Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Except for the goat cheese

Now you have me thinking which is a good thing. Always. Have a 14 lb. CI wok (and a boat load of CI skillets) but for a wok to wok work best needs heat up the sides.



Duh I should flip the Vortex upside down! You always seem to be a good influence on me. Well maybe...

It does look amazing! He has me thinking now..

I am in my 60's and not a fan of goat cheese when I grow up someday maybe I will acquire the taste for it LOL. Grew up a dairy farmer and running fat percentages, good luck with that! My first merit badge in Boy Scouts, sulfuric acid and a centrifugal separator to determine milk fat content. That is what they pay you for. Unless it is cheaper to dump it on the land which many do today out of necessity.

Well maybe not. Why do dairy farmers have curved bills on their hats? So they can reach in the mailbox without interference to get the government check. Not easy for me to say that but needs to be said.

In the 70's and 80's on the boats and ships first thing we ran out of on deployments (besides produce) was milk. Would damn near dream about it. Must have been 83 pulled into Greece which has fantastic food and was sitting in an open air cafe. Finishing up with dessert which goes well beyond baklava but like all baked goods really wished I could have had a glass of cold milk out of the bulk tank. Without the agitator turned on.

And then seen the waitress walked by with a glass of milk, almost had a heart attack. Damn near jumped her and told her I wanted the largest glass they had. When she delivered it I started to chug it. Warm goats milk.. Thank goodness I was sitting next to the road at the table and hurled that shit almost to the other side of the road. Alcohol may have been involved and don't recall much after that (was a LONG time ago) but do know I left a tip for her as large as the bill was.

Well it isn't rocket science, hell anyone can do that

Nuclear Engineering on the other hand... @Misplaced Nebraskan has never heard that one before I am sure

 

That's a sweet wok! and yeah, flip it! That would work nicely I think.

To quote the great Peter Griffin: You said "nuclear"! It's "nucular", dummy. The "S" is silent.

 

Well as I said earlier.. I'd have to rivet my homemade "Vortex" together since I'm not a welder and with thin polished stainless steel... Not even going to attempt it!



I might have made it a little too tall... The grate literally sits on top of it so now I'm concerned the concentrated heat is going to affect the thin grate. As old as this little Brinkman is I'm not sure if there are still replacements out there ... But.. Chicken Wings.. so F it. !

Just curious for those who have these.. how far below the grate does yours sit?

 

Mine sits maybe an inch or two below the grate on my Weber 22. If you shorten it I'd take it off the top (narrow) end of the cone to widen that a tad

 

Same as @Chrisf06 . Couple inches.

 

Any idea what the opening measurement is on yours? This little thing o my has a 15 inch grate and right now I have a 4 in opening at the top.

At this point it'll be a pain to trim it down so I took out the grate on the bottom and gained about 1/2 inch clearance. Because there would be no air flow I drilled some 3/8 inch holes about 2 inches apart along the bottom.

 

Thank you... Just gonna have to let this ride and see what happens! Haha..

You know me.. I'm just experimenting anyways!

Did a quick burn off and loaded on some chicken wings with a chunk of apple... I mean.. why the hell not right?



I have no idea how it's going to burn.. if there's enough airflow etc... Honestly.. it's Friday and IDGAF haha

 

I’m sure it would be a hit at any party.

 

Well... That was a fail... Ended up finishing them on the gas grill. Just never got hot enough... 200ish range.

I better stick with the Sake Wings lol

 

Huh. Where are the bottom vents in relation to the cone? How much fuel? Sounds starved somewhere for sure.

 

The whole thing was full of charcoal and there is like (15) 3/8 inch holes around the bottom about 1/2 in from the bottom. Because I took out the grate at the bottom for clearance I totally feel it was starved for air... But that bitch is STILL holding 200 like 6 hours later! Haha

 

Remember that for smoking! Haha.

Did you start all the charcoal in a chimney first or light in cone?

I start all in chimney first then add to cone once it's mostly white or ashed over.

 

Oh, I see now... Yeah. Gonna need that bottom grate for airflow

 

Well it was a success in a few ways...first.. I learned how to make a cone in metal (not sure I'll ever need that skill again) by making a pattern out of poster board first. Second I learned that the cheap jig saw blades I have can actually cut through the thin stainless steel making the next project more appealing. And lastly...you're right.. if I wanted to use this for low and slow smoking I totally could.
The Sake Wings I make are hard to beat for crispiness and the current come is too tall to use with a grate under it. I did not use a chimney because I don't own one but instead lit it in the cone and let them ash over. I put a piece of news paper under it and started it just like a chimney.

In the end, I was bored, I had an idea, I made a project, it wasn't 100% successful but I learned and that's all that counts! Haha

 

Shorten the cone and use some more steel to make your own chimney.

 

Cutting down the cone now would be a PITA.. it would almost be easier to make a new one...but I have a couple of ideas fur using this cone.. since I'm using my old Brinkman I can actually lower the charcoal bowl to the middle lever and keep the grate on the top level. This would eliminate the direct heat on the grate and provide more airflow to the cone.

I'm going to have to learn how to make my own wire grates before I'd make a chimney! Haha I'll buy one of those fancy ones that drop the coals out of the bottom haha. Guess I'll have to find some large diameter SS wire and learn how to TIG weld or something. Haha

 

Well that sounds like you got some online shopping and learning to do.

You could always drill the rivets, cut and rivet again.

 

I could drill those rivets out but I'd rather not! Haha

https://www.metals4uonline.com/stainless-steel-round-bar-304-3_16ths looks like a fair deal to me... Now I just need a ring roller and a welder and more knowledge!

Haha

 

Don’t over think it. Make a cylinder. Violá. Done. Set cylinder on grate. Stuff will balled up newspaper. Top with briquettes. Light bottom. When coals are ready. Lift. Ta dah!!

I took the grate out of my chimney and that is how I use it. Works better IMO.

 

Here ya go. YouTube will teach ya.