If you are a barbecue enthusiast, you have probably used wood chips in the past to flavor fish or meat on your barbecue grill and used marinades in conjunction with wood chips to produce many different and amazing flavors using fairly basic types of meat or fish.
If you’ve done this, chances are you’ve developed a taste for barbecue smoked food, so why not expand your barbecue smoking skills by purchasing a dedicated smoker grill to complement your conventional barbecue grill?
But while you may agree that you have room for an extra grill, you may not be happy with the added expense of purchasing one. (Maybe you’re already planning and budgeting to replace your current barbecue grill.) But do not worry. It is possible to add a very inexpensive smoker grill to your backyard kitchen equipment without financial pain. The Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker Grill is currently available for sale on the web for between $50 and $100 (depending on the model you choose).
You might think that such a grill is not going to be very good. You couldn’t be more wrong. The Brinkmann Smoker Grill is not only widely considered to be good value for money (by many different Amazon customers), but it will also allow you to produce a wide variety of different BBQ smoker grills that will amaze you with their authentic smokehouse flavor.
In this article, I will introduce you to the Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker and give you examples of how easy it is to use. At the end of my article I will also give you some tips on where to buy one at a good price.
How does a smoker work?
The main idea behind a smoker grill is that the food is cooked with water (steam) and not smoked directly from the heat of the charcoal (or gas burner). The fantastic flavor of food produced in a smoker is obtained by using different types of wood chips or chunks mixed with or replacing charcoal.
Because of how a smoker grill works, cooking takes place at a temperature close to the boiling point of water (212°F), which is much lower than a conventional barbecue grill. This constant temperature makes cooking times fairly predictable, but it is important to remember that on very hot or cold days, the surrounding air temperature can either drop or increase the cooking temperature of an outdoor smoker. These temperature variations need to be watched because they can have a significant effect on cooking times.
The Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker
As I mentioned earlier, the Brinkman Gourmet Charcoal Smoker has quite the reputation. It’s made of stainless steel, but it’s fairly small (17″x17″x35″) and lightweight (about 30 lbs.). You can cook up to 50 lbs. of food on two cooking grates mounted one on top of the other inside from the main smoker box.
The Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker is made of three parts
- Charcoal Base Pan
- Smoker box containing water container and cooking grates/grills
- Smoker Box Lid
The charcoal base can hold enough charcoal for 4-5 hours of cooking, but if more is needed, it can be replenished through the smoker box side door.
The smoker box sits directly on top of the charcoal pan. The water container is located at the bottom of this box and can hold enough water for 4-5 hours of cooking. The two grills are located in the box above this bowl. The smoker box has a side door through which more charcoal and water can be added during cooking, and two insulated handles so it can be safely removed when hot.
The lid has a temperature indicator and an insulated handle, but the lid should not normally be removed during cooking.
Using the Brinkmann Smoker
As mentioned, the Brinkmann Smoker is very easy to use. These are the main steps involved in preparing a typical meal:
- Remove lid and smoker box.
- Add charcoal to the base pan.
- Insert the water container into the smoker box and fill with water.
- Insert the lower and upper cooking grates into the smoker box stacked with the food you want to cook.
- Light the charcoal in the pan and when it is burning brightly (white ash on the surface) set the smoker box on top.
During cooking, replenish charcoal and water until cooking is complete. You don’t need to keep an eye on the smoker grill all the time, just come back to check on it from time to time.
A typical recipe for the Brinkmann
Here is a simple smoked pork loin recipe that works well in the Brinkmann smoker. It will produce the most delicious pork meat that is ideal for cold sandwiches:
– Use 1 ½ to 2 pounds of pork loin (enough for 2 – 4 people)
– Prepare a marinade using ingredients such as:
- Apricot nectar – one cup
- Apple cider or apricot brandy – half a cup
- Soy Sauce (two tablespoons), Vinegar (two teaspoons), Hoisin Sauce (one teaspoon)
- Minced garlic (one clove)
- Brown sugar (one tablespoon)
- Allspice (1/2 teaspoon), ground ginger (1/4 teaspoon)
- Whole cloves (one tablespoon)
– Combine these ingredients in a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves, then cool the mixture and use it as a marinade.
– Pierce the meat with a fork in several places. Place in the marinade in a suitable dish or heavy plastic bag. Refrigerated overnight.
– Remove meat from marinade and place on smoker box cooking grate and pour remaining marinade into smoker box water pan.
For cooking use 5 lbs. of charcoal, 3 quarts of hot water, 2 sticks of wood (cherry, hickory, etc.) and smoke for 2 ½ – 3 ½ hours.
Smoker Grill Cook Times
Unsurprisingly, a major consequence of the lower cooking temperature on a smoker grill is that cooking can take a long time (often many hours, as in the recipe above), especially if you’re cooking large pieces of meat. For this reason, barbecue smoking requires more patience and advance planning than is necessary with a conventional family barbecue.
Should you buy one?
If you’re thinking about buying a smoker grill like the Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker Grill, I highly recommend reading Amazon customer reviews. You will find that most customers have been impressed with the quality of the results they have obtained with the Brinkman grill. It is considered a good entry level smoker that is very easy to use and will make a great companion to your existing barbecue grill.
So yes, if you’re a fan of smoking barbecues, you should consider buying a smoker grill like the Brinkmann.