I drove over to Plymouth from Foxboro when I was up there for DCS training. Got to see quite a few commercial bogs along the way. As well as Lizzie Borden's house, the rock, Mayflower and the reconstructed village. Interesting place. Plus was able to indulge my lobster and clam cravings while up in your neck of the woods DJ.

 

When I bought my house in 2015 the previous owner left behind a big smoker on my back porch. The bottom was rusted completely out of the firebox and the bottom of the cooking chamber was paper-thin and full of holes. I knew that it could be rescued with some welding but I had never smoked meat before and didn't care enough about smoking to do anything with it, so I gave it away to a friend.

Fast forward to a couple months ago, I spontaneously got very interested in smoking meat. If I had the smoker still, I would restore it. But I don't. And I can't afford (or, can't justify) the cost of a new smoker. At least not one of any quality. They have a $99 smoker at home depot but screw that. It's made of 20ga sheet metal; might last a year. So I decided to build one. I wanted to have it done in time to smoke some meat for my new year celebration. It isn't done, but I've gotten it to the point I think I can use it. I used an old (100lb?) Propane tank and an old compressor. Here are a few pictures...


A word of caution... merely filling a propane tank to overflowing with water and then draining, somehow does NOT purge all the propane gas. I was met with a rather stimulating "whoosh-bang" when I started plasma cutting it.

Joining two dome-ended tanks with different diameters and different dome radii is not very straightforward. I tried to be intelligent about it, do some math, make some sketches, and that was a waste of time. It gave me a starting point that was nowhere close to what I intended, and ended up being a sequence of lift, fit, mark, cut, grind, repeat (6-8 times). As you can see, the end result cutouts required to (almost) perfectly mate, are nowhere near the same dimensions or geometry.



I have some weld-on hinges acquired years ago for a project that never got off the ground, but after spending 2hrs looking for them, opted to weld up some roller chain, which worked nicely because it automatically incorporates a lid stop.


Figuring out the air gate for the firebox was a unique challenge because of the domed end. I considered cutting off the domed end and welding on a flat one so that I could implement a typical sliding or rotating gate. But then I had the idea to use the domed section I had cut out of the opposite end of the tank, as it had complementary "nesting" curvature.


My portable bandsaw doesn't have a wide enough mouth to cut a 45deg angle in the 4" pipe I'm using for a smokestack, so once again i had to get creative. Put the pipe in a vise at a precise 45deg angle with the end submerged in water, then spray painted where the water meets the pipe to get a perfect 45deg circumferencial line, then plasma cut.


(10 pic limit reached. Cont...)

 

Looks like a goodun' The side/indirect woodfire box type is definitely the way to go for smokin instead of grilling.

 

(...cont.)

Yesterday/Last night I welded rack supports into the smoke chamber, cut out some expanded metal racks, wirewheeled all the rust from inside both tanks (as well as chunk of flesh from my hand), coated the interior with cooking oil, set a fire, and seasoned the pit.



It leaks a lot of smoke around the doors. I will need to address that.



I ordered a 6 zone thermocouple cooking thermometer to map the temperature gradient across the whole thing so I have a better understanding of where to put the meats and how long.



Today I attempt to smoke a turkey with the pit in its present state. I will post the results.



Still to do:
Add racks to firebox for grilling
Seal holes in firebox
Weld on door seals
Drill ports for permanent thermocouple installation
Weld on smokestack damper/baffle
Weld on wood rack to legs
Cut hole & weld in grease drain
Make insulated handles
Reinforce firebox lid
Weld on prep shelf
Weld on handles
Weld on wheels
Wirewheel exterior, paint

 

My portable bandsaw doesn't have a wide enough mouth to cut a 45deg angle in the 4" pipe I'm using for a smokestack, so once again i had to get creative. Put the pipe in a vise at a precise 45deg angle with the end submerged in water, then spray painted where the water meets the pipe to get a perfect 45deg circumferencial line, then plasma cut.
View attachment 195715 View attachment 195716

Great idea! You never know what gem you will find in a post. Nice tip on marking a cut on an angle! I’m going to use this.

 

Down here in GA guys have em on trailers and do a side business of catering parties with them or renting them out.

 

Down here in GA guys have em on trailers and do a side business of catering parties with them or renting them out.

