Here are some links to interesting pages that helped get me going:
All about wood smoking
http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/zen_of_wood.html
All about different kinds of smokers
http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/index.html
Thermometers
http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/thermometer_buying_guide.html
Stole a lot of ideas from here
http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/offset_smokers.html
Stole some ideas for mods from him too, but I think he's a little nuts in other areas
http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downloads_files/CharGrilleMods.pdf
Some specific ideas for Char-Griller mods
http://www.karott.com/barbeque/modifications.asp
Here's a good step-by-step on seasoning
http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-use-a-chargrill-bbq-smoker
Here's a good board about mods with a lot of ideas. I might try some of them too
http://forum.texasbbqrub.com/showthread.php?t=33100
An indispensable resource on meat
http://www.smoking-meat.com/
Friday, January 20, 2012
Finally, the smoke begins
I started my smoker around 9:30 or so on January 16, 2012 (putting that date in for myself as much as for anyone reading this) with the outdoor temperature of about 40 degrees F and low humidity (25 to 30% range). I began with the Stubbs briquettes in a charcoal chimney and lump charcoal inside the firebox. I used a method called the Minion Method to start my fire. http://www.homebbq.com/index.php/archives/82. Every time I hear that name, it makes me think of these guys:
But I do like the way this method works. I ended up building a small fire (too small in retrospect) inside the firebox and I tossed about four or five of the hickory chunks on top. I read that meat gets most of its smoke early in the cooking process, so don't wait to add your smoking source until later in the process.
My fire heated up nicely and quickly and I was right around 200 degrees F, dipping to around 180 occasionally, but rarely ever going above 225. Low and slow. I had plenty of time. Low and slow. Be patient.
The ribs (cool, but not cold because I'd taken them out of the fridge when I started the fire so they'd come up to room temp) went on the grill about 10:15. The pork loins went on around 12:30 and the sausages went on around 2.
Occasionally I stoked my fire, kicked around the ash with a stick, I'd throw some more lump and briquettes on every hour or so, and I fiddled with the damper on the fire box (more open = more oxygen = more fire, by the way). I was careful not to open the smoke box except to add meat. It was then that I'd move things around to ensure an even cook.
But I was never able to keep the fire around the 225 I desired. My meat was looking good. The smoke smelled amazing, but as afternoon approached, I was getting a little bit worried that my meat wasn't cooking fast enough and that my 5 p.m. dinner invite might leave my guests sitting until midnight.
So I did what any red-blooded American make would do, I added a half-log of fireplace oak on around 2:30. That brought the temp up nicely -- for awhile -- but I didn't want to overwhelm with oak, so the fire died back a little.
Around 3 p.m., I began to check temps in the meat using a standard meat thermometer. It was then that panic set in. While everything looked tasty from the outside, the internal temps were running between 110 and 120 degrees F -- far from the minimum 150-160 I needed. Another half-log of oak and a lot of prayers began then.
Around 5 or so, my buddy Dave gets over (armed, thankfully, with a copious quantity of beer) and made two observations -- it's cold outside, and my fire was too small. Both were keeping from actually cooking the meat.
We added a bunch more lump charcoal and two full logs of oak which immediately jumped the smoker temp up to 400. From there we started closing down dampers until the temp reached about 300F in the smoke chamber. We used that for the last hour or so to fully get the meat cooked.
Lesson learned -- get the smoke, but cook the meat first. The smoke by itself is nice, but won't cook the meat. Temperatures cook the meat, so work on temperatures first. The smoke will take care of itself.
Finally, as my temps reached around 160, I began pulling the meat and wrapping it in heavy aluminum foil and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. The food sitting in the foil was 1000x better -- ribs were more tender and meat easily came off the bones. The first rack off the grill (which hadn't sat as long in the foil) was still chewy and hard to pull from the bone -- even though it had a great smoky flavor.
Cook the meat!
