8/7/10 Report: 1st V21 Billfish!

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Blue_Runner

Thanks RB!

Destroyer - man that sounds really cool. First time I've heard of the old fridge smoker. I love doing things like that. I made a smoker out of a couple of cardboard boxes one time on a camping trip. It worked great for the first couple hours.....until I let a hot coal get near the edge

I appreciate you writing that up and explaining it to me. That will definitely work and sounds delicious.

When I lived at the shore there was an old salt that told/showed me how to make one... The whole idea of the refrigerator rather than just a metal box is the insulation in the refrigerator keeps the heat in, so the thing works really great. I've done turkeys, hams, chickens and fish... all come out tasting fantastic. Glad you like the idea. :)

[Blue_Runner]

Thanks for showing me. You got me doing some research now.

Question - the 10 - 14 hour thing, is that what you would call cold smoked? Also what temp does it reach inside the smoker?

Check these out:
http://forums.mathewsinc.com/viewtop...c50625aa88b4b7

and

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=52967

[Destroyer]

It's definately not cold smoking.. the temp in there is well over 200. All the water turns to steam, and that happens at 212 deg. F. Truthfully, I've never been finicky or anything about how much temp or whatever. I know it works. The electric hot plate doesn't run out of fuel, so by my way of thinking my main concern was to keep as much of the steam inside for cooking as possilbe.. I didn't have to worry about drafts and such since there were no flames. So I kept doing it that way. I figure if it ain't broke I'm not fixing it. I used to smoke whiting 12 hours... sometimes less, and Striper and Blues for about 14 hours, depending on their size.

I liked that one link where the guy had that refrigerator smoker. He made some nice shelves in it.. I don't like the chiminey vent, to my way of thinking it's lets way too much steam and smoke out... Of course they are using fire boxes and such, and have lots of steam and smoke, so maybe they can afford to open the draft... I used to run my smoker with the holes 3/4 or more closed...
I never did cheeses... never thought to try them actually... Oh well.. I guess that's what they made Whole Foods for.

[Blue_Runner]

Yeah the homemade wooden one has no insulation so the hot plate probably wouldn't be enough heat. I do quite a bit of smoking over wood coals (hickory and oak) on a metal smoker my dad made and also a dry stacked concrete block smoker I made. I normally smoke b/t 200 - 225 degrees. It is a lot of fun on a cold winter day. Flyfishin's dad is getting ready to build a nice concrete block smoker outside his 30 x 40 shop. I will have to post some pics of it. On opening day of deer season Fly's dad is going to fire up the smoker and the plan is for us all to meet back up after the morning hunt to chow down and shoot the bull before heading back out that afternoon. Gonna be fun!

[willy]

Good job Blue Man, you better bring a bigger fish bag next time

[Blue_Runner]

LOL Willy. That bag has seen a lot of fish and hasn't met one yet it couldn't hold....until that day. Note we were going to release the sail anyway so it didn't matter. I was surprised that 43lb yellowfin fit in the bag but it did. I would like to have one a little longer and wider. I figured out on the fishing trip before last that when empty the fish bag makes a nice lounge cushion to sit on the deck on the way in or out. I bought the bag used for $75 so it has definitely paid for itself and continues to do so.

[Airslot]

Perty work Blue. I'm loadin up the gear now. We'll be in Topsail August 23rd, harrassing the fishes