Smokin' Out

Okay, I really don't know what started my week with talk of barbecue smokers, but I have to wonder if it all had a purpose.

Early this past week, a friend of mine at work brought up the idea of building a homemade barbecue smoker similar to Alton Brown's design. This design consists of a terracotta clay garden pot on stands or bricks with a grill grate and another clay pot turned over the first one. The heat source is a hot plate and a temperature gauge can be inserted in the top of the overturned clay pot. The smoke comes from wood chips submersed in water in a tin pie plate on the burner.

While this is a great idea, and if you have proper ventilation, can be pulled off indoors, it doesn't produce the same smoke rings or flavor that a true smoked piece of barbecue produces. Here are a few links for these Alton Brown smokers. To be as simple as they are, we all know, the food scientist himself doesn't make gimmicks.

http://mootpointtango.blogspot.com/2008/04/adventures-in-cooking-part-1-smoked.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/a-little-brown-egg-in-Maine:-terra-cotta-smoker/

http://www.naffziger.net/blog/2008/07/05/the-alton-brown-flower-pot-smoker/


My suggestion for the smoker was a design I saw on Primal Grill with Steven Raichlen.




In an unrelated video, this shows a barrel smoker at work. Similar design, a little different hardware.



I drew my own schematics and shared them with my friend. Our conclusion came to buy the materials for ours and one more and let our shop welders do the dirty work. Maybe that will speed things up. Considering it is the first of the spring, we could have these things ready for smoke around July 4th. Sooner if possible.

This is Where the Irony Hits

This past Saturday night, my wife and I went to a silent auction for the local Rotary Club. There were free drinks and quite a few people that we knew and spoke with. The most notable that we saw was an old college professor. We will call him by his Native American name of Mr. Assonshoulders.

As we walked around looking at the different items up for auction, one of those that was not all that hokey was an electric barbecue smoker, with wood chips and all. Mr. Assonshoulders was one that was bidding the most for this smoker. I knew he wanted it, because he kept a close eye on the bid sheet. As I made my smart alec move to drive the price up higher, I noticed that he was in a bidding war with someone already. I really wanted him to see my name and to know what I was doing, but I didn't want to have the other guy lose out. I neglected to do so because I thought he would enjoy sticking me with the bill. Then again. It was a smoker and it wouldn't have been a bad deal. And well, he still wears his ass on his shoulders, so no love lost.

Till next time.
H. Staff