But I do like the way this method works. I ended up building a small fire (too small in retrospect) inside the firebox and I tossed about four or five of the hickory chunks on top. I read that meat gets most of its smoke early in the cooking process, so don't wait to add your smoking source until later in the process.
My fire heated up nicely and quickly and I was right around 200 degrees F, dipping to around 180 occasionally, but rarely ever going above 225. Low and slow. I had plenty of time. Low and slow. Be patient.
The ribs (cool, but not cold because I'd taken them out of the fridge when I started the fire so they'd come up to room temp) went on the grill about 10:15. The pork loins went on around 12:30 and the sausages went on around 2.
Occasionally I stoked my fire, kicked around the ash with a stick, I'd throw some more lump and briquettes on every hour or so, and I fiddled with the damper on the fire box (more open = more oxygen = more fire, by the way). I was careful not to open the smoke box except to add meat. It was then that I'd move things around to ensure an even cook.
But I was never able to keep the fire around the 225 I desired. My meat was looking good. The smoke smelled amazing, but as afternoon approached, I was getting a little bit worried that my meat wasn't cooking fast enough and that my 5 p.m. dinner invite might leave my guests sitting until midnight.
So I did what any red-blooded American make would do, I added a half-log of fireplace oak on around 2:30. That brought the temp up nicely -- for awhile -- but I didn't want to overwhelm with oak, so the fire died back a little.
Around 3 p.m., I began to check temps in the meat using a standard meat thermometer. It was then that panic set in. While everything looked tasty from the outside, the internal temps were running between 110 and 120 degrees F -- far from the minimum 150-160 I needed. Another half-log of oak and a lot of prayers began then.
Around 5 or so, my buddy Dave gets over (armed, thankfully, with a copious quantity of beer) and made two observations -- it's cold outside, and my fire was too small. Both were keeping from actually cooking the meat.
We added a bunch more lump charcoal and two full logs of oak which immediately jumped the smoker temp up to 400. From there we started closing down dampers until the temp reached about 300F in the smoke chamber. We used that for the last hour or so to fully get the meat cooked.
Lesson learned -- get the smoke, but cook the meat first. The smoke by itself is nice, but won't cook the meat. Temperatures cook the meat, so work on temperatures first. The smoke will take care of itself.
Finally, as my temps reached around 160, I began pulling the meat and wrapping it in heavy aluminum foil and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. The food sitting in the foil was 1000x better -- ribs were more tender and meat easily came off the bones. The first rack off the grill (which hadn't sat as long in the foil) was still chewy and hard to pull from the bone -- even though it had a great smoky flavor.
Cook the meat!
Meat and burnable stuff
My first foray into serious smoking began with purchasing meat at Sam's Club. I'm not sure why I chose Sam's Club, but it's a) in the same parking lot as Lowes and I needed some stuff to mod my smoker 2) it's in the same parking lot as the Super Wal-Mart and I was hoping they'd have some Royal Oak lump charcoal which comes highly recommended from this site: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpindexpage.htm?bag, 3) my kid had a birthday party nearby so I could get two hours of complete, unadulterated, poking around time between Lowe's and Sam's Club -- something rate in my life.
At Sam's, I bought:
At Lowes, I picked up a bag of Cowboy Lump Charcoal and a bag of Stubbs briquettes. I had a bag at home of hickory chunks and I have a nearly a cord of oak firewood for my fireplace that I dipped into for my first smoke. Oak makes a nice hot fire, but too much smoke can apparently kill your meat. And several sites caution to use bark-less wood. Bark can also mess with flavor, apparently.
