The Texas Style Smoker Bar-B-Que
This is a very common type smoker that you can find at any number of outlets. They are easy to use and convenient for a lot of
folks.
These also come in different sizes and of course different price ranges. I got one that is a medium size somewhere around
36"x20" for the cooking surface. You can buy these with an outside firebox and they are great starter units that run around
$200.00
A Cowgirls Drum Smoker This is my new must have design
If I gave out an award for Smoker Design of the year, this would most
likely win hands down.
I have fallen in love with this drum smoker and you can believe I will have one before this spring rolls around.
Double barrel smoker
This design is from the book "Real Barbecue" by Greg Johnson and Vince Staten. Their philosophy with the Big Baby is to take
stuff that's more or less lying around and turn it into a smoker that works on the same principles as the $1,600 jobbies that the
pros sell
.
The essential function of a top-notch barbecue smoker is to keep the meat entrusted to it comfortably separated from flames and
direct heat and yet in the path of the hot air and smoke that give it its flavor.
Smokehouse Tip # 1
If you hang pieces of ham and beef they can keep
for years, but will be very tough to eat.
Building a Cold Smoker - Smokehouse Combination
I love this design from Cowgirl. If I had a good area to build a permanent smokehouse, this would be extremely high on my list
of possible designs.
Cowgirl has fantastic pictures and step by step instructions for construction
My original smokehouse plan was to make something big enough to cold smoke two pigs worth of hams and bacon at a time.
I only butcher pigs once or twice a year for curing,....but I cook several pigs a year on my cinder block pit.
I wanted a smoke box that I could set right on my block pit, and run a pipe from a separate smoke/fire box to create the cold
smoke. Use my cinder block cooker for both hot smoking and cold.
As it turned out, I decided (after I built the box) to make the little smokehouse permanent.