Alton Brown's homemade ceramic smoker


 
Gary wasn't hallucinating. I had an electric smoker for years before I got a WSM, there was definitely a smoke ring produced, why do you think they call it a smoke ring anyway. Maybe charcoal by itself produces a smoke ring, but so does wook smoke. Some folks run straight wood and they get a smoke ring, so wouldn't it stand to reason that using and electric smoker with wood chunks/chips produces a smoke ring as well?

As far as Alton Brown goes, IMHO he is the only chef on FoodTV that knows what "real" BBQ is, or at least explains it on his show. I don't remember if he claimed that pork butt on the flower pot smoker was real Q, but it was as close as some folks will ever get. I turned out some pretty good Q on my electric smoker, not quite as good as my WSM, but pretty damn good.

I like his unorthadox methods and explaining the science behind cooking. Keeps the show fresh and keeps me coming back. IMHO Good Eats is the best cooking show on TV right now, no one else even comes close.
 
While we're debating the usefullness of a low tech smoker, did anyone catch the food tv show showing the Royal Battle. One of the teams used metal trash cans for their smokers. They managed to come in with a top five finish in one category.
So I guess if you know what your doing, and you can get heat and smoke to the meat, it doesn't matter what you use.
 
LMAO!! yes I saw that Anthony...That team snail slow smokers or something!! That good ole' boy using a couple of garbage cans and a grate, a wire box thing in the bottom. He said he puts his wood in the box then dumps a chimney of lit coals over it!! Pretty much JUST LIKE the Minion Method!!! And yes I believe that team took like 7th in chicken!! GREAT showing for the Royal!!!!


Big Al
 
I remember he said one of their big problems was people walking by during the comp and mistaking their pit for a real garbage can and throwing their trash in.
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Paul
 
I built an Alton Brown flower pot smoker last summer. The highest internal temp I ever reached was about 220, and that was on a calm, hot day with the sun beating down. I think that most hot plates just aren't made to put out enough heat.

I compensated with longer cooking times, but the ribs I made never came out better than just ok.

I bought a WSM a few weeks ago and, of course, there is no comparison. The temp is just as easy to maintain, but the Q it produces is worlds apart.

I also noticed that the smoke flavor was much more internse with food cooked in the WSM, even though I used more volume of wood in the flower pot smoker. Maybe charcoal really does add something special on its own.
 
In AB's defense, if I recall he went into great detail about which strength hotplate you'd need to pull it off.

Weren't there folks on this site who contemplated putting hotplates in their WSMs (or who actually did it)? Or am I hallucinating...
 
Weren't there folks on this site who contemplated putting hotplates in their WSMs (or who actually did it)? Or am I hallucinating...
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LOL no Susan you ain't hallucinating hon. I know that I have talked with people on here about making chipolte and doing some cold smoking with a hot plate in the bullet.


Big Al
 
I have been using an A-B style flower pot smoker for a little over a year now, and I am very happy with the results. My best results have definitely been my pork butt. I've done I'd guess about 10 pork butts on them, and they keep getting better. I get a good 1/2 inch smoke ring penetrating the meat, and the moisture level is great. So I would disagree with the notion that you need to be burning charcoal to get one.

I have monitored the temp on my unit at various times of day, in direct sun and shade, all except windy conditions. And the temp range tends to hover around 230 +- about 8 degrees.

The only modification I made to his design is it really needed to have a way to catch the dripping fat from getting on the wood and smoldering it. I'd end up with a grease filled ash pan, with half burned wood chunks that are now smoking the animal fat, instead of the wood. ( think carcinogenic). So the easy solution was to wedge a disposable aluminum roasting pan into it to catch the drips. It works great, The wood lasts much longer, since Im getting better utilization, and there is a much truer smoke flavor now. Its the only way I will do pork. I used the exact recipe on my dads bullet, and the results were way different.

Now if I can only figure out how to translate that to a good brisket, I will be very pleased.
 
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