At Sam's, I bought:
- package of 3 racks of pork shoulder ribs -- $32
- one very long (30 inches) pork loin roast which I cut into thirds -- $16 something
- package of 9 pork sausages -- whatever they had -- $9.99
- 5 lb beef brisket -- around $17
At Lowes, I picked up a bag of Cowboy Lump Charcoal and a bag of Stubbs briquettes. I had a bag at home of hickory chunks and I have a nearly a cord of oak firewood for my fireplace that I dipped into for my first smoke. Oak makes a nice hot fire, but too much smoke can apparently kill your meat. And several sites caution to use bark-less wood. Bark can also mess with flavor, apparently.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Seasoning
If you're under the impression that "seasoning" means to rub some McCormick spice on your grill, you probably need to consult some more cooking sources before beginning on your own smoking odyssey. "Seasoning" refers to the fine art of rubbing something oily over your cast iron cookware to keep things from sticking and to keep them clean. It sounds a little counter-intuitive -- rubbing grease on an object to keep it clean, but that's how it works. Cast iron is an extremely durable material that withstands high temperatures and holds heat extremely well. So I was glad to see cast iron grates on my grill when it arrived. But before use, they must be treated with oil to prevent rust and to keep them from getting sticky. Think of grandma's old, heavy pan that she'd make bacon and corn bread in. Chances are, it was cast iron. And remember how nasty it looked most of the time? That's seasoning.
So here you go: the instructions recommend using some kind of cooking oil and to literally coat every surface (interior and exterior) with oil and then to fire the grill up at a high heat for several hours to bake it on. When I pulled the grills from the packing material, I found them coated with some kind of oily something that I learned was from the manufacturing/packing process. Not sure what it was, I decided to clean that first before seasoning. I took some advice from another site and threw the grates into the wall oven and set it to "self-clean" for three hours to bake off the other oily stuff. It worked like a dream.
To season the grill, I used two kinds of oil product. I bought a can of spray vegetable oil (I bought the grocery store version of Pam) and a small can of vegetable shortening (I used Crisco). I sprayed the lid, base, firebox, etc with the spray oil and then rubbed, by hand, all the grates and the entire outside with Crisco. It was a tad nasty, but seemed to do the trick nicely.
Then I fired the grill up to about 400 degrees F and let it ride for the rest of the day until the fire burned itself out. I used charcoal to start it, then once it was going, switched to oak firewood (pieces without bark are best because burnt bark can leave a nasty taste, apparently).
As expected (and I knew this could and probably would happen), the firebox paint began to bubble and fleck off. My buddy Dave says it's a common problem, especially on cheaper grills. The Amazon reviewers almost always mention it. I know I can take a can of high-heat Rustoleum to it, but I shouldn't have to. My buddy Dave says to let it rust to show that I'm using it. I may still paint it. Looks crappy otherwise.
So here you go: the instructions recommend using some kind of cooking oil and to literally coat every surface (interior and exterior) with oil and then to fire the grill up at a high heat for several hours to bake it on. When I pulled the grills from the packing material, I found them coated with some kind of oily something that I learned was from the manufacturing/packing process. Not sure what it was, I decided to clean that first before seasoning. I took some advice from another site and threw the grates into the wall oven and set it to "self-clean" for three hours to bake off the other oily stuff. It worked like a dream.
To season the grill, I used two kinds of oil product. I bought a can of spray vegetable oil (I bought the grocery store version of Pam) and a small can of vegetable shortening (I used Crisco). I sprayed the lid, base, firebox, etc with the spray oil and then rubbed, by hand, all the grates and the entire outside with Crisco. It was a tad nasty, but seemed to do the trick nicely.
Then I fired the grill up to about 400 degrees F and let it ride for the rest of the day until the fire burned itself out. I used charcoal to start it, then once it was going, switched to oak firewood (pieces without bark are best because burnt bark can leave a nasty taste, apparently).
As expected (and I knew this could and probably would happen), the firebox paint began to bubble and fleck off. My buddy Dave says it's a common problem, especially on cheaper grills. The Amazon reviewers almost always mention it. I know I can take a can of high-heat Rustoleum to it, but I shouldn't have to. My buddy Dave says to let it rust to show that I'm using it. I may still paint it. Looks crappy otherwise.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Modifications to make meat better -- eventually
My wife thought that once her family room floor had been overtaken for an evening by the grill assembly team, that she could start planning on gourmet ribs the next evening. Ha!
