Question: 

Answer:  This can be a little confusing at first.  Personally, I never knew what a smoke ring was either, until a good friend of mine showed me that I was getting a nice smoke ring almost every time I smoked.

The ring that everyone is talking about can only be seen when you cut into the meat and look a cross-section of the meat you just cooked.  It is the light pink coloration that you can see just barely below the outer “crust” of the meat.

Technically, a smoke rings is little more than a chemical reaction between the water in the meat and the smoke in your BBQ smoker.  When the nitrogen dioxide mixes with the water in the meat, it turns to nitric acid and builds up where the smoke penetrates into the meat.

This is why the pros set it low and go slow, allowing enough time for the smoke to penetrate deep into the meat before that sweet, crusty bark forms over the surface of whatever you are cooking.

Here is a photo that I found at http://www.alcoholian.com.  This guy has a high-resolution camera that seems to be much better than mine, as I could not get a clear shot of my smoke ring without it coming out very blurry.

Do you see how the pink part isn’t the in the middle of the meat… as in a rare or medium rare cut of meat.  The pink portion is on the outside of the meat, so that when you cut into the meat it forms a ring around the meat.

Some professional smokers strive for a smoke ring that around 0.25 inches into the meat, but I usually never achieve this since I don’t smoke brisket very often (a good smoke ring is usually sought after when smoking brisket, since you can smoke brisket for a longer period of time without drying out the meat).  I smoke a lot of poultry (chicken and turkey legs), ribs and smaller cuts of meat.

In the past, smoking competitions would take into consideration the smoke ring when judging the skill levels of competitive smokers… but, soon this lead to cheating (by using salt tenderizer on the meat), and therefore smoke rings are no longer a factor in deciding smoking and barbecuing competitions.

Note:  We are currently in the process of acquiring the accurate interior cooking dimensions from the BBQ smoker manufacturers.  Please disregard the missing data in the 4th column.

BBQ Smoker Brand and Model Name	Consumer Star Rating	Electric, Gas or Charcoal?	Interior Size (Cubic Feet)	Warranty (Years)	Review and Price
Masterbuilt 30-Inch Electric Smokehouse Smoker with Window and Remote Control	4.5 Stars	Electric	2.00	0.25 Years (90 Days)	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Landmann 590135 Black Dog 42XT BBQ Charcoal Grill and Smoker, 506-Square Inch, Black	4 Stars	Charcoal	3.51	1 Year	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Bradley BTIS 1 Four Rack Outdoor Electric Smoker	4 Stars	Electric	15.88	1 Year	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Smokin-It Model #1 Electric Smoker	5 Stars	Electric	???	1 Year	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Brinkmann 810-5305-6 Charcoal Smoker and Grill	3.5 Stars	Charcoal	???	0.08 Years (30 Days)	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Smokin Tex 1400 Pro Series Electric BBQ Smoker	4 Stars	Electric	???	2 Years	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Weber 731001 Smokey Mountain Cooker 22.5-Inch Smoker	5 Stars	Charcoal	???	10 Years	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Char-Broil Offset Smoker American Gourmet Deluxe Charcoal Grill	3.5 Stars	Charcoal	???	0.08 Years (30 Days)	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Weber 721001 Smokey Mountain Cooker 18.5 Inch Smoker	5 Stars	Charcoal	???	10 Years	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price
Bradley Digital 4 Rack Electric Smoker	4 Stars	Electric	???	1 Year	Click Here to Read Our Review Click Here to See Lowest Price

On the far left, you will see the name and photo of each BBQ smoker.  Moving to the right, you will see the consumer rating of each smoker and then the type of fuel the smoker uses (gas, charcoal or electric).  Then, moving to the right again, you will see the interior cooking space, the warranty in years (and/or months).

The last column has a link to the review on this website, along with a link to check the best price that we’ve found for this particular BBQ smoker for sale.

FAQ: 

However, my brother-in-law came over one day and watched me use the store-bought stuff and told me that I should be using better charcoal.

Does it really make a difference?  If so, what is the best charcoal for smoking?

Answer:  Your brother-in-law is partly right.  If smoking is just something you do a couple of times per year and you look at “tending” to the smoker as more of a necessary evil, then don’t stress too much about it.

