“Build a Smoker” from Your Charcoal Grill

Smoking meat doesn‘t have to be limited to those that have the resources to purchase a dedicated smoker. If you have a charcoal grill, you can easily “build a smoker“. Fortunately, this “build” isn‘t going to require any permanent modifications.

The main difference between a water smoker and a charcoal grill is that the smoker keeps the fire away from the food. A water smoker contains the fire and keeps the temperature around 225 degrees F. A charcoal grill is designed to cook food hot and fast. If you keep the fire small and to one side of the grill, you can easily use a charcoal grill to smoke meat.

To start off with, you’ll need a charcoal grill, charcoal, charcoal chimney, a drip pan, a water pan, and an oven safe thermometer. You’ll also need plenty of time and something to cook.

Begin by removing the cooking grate and building a fire on one half of the grill. You’ll want to place the drip pan on the other side of the grill. Now you can put the cooking grate back on the grill. When the coals are ashed over, you are ready to cook. Fill the water pan about 2/3 full of water and place it directly over the fire. This will add moisture into the air inside the grill. Place the meat over the drip pan and the thermometer on the grate next to the meat. Once that’s done, you will want to place the lid back on the grill.

You’ll need to ensure that you have enough airflow coming into and out of your grill. Ideally, your grill will have airvents in the bottom and top. The air will need to come in under the charcoal and escape through the vent on top of the meat. You’ll also want to use the vent to control the temperature.

While the food is cooking, you’ll need to keep the lid closed as much as possible. Only open the lid to take a quick peek at the fire, water level and temperature. Make sure you have hot charcoal on hand so you can add it when needed. Adding charcoal could be a little difficult because you’ll have to remove the cooking grate.

The set up may not be as convenient as a water smoker, but the end result should be just as good. Just be careful though, smoking meat is addicting. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to upgrade to a dedicated water smoker. Best of luck and happy smoking!

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BBQ Magazine

This looks like a great resource for BBQ tips.

BBQ Magazine

via About.com Barbecues & Grilling on 2/25/10

Wish there was a good magazine dedicated to barbecue? Well there is, Smoke Signals Magazine, and issue #2 just dropped. Best part is that its free and you don't even have to go to the newsstand to pick it up. Just go to Smokesignals.com and read. This issue features an interview with Mario Batali and great article on the Big 4 BBQ competitions. This online magazine is very professional and I think an impressive effort. So show the guys over at the BBQ Brethren how much you appreciate all they do for barbecue and take a look at their magazine.

Photo: BBQ Brethren

BBQ Magazine originally appeared on About.com Barbecues & Grilling on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 02:37:15.

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Simple Water Smoker Modifications

My first water smoker was a Brinkmann Smoker and Grill that I purchased for $50. The smoker consisted of a bullet shape with a charcoal pan on the bottom, a water pan just above that and two grates for meat. The water smoker is topped off with a dome shaped lid that contain a temperature gauge.

While this is a great entry level water smoker and I know people that have been using them for years, there are also a few problems. Fortunately, most of these problems can be fixed with a few simple modifications.

The biggest problem with the Brinkmann Smoker is that it does not have an actual temperature gauge. Rather than giving the internal temperature, it simply reads; warm, ideal or hot. When I first purchased my smoker I also bought a small oven thermometer to place on the top grate. When my external thermometer was on the line between warm and ideal, the oven thermometer would read 225 degrees.

The easiest way to correct this problem is to install an additional thermometer in the lid of the water smoker. These can be found at any store that carries grill supplies and can easily be installed by drilling the appropriate size hole in the lid.

A common complaint with this type of smoker is that it is difficult to get them hot enough. This is caused by poor airflow to the charcoal. A simple solution to this problem is to drill 1/4 inch air holes into the sides of the charcoal pan. About eight holes on either side of the pan should do the trick.

Another way to improve the charcoal pan is to add a small grate to the inside. Find a grate that is slightly larger than the bottom of the pan. The charcoal will sit on top of the grate and the ashes can fall into the bottom of the pan.

I hope these modifications make using your Brinkmann Smoker and Grill  more enjoyable. These little water smokers are a great way to start smoking your own meat. These minor improvements should add to your enjoyment and produce a better piece of meat.