They do that in New England, too. I suspect that service is available throughout the US.

 

Down here in GA guys have em on trailers and do a side business of catering parties with them or renting them out.

They do that in New England, too. I suspect that service is available throughout the US.

I know of no place where BBQ is as serious as it is here in TX. Those massive pit trailers too common here. Lots of people have them just to have them. For the same reason they have 50 guns. Just because. My smoker is a "cute little thing" among its peers.

BBQ, Chilli, guns... Texas. Love it.

 

Great idea! You never know what gem you will find in a post. Nice tip on marking a cut on an angle! I’m going to use this.

I had the idea long ago, been waiting for an excuse to see if it would work. I had the idea while watching one of those car restoration/modification shows that used to be popular (maybe they still are, I don't watch regular TV anymore). They made a quad-cab truck out of an old '60s model chevy truck by cutting the back of the cab off, cutting the middle section out an old suburban, welding it onto the cab, and then welding the back of the cab onto the suburban section. They were taking tons of painstaking measurements to get it right, and in my mind I was thinking there's no way that works perfectly. There are no right angles to reference. There is an inner skin and an outer skin; how could you get the same line inside and outside? There are bound to be gaps and misalignments. And that's not a cheap thing to screw up. How would I do it differently? How would I intersect a car and a flat plane to come up with a perfect line on all surfaces? Pick the car up with a crane and dunk it in water. I have yet to see anyone actually try that. I bet it would work.

 

We're pretty serious about it around here and a very popular fundraiser activity is smoked butt. We're big on Boston Butts and other pork and not so much on beef brisket but it is available in the Q joints. Florida has Sonny's BBQ and as a chain restaurant it's not too bad but they use an industrial style smoker using pelletized wood disks instead of real honest to God wood. It makes their commercial product consistent at all their restaurants but no real soul to it. We use oak, hickory, or pecan (which is a hickory) and I do like mesquite but we ain't got none roun' herebouts. Every even small town has at least one real Q joint in my area. And I'm not talking the chain franchises which mostly suck. I have a small 4 rack cabinet smoker I use for King Mackeral and butts and usually load it with pecan and let it go all day and overnight.

 

Getting close...

 

We're pretty serious about it around here and a very popular fundraiser activity is smoked butt. We're big on Boston Butts and other pork and not so much on beef brisket but it is available in the Q joints. Florida has Sonny's BBQ and as a chain restaurant it's not too bad but they use an industrial style smoker using pelletized wood disks instead of real honest to God wood. It makes their commercial product consistent at all their restaurants but no real soul to it. We use oak, hickory, or pecan (which is a hickory) and I do like mesquite but we ain't got none roun' herebouts. Every even small town has at least one real Q joint in my area. And I'm not talking the chain franchises which mostly suck. I have a small 4 rack cabinet smoker I use for King Mackeral and butts and usually load it with pecan and let it go all day and overnight.

If you ever travel through here, stop at Luling City Market (the old one in Luling, not the new one). Best brisket in the world that can be bought from a business. According to me. And down the road in Lockhart, #2 & #3.

 

The reason I smoked a turkey is a bit of coincidence. A family member was coming to visit from out of town, with a turkey in the trunk. They got the turkey from another family member who bought many of them for a great price. She didn't want the turkey but didn't want to rude and refuse the gift. I don't like turkey but needed a big chunk of meat to practice smoking. I used this recipe and I think I'm being as objective as possible when I say this is the best turkey I've ever tasted. I actually like it. I ate a whole plate full of breast meat because it was actually tender, moist, and flavorful. Not the dry tasteless white meat I've always been served on Thanksgiving. I'm very surprised, and very happy with the result. I will be smoking a lot more things I don't like, just to see the difference.

 

@strantor
What plasma cutter do you use? Would you recommend it? (I still use my 1961 oxy-acerylene rig and figure it might be time to update.)

 

@strantor
What plasma cutter do you use? Would you recommend it? (I still use my 1961 oxy-acerylene rig and figure it might be time to update.)

Mine is an older "Klutch" (northern tool brand, now sold under a different name) 40A unit. I got for an exceptionally good deal otherwise I would have bought something better. By better, I mean repair parts and consumables more readily available. The machine itself has served me well, but the consumables thing is a PITA. I would like to upgrade to a hypertherm in the future, so that I can get a machine torch and use it with a CNC table.

