Firing up the charcoal barbeque smoker or grill in the dead of winter is not always practical. Snow is still falling in the northwest, the northeast, southeast and parts of Texas. As any southern boy instinctively knows, you have to sometimes adapt to the conditions if you're going to enjoy good barbeque.

Barbeque has been a favorite way to spice up a party since man first discovered fire. Whether the meat was skewered on a stick and held over the fire and cooked like marshmallows or simply laid on a rock close to the fire, it was way ahead of eating a raw, bloody ham off of a dinosaur.

Electric barbeque grills and smokers never really caught on back in cave man days. There was no doubt, a big controversy as to which was the best way to cook the meat; whether it should be with a charcoal or an electric grill. That same argument still rages today.

For smoking a pork shoulder or a turkey in the snow, an electric smoker is much easier to use and the meat can tastes just as good, if not better than when cooked on the old charcoal rig. Just make sure the electrical connections are protected from the elements and are not lying in the snow.

Except for steaks and chops cooked on the gas grill in the winter, I use a smoker for larger chunks of meat. Once I have the meat on the grates, I toss in a few four inch by two inch chunks of hickory that I cut a couple of summers ago. Then I go inside and relax.

All I have to do is add more wood every couple of hours. The colder the day, the longer you have to leave the meat in the smoker. Most of the time a shoulder or a turkey will cook in about 10 to 14 hours depending, on the temperature. Ribs will be ready to eat in about 7 hours.

Wind is the main villain in keeping the heat level consistent in the smoker. In the winter most of our cold breezes are out of the north. Since I don't want to put the hot grill next to my house and take the chance of me winding up barbequed, I made a wind blind that works quite well.

To keep my grill or smoker out of the wind, I made a wind screen that has a dual purpose. Out of two scrap pieces of wood siding I found on the curb, I built a two sided "A Frame" structure that when turned on its side, makes a great wind break for my grills.

When I'm not cooking I turn the wind screen down with both ends on the deck and push it up against the house. This makes it a perfect home for my raccoon. Actually no one really owns a raccoon, but he uses this place to rest from his long nights of prowling through the woods looking for food.

Apartments and condos usually have fire codes that prohibit grills and smokers with an open flame from being used on their property, unless they're a certain distance from the buildings. Electric grills are usually exempt from these restrictions because they have no fire or flames.

The result of any barbequing experience is how the meat tastes when you're finished. Add a few wood chips or chunks to the electric wand ever so often and you will have excellent barbeque. One important tip is not to use wet wood to lay on the heating element. I did that once and the electric wand blew up.

Using an electric grill or smoker is an easy way to have great barbeque. I like easy!