Electric Smokers

[Slew Foot]

Anyone use one? I have a nice gas grill but there are times I want to smoke something, does anyone have any experience with any of them? Anything to look out for?

And yes, Im sure its not as good as that fancy ass cast iron smoker that you only put wood chips from Noahs Ark on, but Im looking for something convenient and more or less idiot proof.

 

[preslove]

I'm pretty sure it's illegal, brah

 

[shortylickens]

 

[ViperXX]

You like the smoke? I'm a professional smoker. Get a medium coffee/baby formula can. Drill holes all around the can and at the bottom with a 1/4 drill bit. Fill the bottom with wood chips of your choice and start with lighter fluid. Once they have started (a nice black char at the bottom) add chips to start your smoke.

 

[sourceninja]

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[xSauronx]

ive been using one of the cheaper ones from lowes for years. 2 racks, drip pan, less than $100. works great for ribs, pork shoulders, brisket, whatever.

 

[Kaido]

Anyone use one? I have a nice gas grill but there are times I want to smoke something, does anyone have any experience with any of them? Anything to look out for?

And yes, Im sure its not as good as that fancy ass cast iron smoker that you only put wood chips from Noahs Ark on, but Im looking for something convenient and more or less idiot proof.

My buddy has a Bradley Digital & it works pretty well. I ended up going with a pellet grill (Traeger, although Green Mountain Grills seem to be all the rage with built-in wifi). It's electric & burns wood pellets, so it's the best of both worlds - real flavor with consistent results. It works basically like a convection oven with smoke. Can't beat it. Everything comes out amazing :thumbsup:

 

[NetWareHead]

I considered an electric or propane smoker. They do have their advantages; the greatest being they will hold a steady temp and not require you to tend the fire as needed as with a charcoal smoker. When you are smoking a pork shoulder for 15 hours, you really can just leave it all day long and come back when its done.

I have a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker that is fired with charcoal and in its defense, once you master the learning curve, you can leave it unattended for longer and longer periods of time. When I do ribs that need 3-5 hours, I can build the fire, fiddle with it for the first 30-60 minutes to dial in the flame and then its hands off until the ribs are done. When doing a shoulder, brisket or something that needs 12 hours plus, the fire needs tending. Usually around 8-10 hours I need to give the combustion chamber a kick or two to settle the ashes down below, get the air circulation moving and possibly add more fuel & smoke wood. I sometimes get weary when I smoke a shoulder and try to time it for lunch time the next day. I figure 15 hours so that means I start the meat at 10 PM so I'm waking up a few times during the night to make sure the smoker is still firing. Sometimes I wake up and the smoker is holding a temp just fine with the fire in good condition; so I'll just go back to sleep.

The advantage to a charcoal smoker is a more authentic taste than electric or propane smokers. Im a bit of a purist when it comes to cooking so the learning curve was somethgn I was willing to work with and I think the results speak are worth it. If this is you, go with charcoal. If you want hands-off easy that sacrifices some taste, choose electric/propane..

 

[gorcorps]

My buddy has an electric smoker. Works well, we use it on Thanksgiving because neither of us have any family in the area. We usually smoke some bacon wrapped pheasant and last year did some ribs. Don't overcook anything and it turns out great. The bacon is smoke flavored heaven... mmmm

 

[Uppsala9496]

I have a charcoal smoker at home and a propane one at my lake house.

Both turn out great results. The charcoal has, as you would guess, a bit more charcoal flavor. Both produce great smoke flavor since it is in the beginning where the wood smoke really penetrates the meat. As the bark builds up, less wood smoke is able to penetrate the meat. The charcoal has the tendency to stick to the bark, so adds that extra bit of flavor.

Don't think you can go wrong with either. My only concern with electric would be if it would would well in windy/rainy conditions, or in the middle of winter when it is -5F°.

I did do a side by side comparison one weekend. Personally I could tell the difference. Most people that tried it could not. And I will say, the propane is a lot more user friendly. Consistent temperature and no fiddling required.

 

[echo4747]

Anyone use one? I have a nice gas grill but there are times I want to smoke something, does anyone have any experience with any of them? Anything to look out for?

And yes, Im sure its not as good as that fancy ass cast iron smoker that you only put wood chips from Noahs Ark on, but Im looking for something convenient and more or less idiot proof.

I use one. Its the model #2 here: http://www.smokin-it.com/category_s/5.htm I've had it for 2 yrs now and its been trouble free. It does cost more but is all stainless steel so hopefully it wont rot out like the cheap ones sold at big box stores. It is so very easy to use.. just set it and forget in most cases

 

[slag]

I have a smoky hollow electric smoker that has worked great. The bottom is starting to rust out, but its a "set the temp and forgetaboutit" type of unit. I put a small pie plate directly on the element and put a lump or two of charcoal and woodchips on that. Then start them smoldering by using a propane torch and they last for hours. Gives whatever you are smoking that charcoal/wood smoke smell, but you don't have to futz with a fire and keeping it at a good temp. No complaints yet about the meat I've smoked on it. My neighbor has a propane one and he can tell the difference in taste between propane and charcoal smoker.

