my Cookin Gear

Barbecue smoking has become somewhat of a hobby for me so I decided to create a blog to share techniques and recipes with friends and family.

I've got the Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal Smoker. It's gone through some modifications since it was originally purchased and it now works really well.

Anyone familiar with this unit knows the temperature gauge that comes with it is pretty much worthless. To resolve this deficiency I drilled a hole through the lid at the level of the top cooking grate and a second hole through the barrel at the level of the lower cooking grate. I purchased two grill thermometers from Home Depot and attached them through the holes. I now have accurate temperature readings at each level of cooking.

The second thing I did was I drilled some holes in the bottom charcoal pan and converted the smoker to run on propane. I had an old propane deep fryer that I never used anymore so I took the hose and burner from that and retrofit it into the bottom pan of the smoker. It just became too difficult to regulate temperature with charcoal and dealing with inconsistencies caused by flare-ups was leading to inconsistent results in what I was cooking. Now that the smoker is running on propane I have total control over how big the flame is and thus the temperature. I've found that with a very slight trickle of propane I can keep the temperature between 180 and 220 degrees for hours. Which is absolutely perfect for smoking.

Lastly I added a cast iron grate that sits just above the burner in the bottom pan. On top of the grate I set a cast iron smoker box which is where I burn the wood chips to create the smoky flavor.