Electric Smoker....opinions

[sooner78wakeboard]

With summer here, I am looking at getting a smoker. (I know it's crazy to think I don't already have one)
Been looking at all kinds. Was curious though, what is your experience with electric smokers.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

I've had the the Weber "Smokey Mountain" bullet smoker for years now. Best damn small smoker out there for the bling. All ya do is marinate for 24-48 hrs, stoke the fire box with your favorite wood/charcoal, fill it with water and go wait 6-18 hours depending on meat choice. Ya might have to re stoke the fire box again, minor detail.

In my OP it's as easy as 1...2...3. The finish product is as good as it gets from anywhere.

 

[OnlyCrimson]

I have a small electric smoker and I have no complaints with it. It cooks at a steady 250 degrees. Not including adding wood chips every two hours it's truly a set it and forget it. The only downside is that it has a small surface area, mine will hold one Boston Butt or two slabs of babyback ribs or one slab of spare ribs. I built a large wood smoker for when I entertain large groups. The one I built will hold about 50 Boston Butts and it works fantastic.

 

[HuskerInSecLand]

Like OC said electric smokers are small but they hold an extremely consistent temperature easily.

Fire box smokers take a lot more work to keep temp but usually hold much more meat. I have an offset and if I am going to get it going I am going to do enough to make it worth my time. We catered my daughter's wedding reception and I did 80+ pounds of pork butts and 40 pounds of beans on it. Took me the better part of a full 24 hour day with two sets of meat, cooling time and pullng the pork but it was a hit.

I've thought about getting an electric for just doing a butt or chicken here or there when I feel like it.

 

[LoftonPack80]

Charcoal/wood smokers are better. Yea it takes more time but thats the fun of it. Nothing beats drinking beer and watching your temps

 

[bamabear82]

Charcoal/wood smokers are better. Yea it takes more time but thats the fun of it. Nothing beats drinking beer and watching your temps

I agree. The sport of it is as big a part of smoking as actually eating the food is.

 

[fordman84]

Having had an electric, wood, and propane smoker I can definitely tell you that propane is my favorite followed by electric and wood in that order.

Propane leaves no taste like some will tell you, it is cheap, burns hot instantly, you can still get a lot of smoke flavor, and a tank will last awhile.

Electric is nice except I don't like extension cords running around and I hate trying to keep them detangled and all that. Easier for me to get a propane tank delivered (if you are in the DFW area I can highly recommend a company, but PM me for it since they aren't paying me to advertise lol).

Wood is for smokers who are more interested in show or rarely smokes. It is great to fire up the wood smoker when I'm having people over to party/swim/drink all day. Now with a kid I have no time for that stuff. It takes too long to get the heat up and coals down, then maintain the temp so it is done at a set time, and if you plan on a long smoke you are S.O.L.

So I go with propane because I can set the dang thing on 225 and let it go. I had to upgrade my chip box but that was it. I've had my propane smoker for about 5 years now and have never had an issue. The best part about it is I can start a brisket at 9pm and let it go for a couple of hours then add more chips. It will be done by mid afternoon and ready to sit and rest for a couple of hours before cutting up at dinner.

Propane...way to go. And if you dont' want to spend a lot I can highly recoment the Smokey Mountain series smokers that run for $99. They aren't wide enough to put a whole rack of ribs, but will hold a turkey and most other things. You can upgrade to the wider locker style one for like $159. If you want one that will last forever and give you no issues, go with the LandMan Big Block. Wide, insulated, good drip pan system, and expensive ($450).

 

[LoftonPack80]

Weber Smokey Mountain bullet smoker, as somebody previously mentioned is a great cooker. Easy maintenence and easy to run. Really not much other than turning a couple vents and they hold temps very good. I have one of these, the 22.5" model as well as a Char-griller Super Pro offset firebox smoker. That is a nice unit. It took me a few tries but again, holding temps in it is fairly easy. It can also double as a grill and has ALOT of cooking surface. I could easily fit two turkeys with room to spare on that thing, and was relativley inexpensive at around $250.

 

[fordman84]

Weber Smokey Mountain bullet smoker, as somebody previously mentioned is a great cooker. Easy maintenence and easy to run. Really not much other than turning a couple vents and they hold temps very good. I have one of these, the 22.5" model as well as a Char-griller Super Pro offset firebox smoker. That is a nice unit. It took me a few tries but again, holding temps in it is fairly easy. It can also double as a grill and has ALOT of cooking surface. I could easily fit two turkeys with room to spare on that thing, and was relativley inexpensive at around $250.