However, if you smoke more than a few times per year, and you possess the time, curiosity, and commitment necessary to engage in the lifelong pursuit of the perfect smoke ring, then it may be time to step up your game.

Your overall BBQ experience will be better when you use better charcoal, but truthfully, it depends on your dedication to the “art” of BBQ smoking. 

I know competitive smokers that would not dream of using charcoal that they didn’t make in their own backyard.  If you are interested in doing this, check out our article on how to make lump charcoal.

Using higher quality charcoal helps both control the temperature better and improves the overall flavor of whatever you are grilling or smoking.

Although there are some people who simply cannot tell the difference between the taste of food that has been cooked with good charcoal vs. the stuff from Wal-Mart, but many people can.  Other people have just been eating food cooked over the low quality charcoal for so long that they don’t have anything else to compare it to.

But, quality charcoal is more expensive and therefore we only recommend you use the quality stuff if you are ready to take your smoking “craft” to the next level.

Personally, we have gone to making our own charcoal, but if I had to recommend a retail bag of lump charcoal, I would say go with Primo 608.  We have used it several times and it seems to be pretty quality stuff, although it will cost you a few bucks more than whatever you are currently buying.

Whether you go to the effort of making your own lump charcoal, or ordering some of the good stuff, typically using good charcoal is worth the extra effort.

After all, if you wanted something easy, you probably would have went for more of a “hands off” electric smoker like the Masterbuilt Smokehouse or an even more “automatic” Bradley Smoker.

But, even if you decide not to go with the more expensive lump charcoal, please don’t go the “match light”, “quick light” or “easy light” route.  These types of charcoal have lighter fluid mixed into the compressed charcoal bricks and will definitely affect the taste of whatever you are smoking or grilling.

Also, these “cheater bricks” tend to “catch” a lot easier and faster and may, therefore, cause your heat to get above the proper temperature to smoke your meat.  Remember, once you get above 200 degrees Fahrenheit, the smoke no longer penetrates the meat properly.  At that point, you might as well be grilling.

Answer:  Smoked fish is considered a delicacy in our home.  Although it can be a smaller meal with fewer leftovers, if you are going to take the time to smoke fish you should certainly do it the right way.

Start out with a good brine for your fish.  Using a good brine makes all the difference in smoking.  About the only thing we don’t brine is pork ribs (the meat is usually so tender to begin with and the ribs cook fast enough as to not get dried out).

The type of wood you use is a matter of choice, however we smoke our fish with the following types of wood…

1. Hickory – Although hickory smoker imparts a stronger flavor to the meat, and is traditionally used for pork, beef and wild game… it can also be used for fish.  Personally, I don’t care much for the taste of some of the “stronger-tasting” fish (like Catfish), therefore, with these fish I use hickory to impart some other flavor to the fish.  One exception is Tuna… although I like the taste of Tuna, I use Hickory because I enjoy the mixture of flavors and aromas.
2. Alder – This is probably our favorite wood to smoke with.  Professional smokers also consider Western Red Alder chunks or chips the “go to” wood for smoking fish or anything else.  This tree grows primarily in the Pacific Northwest and has a very high sugar content.  Because of this, the smoke has a very sweet flavor.  Although I have never smelled it myself, I have heard that Alder syrup smells like bananas.  I can assure you, however, that the smoke from Alder chips will not make your fish smell like bananas.
3. Apple – This fruit tree provides a lighter smoker that is both sweet and flavorful, without overpowering the flavor of the fish.  If you love the taste of fish in general, or you are smoking a particular fish that naturally has a great taste, try apple chunks… you won’t be disappointed.
4. Cherry – Again, this is a fruit tree with a relatively higher sugar content, yet provides a light flavor to whatever you are smoking.  This is my “go-to” wood for fresh Trout, Crappie, Salmon, and sometimes Tuna (although I typically prefer to smoke my Tuna fillets with Hickory chunks… see the first bullet).

This probably goes without saying, but you should smoke your fish slow and low… at about 190 to 200 degrees F.  The fish will typically smoke for about 2 hours, give or take depending on the thickness of the fish.  Use a meat thermometer to ensure that your fish is up to 140 degrees before removing from your smoker.

