Summer & Smoke

Last summer I purchased a big "honking" offset smoker grill.  Had so much fun cooking slow with flavored smoke--everything from chicken to ribs to salmon to whitefish--the possibilities are aplenty.  Shared the results with friends--rave reviews.  Smoke cooking requires patience--takes anywhere from 3 - 12 hours, but the results are worth the wait.

Well, at the end of last summer, I saw a more compact vertical smoker on end-of-season closeout and I couldn't resist.  This little beauty comes with a water pan, to cool the smoke down--making a little go a long way in the flavor department.  It is also more compact than my offset smoker and easier to fire up and clean up too.  Used it twice already this summer and like it even more that the big beast, which is now sitting "quietly", wondering perhaps, if I will fire it up too. Who knows?  At some point, I may require more grill space than my vertical smoker can provide.  This summer is still an unwritten book (okay, that is at least partially true).