A Homebuilt Ceramic Smoker
by Philip Chien
One of my favorite television shows is "Good Eats" on the Food Network. Host Alton Brown is a science geek and he makes science fun - by showing how food cooks. He's also a gadget freak and has made several unusual home-built devices, some practical, some not so much.
On one show he made a ceramic smoker out of a large flower pot and I figured something like that would be desirable for my new place. I've got a patio but no outdoor storage space next to the house, so I wanted something weatherproof which could remain outdoors and relatively inexpensive.
Based on some Internet descriptions from folks who have made these I didn't try to get a hemisphere shaped pot for the top (they're hard to find) and went with the simpler solution - a flat circular ceramic saucer (Home Depot, same place I got the pot).
I picked up a 14" diameter terra cotta pot, 14" terra cotta saucer, a $10 hot plate, a junk cast iron frying pan, a replacement circular grill, and a grill thermometer. The hot pot even had a $3 rebate. Total cash - about $50. Three junk bricks (cost - zero) form the base.
I used a ceramic drill bit to make a hole in the saucer for the grill thermometer.
The hot plate fits very comfortably in the bottom of the pot and its power cord goes through the pot’s drainage hole. The cast iron pan, filled with wood chips, goes on top of the hot plate. The circular grill’s diameter was specifically chosen so it lies in the pot a couple of inches above the hot plate. Originally I intended to fashion a set of handles for the grill to make it easier to remove but that hasn’t turned out to be necessary. The saucer, upside down, is the cover for the unit. It becomes warm, but not excessively hot, while the unit’s in operation. The thermometer slips into the hole in the saucer.
I use commercial bags of wood chips intended for home barbecue enthusiasts as my fuel. Alton says you can obtain sawdust for free from any woodshop, but it’s important to ensure that the wood doesn’t have any preservatives.
It works extremely well and the proof is in the results - a delicious rack of smoked ribs. I've also smoked sausages, steaks, salmon, and chicken pieces.
This kind of smoker should only be used for medium temperature (roughly 200 Fahrenheit or 93 Celsius) smoking. Do not attempt any grilling or other high temperature cooking, you’ll crack the ceramic pot.
As with most forms of barbecue it’s important to season and flavor the meat with a good rub. My not-so-secret personal recipe is salt, pepper, garlic powder, and whatever spare spices I happen to have in the cupboard.
There are commercial ceramic smokers, most notably the “Big Green Egg.” It can handle high temperature cooking like grilling and even baking, but it’s much more expensive.
I found temperature control to be the biggest problem with my homebuilt smoker. The temperature control on the hot plate is extremely difficult to reach when the smoker is in operation. I keep that temperature control at its highest setting and assembled an external temperature control. It’s a high wattage lamp dimmer mounted in an outlet box with a short heavy duty power cord. Even with the temperature control it’s tricky to keep the temperature inside consistent and it needs to be monitored every couple of minutes.
I have tried to do some low temperature smoking in my ceramic cooker, most notably salmon. It’s difficult keeping the temperature just warm enough to cause the wood pieces to smoke but no hotter but the results were decent for home smoked salmon.
Links
Good Eats homepage
Alton Brown webpage
Alton Brown’s recipe for Pulled Pork
Illustrated transcript of the show “Q”
Fan versions of the flower pot smoker
A commercial ceramic smoker
About the author
Philip Chien’s friends think he’s a decent amateur chef. Or at least that’s what they tell him.
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