After that, we wrap our meat in individual pieces of foil to cool.  This allows the fish to cool without losing too much of the flavor or moisture.  After about 30 minutes, your fish will be the perfect temp to enjoy.

It may seem like a stupid question, but the fight between electric, charcoal and gas has been going strong for years. Traditional, flavorful charcoal lost out to quick and easy gas, which then lost out to ultra quick and easy electric.

Once the cooking medium was settled on, though, there arose the question of which model is the best. So, for men and their exasperated families everywhere, the following is a comprehensive, and fairly short, buyers guide to electric smokers.

There are seven key things to look for in an electric smoker. They are, in no particular order: capacity, power requirements, durability, temperature control, quality seals, maintenance and price.

Each stands alone, but is also tied into its brethren, so each should be taken into careful consideration.

Capacity

Nobody wants to prepare the Christmas ham with care just to find out that it does not fit in the smoker. Though not disastrous, this could certainly put a crimp in the cook’s holiday spirit. When going to buy an electric smoker, one should keep in mind what they are planning to use it for.

Obviously, the more food one wishes to smoke, the larger the smoker needs to be. In contrast, small smokers are ideal for those who only wish to smoke small amounts, or only plan to use the machine once in a while. Standard measurement for these things is in cubic feet. For those of us who do not excel in spatial awareness, it it may be a good idea to get a ruler so we know what we are looking at.

Consider how often you smoke meat, how often you entertain large parties, and how much meat each person will eat (we’ve experimented and found that 1.5lbs/.68kg of meat per person is plenty and leaves lot’s of leftovers).

Power Requirements

It makes sense, when speaking of an appliance, that we would look at power requirements. High efficiency, energy saving washers, dryers, and dishwashers are all the rage with electricity prices being higher than ever before, and there is no reason to exclude our outdoor appliances.

Somewhere on the box, or in the manual, will be the machine’s specifications. Energy usage should be one of the things listed. Cooking elements in electric smokers typically range from around five hundred watts up to one thousand plus.

Sure, you want to have enough power to smoke the meal of your dreams, but is it worth the cost of having to hire an electrician to run new wiring so that you won’t trip breakers and blow fuses every time you want to barbeque ribs?

Durability

Durability is important in anything one wishes to use more than once. Quality of the materials, as well as the quality of the welds which hold it all together, and sturdiness of the various parts are all part of a durability check.

Just as if you were buying anything else, it is perfectly appropriate to go over the machine before you buy it, looking for weak spots or places where something just doesn’t seem right. For instance, if you live in a place where the weather is often inclement, it may be a good idea to make sure the actual smoker portion is covered well, and not exposed to rain or snow.

Buying a cheaper model may not be cheaper in the long run, since you may find that it is necessary to replace the model sooner than it would have been had you bought the slightly more expensive version. The absolute top of quality in electric smokers is Masterbuilt Smoker. Masterbuilt smokers are made with heavy duty materials and better insulation to satisfy the most discriminating smoker enthusiast.

Temperature Control

As any cook knows, temperature control is essential.

If you are smoking at temperatures above 200 degrees, you are baking… not smoking.  The mantra for smoking meat is “Slow and Low”.

A low, stable temperature will help with the meat being cooked in an estimable amount of time, as well as preventing burning. A good thermostat is essential to the success of any smoker.

Note:  Be sure to closely monitor both the interior of the smoking unit, as well as the internal temperature of the meat you are smoking.  This is essential to ensure that you are smoking your meat to a safe temperature without over-cooking.

Quality Seals

Seals are important in keeping the smoke in the machine. If the seals are poor quality, or downright crappy, the smoke will escape, and your meat will not have the classic smoky flavor you were likely looking forward to.

Seals should be cushy and durable, not dry, cracked or broken.  Make sure that whatever smoker you purchase has replaceable seals that you can order from the company if and when necessary.

Maintenance and Cleaning

We’ve all had that miracle piece of cooking equipment that did its job wonderfully and we adored it…until it came time to clean it.

