hello, all -
i bought new little chief and big chief smokers at a garage sale (25$ for both). neither of these has seen much use at all, and i figured that this looked like a great place to learn how to get the most out of them. any advice, experience, tips, mods etc. would be appreciated.
for instance, the chief smokers are either on or off, as you know, and temperatures are very dependent on outside conditions. has anyone found a way to control temperature better, perhaps by wiring in a rheostat or dimmer switch? how to go about it? how did it work? the directions say not to soak the chips, but i did once anyway, and it seemed that the fish turned out better that way, not so much like jerky. should i not have done that? any other tips or tricks? when i smoked some cheese and fresh bratwursts, i put a pan of ice on the bottom above the element in order to keep it from getting too hot in there. good idea? any other suggestions?
i have used maple, apple, cherry, alder and hickory, and have come to like them all in that order, depending on what i am doing.
thanks in advance to all for replies; i look forward to learning from you all and seeing how best to enjoy these units.
ron
i bought new little chief and big chief smokers at a garage sale (25$ for both). neither of these has seen much use at all, and i figured that this looked like a great place to learn how to get the most out of them. any advice, experience, tips, mods etc. would be appreciated.
for instance, the chief smokers are either on or off, as you know, and temperatures are very dependent on outside conditions. has anyone found a way to control temperature better, perhaps by wiring in a rheostat or dimmer switch? how to go about it? how did it work? the directions say not to soak the chips, but i did once anyway, and it seemed that the fish turned out better that way, not so much like jerky. should i not have done that? any other tips or tricks? when i smoked some cheese and fresh bratwursts, i put a pan of ice on the bottom above the element in order to keep it from getting too hot in there. good idea? any other suggestions?
i have used maple, apple, cherry, alder and hickory, and have come to like them all in that order, depending on what i am doing.
thanks in advance to all for replies; i look forward to learning from you all and seeing how best to enjoy these units.
ron
