Smoker with garden supplies

If you are like me, you like the idea of smoking your meat to cook them.  I have personally never tried smoked meat but I am dying too.  However, to buy an actual smoker, it is really expensive.  So I decided to go online and see what I could find for how to build one without spending a lot of money.

This was inspired by Alton Brown and the idea borrowed from A Food Journey To Go.

The first thing you need is a terracotta planter, the bigger the better.  The next thing you need is an electric hot plate, about 1000 watts.  (Don't worry, I will list everything below).  You need three bricks to lay your pot on.  Next you need two pie tins, (really cheap at a dollar store), and two binder clips.  Now, if you have one, you need a round barbecue rack but if you don't, you can buy one at home depot or Lowes.  You are also going to need a meat thermometer, wood chips of your favorite flavor, and the water tray that goes under a terracotta planter.

The first thing you need to do is use the bricks to create a semi-circle with a small opening in the back.  Carefully lay your terracotta planter on top of the bricks adjusting as necessary to ensure a flat cooking surface.  Gently place your hot plate at the bottom of the terracotta planter threading the electric cord through the hole in the bottom of the planter.  Pull the cord through the small space between the bricks you set up earlier.  Next, take your wooden chips, (soak them for a few hours) and place them in the pie plate, covering the pie plate with the other, making it look like a space shit, and seal two sides with the binder clips.  Carefully turn on the electric hot plate and let the wood chips burn a little.  Place the wire barbecue rack into the planter, making sure that it rests at least five inches below the rim  of the terracotta plant.  Now place your meat on the rack and cover the top of the terracotta planter with the catch tray.  Make sure the catch tray is  upside down on the planter to trap the smoke in the planter.  If your terracotta plate has a hole in it, use the thermometer to cover the hole, if not, place the thermometer inside the smoker.  Your thermometer will get covered in soot so buy a cheap on in a dollar store so you won't be upset if it gets dirty.

Now you are ready to smoke your meat.  Always make sure your meat is cooked through before serving.  I will post the temperatures of meat below as well.  Smoking meat can take up to 14 hours, so make sure you start early in the morning if you want to eat it at night.

List of item you need

terracotta planter (about 23")
bottom water catcher to go with planter
1000 watt electric hot plate
3 bricks or pavers
meat thermometer
two pie plates
two binder clips
barbecue rack (Should fit inside planter without dropping all the way down, and leaves about 5" from the rim)
Your choice of wood chips (Soaked two hours before you use)


As soon as all the summer items go on sale again, I plan on buying all these items and putting it to the test.  Remember you are going to want the internal temperature of the planter to be about 200 degrees.  In the wintertime, this will be hard to do but you can wrap old quilts around the planter to insulate it.  Also, in the summertime, your smoker may run hot so you may want to keep a long metal skewer to reach into the planter and turn down the temperature of your smoker.

Please remember too, allow your smoker time to cool before covering it.  You are going to want to cover it with a tarp when you aren't using it because if your terracotta planter gets wet, the wetness will draw the heat away from your meat and to the sides of the planter, which makes for undercooked meats.  So always cover your smoker with a tarp after it has had time to cool sufficiently.