Maintenance is extremely important in anything that food is being cooked in, and part of maintenance is cleaning. Models should be fairly easy to clean, any shelves need to be able to come out of the machine so the inside can be washed easily. Seals should be fairly easy to get to in order to grease or replace them, as should any small parts like latches and thermostats.

Price

The all-important consideration of most families. The right price to pay for an electric smoker depends upon how much you have to spend. Prices range from about $169 and go up from there.

When it comes to electric smokers, however, it’s very common to get what you pay for.  The cheaper the smoker, the less use you will typically get out of it… while the more expensive models will hold up for years, and have excellent warranties that cover any manufacturing defects.

When buying something like an electric smoker, it is always a good idea to know what you are looking at. With that in mind, remember to look for capacity, power requirements, durability, temperature control, quality seals, maintenance, and price before choosing the right smoker for you.

BBQ Smoker Type: Electric

List Price: $399.99

Best Price: Click here for the best price.

Availability: Click here for availability.

If you’re looking for the great taste of genuine wood smoked meat and fish, then an electric barbeque smoker is ideal for both beginner and expert smokers alike.

Why go out for barbeque when you can create it in the privacy of your own back yard?

Under review is the Bradley BTIS 1 four rack outdoor electric smoker; a unique four rack smokehouse that is easy to use and one that produces some of the best smoked food available.

Every Bradley BTIS 1 Electric Smoker comes with….

• A massive 2,288-cubic-inch interior that will accommodate all of your favorite foods
• A 500-watt cooking element combined with a 125-watt smoking element
• A maximum smoking temperature up to 280 degrees F
• The unique Bradley “smoke without fire” system that features wood-flavored bisquettes that smoke for 20 minutes each
• A drip tray and water bowl
• A space saving 14 inches by 17 inches by 31 inches and featherweight 42 pounds
• A one year manufacturer’s warranty

The Bradley BTIS 1 Electric Smoker Specs

We ordered our Bradley BTIS 1 electric smoker online for $244; and shipping was free.

It arrived within four days, and assembly was quick and easy. This unit is about the size of a “dorm room” refrigerator (so it doesn’t take up your entire deck) , and has an additional smoke box and patented Bradley “bisquette loading system” that makes it almost automatic to add additional smoking chips and maintain the smoking temperature.

It is a solid, well constructed unit made from powder epoxy steel and lined with aluminum; and the four adjustable stainless steel racks make clean up easy and effortless as well.

Weighing in at just over 40 pounds, it is easy enough to move around your patio or deck by yourself.

The Bradley BTIS 1 Electric Smoker Works A Little Differently

How this Bradley works is a little different than other electric smokers you may have used.

This Bradley BTIS 1 electric smoker uses Bradley flavored wood “bisquettes”’; these are preformed discs about the size of a hockey puck that come from Bradley with the flavor of your choice.

You load these bisquettes into the attached “magazine” on top of the smoke box, and depending on the amount of time you plan on smoking, the required number of bisquettes are indicated by various “fill lines” on the magazine.

As the bisquettes start smoking, each one lasts about 20 minutes; and then a new one is automatically loaded into the smoker to keep a continuous smoke and stable temperature.

A general rule of thumb… Plan on about 3 pucks per hour; and Bradley recommends adding an additional two pucks on top to help the magazine feed the pucks into the smoker automatically.

This unique bisquette loading system makes it almost hands free to keep a constant temperature, and you are not opening the box (and losing smoke) to add more wood or smoking chips.

You can run up to 8 hours of smoking with a full magazine; and with the constant temperature control, you are not checking the internal temperature every half hour.

The Bradley BTIS 1 Electric Smoker – Big, Easy to Use, and Great Results

Not only is this Bradley BTIS 1 electric smoker easy to use, but the results are great. With a massive 2288 cubic inches of interior smoking room, you can fit a full turkey, two full hams, and a standing rack of ribs at one time; and there is still extra room.

The turkey came out golden brown, moist, and tender; and the hams really absorbed the mesquite flavor from the bisquettes.

And it takes advantage of the main feature of an electric smoker; once you have the desired temperature set, you can walk away and let this electric smoker do its magic for 4 or 6 or 8 hours without constant attention.

