Any Meat Smokers Here?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by bkreigsr

Let me know if you suffer any unexpected symptoms - wasn't nitrate and it's derivatives once know as 'salt peter' and routinely added to prison food?
Bill K

I'm not commenting on what WD has been making at all, BTW

The funny thing is that in Whole Foods and regular grocery stores too you can buy all sorts of bacon and other meats that say "no nitrates or nitrites added". All of that stuff is processed for the most part with celery juice or celery juice powder which contains.... nitrates.

http://firsthandfoods.com/files/misc/FAQ%20on%20Nitrate-Free.pdf

Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite are salts that are used in curing or preserving meat and fish. Sodium nitrate is a naturally occurring mineral that exists in lots of green vegetables, which we (optimistically!) consume all the time. Sodium nitrite is derived from sodium nitrate and is the compound that actually contains the antimicrobial properties that are desired in the production of bacon, hot dogs, salami, etc... In the case of salami, sodium nitrate is added during preparation and it then breaks down during the fermentation process into sodium nitrite, which helps prevent the growth of the deadly botulism bacteria. In the production of products like bacon, ham and hot dogs, which aren’t fermented, straight sodium nitrite is added. Besides preventing botulism, the presence of sodium nitrite provides the characteristic pink color and piquant “cured” flavor to these meat products.

As mentioned above, green vegetables contain nitrates. If you want to cure meat without the pure synthesized form of sodium nitrite, the naturally occurring nitrate in celery can be used. During the curing process, the nitrates in celery powder breakdown into nitrites and provide all the benefits of botulism prevention, bright pink color and that delicious cured flavor. For full disclosure, the USDA does not consider celery powder or any other “natural” form of nitrate to be a curing or preserving agent but rather a flavoring agent.

Our products can be legally and technically labeled “nitrate-*free,” because the brine we use contains no synthesized sodium nitrite. It contains celery powder (and thus “naturally occurring sodium nitrite”), sea salt, cherry juice powder (ascorbic acid), maple sugar and some spices. But to be completely transparent about it, due to the basic rules of chemistry, products that include celery powder do end up containing naturally-*occurring nitrate and its derivative,sodium nitrite.

Some other article that I'd read previously talked about the fact that using the natural sources for nitrates may be an issue because one batch of celery juice could have a very different nitrate content than another and so you could end up buying no-nitrate meats that have levels that aren't ideal or whatever.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by masraum

I'm not commenting on what WD has been making at all, BTW

The funny thing is that in Whole Foods and regular grocery stores too you can buy all sorts of bacon and other meats that say "no nitrates or nitrites added". All of that stuff is processed for the most part with celery juice or celery juice powder which contains.... nitrates.

I don't know about celery juice. I do know that you can inject fresh side with flavors (smoke, maple sugar, etc), call it bacon, and then sell it as it fresh meat or freeze it. It's only if you want to preserve it that you need nitrites to control botulism.

[Soren Lorenson]

Any meat smokers? That isn't politically correct to ask...

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Soren Lorenson

Any meat smokers? That isn't politically correct to ask...

Yes, I know. I need to ship some fudge, but I'm totally not going to ask this crowd about how to prepare it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Soren Lorenson

Any meat smokers? That isn't politically correct to ask...

I'm glad I'm not the only one that had that thought when they saw the thread title.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I have a big Weber Smokey Mountain and love it. It's basically a set and forget smoker once you get to know it.

[cmccuist]

Stumps gravity feed smokers are very popular, but expensive. They have a chute that you put your charcoal and wood into. As the charcoal and wood burn in the bottom, they are replaced with the gravity feed. Insulated and temp controlled if you add the fan/temp controller device. Very nice units.

I have a conventional horizontal, offset fire box, 1/2" thick plate smoker that I modified to make more efficient.

Fire bricks in the bottom of the fire box and smoker sections to hold in the heat. Wrapped the whole smoker section with mineral wool and stainless. I welded in a 4" X 3' length of square tubing as a gravity feed for the charcoal, so I don't have to add it every hour. It's very efficient and smokes ribs, butts, and briskets like a pro.

[cmccuist]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

I have a big Weber Smokey Mountain and love it. It's basically a set and forget smoker once you get to know it.

Wow! Nice smoke ring on that brisket Shaun!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Thanks Craig, this thing does a really nice job in a 12 hour smoke with oak. I want to start smoking fish again, I used to do an orange smoked tuna that was like candy. This spring I think.

[fanaudical]

Craig - Thanks for posting that note about Stump's smokers. I had never seen those - very interesting.

[Soren Lorenson]

That looks fantastic but eating that is really bad for you. Like stomach cancer bad. Don't do it too often.

[wdfifteen]

^
Just don't eat the charred part. That's where the benzine rings develop.

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by masraum

I'm glad I'm not the only one that had that thought when they saw the thread title.

Me too.

But I was wondering if they rolled their own or what. And if so, how?

[Rickysa]

look up traeger...smoking for dummies , can't get any easier

Not sure of the quality nowadays, as they are made in China. I have a much older one that was made here in the States. I have zero experience with the new ones, so I'm not talking down on them, I was simply surprised to find that the original owner sold the company.

Stumps also gets a thumbs up.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

After the fat, the charred part is the best part. It's not actually charred, way too cool for that, it's just bark. I only smoke 3 briskets a year so I'll be ok. Plus I don't eat any processed food.

[flipper35]

We have a horizontal smoker (combo smoker, charcoal and gas grill) and it works well but one side is hotter than the other. If you smoke a lot a vertical would be more consistent for sausages and such. We do jerky, lots of venison, sweet potatoes, ribs and so on with it. Used it a lot in the summer.

[MT930]

Traeger fan here - Sold the Cook shack just cook more poultry now.
It works great with ribs and beef as well.
The wood choices and build in temp monitoring
really make it easy.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

those birds look amazing!!!