Pawel

I did a smoked trout last week, managed to get heat beds in range. Learned, I did a snake method, with little lite briquettes for a start. Got a thermo pro thermometer, keep the temp around 80, but it kept going up to 100C slowly. Now I know, I need to make sure salt in brine is fully dissolved (fish wasn't salty enough) and dry it for a while better (too much water in it). Next time will be better 😊

Got my first try today. Starting the briquettes in chimney give a lot of smoke, I wonder how to minimise that? It is atvthe first stage of starting it up. Got full (up to.max line) chimney with brisket, and rest as a minion method in smoker (used in total around 4kg of briquette). After around 40-50min, i put the water in and had to close the bottom vents. Barely managed to get tmep just under 150C ( cloudy day with breeze, 15C outside). During cooking minimum temo I managed to obtain was about 120-130C. Have been using mapple chips soaked in water, added from time to time. Used BigK briquette from Range. You mentioned that first few runs may the temperature be a bit high. I am thinking about sealing bottom vents to have more control over the oxygen intake. Also can you advise what to do to reduce the smoke going out to the minimum? Don't want that much smkke around the house.. I found that when all briquette was lite, and wood burnt out, temp was fine and no smoke of the smoker. I am thinking about 3 things to improve it 1. As mentioned, sealed with high temp silicone bottom vents 2. Use bigger wood chunks ( one I got are the small chips) 3. Any other less smoking coal/briquette? Seen smokeless briquettes at the shop, not sure if any use of them in the smoker, looks loke it's for indoor stove..

So I assembled my new smoker, Barbecook Oskar M. Looks solid, but.. When fitting all air vents (3 intake, 1 out at the top lid), they are build of 2 plates. First one is lining to the body of smoker, second rotate over it to adjust the vents. The first one does not fit tight to the body, as looks like pressed fitting place at body is still a bit round. What would you recommend to seal it? The simpliest solution I was thinking of is just a hi temp silicone. Or just give it a go and see how it behave? I'd say that gaps are bad..

Thank you for such extensive reply. There is a lot of info on Polish blogs (I'm Polish), but all of it explain rather cold smoking in barrel type smokers, preferably witch tunnel. What I read, if eg. they smoke ham, they keep it in brine for like 2 weeks, and after smoking it has to be either treated in boiled water (80-100C), or rised temp at the end of smoking, as ham will be raw inside (smoking in around 45C for 2 days). Is it possible to cold smome in bullet smoker? Do I need a cold smome device - the spiral tray with wood dust, to do it, or just briquettes and neary closed vents will do? What I read as well, after smoking - rest the meat wrapped, in the fridge, so juices stay preserved inside. Should I wrapnit in the aluminium foil? (Cling film will melt if in contact with hot food, but you can't put hot food to fridge anyway..) Will try with chiken, fish and ribs as easiest for a start. Lockdown for fishing supposed to be lifted this week, and mackerel season on the brink! Plus some trout 😊 want to smoke the whole fish, this smoker has a hanging basket with hooks for that. Bullet smoker has 2 levels of trays. Can I use both when smoking, or just the top one is ok? You mentioned different temperatures for different meats. What is the safe temperature overall for food safety? I work in the kitchen, and the H&S say that cook food meant to reach above 82-84C once when cokled, and if hot holding it is 62C. But again, pizza has to reach only 74C when comes out of the oven.. Are the temperatures you provided for different meats are safe to eat without further preparations? Thanks

Hi, I just start my adventure with smoking. My new smoker should be soon. I decided to go for Barbecook oskar M. Looks like weber, just cheaper to buy. But to the point. I am digging for a few days now how to prepare and smoke meat. All I see for bullet smokers is noone cure meat, just rub with salt/spices. So it is more like BBQ grill than proper smoking. I know it is a hot smoking, not cold one. I now old school is to marinate in brine for hours/days, and even inject the brine in. If not, meat would not be salty. And for second one, how do you judge when meat is ready? Just checking the meat temp, when it reach about 90C? Can you help and direct to guidances how to properly smoke? Llooking to smoke fish, chicken, ribs, some ham for a start.

I did found something like that. https://outdoorcook.co.uk/products/meat-smoker-galvanised-steel Not typical bbq smoker, more like small version of proper smoker. Anyone have any experience with this kind of smokers? It's galvanised steel, so not sure how long it will last outdood in the garden. As per Callow, I can't find any in stock to buy..

Hi, Just signed up. I always wanted to start with smoking, especially own catch fish. Looks like I found right place to start with. I was thinking about offset bbq smoker, like landmann kentucky. But ater reading on here, looks like better option would be a bullet smoker. Live in Scotland, weather is as it is, so bullet type should be easier to control the temperature, and as I read, less hassle. I tied to find recommended here Cook4All one, but looks it is not on sale nay more. Looking for a start for a recommendation which one to start with. So I can accommodate a few fish, or nice chunk of meat. Cooking just for my household. Budget - for just a smoker, would like to stay under Ł150 if possible. Thanks in advance!