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Charcoal Smoker and Grill – A Perfect Combination

Smoking meat is one of the most popular ways to cook outdoors. Unfortunately, many commercial smokers are either too expensive or too large for home use. The charcoal smoker and grill combo is a great compromise. It provide the moist smoky taste you want, without taking up as much room or costing as much money. Plus it can easily be used for a grill when you are wanting burger or a thick juicy steak.

Before getting started, there are a few things you’ll need;

• Charcoal Smoker and Grill combo
• Water Pan
• Charcoal
• Chimney Starter
• Wood Chips
• Meat

Each one of the items above could be a separate article on it’s own, but for now we’ll stick with the basics.

1. Select your meat – You can smoke most types of meat in a charcoal smoker and grill. The majority of small smokers will hold up to 50 lbs of meat, but you probably don’t want to try and cook that much at once. My suggestion is to look for something in the three to five pound range. Popular meats for smoking are pork shoulders, ribs, beef brisket and chicken.
2. Soak your wood chips – Since you are going to be placing the wood chips directly on top of the charcoal, it is a good idea to soak them for a minimum of two hours. If the wood chips aren’t properly soaked, they could burst into flames and potentially ruin your meat.
3. Light your charcoal – My recommendation is to use a chimney starter for this. A chimney starter is a cylinder that can be filled with charcoal. Newspaper is place underneath and lit on fire. This method will produce red hot coals within 15 – 20 minutes. You’ll need to have plenty of charcoal on hand, because you’ll want to add more to the charcoal smoker and grill about every hour.
4. Add liquid to the water pan – On most charcoalsmoker and grill combos, the water pan is located directly above the fire pan. It’s a good idea to add warm water rather than cold. Filling up a water pan with cold water could increase cooking times.
5. Put your meat on the grill and keep the lid closed – Ultimately, it’s all about the meat. As I mentioned, I would recommend smaller pieces of meat (three – five lbs). The good thing is that you can cook multiple pieces
   that are approximately the same size without adding time to the cooking process.

Other important things to remember;

• You will want to keep the temperature on your charcoal smoker and grill between 225 – 250 degrees. If you have an inexpensive smoker, you might want to consider upgrading the thermometer.
• In order to maintain the temperature, you will be adding charcoal throughout the process. Using this type of smoker isn’t something that you can “set it and forget it”.
• Don’t go crazy with the woods chips or the smoky taste of the meat could be too strong. A good rule of thumb is to add woods chips for half of the cooking time.

Smoking meat on a charcoal smoker and grill is an enjoyable process. It takes a little bit of time, but the end result is well worth it. There is nothing better than enjoying BBQ on a beautiful summer day. The fact that you made it yourself will make it even better.

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Choosing the Right Water Smoker - Charcoal, Propane or Electric

When it comes to choosing a water smoker, you have three options;

1. Charcoal Smoker and Grill
2. Propane Smoker
3. Electric Smoker

Deciding on what type of water smoker you purchase depends on a few things;

1. What is your budget?
2. Does it need to be portable?
3. How much time do you want to spend?
4. What type of food do you plan on preparing?
   

A Charcoal Smoker and Grill is my personal preference, but requires a little more effort. Generally, a charcoal smoker and grill (aka Bullet/Vertical Smoker) consists of three parts; fire pan, water pan, grilling surface. Since most meat you will be smoking will require several hours of cooking (approx. one hour per pound), then you will need to be continually monitoring the temperature. On average, you'll need to be added additional charcoal ever hour. The best way to prepare the charcoal is to use a Charcoal Chimney. Once the charcoal is hot, you can add it to the fire pan.

A Propane Smoker is portable, easy and convenient. The biggest advantage to a propane smoker is that you can easily control the temperature. They tend to be more expensive, but are a great low maintenance option for smoking meat.

An Electric Smoker is comparable to a Propane Smoker as far as portability, ease of use and convenience goes. The biggest downside to most electric smokers is that they do not have a temperature control. Another issue that some people have is that the heating elements tend to go bad. If you live in a location like an apartment, that does not allow charcoal or propane grills/smokers, then an electric version may be the choice for you.

As you can see, there are plenty of options available for choosing a water smoker. The most important thing is that you choose one and start smoking. I'm sure you'll find the experience to be enjoyable and the food wonderful.