My $10 garage sale fish smoker turned into a neighborhood spectacle

I found this old rusty fish smoker at a garage sale in Spokane last summer for $10. The guy said it worked fine he just didn't want it anymore. I got it home, cleaned it up, and fired it up in my backyard. About 30 minutes in smoke started pouring out of every seam and the lid wouldn't stay shut. My neighbor two houses down came over asking if my house was on fire. I ended up using aluminum foil and a brick to seal it up and somehow the salmon came out pretty good. Has anyone else dealt with a garage sale smoker that fought back the whole time?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade_young864d ago

My buddy had a similar situation with a $20 offset smoker he grabbed off Craigslist, thing looked like it survived a war. He ended up slapping high-temp silicone all over the seams and weighing the lid down with a cinder block, which actually worked for a few months until the whole thing rusted through. lol. Sometimes the jankiest setups produce the best food because you're too busy fighting the gear to overthink the cooking.

wesley8734d ago

Man, that cinder block trick is pure genius honestly. It's like the universe balances things out - the worse your setup looks, the better the meat turns out. I had this old beat-up kettle grill once where the ash catcher was held on with a bent coat hanger, and I swear every chicken I cooked in there was the juiciest thing ever. There's something about fighting with your gear that forces you to pay attention to the fire and the meat instead of getting all fancy with thermometers and stuff. Plus you don't care if you spill a little bark or sauce on the rusted parts, you just roll with it.