I mentioned that I like to do research and I found a couple of modifications -- consistently -- across a number of websites that, if I did them now, would save me time, expense and some stress on my first smoke. I was scared, by a thousand other bbqers online about maintaining heat constant at 225 degrees F, don't let it get too hot, keep the temperature even across the grill, don't let it get too hot, don't use too much smoke or you'll ruin your meat, don't let it get too hot, etc. So, armed with my fear, I went about making some mods.
1) The thermometer is junk. Everyone agrees. And it's true. You can invest a lot in an electronic thermometer which beams the temp to a receiver inside the house, and there's even a thermometer which will talk to your iPad or iPhone. (If you look at the iGrill app in the App Store, people are pretty unhappy with it.) I picked up a $15 thermometer at Wal-Mart and it seems pretty good for the time being. My smoker is right off my screen porch which is right off my kitchen, so it's about 15 feet from the house. Even in cold weather, it's a short walk. If you have further to go, you might want to get a fancier one. But my limited experience is consistent with others -- ignore the thermometer that comes with it. Some people drill new holes in their grill for a temp probe, I just slid mine through a small hole in the side of the lid, near the grates.
2) I built a baffle from the firebox to the center of the grill. A baffle is just a piece of sheet metal of some length to redirect the smoke and heat from one place to another. Here's a pic of one, not mine, but it might give you some ideas http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/swamprb/100_1465.jpg. Mine is probably closest to this, but a little longer.http://txbbqking.com/images/old%20offset/baffle1.jpg I'll post pics of mine here soon. I used an 8x24 piece of dryer vent pipe, unrolled into a kind of crescent shape, and then secured at the corrugated end to the side of the grill nearest the fire box. Here's what I used: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100145866/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053. It was about $5 and easy to work with. It's easily cut with snips and pretty bendable. Man Card Alert! Use gloves so you don't slice your hands open on the sharp edges. I also drilled about 10 holes along the length to vent it some. After testing it, I'll probably go back and cut some larger vent holes though as I think I directed too much heat and smoke up and out of the grill. I may also cut it shorter. Right now it runs about 2/3 of the length of the grill, I think I'll cut that back to 1/2.
3) While in the dryer aisle at your favorite home store, also pick up a piece of bendy aluminum dryer pipe for about $10 for an 8-foot section. I used 4-inch and crimped the end to fit over the three inch chimney pipe. Then I secured with a 4-inch pipe clamp. That brings the chimey down almost to grill level. Here's the reasoning: Out of the box, smoke and heat move from the source of the fire (firebox) to the highest point as quickly and as easily as possible. So one side of your grilling surface, the right (depending on where your firebox is located), will be significantly hotter than the left side. And you'll have huge temperature issues. Here's my very crude diagram:
Next, time to season....
I mentioned that I like to do research and I found a couple of modifications -- consistently -- across a number of websites that, if I did them now, would save me time, expense and some stress on my first smoke. I was scared, by a thousand other bbqers online about maintaining heat constant at 225 degrees F, don't let it get too hot, keep the temperature even across the grill, don't let it get too hot, don't use too much smoke or you'll ruin your meat, don't let it get too hot, etc. So, armed with my fear, I went about making some mods.
1) The thermometer is junk. Everyone agrees. And it's true. You can invest a lot in an electronic thermometer which beams the temp to a receiver inside the house, and there's even a thermometer which will talk to your iPad or iPhone. (If you look at the iGrill app in the App Store, people are pretty unhappy with it.) I picked up a $15 thermometer at Wal-Mart and it seems pretty good for the time being. My smoker is right off my screen porch which is right off my kitchen, so it's about 15 feet from the house. Even in cold weather, it's a short walk. If you have further to go, you might want to get a fancier one. But my limited experience is consistent with others -- ignore the thermometer that comes with it. Some people drill new holes in their grill for a temp probe, I just slid mine through a small hole in the side of the lid, near the grates.