What are the downsides? The main one that my friends asked me about is getting the bisquettes. Granted, they are only available from Bradley; but I buy them in bulk online; and they are no more expensive than ordering other flavored wood chips.

And the heating element should have been a little stronger; it takes a little time to get up to the right temperature… But once it does, it maintains that temperature over hours of smoking.

The Bradley BTIS 1 Electric Smoker – Easy, Fun, and Great Smoked Foods

I know some barbeque purists that laugh at the thought of a smoker that uses pre-made smoked wood “pucks; one that isn’t grease covered and blackened from use; and one that doesn’t even have a fire.

If you want a smoker that requires constant babysitting and leaves you dirty and smelling of smoke after use, then the Bradley BTIS 1 is not for you.

But if you want an easy to use electric smoker (even for novices) that is almost hands off, that produces great smoked food, and doesn’t require constant attention, with more than enough room for all of the food you want to smoke, then you need to consider the Bradley BTIS 1 Electric Outdoor Smoker.

If you are a fan of smoked meat, fish or chicken, then you may want to look at the Weber line of charcoal smokers.

They have taken their expertise in charcoal grills and applied it to charcoal smokers to create an really efficient, easy to use smoker that results in really flavorful smoked food.

The Weber 731001 Smokey Mountain Charcoal Smoker Features

Each Weber 731001 Smokey Mountain Charcoal Smoker has the distinctive rounded Weber design and includes…

• A porcelain-enameled premium grade steel design
• Two nickel-plated 22-1/2-inch-wide cooking grates
• A porcelain/enamel water pan
• A centrally mounted top thermometer to easily monitor internal temperature
• Individual vents on both bowl and lid
• A heat-resistant nylon handle
• An industry leading 10-year limited warranty

We ordered the Weber 731001 Charcoal Smoker online for just under $350, and it shipped free.

It arrived in three days, and assembly was a breeze and took less than 20 minutes; mainly because Weber includes easy to follow assembly instructions that other smokers do not.

The Weber 731001 Charcoal Smoker Is More Than Big Enough

Upon assembly, this is one tough, solid, and stable unit; despite its cylindrical design.

And there is more than enough room in this Weber 701001 to handle whatever you want to smoke at any given time. It has an internal diameter of almost 24 inches (that’s almost a full two feet); and the adjustable nickel plated cooking grates can accommodate the largest of full turkeys.

In fact, we were able to smoke both a full turkey and a full ham simultaneously in this Weber; and with the porcelain enameled water bowl adding the required steam during smoking, both the ham and the turkey came out moist and flavorful.

The Weber 731001 Charcoal Smoker & Temperature Control

The key to any successful charcoal smoker is the temperature control. And the temperature control on the Weber 731001 works like a dream.

We tested this smoker once at 250 degrees, and again at 325 degrees; and both times, once you have dialed in the temperature, this Weber charcoal smoker keeps the temperature within a very narrow range.

The individual vents on both the bowl and the lid allow you to adjust total air flow throughout the smoker; which makes temperature maintenance fairly easy and prolongs the life of the charcoal.

In fact, we had a 6 hour burn at 225 degrees and it was almost “set and forget”. I believe we only checked it once during the entire 6 hours, and the prime rib we were smoking came out spectacular.

Other Nice Extras With the Weber 731001 Charcoal Smoker

Other things we liked about this smoker were the nylon handle that actually stayed cool to the touch (we have tested other smokers that mandated an oven glove to open).

And we liked the easy access side door for adding additional charcoal or more water to the water pan.

And a pleasant surprise was the airflow adjustment; by opening/closing the air shutters, you can really dial in your temperature. You are not constantly checking the Weber every thirty minutes like you are with other charcoal smokers.

We didn’t like the temperature gauge on the top of the unit; we tested it with another digital thermometer on the interior of the unit and found a discrepancy of almost 30 degrees between the two.

However, these temperature gauges are notoriously faulty on any charcoal smoker; so you are better off using an internal thermometer anyways.

And I would have liked some exterior handles on the smoker to make it a little easier to move around the patio; but that is a minor inconvenience.

