Some outdoor cooks prefer barbecue while others prefer the slower method of smoking. While both methods have their advantages, many swear by the distinct flavor advantages of a BBQ meat smoker. While cooking with heated smoke will take considerably longer than with straight heat, it is a more flavorful way of cooking.

Typically, meat smoker cooking has an offset fire chamber, which provides a means of the heat and smoke from the burner to pass over and through the meat. The flame itself never comes into contact with the food and therefore will not burn it. Neither will the oils and juices that drip from the cooking meat ignite short bursts of flame that can cause flare ups and scorched food.

If you’re looking to make the meat you cook taste better, there are plenty of techniques that can be applied to it in order to improve it.  Marinating, brining, even just a pinch of salt can all help bring out the potential of meat.  One method that’s not practiced as much as it used to be is the use of meat smokers to add flavor from burning wood. Meat smoking is historically a method to aid in food preservation, since combined with the curing process, smoked meat is very resistant to spoiling.  If you are interested in learning to smoke meats, you will of course need to look at meat smokers.  There are several different types of smokers to choose from, and each has benefits and drawbacks.

The Basic Approach

The most basic way to smoke meat is to use some wood chips at the bottom of your grill and to close the lid.  This is the easiest of meat smokers to practice with, since most homes already have a grill to work with.  The amount of equipment that you need to accomplish this is small, merely a small metal box to hold the wood chips as well as the wood chips themselves.  By using grills as meat smokers, you can practice smoking without much of an investment in complex equipment.  However, because your meat will be close to the heat source, the effect will be closer to barbecuing than smoking, and cold smoking is impossible.

The Do-It-Yourself Approach

Some people want dedicated meat smokers, but aren’t willing to shell out the money for one, or have a fondness for tinkering.  There are different methods of creating meat smokers yourself, but one can be made using things as simple as a hot plate and a metal garbage can, among other items.  The benefit from making your own smoker is that you can make a fairly decent one for not a lot of money.  Depending on the design, you can create a smoker that’s appropriate for both hot and cold smoking; the only limit is the work you put into it.  However, most commercially made meat smokers will have more sophisticated equipment and more precise controls. 

If you’re sure that you’re dedicated enough to smoking foods that you will make frequent use of a smoker, purchasing a meat smoker is the way to go. There are many makes and styles of smokers and grills.  Some units have been adapted to be both.  Whatever is wanted by a customer looking around has probably already been built.  One type of smoker that can also grill is a pipe smoker. Other commercial meat smokers
are very solid and easily controlled but cost a fortune compared to if you were to build your own meat smoker.

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