J
japhroaig
Guest
So I'm planning to build a nice, large, quality smoker this year, but it dawned on me that I actually need something ready to go for a birthday party I'm throwing in a couple weeks. Building my dream smoker isn't gonna happen that fast, and the wife has ruled out a UDS (and I do agree with her, I want something that looks nice next to our koi pond), so I've been researching cheap options that can use the over abundance of fruitwood I currently have.
The two options I am considering meet the three main goals I have for this project: under $100, portable, and not too bad looking. They are either 1) adding a new Weber grill to my collection, and smoking with a 'snake' of charcoal and fruitwood (which I have done very successfully many times), or 2) building an 'Alton Brown Pottery Smoker' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ka2kpzTAL8).
The pros of the first option are: I know how it works, you can't have too many grills, and the wife doesn't mind the look of another grill. The cons are: closer to $100 than I would like, harder to manage long burns at low temp, and it's really just another grill.
The pros of the second option are: I can get all the parts locally, it would cost ~$40 total, and I love the challenge of cobbling things together and making them work. The cons are: I haven't used that kind of system before, it's electric (which limits where it can operate), and it's breakable.
So what do the brethren suggest? I'm open to alternate ideas as well as long as they are pretty inexpensive and don't look to bad. Thanks!!
p.s. I will be smoking a six pound, salt/spice/pinksalt cured pork shoulder over a combination of apple and cherry wood. I have two of these shoulders, so I can do a dry run before the event with little problem.
The two options I am considering meet the three main goals I have for this project: under $100, portable, and not too bad looking. They are either 1) adding a new Weber grill to my collection, and smoking with a 'snake' of charcoal and fruitwood (which I have done very successfully many times), or 2) building an 'Alton Brown Pottery Smoker' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ka2kpzTAL8).
The pros of the first option are: I know how it works, you can't have too many grills, and the wife doesn't mind the look of another grill. The cons are: closer to $100 than I would like, harder to manage long burns at low temp, and it's really just another grill.
The pros of the second option are: I can get all the parts locally, it would cost ~$40 total, and I love the challenge of cobbling things together and making them work. The cons are: I haven't used that kind of system before, it's electric (which limits where it can operate), and it's breakable.
So what do the brethren suggest? I'm open to alternate ideas as well as long as they are pretty inexpensive and don't look to bad. Thanks!!
p.s. I will be smoking a six pound, salt/spice/pinksalt cured pork shoulder over a combination of apple and cherry wood. I have two of these shoulders, so I can do a dry run before the event with little problem.
