FISH SMOKER
- Thread starter bosco
- Start date
bassaholic
Well-Known Member
I've owned a Bradley electric smoker for a couple years now and I love it! Easy to use, tons of recipes on their website and for the quality of there product it's a reasonable price. Cdn tire has them on sale every now and then for $299 I think. Imo you won't be disappointed with one.
chefboyardee
Well-Known Member
lots of great home builds on the net for smokers i built one years ago out of an old fridge and my buddy still uses it well seasoned now,
depends weather you want to get into a hot smoker or cold smoker , wal mart used to have a great charcoal based hot smoker cheap enough i think i saw it for 50 bucks got 2 racks and a nice little unit for the price.
smoking is all about your brine, a perfect amount of salt in a brine they say is when a raw egg can float in it .
once you do make your decision try smoking your own cheese, i wrap it in a tin foil boat with the top side exposed. it basically melts in there and realeses the butter fats from it as it warms up and when it cools down it sucks the butter fat back infusing the cheese with the smoke. try a nice piece of danish blue or stilton and put that on top of your favourite steak you wont be disappointed if you like that type of cheese.
also vegetables can be cool sides as well peppers, jalapeños, onions, and garlic rocks cause you get a smoked roasted garlic that is sweet and smoky
and nothing like a good peice of brisket slow cooked for 12 hours
cheers, chefboyardee ( guess what i do for a living lol)
depends weather you want to get into a hot smoker or cold smoker , wal mart used to have a great charcoal based hot smoker cheap enough i think i saw it for 50 bucks got 2 racks and a nice little unit for the price.
smoking is all about your brine, a perfect amount of salt in a brine they say is when a raw egg can float in it .
once you do make your decision try smoking your own cheese, i wrap it in a tin foil boat with the top side exposed. it basically melts in there and realeses the butter fats from it as it warms up and when it cools down it sucks the butter fat back infusing the cheese with the smoke. try a nice piece of danish blue or stilton and put that on top of your favourite steak you wont be disappointed if you like that type of cheese.
also vegetables can be cool sides as well peppers, jalapeños, onions, and garlic rocks cause you get a smoked roasted garlic that is sweet and smoky
and nothing like a good peice of brisket slow cooked for 12 hours
cheers, chefboyardee ( guess what i do for a living lol)
W
whitetailhunter
Guest
The Masterbuilt has a digital electric smoker which is a great unit also and uses normal wood chips which I think gives a more natural smoke flavour than the pucks. This is the 30 inch model but they also have a 40 inch model as well. It's on for $100 off this week at TSC Store for $249.99 (reg. $349.99).
- MODEL:#20070411 Stainless
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fish_for_life
Well-Known Member
I second the Bradley best bang for your buck.
Easy to use and works amazing. Had mine for about four years now.
We smoke fish, turkey , venison and everything else in between lol.
Easy to use and works amazing. Had mine for about four years now.
We smoke fish, turkey , venison and everything else in between lol.
Make your own!
I recently converted an old fridge into a smoker and am almost ready to finally fire it up. I'm having difficulty getting the temperature low enough using a single propane burner from the side burner of a BBQ even with the knob set as low as possible. I need to install a needle valve to get it even lower as the insulation really keeps the heat in, but that's fine with me as the fridge will be very easy to maintain constant temperature while using very little propane. Smoking in the winter will be much easier with the insulated unit compared to the thin sheet smoker I used before....
Fridge with all steel interior - free
11 oven racks (do NOT use racks from a fridge!) - free
Burner, adjustment dial, hose and regulator from a scrapped BBQ - free
Galvanized sheet for chimney/damper - free scrap from HVAC guy
Paint for the exterior - free....the scrap metal from stripping the fridge covered the cost of a liter of tremclad
Two tubes of Permatex red RTV silicone gasket maker which is food safe - $20
Roll of aluminum sheet to cover large holes on the interior - $15
Needle valve - $10
20' length of 3/4 or 1" angle iron to hold racks - $12
For $50-60 I have a smoker that offers much more space while using less propane. Plus....it looks cool
I found with the small 3 rack unit I used before I was constantly cursing as it never held enough meat to do decent size batches or jerky, pepperettes or sausages.
I recently converted an old fridge into a smoker and am almost ready to finally fire it up. I'm having difficulty getting the temperature low enough using a single propane burner from the side burner of a BBQ even with the knob set as low as possible. I need to install a needle valve to get it even lower as the insulation really keeps the heat in, but that's fine with me as the fridge will be very easy to maintain constant temperature while using very little propane. Smoking in the winter will be much easier with the insulated unit compared to the thin sheet smoker I used before....
Fridge with all steel interior - free
11 oven racks (do NOT use racks from a fridge!) - free
Burner, adjustment dial, hose and regulator from a scrapped BBQ - free
Galvanized sheet for chimney/damper - free scrap from HVAC guy
Paint for the exterior - free....the scrap metal from stripping the fridge covered the cost of a liter of tremclad
Two tubes of Permatex red RTV silicone gasket maker which is food safe - $20
Roll of aluminum sheet to cover large holes on the interior - $15
Needle valve - $10
20' length of 3/4 or 1" angle iron to hold racks - $12
For $50-60 I have a smoker that offers much more space while using less propane. Plus....it looks cool
I found with the small 3 rack unit I used before I was constantly cursing as it never held enough meat to do decent size batches or jerky, pepperettes or sausages.
I have a Masterbuilt electric version. - the one without the glass in the door. (that would just get so dirty that one couldn't see through the glass anyway).
I tend to think the electric unit has better temp control with the digital unit on top over the propane units, but I've only owned this one. Also, this brand does not force you into buying their pressed pucks of wood chips. You can use dry twigs from apple or cherry or whatever tree you wish to instead of the store bought chips. Also, you can vary the amount of wood chips you use rather than the set size of the pucks.
My unit has a timer and temp setting unit on the top. It did go bad once, but the company sent me a new one no charge, and also paid the shipping. I've done beef jerky and fish in it, but there's no reason you could make your own smoked meats / sausage too.
As for recipes, there are lots online. Various stores have the curing powder (either a dry rub or the kind you make a brine with), and you can also buy many types of wood chips.
Have fun.
BillO
I tend to think the electric unit has better temp control with the digital unit on top over the propane units, but I've only owned this one. Also, this brand does not force you into buying their pressed pucks of wood chips. You can use dry twigs from apple or cherry or whatever tree you wish to instead of the store bought chips. Also, you can vary the amount of wood chips you use rather than the set size of the pucks.
My unit has a timer and temp setting unit on the top. It did go bad once, but the company sent me a new one no charge, and also paid the shipping. I've done beef jerky and fish in it, but there's no reason you could make your own smoked meats / sausage too.
As for recipes, there are lots online. Various stores have the curing powder (either a dry rub or the kind you make a brine with), and you can also buy many types of wood chips.
Have fun.
BillO
I have a Bradley as well , had it for 6 years now it works awesome . you can also use it as a cold smoker you just have to make a box and a piece of duct work and your good to go. the real nice feature is that you can remove the smoke generator and attach it to a larger smoker , I made an outdoor smoker that can hold 180 pounds of sausage or pepperettes you cut a hole in the side slide the Bradley in and your smoking.