I have a red brinkmann electric smoker...

[knotabassturd]

They are fairly cheap at around $80 from Lowes I think.

One problem I've had with it is keeping the temp down. Something like slow/cold-smoked candy salmon is out of my realm right now with the higher temps (squaw candy is a derogatory term to some but some may know it by that name- no offense to anyone that might take it).
Anybody have a brinkmann electric and have a way to keep the temp down?
I smoke my fish real fast right now (about 2 hours) and smoke 'em real hard to get the right amount of heavy smoke I like. I have a recipe that is working for regular smoked as long as I do it fast. It is nice to smoke that fast in some ways but I want to diversify a bit and slower smoking might give me a better chance at stuff like candy salmon (thin strips slow smoked low heat). Or softer finished product.
Anybody have tips? I may experiment and lift the base up, maybe put the lid on over a couple raised thin boards or something so some heat can escape out the top too. But that'll probably evacuate a fair amount of smoke too. Guess I'll be rpacticing this winter :-) The cooler temps should help a little too.

[Bodofish]

The temp should not be a problem if it's properly brined.

Set the fish out on racks and have a fan blow over it till it's almost dry then put in in the smoker with the chips for a few hours.

If you want to cool down your smoker you can always do a dimmer switch and receptical to plug the smoker into it. Get it smoking and turn it down. Crank it up to smoke, then turn it down again. You only need to do a pan or two of chips most of the time is just cooking.

[Splitshot]

Yeah, I got the same smoker with the same problem. I'm thinking about replecing the element with a cheap waffle iron with temp control. That's what my father in law use to use in an old fridge he turned into a smoker. Just haven't got a round to it yet.

Try doing a turkey! 10lb bird cooked in about 4 hours and was awesome! Pork ribs came out good too.

[knotabassturd]

The temp should not be a problem if it's properly brined.

Set the fish out on racks and have a fan blow over it till it's almost dry then put in in the smoker with the chips for a few hours.

If you want to cool down your smoker you can always do a dimmer switch and receptical to plug the smoker into it. Get it smoking and turn it down. Crank it up to smoke, then turn it down again. You only need to do a pan or two of chips most of the time is just cooking.

You are right the temp is not a problem as long as I smoke it hard and do it fast for the regular smoked salmon.
If I don't do it quick, the fish dries out too much and gets too dry from the higher heat. The water pan helps with moisture some with the outside of the fish, but the inside sometimes gets too dry for my taste even with the water pan.

I like the moist smoked salmon if it is the kippered/cooked style my smoker puts out. The jerky-type candy salmon I want to try (cut it into thin pieces) but I'm thinking the pieces will just cook and break if I try it on the higher heat level. Suppose I could throw it in the oven for a couple hours real low heat then smoke it hard on the Brinkmann quickly to avoid overheating/overcooking.

I really like the dimmer switch idea but don't think it would work on the brinkmann where there's just the straight wire into the heating element so guessing it goes either 'on' or 'off' and if the dimmer switch is used it would still stay 'on' (which would probably be full blast just like in an oven- an oven element turns on and off to regulate heat not turn on a little or a lot). Suppose I could manually act like an oven temp probe and unplug it then plug it in every so often to keep it cooler. The chips would probably keep burning but it would be a babysitting job LOL. Hmmm, I'm babysitting anyways with the wood chip feeding so I may try that next.
Thanx for the input!:cheers:

[goodtimesfishing]

use a oven thermostat in your smoker. If you google "thermostat for smoker" or something like that, you should be able to find some help on how to wire it up. Like you said it just turns it on and off at specific temps so it should not be to difficult. Try and find one that has the low temp settings.

[Bodofish]

If you wire a dimmer switch to a receptical you change the voltage across the heating element thus changing the temp.

[G-Man]

If you go the dimmer switch route, make sure the switch is rated for at least the same wattage as your smoker's element. I have a cheapie charcoal Brinkman and I simply use a portable hotplate and coffee can in place of the charcoal pan when I want to keep the heat down and cold smoke fish. Also, unless I'm cooking a bird, the "water" pan stays empty, as it is counter productive to add steam to the fish smoking process.

[Rich McVey]

I have one of these.

Bought a Masterbuilt specifically because of the temp control issues.

