# Dave the smoker



## dave the smoker (Aug 13, 2014)

Hi, I'm from north east Ohio. I grill almost every night and smoke every weekend, even through the cold winters here. Smoking is my passion so I thought I would join this forum and meet people with the same hobby to talk about old stories and new ideas to try.


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## dish (Aug 13, 2014)

Welcome Dave.  This has been a very helpful site on finding different ideas on smoking.  What is your setup for smoking?


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## dave the smoker (Aug 13, 2014)

It's kind of an upright , indirect brick smoker I guess. It's kind of my own creation .. I made the inside out of the firebox from an old woodburner with fan forced draft. The grill is directly above the firebox and the smoker to the side. It's electronically controlled by a thermostat in the smoker side and a small control box. I can hold any temp I tell it for days with no fluctuation in temp once the bricks heat up . Fires with wood only. I love it.


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## dave the smoker (Aug 13, 2014)

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## dave the smoker (Aug 13, 2014)

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## gary s (Aug 13, 2014)

Hello and welcome to the forum, Great place to learn and share and a bunch of good people.

Gary S


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## disco (Aug 13, 2014)

Welcome from Canada, Dave.








Great looking rig you have there. I look forward to your  posts.

Disco


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## loniblaze (Aug 13, 2014)

wow. that is nice!


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## foamheart (Aug 13, 2014)

Welcome to the boards!

Nice deck Dave. You should have no problem with patience while smoking with all that comfort around there.

Will be looking forward to watching your smokes!


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## addertooth (Aug 13, 2014)

Your brick smoker is cool!  I guess you never have to worry about your meat stalling.  This site is a wealth of information (except my posts).  I have spent the better part of a month reading the posts, learning new stuff with page read, it has prevented me from making horrible mistakes.  This site is worth it's weight in Filet Mignon!


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## rob sicc (Aug 14, 2014)

dave the smoker said:


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WOW Dave, beautiful deck.  That looks like you've created your self a wonderful smoking environment.  Welcome to the forum. You will be happy you joined.


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## themule69 (Aug 14, 2014)

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David


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## dave the smoker (Aug 16, 2014)

Thank you all very much for all the kind words. Here's the back of my beast, has a wood storage closet and a feed door and ash clean out. It's a little taller than I thought so I think a back porch under the feed door is in the future. 













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Trying to decide on a turkey or beef short ribs for tomorrow......


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## gary s (Aug 16, 2014)

Both !!!

Gary S


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## GaryHibbert (Aug 16, 2014)

Hey  Dave

Welcome to the Smoking  forum.   You’ll find great , friendly people here, all more than willing to answer any question you may have.  Just ask and you’ll get about 10 different answers—all right.  LOL.   Don’t forget to post qviews.

Gary


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## dave the smoker (Aug 16, 2014)

I ended up with a big old turkey I'm brining overnight in water, kosher salt and dark brown sugar    And I got 2 racks of short ribs because I'm so indecisive.. For too night I thought is through some stuff
Together on the grill. It might not turn out to goof but I browned a pound of ground beef and added a jar of pizza sauce . I then sliced up some zucchini and grilled one side . After I turned it over I added the beef mixture and some fresh mozzarella and jalapeños  and Hungarians .  I hope it  tastes ok.













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## rob sicc (Aug 17, 2014)

I smoked 2 chickens today and I brined them.  It was the first time smoking birds and first time Iever brined chickens.  it was awesome.  I will be creating a thread with pictures of the smoke later tonight.


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## dave the smoker (Aug 17, 2014)

Sounds great. I smoked 20 chicken halves I brined for my 4th of July party. I also had room for 3 racks of ribs and 7 pounds if sausage but the chickens were the hot item..  I think the overnight brining makes all the difference. 













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## dave the smoker (Aug 17, 2014)

Today I smoked the turkey I brined overnight, it was only a 10 pound turkey since it was the first one in my new smoker . I also did shirt ribs and smoked a pan of stuffing.  The stuffing was amazing..  Everything turned  out great. Ready for thanksgiving for a big one now.













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## dave the smoker (Aug 17, 2014)

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## rob sicc (Aug 17, 2014)

dave the smoker said:


> Sounds great. I smoked 20 chicken halves I brined for my 4th of July party. I also had room for 3 racks of ribs and 7 pounds if sausage but the chickens were the hot item.. I think the overnight brining makes all the difference.
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> ...


Were you able to fit all of that in the smoker in the picture?  If so, what model is this smoker.  The size is misleading.

As for brining, I'm sold! 

I have a question about smoking sausage.  When you smoke sausage, where do you get your sausages?  I looked in the local supermarket and everything was already smoked.  I guess I need to go to a good butcher?


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## dave the smoker (Aug 17, 2014)

It's a home made smoker. I work in a machine shop / weld shop so I made a steel frame and sheeted it with stainless steel. Then bricked it into my smoker. I was able to fit 4 chickens wide and two deep on the racks so two of the racks have 16 chicken halves. One rack has two of the ribs and the sausage and one has 4 chicken halves and the last I the ribs. I am lucky enough to live about 2 miles from one of the best butchers around. You can get anything from 1/2 beefs to a whole hog to a single steak or sausage. I get a case of 12 chickens that are halved ( 24 halves) for about $55. Makes great party food because I don't have to carve or slice anything. Just give everyone a half a chicken and your done.. Lol..


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## rob sicc (Aug 17, 2014)

dave the smoker said:


> It's a home made smoker. I work in a machine shop / weld shop so I made a steel frame and sheeted it with stainless steel. Then bricked it into my smoker. I was able to fit 4 chickens wide and two deep on the racks so two of the racks have 16 chicken halves. One rack has two of the ribs and the sausage and one has 4 chicken halves and the last I the ribs. I am lucky enough to live about 2 miles from one of the best butchers around. You can get anything from 1/2 beefs to a whole hog to a single steak or sausage. I get a case of 12 chickens that are halved ( 24 halves) for about $55. Makes great party food because I don't have to carve or slice anything. Just give everyone a half a chicken and your done.. Lol..


ROFL.  I can see how the half chickens are good for that.  I halved them myself.  It was only 2 chickens so it wasn't a big deal.  $55 for 24 halves sounds like a great price too.  Wish I lived closer.  I will talk to my local butcher.  he has awesome beef.  I never notice sausage.  i'll check this week. 

And BTW, very nice smoker.


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## GaryHibbert (Aug 18, 2014)

Hey Dave

Welcome to the Smoking  forum.   You’ll find great , friendly people here, all more than willing to answer any question you may have.  Just ask and you’ll get about 10 different answers—all right.  LOL.   Don’t forget to post qviews.

Gary


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## dave the smoker (Aug 31, 2014)

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Today I added a 10w LED outdoor light on my smoker chimney aiming down towards the grill side. Yesterday I smoked some hungarians stuffed with sausage and some ribs.took a little longer then I thought so when I was grilling up the sides ( corn on the cob and redskin potatoes ) it was kind if dark and I needed some light. I took care if that little issue today so I sould be set for night grilling. I ran heat resistant wire through my brick chimney which has a 6" steel liner so I think all will be good.


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## dave the smoker (Sep 1, 2014)

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Worked great!!


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