No idea how to use Stone Age cabinet smoker

[luvbuniz]

Hello
I recently inherited a stone age cabinet wood smoker and have no idea how to use it. I was thinking of trying it out with a small beef rib roast. Does anyone have an experience of smokers of this type? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Sorry no help but for sure an interesting piece.

Warren

 

[02ebz06]

Welcome to the forum from New Mexico.
When I saw the subject line I though you were just talking about the age of it. Haha
Then I saw the temp gauge.

I would assume it is like other smokers. Fire in bottom and meat at the top.
Not sure what the door above the firebox is for. Maybe a water pan or direct cooking over the fire.

Looks like a great smoker.

 

[JLeonard]

Cool looking cooker!

Jim

 

[1MoreFord]

I think the pans are reversed.
I think the top pan is a charcoal maze that should be on the bottom and the bottom pan is a water pan that should be on top.

 

[rjob]

Try this, looks like a nice product. Operating instructions can be downloaded.

Little Pig™ Cabinet Smoker | Stone Age Manufacturing

The Little Pig™ Cabinet Smoker delivers the ultimate in low and slow barbecue, distilling the best combination of features available into a single package that may be finished to perfectly match your home and outdoor living area.

stoneagemanufacturing.com

 

[luvbuniz]

The door above the firebox is called the drip shelf

 

[pineywoods]

Looks like a very nice unit are there any adjustable vents in the fire box area? You need to make sure the exhaust vent is there and is open for the smoke to exit if there is an adjustment to open and close it make sure it's wide open or close to it before starting.
Basically burn wood splits in the bottom "firebox" I would make the splits just a little shorter than the firebox and maybe 3-4". To start the fire I would either use a little propane torch or maybe start with come charcoal then light it and once going good put maybe 3 or 4 splits in. I think your going to have to play with the number of splits you need to keep the fire around the temp you want. Just add splits before the other ones burn all the way down again add enough to keep the temps where you want them. I like to smoke at 225-250 and anywhere in that range is fine don't try to get and maintain and exact temp.
The "drip pan" would be the next thing does it hold liquid? If yes you may consider adding water to it to create a heat sync to keep temps more stable. The other thin I would consider is to line the "inside" with aluminum foil to make clean up easier.
Looks like you have 4 racks for the meat to go on that's a good amount of space. Load the meat on the racks and have fun.
Those are just my thoughts may be right may not

 

[thirdeye]

So, I'm confused. Is this a built in smoker? I'll read thru the posted links above and maybe it will make more sense.

Anyways, I've cooked a lot on a cabinet smoker that has a similar design... maybe better insulated. But fire away with questions.

 

[Winterrider]

Looks like a really nice smoker. Dry run with charcoal or wood until you get your temps figured out. Run a digital thermometer inside also to compare temps with. Good luck, looks like fun.

 

[BigW.]

That is a really cool built-in. Should make some great food.

 

[thirdeye]

Now I'm up to speed. And I was wrong about insulation, that smoker is very well insulated. That's a great design. As long as there are no issues with intake, draw (draft), and exhaust... or issues with the fire brick or outer block wall you should be good to go.

I think I would start with a test fire using lump charcoal. I didn't see any photos of the fire box itself. Is there a charcoal basket, or an elevated rack? My choice for lighting charcoal is a weed burner or a MapPro torch (the yellow tank), but there are plenty of wax style lighter cubes and 'Tumbleweeds' that work too. An inexpensive oven thermometer (rub some cooking oil on the glass dial) will give you an idea of the actual temp on each grate. Move it from grate to grate during your test fire. Another method you can use is called the 'biscuit test'. Buy a cheap tube of biscuits, and make 12 squares of aluminum foil. Put 1 biscuit on each square. When you get the smoker warmed up, place the biscuits on each rack (left, center, right) and close the door. Check after 10 minutes and you will immediately see where your hot and cold spots are. Take a photo for future reference.

If all goes well, a small rib roast is a perfect 1st cook, because they like low pit temps and they are naturally tender. Here are some estimated cook times at various temps. But only use the time as a guide. You want to monitor the internal meat temp so you don't overcook the roast.

3 pound boneless roast (tied) - 245° - 2 hours to reach 128°
4 pound roast - 220°-228° pit temp - 2 hours to reach 125°
5-1/2 pound roast - 230° pit temp - 3 hours to reach 125°
5-3/4 pound roast - 245° average pit temp - 3 hours 45 minutes to reach 127°

One tip that might work for you is to start your fire, then after about 15 minutes, open the main door a few inches and use a torch to warm up the cabinet. This saves some time waiting on the coals to do all of the work. I'm betting once you have an established fire it will be easy to maintain, and hopefully you will have some consistent heat zones.

 

[uncle eddie]

Place-holder.
Just wanting to see more on this thread....

 

[jcam222]

In to follow. Looks like an awesome smoker! Will take a cook or three to get air flow / temp control down.

 

[civilsmoker]

I think you scored a really really really nice built in unit, including the tel-tru therm (top of the line and really the only one that works really good).

Fire up a chimney of coals and the put a split or two on that and let it smoke!

 

[luvbuniz]

Thanks for all the great advice. There's no vents on the bottom but there is an exhaust fan above it. There's some wood from the previous owner and also my father in law has hickory wood.
I think its a great idea to try using biscuits and foil to check for cold spots. I'm thinking getting a Meater Bluetooth thermometer, will that work for a cabinet smoker? I will get aluminum drip pans for the drip shelf. My only experience with smoking is the Traeger. BTW, the previous owner also left a Grillworks Argentine Grill and a Calflame propane burner.

 

[uncle eddie]

Although I have no personal experience with this particular type of cabinet smoker, after looking closely at the pics again, it does remind me a bit of one of my friends REALLY HUGE stick smoker. He mostly ran it with the firebox door closed but if he needed a higher temp (windy or cold days), he would open it a bit, or a lot and sometimes even use a small fan a few feet away to fan the splits in the fire-box (this gobbled up the splits!)

I am curious if the Meater will Bluetooth connect through this smoker. Please let us know. It works fine with my MES40 - Bluetooth-ing through the back side of my MES 40 and the house exterior wall to my iPad.

 

[thirdeye]

In this video at about the 2 minute mark, it shows 3 vents on the firebox door.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Thanks for all the great advice. There's no vents on the bottom but there is an exhaust fan above it. There's some wood from the previous owner and also my father in law has hickory wood.
I think its a great idea to try using biscuits and foil to check for cold spots. I'm thinking getting a Meater Bluetooth thermometer, will that work for a cabinet smoker? I will get aluminum drip pans for the drip shelf. My only experience with smoking is the Traeger. BTW, the previous owner also left a Grillworks Argentine Grill and a Calflame propane burner.

WoW! All that together makes for a really nice setup.

 

[civilsmoker]

Yup you scored on the whole set up. Looking at the front of your unit I think the little bottom door in your fire box door is the air supply for the fire. Look at the inside of it to see if it has some kind of adjustable system for air gap.

PS I would love to see a pic of your Argentine Grill set as well. I'm a HUGE fan of them!