BBQ Mailing List Survival Guide
and Smoke-Cooking FAQ

EQUIPMENT

SMOKERS

The most important piece of equipment for making outstanding Q is the cook, not the cooker. A good cook can produce exceptional Q on any type of smoker, from a wash tub topped with a refrigerator shelf for a grill to a high-dollar unit. Choose a smoker you like and use it until you know it inside and out. With perserverance and the freely available help from BBQ list members, almost anyone can produce braggin' rights Q on any type of smoker. That said, here's a description of smokers used (Rodney Leist (leistr@netdoor.com))

Note: Shortly after writing this, Rodney bought a Klose Backyard Chef similar to the one pictured below and turned his old NBBD into a planter.

Klose Backyard Chef 20x40

For popular inexpensive home smokers up to about $200 (such as those discussed below) and accessories check local sources such as Walmart, Home Depot, Service Merchandisers etc. For better quality and custom pits from about $160 and up and commercial equipment check out Pits by (David) Klose or Oklahoma Joes for starters. For more manufacturers, look on the Resources page under back yard smokers.

How to choose a smoker

1. Cost: A smoker should be a long term investment. As a general rule, buy the best smoker you can afford and justify. Here are some considerations.
2. Fuel.
   1. If you just don't have time to maintain a charcoal or wood fire for long burns, consider gas or electric. Smoke is generated by heating shavings or sawdust. You will sacrifice the authentic wood smoke flavor and the feeling of pride and accomplishment derived from managing a fire properly for a long time to produce outstanding barbecue.
   2. Small charcoal fired smokers are highly portable and easy to use. Charcoal will give some smoke flavor which may be supplemented by adding chunks of wood during the burn. The cheaper water smokers require a lot of fire tending and are usually modified to improve performance. The Weber Smoky Mountain is more expensive but is well built, durable, controllable, holds temperature for a long time and is ready to go right out of the box. Kettles and barrel smokers can be used but special precautions and techniques are required to maintain the proper temperature and avoid flare-ups.
   3. Buying charcoal can get expensive, especially if you have a source of good smoking wood. You can get real, honest smoke flavor when you burn logs. The entry level offsets, such as the NBBD and Brinkman's SnP Pro can burn wood as well as charcoal. This popular style of smoker is widely used, but is also the most difficult smoker type to operate properly when burning wood. List members report that the fire requires constant attention. Bitterness and creosote deposition are common problems. These units are capable of producing excellent barbecue but the skill factor increases considerably. For the same money you can buy a Weber Smoky Mountain (if you can find one) which can go up to six hours without attention, has about the same capacity and is much easier to operate - but doesn't burn wood.
3. Capacity: Are you just going to cook for family and a few friends, or have large parties or even do some catering?
4. Portability

Make your own

Brick is IN

Commercial Smokers

Kettles

Water Smokers and Bullets

ECB:

El Cheapo Brinkman. The name given to the bottom of the line Brinkman water smoker by Tom Kelly. These can be purchased for $25 to $40 at fine discount stores everywhere. (Patrick Lehnherr)
Tom has made extensive modifications to his ECB.

Weber Smoky Mountain

The Weber Bullet is the cadillac of water smokers with tight fitting components and excellent temperature control. No modifications are needed as with other units, the bullet is ready to go right out of the box and is the most popular and successful small smoker on the competition circuit. Costs about $170. May be hard to find.

Horizontal - Not Offset

Horizontal - Offset Firebox

SnP Pro:

Brinkmann's Smoke 'n Pit Professional. Offset smoker much like the NBBD and used by many of the list members. Smokes and grills with charcoal or wood. Costs around $180. (Kit Anderson)

SWOCS:

SouthWest Outdoor Cooking Systems. A now defunct line of well designed charcoal, wood and gas smokers made by Dwight Innman, a former active list member. He dubbed his gas smoker the "Lazy-Q" and marketed it through Sam's Clubs. After the line was dropped by Sam's and Dwight went out of business, the remaining inventory was snapped up by list members. An excellent gas smoker if you can find one.

Vertical - Offset Firebox

Combo - Horizontal and Vertical

ACCESSORIES

Thermometers: Pitmasters don't need thermometers. They can put their hand on the pit and judge the temperature. They can look at and poke the meat to tell when it is done. The rest of us need a reference point and use thermometers to measure the temperature at the grates, find hot spots and monitor cooking progress. Many pits have thermometers of varying quality in the doors or top. These should be used for reference only as they do not measure the temperature at the cooking surface or at different levels in the pit which can vary considerably. A simple oven thermometer place on the grill will help, but the door has to be opened to read it and the face smokes up easily. Many on the lists have purchased digital thermometers with probes on a two foot long braided wire which can be positioned to monitor the meat and various locations in the pit and be read from outside. The two units currently available are the Poldar (found in gourmet and specialty shops) and Sunbeam (Sold by Service Merchandiser): both are accurate and reliable. Be aware that these units go blank if the displays are left in the sun or allowed to get too hot. Be careful in washing or submerging the probes as water can enter where the wire goes into the probe resulting in false readings. (Dan Gill)

Jaccards: A gadget for tenderizing meat, facilitating the uptake of seasonings and shortening cooking times. They consisting of rows of flat needles behind a perforated shield. When pressed against the meat, the needles cut long fibers and make small holes in the meat. Available in gourmet and specialty shops.

Welders gloves: Useful for handling burning logs and hot metal

Last revised 7/24/97
by Dan Gill