Need DIY plans for a smoker

[nunyabinis]

Do you have any pics of your improvements on the interior of your smoker?


195* is that for internal temperature of you smoker or the internal temp. of the meat?

The only improvement to the inside is the metal heat baffle between the firebox and the smoke chamber. I cut a piece of aluminum flashing to fit the curvature of the smoke chamber and bent the top corners in toward the firebox so that it holds a two inch gap between the firebox and the smoke chamber to allow the heat and smoke to go up the left side of the smoke chamber but it blocks the radiant heat from the firebox. It sits between the firebox and the meat grate and sticks up a couple inches higher than the meat grate so that the meat grate actually holds it verticle.


The 195 degrees is the internal temperature of the meat. Once it hits 195* it has "given up", the collagen has broken down completely and the bones will pull out clean using two fingers.

I usually keep the cooking temperture between 275 and 300 degrees. That way it only takes about 8 to 10 hours to cook a large Boston Butt. I've tried keeping the cooking temp at around 225 degrees but it just takes too dag nab long to cook. Sometimes 24 hours. I'm too old for that.

I use lump charcoal and throw in small chunks of Hickory wood that I cut off the back forty for smoke. You want to make sure that you keep the fire hot enough to produce WHITE smoke from whatever wood you're using for smoke. If the smoke has a yellowish tint the fire isn't hot enough and it will impart a bitter taste.


If you've never tasted Maurice's Original Gourmet BBQ Sauce , I recommend that you order a bottle and try it. IMHO it's the best sauce for pork BBQ I've ever tasted....... and I've tasted a LOT of BBQ sauces. It really augments the flavor of BBQ pork. It's a mustard base sauce with apple cider vinegar in it. It'll be a nice change for you Yankees out there.

Welcome to Maurice's Gourmet BBQ

If you like pepper and vinegar sauce, you may want to try Jack's Old South. His is almost as good as my custom made sauce.

Jack's Old South BBQ :: Welcome to the best in BBQ!



South Carolina is the Home of Barbeque and has four different sauce "regions":

By the way, when I have LOTS of folks to feed, I pull out the Big Gun:

Sorry for the long post..... don't get me started about BBQ!!!




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[jd2305cd]

I do the same as nunyabinis has suggested.. 225-250 just takes too long.. Bump it up to 275 - 300 rang and 8-11 hours tops for a butt..

Just did it this weekend, took 12 hours, three butts, on my small K-mart special...

 

[nunyabinis]

I do the same as nunyabinis has suggested.. 225-250 just takes too long.. Bump it up to 275 - 300 rang and 8-11 hours tops for a butt..

Just did it this weekend, took 12 hours, three butts, on my small K-mart special...

That's the EXACT unit we use at the Hunt Club. Once modified, it will cook some wonderful "Q" with very little attention. And Cheap too!!!




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[alltoys]

Smoked a brisket and a chicken yesterday both came out awesome. I have never had brisket that tasted that good, chicken too.

Definitely not something you can leave unattended for long stretches. Or maybe I just like to see how the food is doing.

This time I pushed the temps to 250*F it worked very good. 10.5 hours for the brisket and 4 roughly for the chicken (big chicken).

 

[nunyabinis]

Smoked a brisket and a chicken yesterday both came out awesome. I have never had brisket that tasted that good, chicken too.

Definitely not something you can leave unattended for long stretches. Or maybe I just like to see how the food is doing.

This time I pushed the temps to 250*F it worked very good. 10.5 hours for the brisket and 4 roughly for the chicken (big chicken).

Way to go. Brisket is the most difficult meat to smoke and have it turn out acceptably. Welcome to the World of Smoking.



Now I'm all hungry.



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[bbirder]

I'm getting ready to start on this one for myself.

How to build a smoker with steel propane bottles at CompuVices Louisiana.

 

[The Dougster]

I have built and own several bbq pits and have nice things to say about each of them but I feel that we spend too much time/money worrying about what to cook bbq on and not enough time on technique... I have used an assortment of dry rubs as well as nothing more than salt and pepper.... I like bbq is my end comment... the spices are important the length of time and temperature is important but, IMHO, of most importance is the wood used to create the smoke.... different woods cook at hotter temps, which is important... someone mentioned using pecan (here in Texas, it is pronounced "pachun.. pachan" (anything but pee-can, which is something kept in the back of one's boat)... Mmmm Mmmm

 

[/pine]

IMHO, of most importance is the wood used to create the smoke

agree...pecan is in the hickory family and produces very good smoke flavor...just about any fruit wood can be used to smoke meat or fish...apple is very good for lean mild fish...I prefer hickory/pecan for more oily fish and pork etc... any citrus is good too...

The old timers in coastal FL always used "Buttonwood" (which is in the mangrove family)

as a joke...after finishing a dinner of smoked mullet or mackeral...and while accepting complements on the smoked fish...I would say something like..."yeah...that Oleander really does a good job"...! (Oleander being a common but poisonous flowering shrub)

 

[steelio]

nunyabinis,
Nice pig, but around here they come with heads and hooves

I have been cooking them too finishing with the skin side down and get it really crisp. It is like a bacon chip. A few of ours have came out like that. And the meat is great but the skin is not that good. Kind of tastes like an old leather shoe that was left in a bar.

Brisket is more what I do, and yes you do not have to baste them. I still like to. Smoke it for a few hours get it nice and happy then take it out to an open pit and finish it up there. Baste flip baste flip...get some nice burnt ends.

Love mustard based sauces...Yeah I'm not from SC but still love it. People come over looking for the sauce and all they can find are mustard jars. I don't hide the fact it is from mustard. Heck I put the sauce right back in the mustard jars even bought a few extra yellow ones.

Last time I did one I ran out of sauce. Fed about 60 people. All from KS and none had tried a mustard based sauce and most were a little disgruntled by the lack of "BBQ" sauce. But no one complaned after they tried it!

 

[nunyabinis]

Yep. Most folks that don't live in or near the Midlands of South Carolina have never even heard of mustard based BBQ sauce much less tried it. I like to see the newbies crinkle their noses when they see that it ain't "red" then see their eyes light up when they first taste it.


Mustard BBQ sauce..... the Golden Elixir of Life!!!



When I'm smoking either a whole or half-hog I usually cook it for five hours skin side up then two hours skin side down then use the skin as a serving platter right there on top of the smoker. I'll remove all the bones and then separate the meat into three or four piles. One with Mustard Sauce, one with Pepper/Vinegar Sauce, one with no sauce 'cause that's the way the Better Half likes it and one with yucky old Tomato Sauce for them what don't know nuthin' about good BBQ.


Disclaimer: I like Tomato Sauce too.... just not as good as Mustard.




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