If you have a hankering for traditional barbeque (the kind that falls off the bone and has that distinct smoked flavor), then consider buying a home smoker.
If you’ve ever had real barbeque and then try to duplicate the taste on the home grill, then you’ve probably been disappointed. Home grills are designed for grilling (quick cooking over hot flames) and not for slow smoking which is the secret to making classic barbeque.
Over the years, the term barbeque has been bastardized to include any meat items cooked outside over coals or even gas. Hamburgers and wieners over open flames are delicious, but whole chickens and pork shoulders are just not going to fare well with such quick and direct cooking methods. Unless you boil ribs indoors prior to cooking on a grill, you’re likely to have tough meat rather more in the line of shoe leather than the tender meat that falls right off the bone.
If you do want a quick meal outdoors, then a grill is the right option. But, you’ll need to buy small pieces of meat and tend to the cooking. Grilling out is fun, and there is no shame in having a 30-minute meal outdoors.
If visions of whole turkeys, Boston butts, and briskets dance in your head, then you’re looking at a smoker. These larger (and sometimes tougher) chunks of meat are fabulous when prepared correctly which is slow and over indirect heat and smoke. Expect to invest from 4 hours up to 24 hours if smoking outdoors.
After hearing the amount of time needed to smoke outdoors, many outdoor chefs may hedge or back away. That’s a lot of time to spend cooking, but the cooking time is usually a social event for a family or group, a good smoker will be fairly self maintaining, and the meat cooked in a home smoker puts most restaurant dishes to shame.
If You Decide to Go the Smoker Route
There are a number of smokers on the market. Cost ranges from about $40 to $200 and then up. Some of the big brand grill companies make smokers and there are some small companies online offering various custom models.
Char-Broil has the low-end model that is affordable for most any family. Char-Broil works well for smaller pieces of meat cooking for around 4 hours or so. Think of chickens split in half pieces with this smoker. For longer cooking sessions, the Char-Broil requires a lot of maintenance. Plan to baby-sit the cooker if going with the most cost-friendly option. Heat regulation is a key issue when using Char-Broil, but the price is really nice.
Brinkmann is a popular brand in smokers. Offering a gas cooking option means that most of the guesswork is taken out of the process of making barbeque. Another plus is that the company offers combination cooking with a gas cooker/fryer, gas grill, gas smoker, charcoal grill and charcoal smoker all in one. It’s attractive to buy an all-round piece of equipment, but it’s hard to be everything to everyone. Most gas cookers will stick with gas while most charcoal cookers will stick with charcoal. That means that the options are not really needed, though a newcomer to outdoor cooking may enjoy trying out the various techniques. The price bumps up with the Brinkman models offering a variety of options. Expect to pay close to $200 though online specials can cut that price back almost in half.
The hardcore smokers tend to favor the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker (WSM). This model is charcoal or wood operated, and most big time smoker cookers go for the more old fashioned approach. The WSM is a good basic model without frills, and the key complaints are that it does not have a built in thermometer and a deeper water pan. The WSM is quite popular, because it is very well built (and lasts for years), and the design is tight enough to maintain heat with very little maintenance. If you’re doing the long, overnight cooking sessions, you probably want to invest in the WSM. The cost is close $200, and it’s rare to find big deals on the Weber.
How to Use a Smoker
1. Have the meat ready to go. If you are rubbing the meat with seasonings (and you really want to do so), then take care of that before you begin getting the smoker ready to cook.
2. Get the charcoal or wood chunks burning. A chimney starter is a good investment. Tossing on lots of lighter fluid makes the meat taste like starter instead of smoke.
3. Regulate the cooker until you have a good steady temperature of 225-250 degrees F. It will be hotter when you first add the coals. Use the vents to adjust until the temperature is low and steady.
4. Add water to the water pan. Warmer water will prevent a sudden temperature drop in the cooker. Many users line the water pan with tin foil. This helps on clean up, since meat fat will drop in the pan. Using tin foil will cause some metal discoloration over time, but this is not a real concern—only cosmetic.
5. Put the meat on to smoke. Amounts will vary depending on the smoker purchased, but smokers are designed for fairly large quantities. Expect to make enough to feed a large family, small group, or plan for delicious leftovers.
6. Monitor the smoker. You’ll want to turn or rotate the meat several times during the cooking process. You’ll also need to watch the temperature. For longer cooking sessions, it may be necessary to add more wood or coals.
7. Add the gooey sauces during the last half hour or so of cooking. If you lather the meat up with sauce at the beginning, the sauces will burn and leave the meat looking black.
8. Clean the smoker after a cooking session. It’s easier to clean a fresh mess than one from last month. The smoker will also last longer when well maintained.
Which Extras Do You Need if You’re Smoking
Most household kitchens are stocked with the basics, but many outdoor cooks try to make-do without purchasing the extra equipment needed to do the job. Though it’s possible to cook outdoors using indoor items, it’s certainly harder to cook without the right gear, and the indoor items often end up ruined when forced to do double duty.
The first thing to consider if cooking outdoors whether over a campfire, on a grill, or in a smoker is good gloves. Kitchen hot mitts and towels do not offer the protection needed, and most end up in the rag bag if forced to do outdoor duty. Lodge sells a wonderful pair of outdoor cooking gloves for around $20. Welding gloves also work well for cooking outdoors. One good hand burn will drive home this point, so consider avoiding the pain and buying decent gloves for outdoors.
Other items to put on the outdoor smoking list include:
1. Thermometer – It’s really hard to guess on temperatures. It’s possible to pick up this skill, but it’s likely that you’ll scorch a lot of meat in the process.
2. Real Charcoal or Wood Chunks – Charcoal briquettes are less expensive, but they include lots of impurities and burn out much faster. Smokers are efficient when it comes to fuel, so buy better quality and know that you’ll use less and do much less refreshing.
3. Specialty Smoker Cooker Items – If you cook lots of ribs, then look at the rib rack to add to the smoker. This sets the meat sideways and allows for many more ribs than those put flat or rolled and held tight by various means. There are also devices for setting chickens upright rather than sideways. This frees up space and also tends to produce tastier chicken.
A Good Starter Smoker Recipe
Ribs are a good bet for starting out with a smoker. They are thinner and take less time than many of the bigger pieces of meat. Expect to spend from 4 to 6 hours making ribs in the smoker (not including prep time).
Before cooking ribs, add your rub. There are a number of great rubs on the market and available online. Most include salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic and other seasonings. These are simply mashed on the meat. You can rub the meat the night before, and store in the refrigerator, or rub and let the meat sit for an hour or so on the counter before cooking.
Cook at low heat (about 225 degrees F) for 3 hours. Turn ribs and cook another hour or two. When they are done, the meat will break away from the bone, when the rib is bent.
If you want to add wet sauce, add that during the last half hour or so. You can make your own barbeque sauce or slather on grocery sauce like Kraft. You can also use sauce as a dipper after the meat is cooked, though it’s better when cooked a bit with the smoke.