A Great Home Smoker for Small Amounts of Food
Pros:
Easy to assemble. Great design. Durable. Versatile.
Cons:
Small capacity. Requires constant attention while smoking.
The Bottom Line:
This is a good smoker if you like the taste of smoky lump charcoal flavored food. It has a great design.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Smoking is a passionate hobby of mine. I have tried many different designs of smokers, and the Brinkmann Vertical Charcoal Smoker is one of the best that I have tried.
It is a front load smoker. This smoker has two food racks with 390 square inches of cooking space. They aren't huge. It is able to hold up to 50 lbs. of meat but you aren't going to be doing 20 racks of ribs or 15 chickens in here. So, if you are feeding an Army, look for something else. But, if you want to do one chicken or turkey, a brisket, sausage, pork loin, fish, jerky, one or two racks of ribs, cheese, nuts, vegetables, fruit, etc. then this is perfect. It also has a good stay cool wire handle.
This is a water smoker. It has two separate pans- one for charcoal or wood and the other for water or another liquid. The fire bowl is not too huge and you may have to add a grate to hold the charcoal and drill some holes in it to maintain a good hot fire.
It has a temperature gauge on it so you can monitor your cooking temp (185F- 225F for good smoking). It also has several adjustable vents for air intake for hotter fires and at the top for smoke ventilation.
It was easy to assemble and has stood up to the weather pretty good. You may want to get a cover for it and possibly a blanket for it if the wind picks up while you are smoking cause that will affect your heat. Also, I only use LUMP charcoal in my smoker. It's real wood with no other ingredients, fillers or chemicals added. It burns hotter and more consistent than briquettes and are a great match with this smoker. Soak your wood chips for 1 hour and then add to the fire.
Brinkmann also sells an electric converter for this smoker that can be used to convert it from charcoal to electric. A good idea if you don't want to tend a fire all day. But, that's what smoking great food is all about!