2) I built a baffle from the firebox to the center of the grill. A baffle is just a piece of sheet metal of some length to redirect the smoke and heat from one place to another. Here's a pic of one, not mine, but it might give you some ideas http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/swamprb/100_1465.jpg. Mine is probably closest to this, but a little longer.http://txbbqking.com/images/old%20offset/baffle1.jpg I'll post pics of mine here soon. I used an 8x24 piece of dryer vent pipe, unrolled into a kind of crescent shape, and then secured at the corrugated end to the side of the grill nearest the fire box. Here's what I used: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100145866/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053. It was about $5 and easy to work with. It's easily cut with snips and pretty bendable. Man Card Alert! Use gloves so you don't slice your hands open on the sharp edges. I also drilled about 10 holes along the length to vent it some. After testing it, I'll probably go back and cut some larger vent holes though as I think I directed too much heat and smoke up and out of the grill. I may also cut it shorter. Right now it runs about 2/3 of the length of the grill, I think I'll cut that back to 1/2.
3) While in the dryer aisle at your favorite home store, also pick up a piece of bendy aluminum dryer pipe for about $10 for an 8-foot section. I used 4-inch and crimped the end to fit over the three inch chimney pipe. Then I secured with a 4-inch pipe clamp. That brings the chimey down almost to grill level. Here's the reasoning: Out of the box, smoke and heat move from the source of the fire (firebox) to the highest point as quickly and as easily as possible. So one side of your grilling surface, the right (depending on where your firebox is located), will be significantly hotter than the left side. And you'll have huge temperature issues. Here's my very crude diagram:
In this case, the bulk of the smoke and heat goes right past your meat and out the chimney.
Well, we don't want that, so we want to force the smoke and heat to meander around a little inside your smoke box (where your meat is artfully arranged) and you want something looking more like this.
That's the way it's supposed to look. But on my first cook I was getting plenty of smoke, but my topmost temperature seemed stuck under 250 degrees F and my meat was smoking, but wasn't cooking past about 120 - 130 degrees F. It was a cold day, but still. Well my buddy Dave came over and said he saw two problems. First, my fire was too small to get enough heat into the smoke box on a cold, windy day. Secondly, he thought my holes in my baffle plate were too small and I was directing too much heat/smoke across the bottom of the grill and out the chimney, leaving the right side cold. So I over compensated and ended up with something like this:
Too small a fire, directed too sharply across the bottom and out the chimney. So I think I'm going to work on cutting larger/more holes in the baffle and perhaps cutting it back six inches or so.
Next, time to season....
Some assembly required...
The box arrived looking like that old American Tourister suitcase from the 1980 ad which got thrown into the gorilla cage at the zoo. If you're under age 40 you don't have a clue what I'm talking about -- ask your parents. Or click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=749iU2Zv1kw&feature=related.
In some of the Amazon reviews, people complained about receiving damaged grills, missing hardware, etc. So I took pictures of the box first and then carefully unpacked it, photographing every piece. It appeared that it had been unpacked at some point, but then re-packed carefully without any damage.
Ok, you might want to take away my Man Card on this one, but I'm one of those guys who actually reads the directions to assemble something. So I laid out all the screws and nuts and pieces and tried to carefully follow all the instructions. I have to admit, there was nothing intuitive about it. And I've built lots of things from kits and I wouldn't have had furniture for the first two decades of my adult life if it hadn't been for Sauder furniture. I guess they're still in business... Anyway, so I'm trying my darndest to get this thing together, cursing ever louder with each nut that didn't show up in the instruction booklet. It says two people are needed to assemble. Again, take my Man Card if you need to on this one, but since my wife was at a PTA meeting, I had to engage the help of one or more of my kids to help me from time to time.
