Smoking in the rain

[thomthomkc]

So I know this is a bit of a tough question to answer as "what's your definition of raining hard" but how hard is too hard for it to rain and now ruin a good smoke?  I was hoping to fire up the smoker for the first time this year this weekend but according to weather.com we have a 30% chance of a "few showers" this weekend.  I know snow isn't a huge deal unless its a blizzard but rain has me more worried.  Obviously if its causing an issue with keeping the fire going thats a problem.  Guess my main question is it really an issue if some rain gets in the seams and gets on the meat.  I know it just water and all, but none the less kinda made me wonder.

 

[kathrynn]

When it rains here.....I smoke just outside of my garage....smoke blows out and no rain gets in.  Do you have a cover or something where you can put your smoker?

Kat

 

[smokin backyard]

I smoked a shoulder one day in a pretty steady drizzle. Temps were in the high 60's that day. The only effect that I noticed was it kept the temp inside the smoker down.

Within 10 min. of putting the EZ Up overhead the temp shot up 10-15 degrees! Plus it was nice not getting soaked!

 

[smokinhusker]

Unless we are having gale force winds (it blows all the time here), I smoke when I want to (rain, snow, etc).

 

[thomthomkc]

First of all thanks for all the responses so far.

Backyard:  Are you talking about a pop up canopy?  I do indeed have one but couldn't the heat mess up the canopy as they are partially plastic?

 

[smokinclt]

Rain is a bummer. I have and do smoke in the rain but I need to put more fuel in the FB to keep temps. I had one smoke going and it was clear and fairly dry out then along came a cold rain. Dropped my temp by almost 30 degrees.. That is a bummer and a big scramble to deal with it. I use a pop up over everything but my stack and FB and it works well. Its about 3' over the top of the smoker so especially while raining heat is not an issue. 

I would say go for it. Just keep your eyes open and if it starts cover as best you can and make sure you have fuel prepped to bring temp back up. 

Doug

 

[seenred]

Back when I was doing all my smoking in my old New Braunfels stick burner, I used to get wet occasionally.  Rain was a bit of a challenge, but didn't stop the smoke.  These days I do most of my cooking on either a GOSM gasser or an MES40.  If theres a chance of inclement weather I put it under my covered porch.  I still have to adjust for wind and cold, but precip no longer worries me.

 

[dward51]

Unless your exhaust from the smoker is close to the EZ-Up canopy, I don't think it is a problem.  You see them used all the time in competitions and with grills at large gatherings (and grills put out a lot more heat than a smoker).

What type of smoker do you have?  Depending on the size you might could make a simple shelter you can use when necessary and take apart and store when you don't need it.  I've even seen photos of smaller smokers like WSM's with an umbrella used for a rain shelter.

When we had our back deck rebuilt a few years ago, I added a roof with 12' ceilings to half of it.  That's where my smokers and grill live now.  Worth every penny I spent on having that done.  We had hail damage and they were doing a total re-roof as well so it just made sense to do it then so we could tie the new into the old seamlessly.  Only added about $500 to the cost of the overall project.

 

[bruno994]

The biggest factor as others have stated is the temp drop on the pit itself, making fire management more crucial and a need for more fuel and more air to the fire to get and keep the temps up.  I have an umbrella mount on my trailer rig to cover the majority of the pit and my sink and prep area.  If it starts raining too hard while at a comp, I have to move my canopy around to help cover the firebox, hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will one day. 

DECJAN PICS 036.jpg

• bruno994
• Mar 21, 2013

 

[go4abliss]

I would think that you can used an patio umbrella with stand to cover the firebox area. Im alway smoking in the rain, since I lived in northwest. But then my smoker is under a covered patio.

 

[thomthomkc]

Alot of great points, tips, and suggestions here that I will use in my up coming smoke and in the future.  I'm actually getting married in June so and will be moving at that point so hopefully this will be the only smoke that might be troubled by weather till then.  Once everything settles down I'll have to look into building some sort of shelter as some of you have suggested.

 

[ravenclan]

i use my patio umbrella when it rains but now i put the smoker at the garage door just out of the rain and smoke there , that way i have a place to stay dry and i can sit in the garage and if you are like me watch TV or listen to the radio !

 

[dward51]

Alot of great points, tips, and suggestions here that I will use in my up coming smoke and in the future.  I'm actually getting married in June so and will be moving at that point so hopefully this will be the only smoke that might be troubled by weather till then.  Once everything settles down I'll have to look into building some sort of shelter as some of you have suggested.

Congratulations, and when you and the Misses are house hunting remember to look for a covered back porch as a selling point

(assuming your smoker would fit, if not a big enough yard to have space to put in a covered carport for the large smoker, right?)

 

[thomthomkc]

Haha thanks I appreciate it.  We are both really excited.

Ya when the time comes and we start looking for our long term home an approriate man cave and meat smoking area will be a priority I can promise you that!