akaShag

I run mine on the back deck where it is mostly sheltered. Real heavy rain would be a bad thing, not only for the possibility of a short, but also if the rain got into the unit through a vent, it would screw up the contents. Snow is not so much an issue, but a howling snowstorm would give you issues about adequate heat. I cover my Big Chief with a cardboard box in marginal weather.

Yes, same here. CTC has one of these smokers in stock and I am going to have a look at it to see how the mechanism works. THANKS! Doug

Thanks! I am looking at the ad but can't see if it uses regular wood chips, or the special puck things like a Bradley? I think Masterbuilt is the maker of the propane smoker I have at my hunt camp, and yes I do not care for it either.

That is VERY interesting indeed. I bought this rig months ago and the dealer was having lots of issues getting the warranty registered. I still do not have the warranty paperwork, But I kind of assumed that the dealer was at fault, they are a small business and boats are only a minor sideline.......... Thanks for the heads-up. Doug

I switched to Yamaha this year after many rave reviews from folks whose opinions I respect. I drove only Hondas for over 30 years, but where I live in Kingston, ON there is nobody to service them and I can't do diddly squat by myself. So for me it's Yamaha from this point forward. And yes, newer motors for sure. Never had a Suzuki, don't have any buddies who have Suzukis, but their reputation is good also. Doug

Thanks Smitty and Spiel. I thought I replied to this one already, but I don't see my reply... I have previously replaced the burner element and the power cord, but the drip pan has bad body cancer and is only half there, the rack holder is also on its last legs, the chip pan is about to fall apart, the racks are seriously pitted and now very hard to clean, you get the idea. I very well might just buy a new Big Chief. But first I am looking to hear from some other guys about their experiences. Doug

That's the point. I am interested in hearing some opinions and experiences before I go same old, same old. Looks like yours is a pellet smoker - are you willing to say the pros and cons for it? My neighbour has a Traeger, and it smells AWESOME when he lights it up. But he uses it pretty much as a grill, not a smoker so much. No sense in me asking him how it works as a smoker... Doug

I have been smoking since I was a young man. Yeah, I started with fish like most people do, but eventually I got into the hard stuff, like bacon. But I could always control my habit, or so I thought. My name is Doug, and I'm a smokeaholic. My beloved Luhr Jensen Big Chief is on its last legs. It could not muster enough heat to cook some thin salmon fillets a couple days ago. I have a propane-fired smoker at my hunt camp, brand IIRC is Masterbuilt or a similar name, but I have not got the hang of it and don't really like it. I have tried the Bradley and they are OK except for those annoying proprietary wood chip pucks. At my age, I am probably not going to learn how to do brisket, but I do like to smoke fish, side bacon, back bacon, pork loin steaks and roasts, jerky, etc. So, regardless of cost, what in your experience is the best smoker out there? Doug

a rectal probe abandoned by aliens when they visited your boat? And of course the aliens blank out your memory so you won't recall what happened........

Good luck OIM! We have never met, but somehow I have trouble thinking of you living in a condo........... Doug

and here is a new use for turkey LEGS:

Thanks. That one has been on my bucket list for a few years.....

