Holy Smokes!

 

Wow! What can I say!? The kielbasa just got better!

 

Years ago, my sister and brother in law gave us a Little Chief electric smoker. The element was broken, and, at the time, I couldn't find a replacement. Knowing this, I pulled it out today, prepared to turn it into a briquette-powered smokehouse.

 

First, I searched of wood chips. Finding none, I soaked toothpicks in liquid Smoke. I placed them in an aluminum pan of cold water, and dumped a half bottle of liquid smoke on top.

 

Then, I lit a fire in the bottom of the smoker with briquettes. (First I put them in a pan too, but that was short lived. They got dumped on the floor of the Little Chief once they were burning well)



 

Next, I placed the wood chip mix on the bottom rack of the smoker. I placed 1/3 of the links on the remaining racks and lowered into the smoker.

 

I used a meat thermometer to monitor the smoker temp. I did not want it above 160 degrees. At first, it rose to 200. I opened the lid, added ice water to the wood chip pan, and left the lid off until it cooled down.The temperature stayed low, and when it started to drop significantly, I lifted the whole rack out and added 5-7 briquettes to keep the smoke going. I repeated this 2 or 3 times over the next 3 hours of cook time. It worked perfectly.

When the thermometer read the sausage's internal temp of 155, they were done.

If you don't have a spare old smoker, or metal box similar laying around, the same affect could be done using a standard briquette-based BBQ set. Just use a small layer of briquettes, then a pan of water/flavored wood chips over them, then a rack of meat.

 

Mmmmm, mmmm, DELICIOUS!!! I just want to eat them all up!

Batch # 2 is smoking now. :)