mjbradakis
Found some matches.
So there were some gusty winds in Salt Lake City, and the big boxelder tree in the backyard had about half of it come down. Luckily it only grazed the garage, minimal cosmetic damage, but my trusty old offset may be mortally wounded. Or maybe not. I'm not going to try and lift that tree off the smoker to see the extent of the damage. It might just be a flesh wound.
Anyway, I've not been active on any BBQ forums for a few years, sort of remember one involved with the National Barbecue News, posted there often as HoosierQ. ( Lived in Indiana before moving to Salt Lake City ) I am out of touch with the current market. If my old unit is too badly damaged to salvage, what would some good replacements be? Should I stick with the offset barrel style? Go with an upright like a Weber Smokey Mountain, a nice pellet fueled unit like a Traeger?
What I did like about the old offset was its versatility. Build a fire in the firebox, hot smoke food in the barrel. Room for a lot of food in there. Or you could fire up some charcoal in one half of the barrel for indirect cooking something placed in the other side. And of course, direct heat grilling was an option as well. And putting an electric hot plate in the firebox, keeping some wood chunks at a slow smolder allowed for cold smoking in the barrel. That last batch of stilton and Tillamook cheddar I did were a couple of really tasty things.
And boxelder is related to soft maple, can it be used for smoking?
Thanks,
mjb.