The Weber 731001 Is A Great Charcoal Smoker

Weber doesn’t mess around when it comes to outdoor cooking; and this Weber 731001 is a great charcoal smoker for the money.

Priced right, fast shipping, easy to assemble, plenty of room to smoke whatever you want, consistent temperature control… This Weber charcoal smoker has everything you are looking for in a charcoal smoker.

And with a 10 year limited warranty and years of Weber outdoor cooking design expertise behind it, you will not go wrong with this charcoal smoker.

Under review today is the Char-broil American Gourmet Offset Charcoal Smoker; a combination charcoal smoker and grill that actually does a great job of imparting smoked flavor to both meat and fish.

Char-Broil Offset Smoker American Gourmet Deluxe Charcoal Grill Features

Each Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker comes with…

• 670 square inches of primary cooking area
• An additional 355 square inches of secondary cooking area
• A porcelain coated cooking grate with chrome swing away supplemental grate
• An easy access clean out door for simple ash removal
• A hardened steel firebox for offset heat and slow smoked flavor
• A convenient front shelf in addition to a wire bottom shelf

Char-Broil Offset Smoker American Gourmet Deluxe Charcoal Grill

We got our Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker online for $229, and it shipped free.

We received it in five days, and unpacking and assembly took about an hour; we wasted 15 minutes because the assembly instructions are not the clearest, and we had to disassemble/reassemble one part of it about halfway through.

Once put together, it is a strong, well constructed smoker; and at 28 inches x 58 inches x 42 inches, it doesn’t take up the entire patio.

Plenty of Room on the Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker

The Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker is ideal for those that love smoked food and entertaining. The main advantage of this Char-Broil smoker is the sheer size of the cooking area.

If you use both areas of the main cooking chambers, you are talking about almost 1000 square inches of cooking surface.

That is more than enough for a full turkey (a big bird), a full ham, and a couple of racks of ribs as well.

And using this smoker is very easy as well. The temperature control is easy to regulate; which is mandatory with any slow cooking smoker.

And surprisingly, this smoker is a little better than others we tested since it is a dry smoker; there is no included water bowl which means that your ribs, chicken and roasts will be slow smoked with a dry heat.

Using dry heat allows the crust to form faster on the meat; and once the crust forms on the food, you then can start to add a little water to keep it moist. We use a regular spray bottle filled with water, and do not introduce it until the crust (or “bark”) has formed on the meat after the first hour.

This insures that the smoking flavor is locked in; and that your meat and chicken comes out moist and tender.

The Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker – Some Minor Issues

There are only two minor issues we have discovered with the Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker.

First, the grates are not the easiest to clean. It takes a little elbow grease and some steel wool; and you really need to keep the firebox as clean as possible or it will flare up on you.

However, that is easy enough to do since there is a handy ash removal door for this very reason. And it also helps when adding more charcoal throughout the smoking process.

But we did like the fact that you can control the temperature fairly easily, and it seems to work particularly well with hickory flavored charcoal. Plus, it does as great job on smoking fish (try some trout or salmon) and has enough room inside to smoke your ribs using a rib rack.

Overall, the Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Smoker works very well smoking meat, poultry or fish. We like the dry smoking feature, it is easy to start and easy to maintain a constant temperature, and there is more than enough room for large amounts of great tasting smoked foods for large summer parties.

Brining your turkey adds both flavor and moisture to your turkey; and helps keep your turkey from drying out during the smoking process.

There are a multitude of ways to make a great brine for your turkey, but I like the recipe below. By using this recipe for your turkey, you will end up with a better, more flavorful, and delicious turkey once the smoking process is complete.

Here’s what we do…

Brine Preparation

Before thinking about brining your turkey, you want to check to make sure that your turkey has not already been brined.

A good portion of turkeys you pick up at the grocery store have already been injected with a brine solution to retain moisture during the cooking process (these include kosher turkeys as well).

What you want to find while turkey shopping is a natural turkey; just a regular, plain old turkey with no other added ingredients. Most often, these are labeled by your store as “natural” turkeys; and may even cost a little more (for not adding anything to your turkey).