The booklet will tell you that you only need a pair of pliers and a Phillips screwdriver to complete the job. I guess you could do it with just that. But I found a good toolbox made it a lot easier. I used a 7/8 socket and 7/8 crescent wrench to tighten every bolt (there seem to be hundreds) which they caution IN REALLY BIG LETTERS to only finger tighten until the whole thing is assembled.
I guess the pliers are supposed to be used to tighten, but I really liked a socket wrench to tighten it correctly.
After two hours or so, I was pretty pleased with the outcome.
As far as construction, the Smokin Pro isn't covered in diamond plate, nor is it built with the same quality as you might find in a 55-gallon drum. But it's pretty tough and seems well designed. I was in Lowes and WalMart over the weekend and looked at some other smokers (Lowe's also carried the CharGriller brand) and was pretty underwhelmed with the quality of some other smokers at similar price points. I knew I wasn't spending $5k on a smoker and knew my measly $230 wouldn't go as far, but I'm satisfied that for the price I got a pretty good little smoker.
Now, on to prepping the grill for its first smoke....
Ok, you might want to take away my Man Card on this one, but I'm one of those guys who actually reads the directions to assemble something. So I laid out all the screws and nuts and pieces and tried to carefully follow all the instructions. I have to admit, there was nothing intuitive about it. And I've built lots of things from kits and I wouldn't have had furniture for the first two decades of my adult life if it hadn't been for Sauder furniture. I guess they're still in business... Anyway, so I'm trying my darndest to get this thing together, cursing ever louder with each nut that didn't show up in the instruction booklet. It says two people are needed to assemble. Again, take my Man Card if you need to on this one, but since my wife was at a PTA meeting, I had to engage the help of one or more of my kids to help me from time to time.
The booklet will tell you that you only need a pair of pliers and a Phillips screwdriver to complete the job. I guess you could do it with just that. But I found a good toolbox made it a lot easier. I used a 7/8 socket and 7/8 crescent wrench to tighten every bolt (there seem to be hundreds) which they caution IN REALLY BIG LETTERS to only finger tighten until the whole thing is assembled.
I guess the pliers are supposed to be used to tighten, but I really liked a socket wrench to tighten it correctly.
After two hours or so, I was pretty pleased with the outcome.
As far as construction, the Smokin Pro isn't covered in diamond plate, nor is it built with the same quality as you might find in a 55-gallon drum. But it's pretty tough and seems well designed. I was in Lowes and WalMart over the weekend and looked at some other smokers (Lowe's also carried the CharGriller brand) and was pretty underwhelmed with the quality of some other smokers at similar price points. I knew I wasn't spending $5k on a smoker and knew my measly $230 wouldn't go as far, but I'm satisfied that for the price I got a pretty good little smoker.
Now, on to prepping the grill for its first smoke....
CharGriller Smokin Pro 1224
So my buddy Dave is a smokin purist and I'm honestly a little intimidated by him. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy and doesn't have a snobbish bone in his body. But he's been grilling and smokin for 40-some years and I know I'll never be able to match his skills. The best I can hope for is to not embarrass myself around him. So if I can't beat him, I'll at least try to get him to join me. Now I know guys and there's nothing a guy likes better than to be seen as the expert in something. So I ask every dumb question I can think of before I bought a smoker to get his take. And Dave is happy to oblige. He loves cooking over fire and gets pumped just talking about it. He's like that with computers and music too. Some guys are like that with cars. Dave's like that with barbecue. And music. And computers. And brewing beer. And trains too, now that I think about it. And being a Boy Scout leader. Man, I thought I was busy. It helps that Dave has three kids, we go to church together, and our wives are close. And we both like beer.
