Newbie from Alabama

[sandi374]

Hey Guys!! We have been doing a little research on getting started smoking. We haven't bought a smoker yet but would love to have one. We love to make jerky so we are trying to see if that's even possible with a smoker. We love to camp and want something we can take with us to cook our meals. Thanks for welcoming me to this group.

 

[dukeburger]

Welcome to SMF.

Are you looking at getting a charcoal or a gas smoker? Since you want to take it camping, I'm assuming you don't want an electric. The key to making jerky in a smoker is LOW temps. (under 180 degrees) Easier done in a charcoal than a gasser from my experience. The Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) would be a great choice IMO.

 

[SmokinAl]

:welcome1: to the forum.

Glad to have you aboard.

Al

 

[joe black]

Welcome from SC. It's good to have you here on this great site.

 

[rabbithutch]

Howdy, Sandi!

Welcome from central Texas!

Sounds to me like what you need is a DIY mini-WSM.

A Weber Smokey Joe grill brand new is $30 at Lowes or wallyworld. A tamale steamer to fit is about $20 (around here, anyway). A few bucks for grill grates, bolts and eye-bolts, and a flower pot saucer and bob's yer uncle.

There are some great threads here about mini builds. Do a little searching and you'll find lots of ideas.

Have fun!

 

[sandi374]

Well folks we bought a master built duel fuel smoker. Now we are as lost as can be. Lol. I am searching here for pointers. I sure hope we didn't make a mistake by buying this one. It's our first one and it's going to be a learning experience.

 

[sandi374]

Well folks we bought a master built duel fuel smoker. Now we are as lost as can be. Lol. I am searching here for pointers. I sure hope we didn't make a mistake by buying this one. It's our first one and it's going to be a learning experience.

 

[sandi374]

We just got thru smoking some snack sticks. We prepped the deer hamburger meat in a Jalapeño flavored dry mix. Put them in their casings and off to the smoker we went. Now for the lessons to learn. We measured out the links to fit the grill bed of the smoker. Pre heated the smoker and then put the trays in. We couldn't get below 150 degrees. We opened the door slightly and got a little lower. We had hickory chips in the pan and no water. All vents open. We smoked for almost three hours rotating the trays once. At that point we popped one open and it looked fine. Internal temp wasn't there yet so we closed the door and vents and it got to about 240 in the box with inside temp at 170. So we cut the smoker off and pulled the meat. We cut it up and put it in the fridge (I keep all jerky in fridge). It tasted good. Wasn't dry. Now why or what did we do wrong? We saw where some had cooked for 8-10 hours and then heated it up to get the IT. Thanks ahead of time for any help.

image.jpeg

• sandi374
• Jul 25, 2016

 

[dukeburger]

Hard to say what went wrong, the final product looks great!

If you were using charcoal, while opening the door drops the chamber temp initially, the coals will feed off of the extra oxygen and heat right up.

Consider adding a AMNPS to your chamber for smoking under 150 degrees. Will save you a world of headaches.

http://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnps5x8.htm

 

[sandi374]

Sorry I forgot to tell I have a duel fuel master built and used the propane. Will this pellet device work on my smoker too?

 

[dukeburger]

Sorry I forgot to tell I have a duel fuel master built and used the propane. Will this pellet device work on my smoker too?

I do not own one myself yet. But as long as you have a place to put it that is away from burners, has sufficient oxygen and is not in a food drip zone (or have a way to cover it), you are good to go.

Hoping a AMNPS user can confirm.