BBQ & Smoker Re-visited

"Denise~*" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best,
but I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions
to it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Can't wait to give it it's first run!

I saw a TV show where the host made a smoker from an
electric hotplate and a large clay flowerpot.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.

On 5/19/2004 5:38 AM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these
great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Quoted message said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best,
but I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions
to it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Can't wait to give it it's first run!

Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no
longer a healthy choice?

Looks good to me. At first glance it looked like one of the
inexpensive smokers you find at Wallyworld.

Nice job. Let us know how well it works.

Denise~* said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best, but
I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions to
it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

That'll work fine. Looks a poor-mand Weber Smokey Mountain.
The grates for holding the meat should be just above the
access door, and another just below the rim of the lid - you
can't have it too close the fire. Try and keep the temp in
there about 250F for beef/pork, or higher for chicken.

A round metal plate with large 1.5" holes cut in it that
goes the diameter of the cylinder between the fire and the
access door would act as a baffle, to keep too much heat
from hitting the meat directly (I assume you don't have a
water bowl in there) - similar to what's pictured in the
back of Joy of Cooking if you have that lying around.

Most people insist that galvanized metal not be used to
smoking as there's something toxic that can be emitted. I've
never seen any scientific proof of this, but it's been
mentioned in alt.food.barbecue many times. Just FYI in case
that cylinder happens to be galvanized.

-sw

Denise~* said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best, but
I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions to
it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Can't wait to give it it's first run!

Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

Nice job. It's good to see such enterprise for the sake
of barbecue.

modom

In rec.food.cooking said:

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions
to it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Looks cool. Be careful of what the metal is plated with,
however. Some people warn that certain coatings for steel
are toxic.

For an alternative el-cheapo design, see
bbq.netrelief.compnp3.htmOpen ↗

We used it to win LOTS of triphies before we retired it.

--
...I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

"Denise~*" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best,
but I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions
to it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Can't wait to give it it's first run!

This looks good but I hate to be the one to tell you that
for just over half what you put into this one, you could
have bought a Brinkman Gourmet (from $35 to $43 depending on
whether there is a sale going on). And there would be no
worries about galvanized metal. I know others have mentioned
that you don't need to worry about it until around 745ºF,
but keep in mind if any burning charcoal falls against the
bottom part of the galvanized metal where it sits in the old
grill, you could be near those temperatures.

And the Brinkman allows lots of tweaking from a design
perspective. When I had one, I added an adjustable draft
door under the single air hole in the bottom pan and wrapped
it in fibreglass insulation with a hole cut out for the
door. I could cook a pork butt for 12-14 hours on one load
of lump in cold and windy conditions. Ahhhh, great memories
on learning to Q. Good luck with yours.

Denise~* said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best, but
I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

Nice job.

Several years ago, my brother made a smoker using a mini
fridge, and he's still using it today.

Mary

It's hard to get smokers in Australia, but I love the
american thing of smoking stuff. So I tried it in my BBQ.
it's a double burner gas one, with a hood. I soaked some
hardwood in water for 24 hours, and arranged 2 biggish bits
directly next to the burners, under the grating. I put a
chicken in, when the heat built up I turned it down as low
as it goes and let it have 3-odd hours. The result was
spectacular. The chicken was moist and smoked right through
(it went a funny red colour right through to the inside),
the flavour was very strong, and I was even able to make
gravy from teh pan juices (I stood the chicken in a pan)
which was also very strongly smoke flavoured. The wood was
casuarina, a very hot-burning hard wood favoured for wood
fire heating. next I'm going to try some fancier woods.

ant

An el cheapo Brinkmann bullet is a real smoker and costs
about $30-40.

--
------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
----
Louis Cohen Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8'
42.8"

"Denise~*" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best,
but I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions
to it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Can't wait to give it it's first run!

Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no
longer a

healthy choice?

Ted Campanelli <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

On 5/19/2004 5:38 AM Ted shuffled out of his cave and
grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of
knowledge:

Quoted message said:

I asked previously about low & slow BBQ (smoking) meat.
Well, I decided instead of risking it on my normal BBQ
grill, I'd do something about it.