 

If you ever travel through here, stop at Luling City Market (the old one in Luling, not the new one). Best brisket in the world that can be bought from a business. According to me. And down the road in Lockhart, #2 & #3.

I've been interested in making smoked brisket for years, and collected tips and recipes. I was hesitant because of the cost and commitment – I wasn't sure I wanted to risk it since I don't have the right equipment. Visiting my daughter in San Antonio and a side trip to Austin convinced me that it had to happen. Illinois brisket is always cut from the lean flat and is uniformly dry as an old shoe. In Texas you order brisket dry, wet or in between and it's all moister than anything up here. My preference is definitely on the "wet" side.

So I was stoked to give it a try. All I lacked was nerve (and a proper smoker) but I finally got past that and have now made a few. Tremendous success! It's a fair amount of work because I don't have anything other than a decent sized, three-burner grill. I put wood over one and the meat over the others, which stay off most of the time. It takes a lot of tending.

My daughter managed to find for me a place in Texas that supports online ordering and ships brisket. I highly recommend it. It's not like fresh, but it's darn good.
https://www.blacksbbq.com/lockhart.html

While we're at it, here's a great place to order a smoked turkey. I've been sending these as gifts for years and get rave reviews. I've never actually tried one for myself yet.
https://www.smokehouse.com/hickory-smoked-whole-turkey.html

And here's where one can find the best ham, bacon and sausage in the world.
http://www.newsomscountryham.com/smokbac.html

Finally, here's how they did it at Freedmen's BBQ in Austin:

[edit] I added and then deleted the pictures because I realized I'd already posted them once in this thread!
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/tales-from-the-grill.113170/page-11#post-1066515

 

Speaking of online... I've probably mentioned this one before but Patek Meats near Atlanta was a local well-kept secret who has finally started mail ordering online. Best applewood smoked bacon I ever had and cheap! Slab or sliced your way. And lots of real authentic European style bohemian fresh, cured, and smoked sausages. Their weiners are the best "hot dogs" I've ever eaten and I buy 10lbs when I can get there along with at least a half side slab of bacon. I've been there when there were 50 folks lined up waiting for them to open their small shop which can only hold ~5 customers at a time. https://www.patakmeats.com/ They have 3 huge "drive the forklift in" smokers.
And for all you Coonass wannabes who must have a REAL fresh Turducken or fresh live mudbugs there is /www.cajungrocer.com/condiments-peppers-pickled-items-c-1_6_13.html

 

I smoked some chicken legs this weekend for a late Christmas party that my wife organized. I forgot to take a picture because I was carrying on conversation the whole time but it was 15lbs of legs. The legs took up every square inch of rack space in the smoker; it was pretty impressive looking, wish I had taken a pic.

They were pretty awesome. Not the best chicken I've ever had, but definitely the best I've ever made. I used basically the same recipe as I did for the turkey, but no injection. Filled a bowl with coarse ground salt & pepper, some Tony's, and about 1lb of melted butter. Rubbed that all over them and into the smoker for a couple of hours. The ones nearest the firebox were done in 90min. Used hickory.

I'm going to smoke some ribs next and then move on to brisket.

 

Years ago I made some smoked brisket which I took to work treating the entire department. Somewhere hundreds of pages back in this thread I posted how I go about it less a special smoker using a Webber Kettle Grill and a rack. After many request for my method I wrote it all down.

Day of the Brisket​

On Monday January 24, 2011 I finally came through with a long awaited promise to provide a beef brisket lunch for my friends at Assembly and Test Department. While I of course appreciated the thank you from everyone my real satisfaction came from watching everyone return for seconds, thirds and maybe a few fourth servings. That was the ultimate reward for my efforts. You are all more than welcome.

Many have asked for my recipe. Please keep in mind that a recipe, any recipe, is nothing more than a baseline and made to be tinkered with to suit taste. Feel free to tinker. Here is what I prepared.