Looks great, smitty. I make a lactose-free (vegan, in fact) cream of asparagus soup. If the consistency is not quite "creamy" enough at the end, I stir in instant potato flakes until I get the consistency I want. Recipe: DOCTOR DOUG’S CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP 1 medium-sized sweet onion, diced 3 tbsp Becel margarine (or butter, or whatever you use) 2 cups+ diced (raw) potatoes (I use Yukon Gold) 900 ml beef or chicken broth (I use Campbell’s beef broth) Large bunch asparagus (maybe five inches in diameter) 4 stalks celery, diced Cream (about 1 cup, I use 5% cream) Salt, pepper, ground nutmeg (grated cheddar) (ham) Saute the onion in margarine or butter until soft, then add the potatoes, spices, and half the broth. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked. Prepare the asparagus by breaking off the woody ends and cutting the spears into about 2” pieces. Add the asparagus and celery to the pot, add the rest of the broth, and cook over medium/low heat until everything is cooked. Allow the soup to cool enough that you can put it through a blender to puree it, then return the puree to the pot, add the cream, and heat through. I suggest it would not be a good idea to re-boil it, just get it hot enough to eat. Correct the spices if you wish, or let the diners do this themselves with fresh ground pepper or whatever. Another great garnish is grated cheddar cheese. When I re-heated some left-overs I threw in a handful of baked ham chunks before I zapped the soup in the microwave. The ham added a lovely flavor to the soup, and could easily have been part of the original pot. Enjoy! This recipe serves about six. VEGAN version: Use Campbell’s Vegetable broth instead of beef/chicken broth, and omit the cream, cheese and ham. If the soup needs to be thickened, add instant mashed potato flakes, a tbsp. at a time, stirring them in, until you get the consistency you wish. If you do use the potato flakes, you will almost certainly need to add more salt. The flakes absorb the salt and somehow magically remove the saltiness. I don’t know how or why, just trust me on this. So, were you going to share your recipe? Doug

don't count on it..............

Hey Brian, I thought you were going to sell your rigs for a living! Nice stuff there! Doug

Thanks for sharing! Nipigon, or a secret? Doug

Thanks for sharing. Doug

Very interesting! How was it? A bit bland? It almost sounds like a yummy dessert! Doug

Just back from a fishing trip to Haida Gwaii. Fishing was OK but not stellar by any means, and DFO slashed the possession limit on spring (Chinook) salmon from 2 per day/4 in possession, to 1 per day/2 in possession, just before our trip. We caught no lingcod, and only small halibuts, and the springs were not so big either. But the pinks were around in big numbers, so we brought home some pinks as part of our catch. And so, I was making a batch of candied salmon, and a batch of smoked salmon with the pinks. Imagine my dismay when I found that my faithful Big Chief smoker has barely enough heat to make the smoke, and not enough to COOK the fish, even after six hours with thin fillets. 😲 So I finished the candied salmon in the oven, and canned the rest of it. I did not take final photos of the candied stuff, just one of the prepped fillets and one of the fillets before they went into the smoker. It's OK, but it's not nearly as good as coho, spring, or sockeye...........

Sounds interesting. Like a meatloaf, or bread with sausage baked into it? Doug

Owen Sound, during the salmon derby. And back in the day, many Lake Ontario launches during the summer. Two lines of rigs, in the dark, headed for the ramps. Or all summer here on weekends on the bass lakes...........

if it is 5 am and there is nobody else in the parking lot I put my stuff in the boat about fifty feet from the ramp. Somebody can still get in behind me if they are ready to go immediately. But on a weekend day, or during bass season around Kingston, I would not do that. Five guys could pull up in 5 minutes, and I don't want to be in their way. BUT! On some really busy launches, you pretty much have to line up with the rest of the rigs and load your stuff as you are edging towards your actual launch position. Hard to do if you are solo though..........

Last year, maybe the year before, two FAT slugs launched their large boat, maybe a bass boat, I do not remember, and tied it to the dock IN THE LAUNCH RAMP on Loughborough, which is a busy ramp around here. Then they slowly, with great effort and much panting, carried all their crap from their truck (across the parking lot) to their boat, multiple trips. I would have killed them, gleefully, and fed their fat carcasses to the snapping turtles. My fishing partner dissuaded me..........

Now THERE is a pet peeve!!!

I asked that same question of a man with a PhD in materials science (or something like that). He said to me, "would you ever pull this boat up on a sandy beach?" Indeed I would says I, and he says, "buy aluminum." That was three boats ago, all aluminum of course. The second one I bought new in 1998, and sold it this spring for 75% of what I paid for it 24 years ago. And even though I did beach it, and bumped into the odd rock and the odd stump, etc, it was still water-tight, no leaks. BTW most of my fishing is like the OP. Doug