Smoking Meat Read Free

the allotted time, carefully fit the smoker body onto the lower section. Install the water pan and fill it with water. I recommend filling it with warm to hot water in the wintertime and cool to warm water in the warmer seasons. You will learn what works best as you use it more and more.
    Set the lower and upper food grates in place and close the lid to let the smoker come up to temperature. Make sure the bottom vents are open about halfway and the top vent is fully open.
    Temperature gauge on a Weber charcoal smoker.
    Once the smoker is at about 200° F , adjust the bottom vents so they are open about one-quarter of the way, and let the temperature slowly creep up to 225° F . It’s best to let it stay on the cooler side at first, since you can easily give it more air later on to raise the temperature if necessary.
    I’ve noticed that the temperature gauge in the lid runs about 50° F hotter than what the actual temperature is at grate level. I recommend that you test this on your own smoker so you have a better idea of any adjustments that need to be made.
    Once the smoker is holding at your goal temperature, add the meat to the grate quickly and replace the lid so you lose as little heat as possible. In my experience, removing the lid allows a sudden burst of cooler air to enter the smoker. The heat will quickly come back up and stabilize once the lid is back in place.
    I like to use small pieces of wood about 10 to 12 inches long and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. I place these right on top of the charcoal to create smoke. You can also use chunks of dry wood. I’ve found that about six pieces of 2- × 2-inch chunks or the equivalent produce the perfect amount of smoke for this smoker. As an alternative, you can mix in small chunks and slivers of your favorite smoking wood along with the unlit charcoal. This will ensure that you have smoke throughout.
    For best results, be sure to keep the water pan full of water, and remove the lid only when absolutely necessary (like when you need to baste). Never remove the lid just to look at the meat! This smoker thrives when you leave it alone and allow it to do what it does best. Patience is key.
    Homemade charcoal smokers
    Homemade charcoal drum smoker.
    There are also many homemade variations of the bullet charcoal smoker setup. For example, people make charcoal smokers from metal trash cans or steel drums. I won’t get into how to make these, but suffice it to say that the basic vertical design works very well. If you want to find out more about these wonderful homemade contraptions, search for “drum smoker” at www.smokingmeatforums.com for a wealth of information about how to make them and where to find suitable steel drums and other hardware. With a few tweaks of these supplies, you can make some of the tastiest smoked foods you have ever had, and you will become very popular in your neighborhood at the same time.
    Winch for raising or lowering grates in the drum of a homemade charcoal smoker.
    Horizontal offset smokers
    Another very popular style of charcoal smoker is the horizontal offset smoker. The Char-Broil Silver and the Brinkmann Smoke ’n Pit are two of the most popular, but there are untold numbers of other brands and models that all basically work the same way, with slight differences in metal thickness and grate size.
    The design is quite simple: a large horizontal barrel is cut in half lengthwise. The top half is the lid and the bottom half is the cooking chamber where the grate sits and the meat is cooked. A smaller barrel, called the firebox, is attached to one end of and just slightly lower than the cooking chamber. A cutout between the two barrels allows the heat to pass between them. The firebox has a lid to facilitate the adding of charcoal and wood, and adjustable vents allow much-needed air to enter and stoke the fire. The larger smoke chamber usually has a 3- to 4-inch diameter chimney protruding up about 12 to 16 inches, which allows the smoke