When I wanted to smoke at lower temps, I smoked on colder/windyer:scratch: days. Durring the winter on a crappy day I had to put the smoker in a steel shed and close the doors to get the heat up.

I had not thought about the dimmer switch, the smoker is going to draw a LOT more current than a light bulb.

The brinkman heating element is 1500 watt.

I see dimmer switches in the 600 to 1000 watt range. Not high enough to be safe. IMO.

A 15 amp Variac is what you want to control the temp but the price starts at $300+ for those.

[flinginpooh]

Im with ray on this one. I too bought a masterbuilt digital smoker. Lowes carries them reg price 199.99 on sale right now 179.99 They have 4 racks verible heat from 100deg up to 275deg. They are fully insulated so smoking outside in the cold is not an issue. They have a built in digi timer that shuts the element off when timers done. There is a seperate spot to add wood chips so you dont need to open the door and loose heat. The smoker is awesome for the price. I highly recomend this smoker and you dont need to rewire an outlet with a dimmer switch that can not handle the wattage. Much safer.

[knotabassturd]

Yeah, I got the same smoker with the same problem. I'm thinking about replecing the element with a cheap waffle iron with temp control. That's what my father in law use to use in an old fridge he turned into a smoker. Just haven't got a round to it yet.

Try doing a turkey! 10lb bird cooked in about 4 hours and was awesome! Pork ribs came out good too.

splitshot- that's a very good idea. I was thinking about that last night (not a waffle iron but some lighter heat source). The other thing I was thinking of doing temporarily is unplugging and plugging back into get the chips smoking but also put out less heat.

This info is all real good thanx everyone for the input!:)

[Rich McVey]

Now that you mention it... I used to have one of those 12in x 24in skillet/griddle/hotplate it only took a few screws to remove the element cover on the bottom and the control on that was pretty good.

I had been thinking about putting the red Weeble Wobble in the garage sale this spring but now... maybe not.

Good Thread

[Bodofish]

If you go the dimmer switch route, make sure the switch is rated for at least the same wattage as your smoker's element. I have a cheapie charcoal Brinkman and I simply use a portable hotplate and coffee can in place of the charcoal pan when I want to keep the heat down and cold smoke fish. Also, unless I'm cooking a bird, the "water" pan stays empty, as it is counter productive to add steam to the fish smoking process.

I guess if your concerned with the code.... I've been using them to control the voltage on big heating elements for bending and cutting plastic for years. I've never had one burn up or even get hot. The elements are a darn sight bigger than 1500 watts.

The other route I used for years was an electric skillet that I tweaked the thermostat on. 400 degrees is almost enough to smoke, just a little more.......

[knotabassturd]

Now that you mention it... I used to have one of those 12in x 24in skillet/griddle/hotplate it only took a few screws to remove the element cover on the bottom and the control on that was pretty good.

I had been thinking about putting the red Weeble Wobble in the garage sale this spring but now... maybe not.

Good Thread

LOL more stuff in the garage! The Mrs is gunna Luv U even more Weeble Wobble definitely a good name for them... I may try raising the lid up off the top a little to see how that works to cool things a little before using a smaller heat source.

[Kfedka]

I also have the same Brinkman Smoker. 1-2lb Trout smoke in less than 30 minutes:-$

I don't put to many wood chips inside, and once it starts to smoke good, I unplug the smoker. Let the fish cool for 10 minutes and then start the process a second time, by which it will get complete.

[knotabassturd]

I also have the same Brinkman Smoker. 1-2lb Trout smoke in less than 30 minutes:-$

I don't put to many wood chips inside, and once it starts to smoke good, I unplug the smoker. Let the fish cool for 10 minutes and then start the process a second time, by which it will get complete.

Kfedka, sounds like you have down what I am just learning. I smoked some salmon this weekend and it turned out well. Not too dry, not to rubbery, not to mushy, and flavor was great!

I put a little spacer on top of chamber so the lid did not sit down completely over the chamber (it has gaps normally anyway but rests below top of chamber and this way it was raised slightly above the chamber allowing more heat to escape).
The weather was cool too. So that probably helped.
I did up some coho fillet cut into 1 1/2 inch strips I had brined for 18 hours in my 'sauce', dried it for about 8-9 hours, then started the smoke up before putting the loaded chamber over the heat.
I took the chamber off 3 or 4 times in the 2 hours to stoke it full of chips. I like heavy alder smoke When I took the chamber off, I let it cool by taking the lid off too and laying it to the side then putting more chips in the little burned out tuna cans I use to hold chips on the heating element.
Must say at least for this batch (about 1 1/2 coho fillets) it turned out just right:chef: :chef: .
Hope I didin't just jinx the next batch.