We cannot afford a real smoker & a cardboard box seems so
cheesy (and too temporary). This might not be the best,
but I bet it will work.

deniselane.comsmoker.htmlOpen ↗

I haven't given it a run yet & need to do some revisions
to it, but what y'all think (especially from those who DO
smoke meat)

Can't wait to give it it's first run!

Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's
no longer a healthy choice?

Looks good to me. At first glance it looked like one of
the inexpensive smokers you find at Wallyworld.

Nice job. Let us know how well it works.

Since the heating duct is galvanized sheet steel....and that
is poisonous when heated too hot. I suggest more research on
the galvanized steel. I'd rather you proved me wrong than
You died. Perhaps uncoated stainless steel or aluminum
heating duct is available.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on
nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

Peter Aitken said:

I saw a TV show where the host made a smoker from an
electric hotplate and a large clay flowerpot.

Good old Alton Brown. I think he did pork butt in that rig.
A previous show had the salmon in a cardboard box.

Brian Rodenborn

lol ... wow that thing is huge! what are you using now?

take care Liz

Hey! Look what [email hidden] wrote :

Quoted message said:

Looks cool. Be careful of what the metal is plated with,
however. Some people warn that certain coatings for steel
are toxic.

For an alternative el-cheapo design, see
bbq.netrelief.compnp3.htmOpen ↗

We used it to win LOTS of triphies before we retired it.

Steve Wertz said:

That'll work fine. Looks a poor-mand Weber Smokey Mountain.
The grates for holding the meat should be just above the
access door, and another just below the rim of the lid -
you can't have it too close the fire. Try and keep the temp
in there about 250F for beef/pork, or higher for chicken.

I'm working on adding a second rack right now. It will be
about 6"-8" below the top rack shown in my pics.

Quoted message said:

A round metal plate with large 1.5" holes cut in it that
goes the diameter of the cylinder between the fire and the
access door would act as a baffle, to keep too much heat
from hitting the meat directly (I assume you don't have a
water bowl in there) - similar to what's pictured in the
back of Joy of Cooking if you have that lying around.

Well, right now the top rack is over 2' from the heat source
& the middle rack that I am going to add will be over 1.5'
from the heat source. There shouldn't be too much direct
heat from that distance, should there?

Quoted message said:

Most people insist that galvanized metal not be used to
smoking as there's something toxic that can be emitted.
I've never seen any scientific proof of this, but it's been
mentioned in alt.food.barbecue many times. Just FYI in case
that cylinder happens to be galvanized.

If it is, do you think added a coating of high heat paint
inside & out would help?

Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no
longer a healthy choice?

hahabogus said:

Since the heating duct is galvanized sheet steel....and
that is poisonous when heated too hot. I suggest more
research on the galvanized steel. I'd rather you proved me
wrong than You died. Perhaps uncoated stainless steel or
aluminum heating duct is available.

Galvanized steel is safe under most conditions in lower
temperature smokers. The potential problem has to do with
zinc fumes that are emitted above certain temperatures, but
this risk is limited.

Zinc becomes volatilized and may outgas at or above it's
melting point (419 C, 786 F), but not at lower temperatures.
This is why you see warnings about galvanized directed
towards people involved in things like welding, smelting,
etc, which are done at a very high temperatures.

As a safety engineer for a plating shop put this to me,
it's what you would call a "self limiting" problem. By the
time it becomes an issue you've already begun melting your
oven and the condition of your food will be the least of
your concerns.

I use galvanized for things like smoke stacks, vents,
cooling chambers. So do major manufactures of smokers like
The Sausage Maker, etc. For example, here's a smoke
generator they manufacture and sell made entirely of
galvanized steel.

<sausagemaker.compurchase1.Open ↗
asp?pid=362&XPR=06770E6802640868028B006D0506770E680264086A-
028F006C05>

I recommend the following guidelines:

1. Food should not come in contact with galvanized metal
(this is from my local health department code actually)

2. Keep high heat components like heating elements, hot
coals, etc, out of contact with galvanized parts.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot)
com

hahabogus said:

Since the heating duct is galvanized sheet steel....and
that is poisonous when heated too hot. I suggest more
research on the galvanized steel. I'd rather you proved me
wrong than You died. Perhaps uncoated stainless steel or
aluminum heating duct is available.

fwiw, this solar page has a technical explanation:

"Galvanized sheet metal may be used inside the oven if
desired. SBC temperatures are not high enough to disperse
zinc, which melts at 419 F (215
C). Temperatures near or above the melting point cause
some molecules to migrate and could pose a health
hazard. If making any design of solar cooker that
reaches near to the melting temperature avoid galvanized
metal inside an oven."

solarcooking.orgkerr.htmOpen ↗

on the other hand, this code of SC regulations says in the
metals section:

"Galvanized metal shall not be used for utensils or food-
contact surfaces of equipment that are used for beverages,
moist food, or acidic food."

