# Home Built smokers



## fielies (Jan 18, 2012)

Hallo all smokers.  I'm a  newby.  I used to do distilling, and now changed my hobby to smoking.  Built myself an electrical smoker with an oven element underneath and a reostat to control the heat.  I thought it would be expensive to run so I made a still from an old geyser's inside, with a small compartment next to it for a fire. I hope for a happy smoking future and to share experiences


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## sunman76 (Jan 18, 2012)

hello and welcome to SMF you should go over to roll call and get a offical SMF greeting.


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## clyde79 (Jan 18, 2012)

u mean whiskey? that makes u god like


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## ecto1 (Jan 18, 2012)

Welcome to SMF glad you can join us.  We are big on Pics and love to help everyone out.  Remember the only question that is dumb is one not asked.  You will not find a friendlier place to talk Que on the web.

You are going to fit in just fine.


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## big andy a (Jan 18, 2012)

Welcome to the SMF party!

Curt.


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## tyotrain (Jan 18, 2012)

Welcome to SMF its nice to have ya... Have fun and Happy smoking


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## scrappynadds (Jan 18, 2012)

You have come to Smoking heaven ..........Everything you ever need to know about smoking is at your finger tips.... Welcome and good luck


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## fielies (Jan 19, 2012)

Thanks for your replies, and very friendly attitude towards a newbie

I am planning to smoke a piece of pork during the coming  weekend ,probably something small at first, I don't know the difference between charcoal  and wood smokers,

and reverse smoke, is that rather for the wood smoker?

I probably need a recipe for the ingredients. any suggestions?

I'll post some photos later on .


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## SmokinAl (Jan 19, 2012)

Welcome to SMF! Glad to have you with us!

Would you please update your profile info to include your location. Thanks!


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## solaryellow (Jan 19, 2012)

Welcome. No more need to worry about getting cuts right and the angel's share becomes the chef's share. ;o)


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## johnnie walker (Jan 19, 2012)

Welcome to SMF, the friendliest place on the web. You can smoke here and nobody complains, because we all do it.


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## jno51 (Jan 19, 2012)

Welcome Aboard,

As mentioned above, you are at the right place for all your smoking needs and more. Great folks to help you out with most anything.

"UP IN SMOKE" from Texas


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## mballi3011 (Jan 19, 2012)

First off welcome to SMF. You'll really like this place for there are a bunch of really good folks here that would just love to help you with just about anything to do with smoking meat. Then if you have any questions you just post them here or yu can try in chat for a faster answer. If you are really new to all of this I would recommend that you look up and take the e-course. It is free and it will also give you the basics on smoking. So with all that said now go and get something to smoke.

Welcome To Your New Addiction


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## scarbelly (Jan 19, 2012)

Welcome to SMF - looks like the South African contingent is growing rapidly. Looking forward to seeing what you smoke


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## alelover (Jan 19, 2012)

Nice to have you. Nice folks here with lots of knowledge to share. You guys almost have enough for a South Africa get together.


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## fielies (Jan 19, 2012)

Seems to be a long process , smoking meat, on a brisket 18 hours, yes and smoke for half the time, and before everything 12 hours in the fridge , must be nice, hope to manage the wait.

 First of all find a nice piece of pork, going to  start tomorrow,

What about the black ember from the flame, that is what we wash off, after first heat .


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## sunman76 (Jan 19, 2012)

fielies said:


> Seems to be a long process , smoking meat, on a brisket 18 hours, yes and smoke for half the time, and before everything 12 hours in the fridge , must be nice, hope to manage the wait.
> 
> First of all find a nice piece of pork, going to  start tomorrow,
> 
> ...


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## sprky (Jan 19, 2012)

to SMF. You have come to the right place for smoking info. This site is loaded with great info just use the search bar at top of page to find what you are looking for. If you can't locate the answer just ask folks here are willing to share there knowledge. I suggest you take  the 5 day e-course on smoking its chuck full of great info.Smoking Basics 5-Day eCourse


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## beeboq (Jan 19, 2012)

Welcome... Now back to this "still" you talk about.....  better watch out for the revenuer man.  I think that is what George Jones sang about in " White Lightening"

Can make some nice sauces with whiskey, how about trying some moonshine.


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## fielies (Jan 20, 2012)

Hi guys, I bought a piece of meat, came back with boston shoulder. It's too big for me on my own, wife doesn;t eat meat. So I cut it in half and placed it in brine and injected it.

