A confluence of events has resulted in me expanding my gentleman’s hobby of smoking meats.
First, I was excited to learn that I could smoke brisket on a Weber kettle grill. I came across this method for using a standard Weber, probably thanks to the content algorithm more interested in consuming my attention than expanding my hobbies. I have tried the method three times with the most recent being Thanksgiving. Nobody in my house likes turkey, so it was an easy case to make to smoke brisket instead. The recent Thanksgiving smoke was very stressful as the brisket I picked up from Costco was much larger than previous ones. Also it was quite cold out which I presume has some effect on cook time. This left me questioning if I should move up in smoker tooling.
Second, due to our extravagant grocery buying, we had spent enough to qualify for a free turkey. Can you imagine, giving away meat in this economy. Even though we don’t like turkey, we cannot turn our nose away from protein. This bird found a home in the deep freezer as I boldly declared that I would smoke it. One problem though, the height of a Weber grill doesn’t leave a lot of room for a big bird. This too left me questioning if I need a smoker with more square footage.
Third, on my recent trip to Austin, I was fortunate to have a long day before my flight home. I had talked a local and employee into lining up early in the morning for some Franklin’s BBQ. If you are not aware, Franklin’s is considered some of the best BBQ in the known galaxy and Aaron Franklin is belovedly called BBQ Jesus as he has spread the gospel of brisket through books, videos, and even a master class, because great BBQ is deserved by all. The brisket did not disappoint. Easily the best I have ever had. This renewed my enthusiasm to get better at this, but I need a better smoker.
I spent a few weeks researching smokers. There are three types of smokers to consider:
- The class of pellet smokers which can be offset or vertical but all are very much a set it and forget with fancy apps and such
- The vertical smoker which is often a combination of charcoal and wood which requires more work, but can maintain steady temperatures
- The offset smoker is the traditional means of smoking and requires a lot of fire management for the more dedicated
After endless hours of research and soul searching on who I want to be, I decided my level of dedication to the smoke craft required the vertical smoker. It is more than plug and play but does not require full time fire management. It will also be easier to move and less inclined to become a rust bucket. I picked the 22" Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker which has a good reputation and community. It also has a good number of modifications available to pour more money into.
I added some heat resistant damper handles for the four vents. I added a lid hinge kit to the top to make it easier to open. I also added the FireDial baffle plate as I had seen a lot of good reviews on it over the included water pan.
The first smoke was on Christmas Day and it was a free turkey. Nothing like not worrying about ruining a turkey that is free, but maybe ruining Christmas. The smoker did an excellent job of keeping the temperature. I had to adjust the dampers just a few time and they were closed far more than I would have expected. It was chilly and rainy all day, so I had to keep it under the outdoor cover. Turkey turned out great, but did stall out the last ten degrees, so I went full open on the dampers to finish it out on time.