Portable smoker for the winter - possible?


 

Kristof Jozsa

TVWBB Fan
So it happens that every year we hit the mountains with 5-6 friends for a couple of days to stay there, ski/snowboard and chill out in the evenings. From this latter activity, I heavily miss cooking in my Weber kettle.. but the Mastertouch ain't exactly portable and we can only approach that little house on the hill via ski chairlifts..

Thinking about this situation I think running a small smoker could be a better choice when it comes to feeding around 6 people with a smaller device. The question is, what cooker could be ideal for this purpose: being small, very portable, capable of cooking for around 6 and suitable for cooking outside at winter.

Is there maybe something like the Pit Barrel Cooker, just smaller? Or can one maybe smoke in a Jumbo Joe? Any other options which you'd suggest? Or is that idea completely crazy and we'd just better forget about it? What do you think?
 
Yea what Cliff and Phil said.
I think a Jumbo joe or a mini WSM (or both IMO) would suit a group of 6.

Tim
 
Hmmn, now that you say, getting a 14" WSM is really tempting, I could definitely use it at home too complementing my kettle :)

How does that thing get packed up though? I would need to carry it somehow in some kind of backpack for our trips, and I'm not sure how dirty it'll get everything around..

Can it be packed up in a compact form once disassembled? Maybe you have a picture of it taking up minimal place?
 
Ok, looking at the pictures there's probably no point disassembling it for travel, looks like it won't take up less space at all. Judging just by looking at it though, it could possibly fit into a larger backpack as is.. right?
 
Kristof, yeah, they don't shrink much for travel! I have an 18", and built a crate to take it to away family reunions. The only thing I do to pack it is to flip the lid into the body of the WSM. It saves a few inches, uh, centimeters! :D
 
Yeah.. or we could possibly make the best shots in our lifetime with the smoker sitting beside us in the chairlift (probably in a nice winter hat) or standing between my legs on the snowboard on the slopes - this whole idea is too tempting to let it go easily :)
 
Kristof... When I commented earlier I didn't realize you were actually backpacking in. I was thinking Pickup to the camp area or close to it. Obviously the WSM would be pretty impractical for what you have planned. I surfed around a little last night as you got me curious. Came across this. Now, I don't do too much camping and know little to nothing about backpacking supplies. This could be complete junk, but it looks light weight and could probably fit in a pack. Thought I'd throw it out there and give everyone a laugh. What the heck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbh2AGxAnm0
 
Cliff, I think there are different levels of non-portable.. Comparing to my 22" kettle, the 14" WSM looks very portable indeed!

The sad part is that a new 14" WSM sells for around $430 here and there is no market for used ones at all.. any old ones would serve my needs perfectly. Makes me wonder how much would it cost to get one shipped directly from US.

That's one funny looking device you posted, too bad it needs a kettle to work :)
 
That's one funny looking device you posted, too bad it needs a kettle to work :)

He mentions in the video that he's only simulating a campfire with his kettle. I believe that little "smoker" is intended to sit right over your campfire. Anyway, good luck to you. That's an awful price that you have to pay for a WSM over there. Something will work out for you, I'm sure.

Edit... Just read TonyUK's post above.... There you go!
 
Thanks Tony, you gave me an idea! I looked around and a BBQ shop at the Netherlands seems to go even lower (around $310) - I'll contact both tomorrow and see if the can or are willing to ship within the EU.
 

 

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