So I sought out Dave's help early. I had some Amazon gift cards to use and decided to put those toward my smoker. Not that Amazon has the best selection, but there's isn't bad. And I thought the prices would be the best. (More on that later). I looked at a variety of smokers and Dave thought I should get an unrated one from a company called Omaha Distributing Co. Inc. I did some more research (I'm a research nut) and found that Omaha Distributing Co. Inc. is actually in Omaha, but they chiefly import tools (unclear from where, I'm thinking China) and then sell them with their name stamped on them. I thought the barbecue karma gods might smite me for buying a Chinese-made smoker (although I think a lot of the cheaper smokers are probably made there anyway, but I was at least trying....).
I looked at propane smokers -- they seemed easy to keep the temperature consistent and almost bought one of those that a guy on Amazon spoke very highly of. His name is the same as my pastor at church, so I was thinking that must be a good sign.
I also looked a some vertical water smokers including the Weber Smokey Mountain which a lot of folks swear by.
In the end, the bbq ghost of my buddy Dave visited me in a dream and told me....no, wait, he didn't. I think what actually showed up was the spectre of my unmanliness if I went with anything besides the horizontal offset smoker. That led me to the best-rated smoker in my price range in that category ($250ish) -- the CharGriller Smokin Pro 1224.
http://www.amazon.com/Char-Griller-1224-Smokin-Square-Charcoal/dp/B0009NU5YY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326917910&sr=8-1
Here it is opened:
I found it on Amazon for about $299 and I was going to buy, but something led me to shop around a little and I found it at a number of lower prices on other sites -- like all of them. So I clicked on the link on Amazon to let them I know I found it cheaper elsewhere. By the end of the day, the price was down to around $230. So it's worth it to shop around and then let them know if you find it cheaper. That's the good news. The bad news is that I looked again a few days later and it was down to $217 -- and Amazon won't price match if you've already bought it. As of tonight, (1-17-2012), it's back at $230.
Within a week, my new smoker was in my dining room waiting to be assembled....
So I sought out Dave's help early. I had some Amazon gift cards to use and decided to put those toward my smoker. Not that Amazon has the best selection, but there's isn't bad. And I thought the prices would be the best. (More on that later). I looked at a variety of smokers and Dave thought I should get an unrated one from a company called Omaha Distributing Co. Inc. I did some more research (I'm a research nut) and found that Omaha Distributing Co. Inc. is actually in Omaha, but they chiefly import tools (unclear from where, I'm thinking China) and then sell them with their name stamped on them. I thought the barbecue karma gods might smite me for buying a Chinese-made smoker (although I think a lot of the cheaper smokers are probably made there anyway, but I was at least trying....).
I looked at propane smokers -- they seemed easy to keep the temperature consistent and almost bought one of those that a guy on Amazon spoke very highly of. His name is the same as my pastor at church, so I was thinking that must be a good sign.
I also looked a some vertical water smokers including the Weber Smokey Mountain which a lot of folks swear by.
In the end, the bbq ghost of my buddy Dave visited me in a dream and told me....no, wait, he didn't. I think what actually showed up was the spectre of my unmanliness if I went with anything besides the horizontal offset smoker. That led me to the best-rated smoker in my price range in that category ($250ish) -- the CharGriller Smokin Pro 1224.
http://www.amazon.com/Char-Griller-1224-Smokin-Square-Charcoal/dp/B0009NU5YY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326917910&sr=8-1
Here it is opened:
I found it on Amazon for about $299 and I was going to buy, but something led me to shop around a little and I found it at a number of lower prices on other sites -- like all of them. So I clicked on the link on Amazon to let them I know I found it cheaper elsewhere. By the end of the day, the price was down to around $230. So it's worth it to shop around and then let them know if you find it cheaper. That's the good news. The bad news is that I looked again a few days later and it was down to $217 -- and Amazon won't price match if you've already bought it. As of tonight, (1-17-2012), it's back at $230.
Within a week, my new smoker was in my dining room waiting to be assembled....
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