 

[Eug]

My neighbour has one, and we've smoked all sorts of things in it.

Except his is very cheaply made, a low end department store model. Paid CAD$200 for it, which is like $160 US. One connector broke causing it to fail, but he soldered it back on and now it's working fine again.

Yeah, the benefit is that it keeps the temp level so other than replacing the wood chips from time to time to provide the smoke, you can just leave it.

We smoke turkeys, chickens, ribs, roasts, etc. and it all comes out great. I would never buy a standard charcoal one though. Too much hassle for a non-purist like me.

BTW, my Weber BBQ has a smoker setting, with a box for wood chips, but it doesn't work well. The problem is that with the lid down the temp always goes too high for proper smoking. Maybe we'll try fiddling some more to get the hang of it, but it's easier to just pop over to the neighbour's house and use his electric smoker.

 

[drebo]

My buddy has a Bradley Digital & it works pretty well. I ended up going with a pellet grill (Traeger, although Green Mountain Grills seem to be all the rage with built-in wifi). It's electric & burns wood pellets, so it's the best of both worlds - real flavor with consistent results. It works basically like a convection oven with smoke. Can't beat it. Everything comes out amazing :thumbsup:

This. Pellet smokers > *.

12 hour pulled pork....18 hour brisket....etc....can't do that with charcoal. Well, not easily anyway.

 

[TheSlamma]

They usually cook uneven is the experience I've had with them

 

[Eug]

My neighbour's el-cheapo electric smoker cooks pretty evenly. That hasn't been an issue for us at all.

 

[NetWareHead]

They usually cook uneven is the experience I've had with them

This. For this reason, I dont like horizontal smokers like those with offset fireboxes types. Smoke/heat is naturally buoyant and want to rise up. When a smoker relies on forcing the smoke to move sideways, IMO thats why more people notice inconsistent cooking from them. You end up with hot/cold spots. Its for this reason why I went with a vertical smoker, the temp is the same on all cooking surfaces. Heat/smoke rises up and exhausts out the top vent naturally; no baffles, fans, passages etc...

 

[Eug]

This. For this reason, I dont like horizontal smokers like those with offset fireboxes types. Smoke/heat is naturally buoyant and want to rise up. When a smoker relies on forcing the smoke to move sideways, IMO thats why more people notice inconsistent cooking from them. You end up with hot/cold spots. Its for this reason why I went with a vertical smoker, the temp is the same on all cooking surfaces. Heat/smoke rises up and exhausts out the top vent naturally; no baffles, fans, passages etc...

Oh, I see. My neighbour's electric smoker is vertical. Basically it looks like a thin bar fridge, kinda like this:

It has two racks and is smallish, so you can't put a big turkey in it or anything, but two geese would be fine. The wood chips are at the bottom. You don't have to open the door to put in the wood chips. There is a hole on the side at the bottom with a cylindrical pan that you can take out to add in wood chips.

Maybe that's why uneven cooking is not an issue for us.

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[Slew Foot]

Oh, I see. My neighbour's electric smoker is vertical. Basically it looks like a thin bar fridge, kinda like this:

It has two racks and is smallish, so you can't put a big turkey in it or anything, but two geese would be fine. The wood chips are at the bottom. You don't have to open the door to put in the wood chips. There is a hole on the side at the bottom with a cylindrical pan that you can take out to add in wood chips.

Maybe that's why uneven cooking is not an issue for us.

Oh good, after the first few responses i figured this trhead was getting useless. Somethinglike this is what I was looking at, kinda like a convection oven box with a space to add wood chips for smoking. I figured a big ass pellet grill would probably nicer, but too bulky and excessive for my needs.

 

[theknight571]

I've used an older version of this: http://www.brinkmann.net/outdoor_co...okers_and_grills/details.aspx?item=810-7080-K

I had good luck with it.

 

[NetWareHead]

This. Pellet smokers > *.

12 hour pulled pork....18 hour brisket....etc....can't do that with charcoal. Well, not easily anyway.

They are nice pieces and work the automation angle which is always nice. But they come at a considerable cost. Those green mountain grills are at over twice as expensive as my smoker, you need to buy special pellet fuel and also need electricity. Charcoal is available anywhere along with smoke wood chunks/logs.

 

[NetWareHead]

Oh good, after the first few responses i figured this trhead was getting useless. Somethinglike this is what I was looking at, kinda like a convection oven box with a space to add wood chips for smoking. I figured a big ass pellet grill would probably nicer, but too bulky and excessive for my needs.

Home depot or Lowes has cheap electric or propane smokers that you could look at.

 

[Preyhunter]

I have one like this...
http://www.walmart.com/ip/21777982?...71581992&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78362911592&veh=sem

The thing is dummy proof. Even has a remote that you can use to adjust temp, check internal meat temp, etc. The only thing you can possibly do to screw it up is undercook. Results are fantastic.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

You don't get smoke for the whole time anyway. There comes a temp where the smoke starts to not matter. I do 8 hours, pull it and finish it in the oven. Temp is more consistent and everything is just fine.

This. Anything past 8 hours or so in a charcoal smoker is a waste of charcoal. I always take mine out and put it in the oven so I don't have to mess with temperature control anymore.