I NEED a smoker

[pacanis]

I've been reading through the smoker threads and have a question on something I haven't come across; Can you smoke meats when it's a blustery winter day along the shores of Lake Erie? I'll assume that it will take more heat to get up to temp, but once there, it really shouldn't be any different to maintain the correct temp, should it?

And, while I was leaning towards electric for convenience, this one has caught my interest. I like the footprint of the upright style, it's rated high (at Amazon anyway) and, if I'm going to tinker around with a little smoking, I might as well be a purist

[pacanis]

No cold weather smokers on today? Or maybe that's a sign that you can't smoke in cold weather? This enquiring mind wants to know

Or does anyone have a link to an active smoking forum?

Thanks

[dave the baker]

The colder it is, the harder it is to maintain temp. That smoker is nice; it's called a water smoker becase it has a pan of water above the fire and below the object to be smoked. If you want to be a purist, you need a cold smoker. The fire is way off to the side. There are a lot of water smokers out there; mine is a Brinkman Smokin 'n Grill from Wally World for about 30 clams. It's just as good as my brubber in law's $750 job, just not as big. Be prepared to spend a lot of time checking to see that the temp is right and the fire is still going just so, and adding chunks of soaked wood for smoke. But it's worth it.

[pacanis]

Thanks Dave.
I just found a great site that seems to answer a lot of my questions.
I'd really like to go with the upright bullet style due to space constraints on my porch and that seems to be a popular one, even for beginners. And looks like if I block the wind, and it pretty much is, that smoking in winter is really no big deal.

I should have just done a search for a dedicated forum earlier, but I thought the word "smoker" would put me on a wild goose chase.

[JohnL]

Hey pacanis,
I know it's not very purdy, but you can make an electric smoker out of an old broken refigerator that will hold up just fine on them cold and blustery days up there in your hood.

[pacanis]

Just a leetle beet overkill, John (lol).
Maybe if I start smoking whole cows...

[Uncle Bob]

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.

[roadfix]

Here's one fairly active forum:

Barbecuebible.com :: View Forum - General Discussion

[pacanis]

Thanks roadfix.
Here's the one I got some info from before placing my order The Smoke Ring- All you need to know about barbecue

[dave the baker]

I ain't pregnant and the rest of it don't scare me, Unca. Let's eat smoked barbeque!!!