Smoking meat has become a bit of an obsession around our house. We started with a small propane smoker and that set us off down this path of smoking meat.
While we still have the propane smoker we do not use it too much anymore because of Ugly Betty.
In the spring/summer of 2020, Stephen needed an outlet to release some creative energy and so he proceeded to fabricate a smoker out of our old propane tanks. We call her Ugly Betty. Since her completion, she really has made a difference in how we approach meat.
First where we purchase our meat has become an important part of the process. We prefer going to a butcher as they tend to know their meat. However, prices can be higher at the butcher, especially now with the price of everything being astronomical.
We went to the butcher for two years straight for our meat, until it was unfeasible. So then we had to shop around to find the best price, and right now that seems to be at Sam’s Club. Costco has some good prices too but overall Sam’s seems to have better deals. The downsize to Sam’s in these current conditions is that they do not always have the meat we are looking for.
When we set out last fall to smoke chicken thighs for a church fundraiser everyone in town did not have chicken thighs. However, Sam’s had chicken legs. The fundraiser was a huge success and there are plans for another. The only thing that Stephen felt was an issue was the size of Ugly Betty. It was hard to cook and keep warm the amount of chicken we needed.
So while sitting around during the downtime, Stephen and a few of the fellas were discussing his dream of building a larger trailer-ed smoker. Lots of ideas were thrown around but in the end, Stephen tabled the idea until December when he started discussing his plans for the rest of the winter into Spring.
He started looking on the marketplace to find a trailer as this would determine how big of a project this would be. Then Stephen found out that the group of guys from church found an old fuel tank and trailer that they were going to give Stephen for this project. And one Saturday while we were out running errands the trailer and tank were delivered.
We were not sure what size they would be so when we pulled into the drive we were amazed at the size of both. The only price tag this comes is a meal. I would say this comes with multiple meals. Stephen is really excited to get going on this project.
Stay tuned for updates on this project and some of our favorite smoking recipes.