A friend of mine and I collaborated on making bacon in his smoker. It was a big success and now I am major jells, as the kids say, of his smoker. I live in a third floor apartment with a wooden deck that's covered. I think I need to get an electric or propane smoker given the wooden deck and all. Any one have a recommendation on a good one? It's heresy to use an electric, I know. But better an electric than no smoker at all, right?

My buddy has a similar issue and has a Masterbuilt electric version. He has some clean up issues that I'd like to avoid, if possible.

You can use a charcoal if you are careful and set up on something like a big piece of cement backer board. We got one that was something like 8'x4' for under $20 a few years ago at Home Depot. They will cut it for you if that's too big. You do have to be careful, I accidentally melted the siding on my house. We now have backer board on 3 sides around where I have the smoker.

leek wrote:You can use a charcoal if you are careful and set up on something like a big piece of cement backer board. We got one that was something like 8'x4' for under $20 a few years ago at Home Depot. They will cut it for you if that's too big. You do have to be careful, I accidentally melted the siding on my house. We now have backer board on 3 sides around where I have the smoker.

Concrete board is typically 3'x5' as it's a lot heavier than drywall (but that makes it a pain to install for walls for tile backing, if your studs are spaced for 4'x8' pieces... but that's another show).

I use a piece of the Hardibacker-type stuff which is lighter weight (and a large degree fiberglass) for protecting the grass when I smoke in the yard (as opposed to the driveway). When it's on sale it should be in the neighborhood of $10-$12. It's a lot neater when cut versus the concrete board -- it doesn't break into lots of little sharp cement bits.

This was a big concern for me too as I moved to a second floor condo with a wood deck. But I stuck with my WSM. I bought a couple of concrete grill pads, one that I place underneath underneath the smoker, and one next to it (to catch some stray charcoal pieces - it happens!). You can buy them at Home Depot - http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog ... Search+All or the like. You can also purchase them online from many sources. But I've been using them now for several years without issue.

I am going to have to check my condo association rules on charcoal. Thanks for the tips on the charcoal options.

Another suggestion, and the one I use on my wooden deck, is to go to a metal fabricator and buy a large sheet of aluminum to put down over the wood. That will protect the deck and won't crack or deteriorate over time.

This guy in Gary Indiana:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/app/3823642027.html

also makes a mini-UDS, which I own a really really enjoy, here's mine:

http://imgur.com/a/M2TXV

If I lived in an apartment, it's what I would buy.

Looking to pick up a WSM. Usually only cooking for my fam but once a year do pulled pork for the block party. Anyone have any thoughts on whether the 18 1/2" is big enough? Usually I am doing 3 butts.

mfal34 wrote:Looking to pick up a WSM. Usually only cooking for my fam but once a year do pulled pork for the block party. Anyone have any thoughts on whether the 18 1/2" is big enough? Usually I am doing 3 butts.

Yes. The 18 1/2" is big enough to do 3 butts on one of it's racks, with space to spare for 2 - 3 racks of ribs on the other rack (or 3 more butts).

Anyone happen to know of any Cyber Monday deals for a Weber Smokey Mountain? Looking to buy one for my dad for Christmas and the best I can find is $299 with free shipping which is the same price I was seeing a couple weeks ago.

ziggy wrote:Anyone happen to know of any Cyber Monday deals for a Weber Smokey Mountain? Looking to buy one for my dad for Christmas and the best I can find is $299 with free shipping which is the same price I was seeing a couple weeks ago.

If you have a Target Red Card - it will save you 5% off of the $299 sale price.

ziggy wrote:Anyone happen to know of any Cyber Monday deals for a Weber Smokey Mountain? Looking to buy one for my dad for Christmas and the best I can find is $299 with free shipping which is the same price I was seeing a couple weeks ago.

Amazon has been discounting various Masterbuilt models for the last couple of weeks as "Lightning Deals" but the WSM rarely shows up beyond the standard $299 discount.

I am the recipient of a free 18.5" WSM. It is in great shape except for...The donor did not clean it at the end of last season. The smoker was infested by ants. The owner's wife saw the ants, sprayed it with ant killer, and said she would never eat anything made on it.

I want to clean it down to the paint. The exterior is in great condition - no rust, chips or dents.Any suggestions on how to do it. The racks are rusty. Does it make send to buy new, or can high cook at high heat and then put in dishwasher?

funkyfrank wrote:I am the recipient of a free 18.5" WSM. It is in great shape except for...The donor did not clean it at the end of last season. The smoker was infested by ants. The owner's wife saw the ants, sprayed it with ant killer, and said she would never eat anything made on it.

I want to clean it down to the paint. The exterior is in great condition - no rust, chips or dents.Any suggestions on how to do it. The racks are rusty. Does it make send to buy new, or can high cook at high heat and then put in dishwasher?

I'd suggest using a pressure washer, if you can get your hands on one. It will get rid of all the gunk and rust and make the WSM look just like new. You can use the pressure washer on the grates as well, but if it were me, I'd just buy a new set of grates for a fresh start. They don't cost very much.

P.S. Cleaning greasy WSM grates in the dishwasher is a bad idea. Don't ask me how I know.

stevez wrote:I'd suggest using a pressure washer, if you can get your hands on one. It will get rid of all the gunk and rust and make the WSM look just like new. You can use the pressure washer on the grates as well, but if it were me, I'd just buy a new set of grates for a fresh start. They don't cost very much.

P.S. Cleaning greasy WSM grates in the dishwasher is a bad idea. Don't ask me how I know.

Home Depot has pressure washers for rent.

I reached the conclusion that greasy grates in dishwasher was one of my worst ideas ever.

I've put mine in the dishwasher, but only after I've cleaned them as best I can myself.

funkyfrank wrote:I reached the conclusion that greasy grates in dishwasher was one of my worst ideas ever.

Curious what happens

Pressure washing works pretty well on grates and the grill itself. One of the best ways to clean the grates is to put them in the oven on the cleaning cycle. It wont do anything for the rust, but it will get rid of any grease/gunk. Steel wool pads work well to remove the rust, or as stevez says, just by a new set, they are pretty reasonably priced.

The best gift you can give a smoker is good advice. Smoking is awful for you.