For summertime barbecues, smoked food is hard to beat. Cooking at low heat for a long period helps make meat tender and moist, and the flavor and aroma imparted by the wood smoke could make an old boot seem palatable.

I had wanted a smoker for some time, but never had gotten around to aquiring one. A friend had brought his over a couple of years ago to cook a butterflied leg of lamb, with good results. More recently I borrowed a Brinkmann smoker from another friend to do a brisket. This was my first solo flight with a smoker, and while the result was excellent I was ambivalent about the grill. The first thing it did was make me bleed, and our relationship was tenuous after that. And after the charcoal fire I built in it bubbled the paint, I resolved not to borrow another smoker. Better that I screw up my own!

A couple of nights ago the flames of my interest were again fanned after I tasting a fabulous smoked turkey breast, prepared on a different Brinkmann by someone who knew what he was doing. I expressed my desire to have a smoker, and my host made a comment to the effect of "all you need is a trash can."

The next morning I did a Google search and found an abundance of sites with instructions on how to build smokers from a variety of things, including old refrigerators and filing cabinets. A trash can smoker seemed like the most practical way for me to go, but I wanted to use charcoal for my heat source instead of an electric hot plate.

Out behind the garage we had a couple of Weber Smokey Joe grills that hadn't been used in years but I couldn't bear to throw away. Why not use a Smokey Joe as the firebox and a trash can as the smoker body?

After brushing the accumulated debris and critters out of the little Weber, I made my parts list:

• One 30-gallon trash can
  One round 16" Weber grill grate
  Three 2.5" long bolts
  Three nuts to fit the bolts
  Three lock washers
  Six flat washers

I headed up to the hardware store, where my total came to about $44 including tax and a bag of charcoal. (I chose to make my purchases at a small local store. Prices are no doubt better at one of the large chain stores.)

Upon returning home, I got out my trusty power driver and drilled eight 3/4" air intake holes around the bottom of the can. Any potentially sharp pieces of metal I either trimmed off or beat into submission with a hammer.

Next, I put the lid on the Smokey Joe and placed it in the bottom of the can so I could gauge where I needed to drill the holes for the three grate-support screws. I didn't plan on using the Weber's lid, but figured I would plan to accommodate it just in case I needed to use the adjustable vent to regulate the temperature.

After drilling my three holes, I affixed the 2.5" long bolts so that the bolt head and a flat washer were on the outside of the can, and a flat washer, lock washer and nut on the inside of the can. The bolts are long and sturdy enough to support the grate (I used 7/16" diameter), but short enough to allow the Weber to be easily placed and removed.

Next I drilled 18 7/16" diameter exhaust holes in the lid, plus one extra hole to fit the thermometer I had rattling around in a kitchen drawer. My smoker was now ready to test. Total construction time: less than half an hour.

Now it was time to see whether my smoker actually worked. I poured a generous amount of charcoal into the Weber, allowing just enough room for the cast-iron smoking box I planned to use to hold my wood chips. I already had the box, so managed to avoid adding that minor expense to my parts list. (An aluminum foil pouch filled with soaked wood chips and perforated with a few knife slits works about as well.) I used fire starting cubes instead of lighter fluid, but it took a bit longer for the charcoal to light than I would have liked, partly because it was pouring rain and it was necessary to position the garbage can lid so that some air could flow in and out the top of the can but rain couldn't hit the coals.

Once the coals were ready, I placed the cast iron smoke box in the center of the Weber. You absolutely must have a pair of insulated grill gloves for this step (or an unusually high threshold of pain).

Next, the Smokey Joe's grill grate went on. On top of that I placed an old Bundt pan about 2/3 filled with a mixture of water and red wine to which I had added a couple of cinnamon sticks, some star anise and a small handful of juniper berries.

Finally, on went the cooking grate and a couple of slabs of back ribs that had been treated to a dry rub. On went the lid, and I went in to dry off while the smoker got up to temperature.

After an hour had passed and the temperature had only hit 150°F, I rearranged the charcoal and added a few more briquets. After that the temperature went up to about 210°F and stayed there for several hours. At six hours I took the ribs off and sampled them. They were delicious. Success!

It will take some more trial and error before I get this system dialed in, but that's a process that I look forward to.

The trash can design does have some advantages. Unlike multiple-part vertical smokers, this smoker can be picked up and moved as a unit, even while it's in use. It would be relatively safe to use on a wood deck, since the ashes from the Weber tend to stay contained in the can. And, based on first-hand experience, after this smoker gets going cooking in a downpour is not a problem.

My next experiment: Brined whole chickens smoked over cherry wood. Remember: Smoke 'em if you've got 'em!

Back to WineCanine.

The finished project.

The basic concept (not to scale).

Parts is parts.

The cooking grate in place, showing the three bolts.

Getting fired up.

The smoker box in place.

An old Bundt pan helps keep the meat moist.

Smokin'! And those were some tasty ribs....