Im not sure how long it will take to smoke, I'm going to start tomorrow.  I further don't have a heat temperature gauge fitted on the outside of the smoker.  Im also not sure whether I should use wood or charcoal.


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## fielies (Jan 20, 2012)

Hi Beeboq, I would like to try the whiskey flavouring recipe as long as the alcohol evaporates (alcohol-free)


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## diesel (Jan 20, 2012)

First off, welcome.  Looks like a nice smoker you have built.  It should do a good job. 

I noticed a few questions you have asked. 

charcoal or wood. 

You can use just wood or just charcoal or both.  I had a smoker like yours and I would use charcoal and then add a chunk of wood or two every couple of hours. This is the fun part of smoking meat.  Trial and error.  Some things will be good and some will not.  I made sure to document everything I did until I found the technique I liked most.  Also, the people that eat your product will let you know if it is good or not.

You mentioned you didn't have a thermometer on the smoker.  I used an old oven thermometer and just placed it on the rack and when you open the door to check the meat make sure your not running to hot or too cold.  I also hold my hand on the cooker door.  If you can't put your hand on there then it is too hot.  This may sound like a lot of stuff but after a few cooks you will see what I mean. 

All the advice that has been given so far from everyone is good to follow.  And you said you were into distilling.  If you can do that then smoking meat will be a easy. 

Good luck and make sure to post some picts (Qview) of you cooking. 

We all love to see the Qview.


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## alelover (Jan 20, 2012)

You really do need a thermometer.


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## fielies (Jan 21, 2012)

thanks you guys,

the thermometer is needed, yes i find the inside one difficult to read , cause it become smoky.and i wonder how am i going to look after my smoker during the night, cause i will sleep.


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## fielies (Jan 21, 2012)

I bought a Boston shoulder, cut in 2 thought i will do one, decided on doing both, took this photo after 12 hours , hard wood makes my temperature going  up and down, now it time to sleep, and will probably take a dip in temp.


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## fielies (Jan 22, 2012)

This morning I placed it in foil , put it in my electrical smoker at 250 F, after 1 hour removed waited half an hour , pulled the bones out ,so soft and nice I ate too much, got rid of the tough skin, dogs enjoyed it. so now it is in the fridge, will cut it up later, i made a sause of the drips and am very pleased with my first attempt.


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## SmokinAl (Jan 22, 2012)

It looks delicious! Great job!


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## fielies (Jan 24, 2012)

The butt that i smoked, looks different than other peoples one's , mine had some top ribs and shoulder bone, i went to a butcher here , showed him the picture of the Boston butt and he cut it straight out , so now i'm confused , do you guys buy it deboned? mine had a skin on too, should have removed it, the lucky dogs got it, i wish i could have it , but it's tough.

next time i will try spare ribs, We are still eating the big butt, everyone enjoys it. i used local wood, no apple or hickery wood here, the local wood is hard and is normally used for barbecues ,  and it smoked  a lot when i introduced a new piece

i want to try some sausage , reading about it makes me want to add nitig... (?).. (can't remember what it's called), where am i going to find that?, and i would also like to try making jams (mango jel ) -  still looking for pektin.


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## fielies (Feb 11, 2012)

The word that i was looking for was sodium nitrite, so i went to the butcher asked him for some, he told me that he mixes two sodium's  quite similar named to sodium  nitrite, hes suggested that i use this mixture mixed with salt ,onto the chicken that i bought , and that it will provide a nice brown color, i wanted to use it in a sausage mix, and will keep some for that.

the wood we use here is saligna.

so i had a accident also today, pored petrol on the wood to start the fire. it somehow spilled and when it lite , it gave woof towards me burned me slightly , this happened so fast , cant believe got me on the cheek.

so the chicken is in on a coke can , will peep at it after 2 hours .


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## geerock (Feb 11, 2012)

Sorry about the accident, but you found reason #2 for NOT using gas to start a fire that you are going to cook on.  #1 is it probably will give the food an off taste.  I know you are probably putting food in the smoker after the wood has gotten going but the fumes are still getting on the smoker walls and such.  Use something else, anything else, but petrol.


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## fielies (Feb 12, 2012)

thanks Geerock, Today i am better thanks to good medicine , well i did the chicken , bit to fast, the skin was dark ,but inside was good, the breasts were bit dry so today i got hold of Indian spices cut the remainder meat in small pieces, put the in a pan with spices plus the jelly of the drip pan , it came out nice with a smoky flavor


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## africanmeat (Feb 12, 2012)

Man it looks yummy


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