• Home-smoked meat is moist and flavorfulMeat image by Svetlana Kashkina from Fotolia.com
  
  Smoking meat at relatively low temperatures is a great way to cook and add flavor to your meat. Meat smokers can be expensive to purchase ready-made, but consider that you can make your own in a variety of ways, most of which are uncomplicated and cost effective. Keep in mind a few considerations when making your own meat smoker---size, fire safety, smoke vents---to ensure a useful and quality result.
  
  

Brick Smoker

• A brick smoker holds in heat well. Here's how to easily build an "L"-shaped smoker with a shorter firebox portion offset from and a taller "chimney" where the meat will be placed. Begin by stacking bricks to form two parallel walls for the sides and a perpendicular wall for the back. Each wall should be two brick lengths long sitting end to end and approximately three feet high. Now construct the front firebox portion. Place two bricks end to end directly in front of each side wall. Stack two more layers of bricks above the first, thereby extending each side wall into an "L"-shape. The bottom portion of the "L" on each side is three layers high and two bricks long. Close off the front of this short portion by placing two bricks end to end and three high directly in front of and perpendicular to the short side wall portion. Next, place a metal strip (a flat baking sheet will do) on top of the bricks that have extended the sidewalls. This portion of the smoker will act as a firebox. Atop the metal, form the front wall of the taller "chimney" (smoke chamber) portion by stacking layers of brick adjacent to the side wall and parallel to the back wall. Insert a grill grate between two layers of bricks approximately 3/4 of the way up the smoker to lay your meat on. Seal the top with a piece of plywood or similar object. To use your smoker, build a fire in the firebox portion of the smoker and partially cover the top of the firebox with bricks, forcing the smoke inside the smoker chamber while still allowing oxygen to reach the fire.
  
  

Trashcan Smoker

• Trashcan smokers can be made from an aluminum trashcan coupled with a hot plate and a cast iron firebox. Start by drilling and smoothing a hole two inches up from the base of the trashcan. Place the hot plate in the middle of the bottom of the trashcan and run the cord through the hole so that you can plug it in. Further up the trash can, set in a grill grate that can fit snugly within it without falling the bottom or tipping over when holding meat. Drill two to three holes in the trashcan lid to allow the release excess of smoke. To use your smoker, fill a cast iron firebox (or any cast iron pot that does not have a long handle and that is deep enough to hold the wood chips) with wood chips that have been soaked in water for approximately 30 minutes. Place the firebox on the hot plate, and turn on the hot plate.
  
  

Terracotta Smoker

• Build a smoker with a terracotta pot much the same way as the metal trashcan. It is a bit more aesthetically appealing and likely much smaller. Terracotta pots already have holes in the bottom center, so no holes will have to be made. Raise up the pot on terracotta feet so that the hot plate's cord can pass through the center hole. Place a firebox with water-soaked wood chips on the hot plate. Next fit a grill grate into the pot. Cover the pot with another terracotta pot placed upside down. You can also use a terracotta base plate large enough to fit over the opening, but the base plate will need to have a hole drilled through its center for a smoke passage.