Smoking in the winter

[jeffj]

Well it can get a little cold in this part of the nation. So, does that hamper smoking? I would think that it would help keep the temperature down for the slow smoke. I also think that it would be a bit more work keeping the temperature up high enough to cook the meat. Anyone else smoke in the winter in the cold?

 

[scpatterson]

I smoke all year.....I dont like to in the rain but only because I go in and out of the house and just dont like making a mess

 

[meat hunter]

Well as your neighbor to the North, I know what you mean about cold LOL. I have smoked in the winter. In fact, I joined this site after the new year, when it was still cold out. All I had was a big chief. I managed to get that thing up and over 200 degrees. I had to wrap the entire thing in 6" of household insulation, which I do not recommend as the cord started to turn into a jelly worm. I have since built an offset so the cold will present new problems to tackle. I think I will be good to go if I wrap the main chamber in some insulation. Ill let ya know come Janurary

.

 

[mr mac]

While we were living in St Peters, MO it would get downright cold outside (9 degrees or so) but I still managed to get a couple of smokes in while the temps were in the 30s. At the time I was using my gas grill so I did have to keep the heat up a bit higher to ensure the temperature where the meat was sitting was high enough. I also packed wads of foil around all the holes where heat could escape. It all worked out pretty well. I managed a turkey for Thanksgiving and a small pork roast.

Recently I picked up a Royal Oak electric unit that is pretty well insulated though I plan to do what I can to seal it up just a wee better around the door. I also have two walls where my smoker sits so I don't have to worry too much about the wind.

Mac

 

[jeffj]

That is some really good news. I think that it would be cool to take it ice fishing and smoke some food while fishing. I think that would only cause a line to form. Probably have a whole lot of new friends. Hehe. Better just stick to the backyard.

 

[mballi3011]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones first to live in the sunny warmth of Fla. But I also have a outdoor kitchen that is under cover and don't have to worry to much about the weather except for the acasual hurricane that would just blow the hell out of everything.

 

[chefrob]

if you conider 60-65 deg cold (i do...lol) then yes, i'll be smoking in the winter!

 

[raceyb]

I smoke year round, but I live in Florida. I despise the cold and snow, as I used to live in Connecticut.

 

[blue]

I'm im Michigan and I only stop when the snow is higher than the smoker. I smoke a lot during the winter because that is when I have most of my time off of work.

 

[markmcrae]

That's one of the reasons it is nice in the sunshine state. You can cook year round. It will occassionally get below freezing, but by the time you get ready to cook, the temp is up and pretty comfy outside.

 

[bman62526]

Blast these people that live in Florida or South Texas!

HA! Just teasin - I'm just jealous...

This will be the 3rd winter coming, since I started smoking. I have a pretty good size, all 1/4" steel offset smoker. I have to use a little more fuel, and it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get the smoker where I want before I can add meat! Meaning, the temp is up to 230 - 240° in 30 minutes easy, but I give it another 30 - 45 minutes to heat the STEEL itself, so that once I open the door to add meat - the temp doesn't drop drastically, because the steel is holding a lot of warmth.

 

[igolf2]

I live in the "Snowbelt" of N.E. Ohio (average 120+ inches a season) and IMHO it's the BEST time to smoke! I love spending a day smoking food - drinking some quality barley-pops - fire in the wood-burner - watching football and enjoying the beauty of the snow covering my back acreage.
As long as I have a windbreak for the GOSM I'm good to go.

I'm stocking up on stuff to smoke during our less than short winter now so I will have a good choice during "prime time"

 

[jeffj]

There is no way that I will move to the warmer weather. Well, unless my kids move down there when they get older. I want to move farther north. My passion is ice fishing. If I don't get to do that in the winter, I get very irritable. Ideally I would have a house on a lake in northern MN. Then I could drive the truck out on the lake and fish. But enough about that.

Its really good to hear those that live up north, still smoke in the winter.

 

[travcoman45]

I smoked last year when it was 25 below zero, wasn't fun, but did it. Insulated the gosm an she did just fine.

 

[rivet]

Yeah, I smoke year 'round but as SC said, hate doing it in the rain and making a watery mess in the house coming in and out. In the cold it's not so bad but I do use more fuel to keep the temps up where I want them if there is a wind. If it's just cold and no wind, it's really no issue once my manifod heats up. I've also had a smoke going and the snow started and that takes a lot more fuel in my SnP as the flakes suck away the warmth from the smoking chamber lid.

All in all, the benefits of eating fresh made PPB or smoked turkey or chicken in the middle of February can't be beat!

 

[Bearcarver]

That wasn't smoke, that was steam coming off of your body when it was 25 degrees out.


I'm hoping it will be easier to keep my MES smoking when it gets colder out. It seems to be insulated too good so far. Only got down to 34 this morning. Probably be in the 40s 'til I get it loaded and fired up. It gets below ZERO here, but not very often.

 

[coyote-1]

I smoke in the winter. If I know it's gonna rain or snow I don't, or if it's gonna be very windy.

I've found that on a cold day, you can smoke successfully if wind is not a factor. So a still day, even if very cold, is not problematic. To be sure it takes longer to get up to temp and requires more fuel to maintain, but it's doable. If a breeze kicks up I have to block it somehow in order for the smoker to work; for that I have windscreens. But high winds combined with cold make outdoor smoking an exercise in futility.

 

[tn_bbq]

I too am a year round smoker.

That's another reason why I spent more than I wanted to on my Backwoods Smoker.

 

[dysartsmoker]

I smoke year round in my garage this is what I did

 

[tn_bbq]

Pretty cool. I had to do a double take to see your exhaust pipe. Cool. I'd still (you might already have one) put a carbon monoxide detector on the holiday wish list just to be on the safe side.