The Brisket:

The brisket cut I used was called “A Flat” there is also a “Point” but you want the flat. When possible I suggest asking a butcher in a meat department of your local supermarket, however, very good cuts can also be found on the shelves of the meat department. If you deal with a butcher ask him to remove the fat. A full brisket consist of the flat and point joined with a thick line of fat. If you buy a vacuum packed pre packaged brisket try to look hard at the fat side you will need to trim. A 5 to 6 pound brisket will generally yield a pound of fat so unless you plan to feed friends and family fat plan wisely. If the meat has this layer of fat carefully using a sharp knife trim away the fat. A 5 pound trimmed brisket should yield about 8 servings (less for those who savor brisket). I prefer Certified Black Angus or as a minimum a good USDA Choice brisket.

Ingredients (The Rub):

• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

Reserve the following on the side.

• Several minced fresh garlic cloves (about 6 tablespoons)
• Olive Oil (Extra Virgin about ½ cup)

Combine the dry ingredients and mix well in a bowl. Personally I like to kick the cumin up to a few tablespoons but feel free to modify to your taste. Mix the minced garlic and olive oil in a small bowl.

Brisket Prep:

By hand rub the olive oil and garlic mixture into the meat on both sides. Rub means just that, Use the palm of your hand(s) to press the mixture into the meat. Don’t be bashful; work the mixture well into both sides of the beef brisket. Now sprinkle the dry rub mixture on both sides of the meat being generous, use it all. Wrap the brisket in plastic wrap like Saran Wrap (or whatever) and place it in a roasting pan overnight in the refrigerator. I like a good 8 to 10 hours.

The Cooking Process:

I start the cooking process using a Weber Kettle Grill. We are not going to cook the brisket at a high temperature. If you have a kettle grill or smoker grill you want to set up for indirect heat. Move your coals to one side and place the meat on the other side on the grill surface. I used soaked apple wood from a tree we cut down years ago. I like Apple but Mesquite wood sold in many grilling stores also works fine. Wood like apple lends a sweeter taste. Soak your wood! You want smoke and not flames. Place your brisket on the grill (less the plastic wrap) and try to maintain a grill temperature around 200 to 220 degrees F. I like to give the meat a few hour per side. Check the meat frequently; we don’t want to burn it. The trick to great tender brisket is slow cooking with good smoke initially. We don’t want to dry the meat out! Low temperature and slow cooking is the key. Before I forget, if you are one of those people who love to place foil on a grill surface… DON’T! The smoke should flow freely around the meat.

After about a few hours per side remove the meat and place back in the roasting pan it marinated in. Add about a cup of water of if you have any beef stock use that over using water. Cover with aluminum foil and set oven for 220 Degrees F. The meat should now slow cook about another 6 to 8 hours. Good things come to those who wait! Check the meat every few hours with a fork for tenderness. We don’t want it to dry out, it will become a nice tender and a fork will go right through it. Don’t poke too hard with the fork or the fork will pass through the brisket and the disposable roasting pan. The pan will begin to leak and you will get a sinking feeling. Been there and done that. J

All of this is a pretty forgiving process. We just don’t want to overcook and dry out the beef. Different briskets have different thickness so cooking times will vary. Different grills and smokers vary. Just don’t dry out the brisket! Enjoy, have a few drinks and let’s make the sauce. The sauce is a big part of the magic.


Barbecue Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice, mustard, Worcestershire and hot sauce, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and the flavors marry, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.

This is a sauce I really like. I could put this stuff on breakfast and like it. Use it anywhere you want a really good barbecue sauce. I always double the recipe! The lunch we had was 8X the recipe. Use fresh garlic! Don’t cheat. Again, season to taste, if you like heat be generous with the red pepper sauce or add some crushed cayenne pepper.

While I prefer the suggest rub recipe here is another I have tried.

· 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

· 2 tablespoons kosher salt

· 4 tablespoons paprika

· 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder

· 1 tablespoon granulated onion powder

· 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

· 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

· 2 teaspoons ground cumin

Enjoy

Ron

I really happen to like the sauce recipe. I also trim all the fat on the fat side as I want the smoke to permeate the meat and not fat.

Ron

 

I have always wanted to try cooking a dish using Saffron, but the cost was a bit of a deterrent, but in a weak moment today bought some as I have many recipes that call for it.
Anyone try it and if so what was the verdict.?
Max.