Choosing a Smoker
While I was up to the Bass Pro Shops store in Auburn Hills, besides the deep fryer there was a smoker on the list to pick up. Now, I had a barrel type Coleman charcoal smoker already and it was nice for doing a ham, chicken, turkey, and other meal sized portions of meat. It looks like I will be getting into salmon fishing somewhere in the near future. Which means more gear, well some additional new gear anyway.
It also meant new and exciting ways to cook yet another type of fish. I’ve done the trout or salmon on the grill before. Your basic get your foil, sprinkle on some salt, ground pepper, lemon juice and some tomato slices. Turns out wonderful when eating your meal then and there. But I had to start looking down the road for a long term solution to what could be a rather large freezer full of fish.
The wheels started turning, sometimes grinding on the solution. Finally decided that a smoker was going to be the long term solution. Besides the fish, I can do a host of other large type meals there too, thinking here is the big family type parties. Now I can say the word pork butt without getting slapped silly by the nearest female. I also have to find out this; just what exactly is a dry rub, and can I make my own?!
So I started looking at models, features, electric, charcoal and propane. I was already heading up to the BPS store for the fryer and to do a lil’ shopping, so I looked over what they had available on their website. They had a nice deal going on with a MasterBuilt electric smoker, regularly 200 bucks, but on sale for $175 with another $25 off with a mail-in rebate. Lets face it, fifty bucks is fifty bucks, but it was a bit on the small size.
I had asked around, and the folks that I know who actually have them had said they might have had different models before, but they pretty much said they had finally settled on propane. Why go through all the mistakes they had made already when I make enough on my own without their help. So, if that made any sense I really started to center on the propane models.
The nice thing about the BPS website is that they do not only list their products, but they have a space available with each product for those who have bought already, to post reviews. These aren’t your basic kissy-up type reviews that you get from field reps, if there is something wrong with it, you can find out ahead of time. A good example is the fryer that I also got that day, great fryer, burner works great, but crappy thermometer with the kit. I studied the subject and said, no big deal, there are good dependable models available for a reasonable price. I can live with that for being able to cook outdoors.
I settled finally on this $200 dollar model from Smokey Mountain. Question for those who studied geography a little more than I did, do the Smokey Mountains actually make their way up through Canada, because that is where it is built. Anyway, figured it was better than China.
So on my list, and heading north to take a look. Before I finally handed over the cold hard cash, I grilled the employees over details, not only of this particular model, but others in their display area. Turns out, in this case anyways, the homework paid off and I had done good. Not only for the money, because there were more expensive models available, but because of the features and personal use, this was a good unit.
The guys up there even recommended using a blend of hickory and apple chips for my wood. They said, that mesquite tends to dry out meat. That in retail vernacular is referred to as an add-on sale, ugh, and for two bucks a bag, I will give it a try.
Next up, I going to build a rolling cart for this bad boy, bolt the smoker down, and build a cradle next to it for securing the 20 lb propane tank. Don’t expect any pics soon, getting the boats ready comes first.