(no mention of heat) and in the barbecue section:

"Pit grills, grates, and other supports shall be constructed
of smooth, easily cleanable, nonabsorbent, and non-toxic
material and shall be in sections that are easily removable
for cleaning. Expanded metal and cast iron grating are
recommended materials which can be cleaned and maintained.
Hog wire, chicken wire, hardware cloth, and similar
materials are permitted for single-use only and must be
discarded after each cooking period."

i'd think "Hog wire, chicken wire, hardware cloth" would
usually be galvanized.

scstatehouse.net61 25.htmOpen ↗

to the OP - maybe a way to find out would be to call your
local health department and ask them what they'd say about
galvanized metal in a restaurant's barbecue. safety is
their business.

hahabogus said:

Since the heating duct is galvanized sheet steel....and
that is poisonous when heated too hot. I suggest more
research on the galvanized steel. I'd rather you proved me
wrong than You died. Perhaps uncoated stainless steel or
aluminum heating duct is available.

I may be wrong about it being a heating duct, I don't
belive it's galvanized, but I will verify that to be on the
safe side,

Quoted message said:

Your design allows charcoal to get in direct contact with
the galvanized metal.

Actually, you are wrong here. My heating is in the original
BBQ, not on the part that I added.

Denise, Brian & Wyatt (May 31, 02)

How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it's no
longer a healthy choice?

Reg <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Galvanized steel is safe under most conditions in lower
temperature smokers. The potential problem has to do with
zinc fumes that are emitted above certain temperatures,
but this risk is limited.

As far as I can tell one charcoal Brickette produces enough
heat to cause you problems. So only a little poisoned is OK
by you? Your design allows charcoal to get in direct contact
with the galvanized metal. You could live to rue that. You
don't need the whole thing to outgas to poison yourself.
Just where the charcoal touches the galvanized sheet could
give you health problems. A easy fix could be to create a
charcoal containment ring in which to burn the
charcoal...well away from the sides and to ensure the
charcoal always stays away from the sides...Burn the
charcoal in a old beat up stainless steel pot or pan, well
centered in the beast, would be my fix.

With the proper application of a duct elbow cold smoking
might be possible.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on
nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

socks said:

fwiw, this solar page has a technical explanation:

"Galvanized sheet metal may be used inside the oven if
desired. SBC temperatures are not high enough to disperse
zinc, which melts at 419 F (215
C). Temperatures near or above the melting point cause
some molecules to migrate and could pose a health
hazard. If making any design of solar cooker that
reaches near to the melting temperature avoid galvanized
metal inside an oven."

solarcooking.orgkerr.htmOpen ↗

...

My only bone to pick here would that the melting point given
for zinc is incorrect. It's actually 419 C, not 419 F.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot)
com

hahabogus said:

As far as I can tell one charcoal Brickette produces
enough heat to cause you problems. So only a little
poisoned is OK by you? Your design allows charcoal to get
in direct contact with the galvanized metal.

Eh? What's this about "my design"? I haven't posted anything
about this, only details about critical temperatures. You're
confusing me with the OP. No surprise actually.

Quoted message said:

You don't need the whole thing to outgas to poison
yourself. Just where the charcoal touches the galvanized
sheet could give you health problems.

So after posting a scare story about galvanized metal,
you're now suddenly an expert on zinc oxide exposure levels
and the details of metal fume fever? Your speculation about
galvanized fell flat, so your speculation on this doesn't
hold much weight.

It's a simple matter to avoid zinc outgassing in the first
place. It makes the subject of exposure levels moot.

Quoted message said:

With the proper application of a duct elbow cold smoking
might be possible.

Um, thanks. You might want to convey your insights to
smoker manufacturers who routinely make safe use of
galvanized in their equipment. No doubt you're way ahead of
them on the subject.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot)
com