The reason you are looking for a “natural” bird is because if you try to brine a turkey with these injected solutions in them, you are going to wind up with a bird that is way too salty after smoking.

You also need to prepare your supplies before brining your bird; and it is best to start the process the night before you plan on smoking your turkey. You will need…

• A container large enough to hold the entire turkey WITH ROOM TO SPARE
• Enough prepared brine to cover the turkey completely
• Salt, water, seasonings, sugar; and enough room in the refrigerator to fit in your container (or a large bag of ice)

I’ve had the best results using one of those big, stainless steel stock pots; though any plastic 5 gallon container would work just as effectively as well.

Whatever container you use, just make sure that it is “non-reactive”; in other words, metal (like steel) pots will have a chemical reaction with the brine and leave your turkey with a distinct metallic taste; while stainless steel, plastic, or glass containers will not.

Your next step is to determine the amount of water you will need. You do this by placing the turkey in the container and then filling the container with water.

Add in a couple of extra cups of water in this step to take into account the empty cavities in your bird.

Remove the turkey, and make a note of how much water you have in your container. This is going to be the amount of brine we are going to need to use to completely cover our bird.

For example, your turkey will take three gallons of water to cover. Therefore, the recipe for the best brine for smoked turkey will have to be tripled; since the recipe below is the correct ingredients for one gallon of brine at a time.

Making the Brine for Your Smoked Turkey

This spectacular brine for smoked turkey will get some of its flavor and salt from vegetable stock; and the resultant bird comes out with just the right combination of herbs and flavor that complement the turkey perfectly.

For very gallon of brine, you will need…

• 2 quarts of vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup of salt (I prefer sea salt myself)
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 2 quarts cold water

In a big pot, you want to combine the 2 quarts of vegetable stock along with the salt, sugar and herbs and cook over a medium heat. Simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes until the salt and sugar have dissolved completely.

Then, remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Once cool, add the remaining 2 quarts of cold water, and you have one complete gallon of the best brine for smoked turkey.

Once you have enough brine for your turkey (usually one to two gallons, depending on the size), place the turkey in your container, and pour the brine on top of the turkey, making sure to cover the turkey completely.

Pop your container into the refrigerator (or cover it up with ice if your fridge isn’t large enough), and plan on about one hour per pound for the brine to completely soak into your turkey.  I usually soak my bird for about 12 to 15 hours, but just leaving it in the brine “overnight” is a good rule of thumb.

Once ready for smoking, remove your turkey from the brine container, and thoroughly rinse it off.

Pop your brined turkey onto your smoker, and you’re good to go. Using this recipe will create the best brine for smoked turkey you’ll find anywhere.

We try to smoke some meat about every week or so, using a variety of smokers, meats, recipes and methods.

After a while, you start running out of different things to try.  At that point, you tend to get creative… and often, that leads to taking things to the next level.

One day, we were talking to one of our neighbors about our business of reviewing and selling smokers and offering general advice on smoking.

Then, he told us the following:

“Back when I was a boy, growing up in northern Montana we used to do a lot of smoking in a homemade smoker that my dad had made out of a large propane tank.  This smoker was so large that we could easily smoke several whole hogs at the same time.  Since it was such a long trip to get into town, we only did it about once every two months or so… and even then we couldn’t always find the stuff we needed.  So, one of things we resorted to doing was making our own lump charcoal for smoking and grilling meats.  We had lots of wood, so cost wasn’t too much of a concern.  We found, however, that in making our own charcoal out of oak or some other hardwood that the meat tasted a lot better than anything we could get at the small store in town… when they stocked it.”

This story got us to thinking about making our own lump charcoal for smoking and grilling.

So, we talked to our neighbor quite a bit on how to make lump charcoal.  We also searched online to see if we could find other people who make their own charcoal from natural hardwood.

We found numerous methods on making charcoal from hardwood, but there was certainly a common theme among those who did it:  it was hard work, but the results were worth it.

There are a few different methods of making lump charcoal, but here is the one that we’ve used the most…

How To Make Lump Charcoal In Your Own Backyard:

Step 1:  Find two metal drums that will fit inside each other.  Make sure they both have lids, or another piece of metal that you can place on top.  The larger lid doesn’t have to be air or water tight, but the smaller lid does need to fit on the drum well.  Typically, people use a 55 gallon drum and a 30 gallon drum, but any size drums that you can “nest” inside each other is fine.

