or scrambled eggs, fried potatos, and lots of stuff, even popcorn. Gives a great color, enhances flavor and isn't too hot for your aunt Em or someone who is into bland. Gives cream gravy like for SOS a rich color.

Enjoy,

Pat

[eeeeeeeazy]

Sigh! Well I tried out my smoker over the weekend. My nearby market had a smaller (3 lb) bottom piece of a pork shoulder so figured if I "screwed up", it wouldn't be such a costly experience. As directed by numerous recipes I used a good rub and popped it into the smoker at 225 degrees. At 3 pounds figured about 4 1/2 hrs. Kept water tray full of hot water, added wood chips one add'l time after about 1 hr. Used digital thermometer and temp reached 190 at the end of 4 1/2 hours. When I took it out, looked great but was tough as my old tennis shoe. What in the world did I do wrong? (guess I'm not ready to retire to the country yet, huh?) [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Bird]

On page 19 of my manual "Operating Instructions", the second paragraph says:

'Before you cook food in your smoker, it is important to "season" your smoker. Seasoning seals the paint and interior of your smoker to enhance flavoring, durability, and overall performance. This is also referred to as the "break-in" process."

The next paragraph starts with:

"If your smoker requires any touch-up pain on the inside of the cabinet, the only time you shoudl apply paint to the inside is before the seasoning process."

In other words, this is the long version of what Pat said. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

And welcome to Countrybynet.

[49tandc]

For ALL of your smoking questions, and some GREAT recipes - http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/

You gotta try the Atomic Buffalo T_rds and smoked meatloaf - OUTSTANDING!!!

49T&amp;C