Meat smoker

[Bud]

My kids got me a meat smoker for Christmas. I had one years ago when they were kids, and when it went on the fritz I never replaced it. Have you ever smoked meat before?

[countrystepper]

We would smoke meat every once in a while, usually sausage and brisket but we never felt the need to buy a smoker as we got the right amount of smoke for our taste from doing it on our grill, although if someone does it regularly or in quantity I can surely see investing in a smoker.

[Bird]

We have a propane fired water smoker that we've used more for briskets than anything, although I've also done turkeys and pork loins in it.

[jimbrown]

Hey Bird how the heck do you get smoke out of propane and water? Do you add some kind of wood?

[OldMcDonald]

I bought my husband a wood smoker for Christmas and we're looking forward to trying it out.

I'm also wondering about the propane-fried water smoker!

[Bird]

Hey Bird how the heck do you get smoke out of propane and water? Do you add some kind of wood?

Jim, they call'em a water smoker because there's a pan of water under the racks on which you put the meat. That pan of water catches any drippings and also keeps the humidity high so the meat doesn't dry out. Under that pan of water is a cast iron box with slots in the lid. You put your wood chips in the box, usually soaked in water first, the smoke rises through the slots in the lid. And under that box is the propane burner (adjustable of course) to provide the heat. I have a second box for wood chips in case I want more smoke. I sometimes use hickory chips, although I most commonly use mesquite.

When we lived down in Navarro County, our nearest neighbors had two big wood fired smokers on trailers that were only used for their big annual Fourth of July party and the only wood used was pecan because they had a hundred of so pecan trees.

[Bird]

We have a weather forecast of a 100% chance or rain tomorrow (and we need rain) and temperature in the 40s all day. So I went and bought a couple of beef briskets today and I'll get them in the smoker first thing in the morning. We'll have BBQ for supper tomorrow, but then we'll vacuum seal slices to freeze for later meals. We also like to dice slices of brisket and use that, cans of mixed vegetables, a can of tomato sauce, and a little salt & pepper to make the best vegetable/beef soup to go with cornbread that I've ever eaten.

[jimbrown]

I got get a smoker. I ain't had any good BBQ since I left Texas. Some the best came from a little shack in Killeen run by an old black guy named Maurice.