Step 2:  Cut some wood for your charcoal and some wood for the fuel to make the charcoal.  The charcoal that will eventually become your lumps should be about the size of your fist or a little larger.  The wood that will become your fuel should be thinner, longer pieces that burn hot and fairly fast.

Step 3:  In the smaller drum, drill a few holes in the bottom so that a little more heat can get in and heat can escape (we have actually found this to be an optional step in the process and it will work without drilling those holes).

Step 4:  Cut a hole in the side of the larger metal drum, at the bottom of the drum near the ground.  This hole will be for feeding the fire with those longer pieces of wood you prepared in Step 2.

Step 5:  Place some fire bricks at the bottom of the larger drum.  You will be aligning the bricks so that you can still feed the fire through the hole that you cut in the side of the drum in Step 4.  Note be sure to use real fire bricks, as normal bricks are not meant to be heated to higher temperatures and may explode when heated.

Step 6:  Place the smaller drum into the larger drum and set on top of the fire bricks.

Step 7:  Take the smaller, fist-sized pieces of wood that you prepared in Step 2 and load it into the smaller drum.  You should fill up the smaller drum with as much wood as you can to make this worth your while.  It takes just as much work to prepare half-filled drum as it does to make a whole drum full.  Just make sure that you can get the lid on.

Step 8:  Into the hole you cut in Step 4, load the longer pieces of split wood into the bottom of the larger drum and start a fire.  You can use lighter fluid or a little bit of gasoline if you have to, but don’t get it on the lump charcoal.

Step 9:  Cover the smaller drum with the small lid, but don’t cover it tightly.  You want smoke to escape from the small drum.  Leave this for about 3 or 4 hours, or until there is no more smoke of any color.

Step 10:  Cover the smaller drum with your lid so that air cannot get into the drum, but the moisture can escape from the wood and the drum.  Then, cover the larger drum… again, not tightly… you want to preserve a path for moisture to escape the drums.

Step 11:  Burn for about 8 to 9 hours.  This the hardest part, because burning anything for 8 or 9 hours means that you have to keep feeding the fire about every 30 minutes to an hour.  It’s difficult to stay on top of sometimes.

Step 12:  Cool it off…  Just let the fire go out on its own and let the whole thing cool off overnight (and then some).  It usually takes about 14 or 15 hours to completely let everything cool off enough to take the lump charcoal out of the small drum and transfer it into a storage container.

Step 13:  Remove from the small drum, sort and store.  We have found the charcoal to be VERY brittle, so be careful.  Don’t just dump out the lump charcoal onto the ground.  Store your lump charcoal in an airtight, watertight container until you are ready to use it.

FAQ:  What are the different colored smokes that come out of the small drum?

Answer:  The white smoke that you see at first will be water vapor.  Depending on how long the wood has been dead and drying out will determine how long you see this water vapor.  Afterwards, you may see some other colors, depending on the wood.  If you see a blue or grayish smoke, that is typically the wood alcohols and phenols burning out of the wood.  After that, the smoke may turn a bit yellowish or even orange, which is the tar burning out of the wood.  This yellowish smoke is usually the last smoke you see before the smoke clears.  That is the indication that it’s time to seal up the barrel as tight as possible to allow the burning to continue in the absence of air.

FAQ:  What sort of woods can I use to make lump charcoal?

Answer:  In order to make lump charcoal that burns hot enough to grill or smoke with, you should use hardwood.  Typically, we use oak, alder, hickory, almond, maple, cherry, or ash… but, just about any hardwood can be use to make your own lump charcoal.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to make lump charcoal, there is nothing stopping you in spending a weekend making as much as you need for your charcoal smoker.

If you are wondering what smoker we use our lump charcoal in, we tend to prefer the Weber 721001 Smokey Mountain Cooker for our charcoal smoking endeavors, but the Landmann 590135 “Black Dog” Charcoal Smoker is also an amazing smoker if you need a little more room for larger events.