Oh, I also put in a little less water into the water pan/bowl since I think G-Man or someone had mentioned you don't need water. I wanted that extra humidity to keep the fish moist but suppose the pellicle should help lock in some of that moisture regardless of a water pan. Maybe I will be brave enough to go waterless next time but owuld hate to mess up a nice coho fillet#-o (that's your queue G-Man to tell me why NOT to use water:salut: ).

Thanx for the input guys!:cheers:

[The Quadfather]

I also have the same Brinkman Smoker. 1-2lb Trout smoke in less than 30 minutes:-$

I don't put to many wood chips inside, and once it starts to smoke good, I unplug the smoker. Let the fish cool for 10 minutes and then start the process a second time, by which it will get complete.

As I already said, I have the same Brinkman... but it's funny to hear Kfedka's story, because that describes exactly what I go through with this thing. If Kfed smokes a 1-2lb trout in 30 min. then that explains why when I take the same type fish and try and go for these marathon recipes 5, 6+ hours of course that is why I'm left with fish leather.

[knotabassturd]

LOL Quadfather, looks like we have a common problem pervading the "Weeble Wobble". Overheating.

I have figured out a recipe with heavy alder smoke that is working now smoking salmon in 2 hours flat (and that's instituting some cooling methods like removing lid and chamber and letting them cool while adding more chips).

Now that it is getting cooler outside, I am probably going to stick with what I have figured out (at least for coho) without tinkering/sacrificing any more salmon fillets to the Smoking Gods knowing I can be done in just 2 hours! Gives me time to catch a little football when smoking it on the wekeend![biggrin]

But before next summer (and the pinks run) I am going to be practicing on some kind of fish with a lower heat source in there so I can get that more traditional 4-8 hour smoke and probably more smoke flavor. Not sure how this might affect the smoking operation since I throw a whole bunch of those burned out tuna cans directly on that large heating element the Brinkmann has right now. And a smaller replacement will likely have less surface area so less cans at my disposal.

Hmmmm, maybe one of these days some of us WAlakes members should have a smoked salmon trading session/taste test LOL. That little bit I gave U last time wasn't good enough. I will have to see about getting you some good stuff around Thanksgiving to prove we can smoke up decent fish on this little cheapo Brinkmann and hang with those guys smokin' with the big boy fancy equipment !

[Rich McVey]

Hmmmm, maybe one of these days some of us WAlakes members should have a smoked salmon trading session/taste test LOL. That little bit I gave U last time wasn't good enough. I will have to see about getting you some good stuff around Thanksgiving to prove we can smoke up decent fish on this little cheapo Brinkmann and hang with those guys smokin' with the big boy fancy equipment !

Yea Buddy....

Im in for that

Will have to practice with both. Havnt used my Brinkman in years. I'll see if my father in law wants in on this. He uses a home made one and has great results.

[knotabassturd]

Rich, with you in Auburn (not far from me) we will definitely have to trade recipes if we get to taste testing one of these days LOL.

I took a couple pics of my smoker to put on the thread (hopefully this weekend) so people get a little visual on stuff like how the tuna cans work for chips.

This time I figured out how to time smoking fish during the work week:cheers:

Before I always had to squeeze it in to weekends so often had to wait awhile (DAYS and DAYS, oh the agony) before getting enough time to do it and in the meantime was fiending for smoked salmon:cyclopsan

For the 'during the week' smoke I had to cut the pieces thinner than normally like and brined only for 11 hours instead of about 20. But still turned out fine:)
In fact if I'm on the Green Saturday and see a fellow WAlaker out there I may try to swing some by to see what they think of it.

Didn't smoke a lot cuz it is a small smoker but just right for my needs:)

Next task will be trying to get a couple chums to try on there.
Pretty sure they won't be QUITE as good but will keep an open mind.:chef:

[knotabassturd]

Here are a couple pics showing my red brinkmann and the tuna cans with how I'm using them: