Want to smoke meats and cheeses

[srossman]

Hi all,
I'm looking for any personal opinions from anyone who has a propane or wood smoker. I don't want to build a complete building just for smoking, but would like something to smoke some of my venison (if I can get one this year) as well as some bacon, turkey and even would like to cold smoke some cheeses and things. Any thoughts or opinions on brands and the pro's and cons of each type of smokers would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Scot

 

[Bird]

I have a propane smoker that works very well for what I want to do. You can read a little bit about it here on Countrybynet. I do not think it would do for cheese.

And while my smoker is good for my location and purpose, I still believe the wood burning smokers are the best if you have the place to use them, the wood to burn, a convenient place to dispose of ashes, etc. In other words, if you're out in the country.

 

[srossman]

Thanks bird, I read over your post on CBN and looks just like what I am looking for. The one problem I have with wood smokers is the amount of time to keep a fire going and keeping a constant temperature. Propane makes it really easy to get the temperature right. I don't think that I'll be able to do cheeses in any propane smoker without creating some type of external smoke area to do the cold smoking, but I thought maybe someone on here has done something like this with propane.

-Scot

 

[Bird]

Scot, my smoker works well for meats, and I've found a place about 50 miles from home that sells good smoked cheeses a lot cheaper than our local grocery stores. I do like smoked cheddar.

 

[MODiesel]

My wife got me a Brinkmann Stillwater smoker several years ago, and I couldn't be more pleased. Between the firebox and chimney dampers, it's easy to load an appropriate amount of wood and control temps pretty evenly, even during the winter. We haven't done it, but it actually would be east to cold smoke something like cheese using just the embers/coals after smoking other items. The heavy guage metal retains a lot of heat, and I've noticed that the temp guage will hang between 100-150F for hours after I'm done, with just some coals/embers in the firebox.

With that said, you need to have some space & fuel to use one of the bigger smokers. If I was more limited in either way, I'd probably stick to something like propane for the sheer simplicity of it. But after doing this for awhile, I've become something of a purist now.

- Jay

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Traeger Grills

I have had one for a 5 years it is great.

 

[moeh1]

I built my own out of a retired commercial stainless freezer. I used an electric hotplate for heat to smoke wetted wood chips ( the Farmpro chipper does come in handy). You can get some kits from places like the SauageMaker if you are interested in building your own. I think they have propane and electric.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I went along the same lines as moeh, I used a surplus sst double walled cabinet, about 6 cu ft, with a small secondary compartment. Use an electric hot plate for heat and place a small pan of wood chips on the hot plate. Durning the warmer times of the yr I can keep temp in the smoker right at 225ｰ just where you want for smoking most meats. I can turn the hot plate down and in the upper chamber keep it right around 100ｰ and that is where I place my cheese for smoking. Have seen smokers made from old Frigs and ovens.

If you are really interested in a smoker and smoking meat and cheese, you can't do any better than visiting the Smoking Meat Forum Smoking Meat Forums - Welcome to Smoking Meat Forums! Friendly people with more info that you'd ever want to know.

 

[WayneB]

just a bump

 

[johnk]

I usually make a couple hundred pounds of sausage for Christmas and Easter. I use an old commercial fridge and have a steel pot inside that I use to burn the wood. It has served me well. I usually put charcoal in the firepot and throttle it down to get the casings dry. Once the casings are dry i put in the wood and bring up the temp. If you try to smoke it before the casings are dry it will make the casings rancid. Time is the essence here. Took many years to get the recipe and technique down.