Deciding how deep I should dive into the world of smokers

[thegreatstate]

Greetings from the great state of Montana. I was given a pit barrel smoker last year and have enjoyed it quite a bit. Recently I started watching YouTube videos on recipes and somehow ended up in the rabbit hole of building a smoker. My wife and I own a bakery cafe as well as a pottery studio and in my free time I enjoy metal fabrication and welding so this seems like something that could be way fun to build. On the other hand when I do a pork loin or something we eat about half and I have a freezer chocked full of half cuts of smoked meats. So a bigger smoker doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense… unless I build it for our store and start selling pulled pork breakfast burritos or something. Well that’s more than any of you really want to know so I’ll end it here. Cheers

 

[TNJAKE]

Welcome from Tennessee. Since you want to build and like metal fabrication look into building you a small cabinet smoker since you don't need/ want something big.

 

[DougE]

Welcome from Kentucky!

 

[chp]

Welcome from Colorado. If you enjoy smoking and fabrication, lots of people here to support those interests. Looking forward to hearing about build ideas.

 

[KimberlyO]

Welcome from Missouri!

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!
Glad to have you join us!
Al

 

[SKade]

Greetings from the great state of Montana. I was given a pit barrel smoker last year and have enjoyed it quite a bit. Recently I started watching YouTube videos on recipes and somehow ended up in the rabbit hole of building a smoker. My wife and I own a bakery cafe as well as a pottery studio and in my free time I enjoy metal fabrication and welding so this seems like something that could be way fun to build. On the other hand when I do a pork loin or something we eat about half and I have a freezer chocked full of half cuts of smoked meats. So a bigger smoker doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense… unless I build it for our store and start selling pulled pork breakfast burritos or something. Well that’s more than any of you really want to know so I’ll end it here. Cheers

Welcome. Build away! Make sure to show us the journey. Too much leftovers just means you need to invite more friends.

 

[schlotz]

Welcome from Indiana! Plenty members here can help you with the build questions. Too much left overs? Seems like a first world problem. You can always smoke more, vac freeze and sell in your shop(s) but make sure you know and can abide by the laws in your state regarding the prep and selling.

 

[BigW.]

Welcome. I can see a smoker as a bonus for the cafe. Even if it is one or two days a week type deal.

 

[JLeonard]

Welcome from Mississippi. Lots of info on here to glean through.
Like TNJAKE said above a small cabinet smoker may be what you looking for.

tx smoker built a might fine one that may be a good base to start from.

Cabinet Smoker Build: Take 2 (Long, Lotsa Pics, Good Info)

A few weeks ago I posted a cabinet smoker build I'd done and at the time, I was really happy with it, especially based on an extreme lack of metal fabricating experience. After running the smoker through the paces a few times I realized there were some major deficiencies. I was confident that...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Look forward to your post and pics.
Jim

 

[thegreatstate]

Welcome from Mississippi. Lots of info on here to glean through.
Like TNJAKE said above a small cabinet smoker may be what you looking for.

tx smoker built a might fine one that may be a good base to start from.

Cabinet Smoker Build: Take 2 (Long, Lotsa Pics, Good Info)

A few weeks ago I posted a cabinet smoker build I'd done and at the time, I was really happy with it, especially based on an extreme lack of metal fabricating experience. After running the smoker through the paces a few times I realized there were some major deficiencies. I was confident that...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Look forward to your post and pics.
Jim

That’s really a sweet smoker, is the gas line used to start the fire? Or is it a gas smoker

 

[JLeonard]

That’s really a sweet smoker, is the gas line used to start the fire? Or is it a gas smoker

Is a gas burner if I remember correctly. uses a tray for wood chunks to make smoke. Robert has that thing dialed in like a kitchen oven.

Jim

 

[DRKsmoking]

Welcome from Nova Scotia

This is the right place for a little Show and Tell, and some fun along the way.

David

 

[netspyder]

greetings fron 'near' stl mo! seems i'm late to the party, but better late than never! there are as many shapes and sizes of smokers as there are different fuels to use to cook with. if you often find yourself with leftovers that you can't finish before they go bad - maybe a smaller cooker is the thing - maybe try a miniature of the one you have - so that you don't have to use as much fuel to get it going, and maybe will only accommodate a half loin - and you could vac the other half and smoke it later. folks might laugh at you "countertop-sized" smoker until you have just the right amount of grub for the crowd you have at a fraction of the cost of fuel of the bigger smokers. there's some science behind building a smoker... and, i admit i don't have a handle on all of that yet, but i'm also going to give it a go this spring/summer!