I hated my weber bullet but a lot do like them. It was too difficult to hold a temp, even with the "ideal" temp setting gauge lol. The fire pan was too small, so putting chips on it caused It to drop 20+ degrees and added quite a bit of time to cooking. I try to steer people new to smokers from them because of this. When I had all day to cook and eat when ready,it was good. When I have a timeframe I need to hit, Id avoid small wood smokers that aren't insulated and have a small coal box/pan. They can be used, but not a good starter smoker IMO

 

[LoftonPack80]

What size was yours? I have the 22.5 and can fit an entire bag of Kingsford in mine. Other then the first time I cooked on it, I have had zero problem holding temps. I think you had one of the old models. Ley me guess, it had a "low" "ideal" and "hot" reading for the thermometer? Was it a Weber or a Brinkmann model because I have seen that on the Brinkmann but never on the Weber. I had that same smoker and I actually liked it, it was a good one to learn on and made you learn temp control very quickly.
On the newer Webers, it has a regular thermometer and within a few minutes of putting the lid on, is up to 225. I can easily hold it between 240-250 and other then adjusting the vents on the bottom every couple hours it holds well. Usually I only get temp spikes when I add a couple wood chunks but like I said, close the vents down and it goes back to normal.
You should really take a look at the newer models because they are much more simple to run compared to the old days of the "ideal" temp setttings

 

[HuskerInSecLand]

The chargriller smokin' pro. Good design just wish it was a little thicker guage metal. The fireboxes burn through pretty quickly.

I learned one trick on it to get it to heat up fast and distribute the heat evenly though. It's easy, just take the charcoal pan out of the main smoker part and flip it up side down. Hang it about a half to inch off the bottom. Then it works like a duct to move the heat from the firebox across the whole cooking area.

Another I have seen people do is extend the top vent into the cooking area with dry vent so it vents air lower. This takes up cooking space though and I don't want to lose any of it. Like I said when I fire this thing up I make it worth my time. I load it.

 

[LoftonPack80]

Same unit I have. I did the vent modification with flexible aluminum venting and bent it so that the vent sits nice and snug in the corner, takes up very little space and helps the smoke circulate throughout the cooking chamber before exiting through the stack.

 

[LoftonPack80]

I see by your pic it looks like you added a thermometer. I was always told with these units put the thermometer closer to the grilling surface, because it will be at the actual temp the meat is cooking at

 

[bamabear82]

What size was yours? I have the 22.5 and can fit an entire bag of Kingsford in mine. Other then the first time I cooked on it, I have had zero problem holding temps. I think you had one of the old models. Ley me guess, it had a "low" "ideal" and "hot" reading for the thermometer? Was it a Weber or a Brinkmann model because I have seen that on the Brinkmann but never on the Weber. I had that same smoker and I actually liked it, it was a good one to learn on and made you learn temp control very quickly.
On the newer Webers, it has a regular thermometer and within a few minutes of putting the lid on, is up to 225. I can easily hold it between 240-250 and other then adjusting the vents on the bottom every couple hours it holds well. Usually I only get temp spikes when I add a couple wood chunks but like I said, close the vents down and it goes back to normal.
You should really take a look at the newer models because they are much more simple to run compared to the old days of the "ideal" temp setttings

Yeah, the Weber has the actual temp on it, I have a Brinkman which I've modified with a different thermometer, drilled some holes in the coal pan to add air flow and keep the coals from smothering themselves and it works like a champ now. Not hard to keep it up to temp at all now. I smoked a 8 lb Boston butt recently and it was fantastic, smoked it for a little over 8 hrs and only had to add a few coals 1 time and water 1 time during the whole process. If I want something quick, fast and in a hurry I'll run down the street to Wilson's BBQ and buy shit that's already smoked and ready to go. I don't do propane anymore in anything I cook with, I even use a chimney starter so I don't have to use lighter fluid either. Keep that shit away from my meat.

 

[HuskerInSecLand]

I see by your pic it looks like you added a thermometer. I was always told with these units put the thermometer closer to the grilling surface, because it will be at the actual temp the meat is cooking at

That's just a pic I found on the web. I did put thermometers in mine though. I went and took a pic of mine. It is here.

It made a big difference. My temps are usually between 10 - 15 degrees off from the OEM thermometer. I think cooler but can't remember for sure which way, just between 10-15 degrees.

You need to try flipping the charcoal pan in the cooking chamber though. It makes a huge difference.

See the firebox too. That is my second one. It is only one season old. Might get through next year and then it will probably burn through.

 

[LoftonPack80]

I usually add waterpans in mine to act as a damper. Mine is the same way, the heat is about 10-15 degrees cooler by the grate then what the thermometer reads.

My firebox is on season 5 now, but is really looking ratty. Granted I do not cook as much on this one since I got my Smokey Mountain a couple years back.

 

[HuskerInSecLand]

I use mine probably a dozen times a year. Loading it up probably requires a hotter fire to keep the temp up and I like to do chickens too which require a higher temp than pork or beef.

I didn't season my first one which I did with this one. Hopefully that helps it to last longer but so far it is about the same. First use Paint peels off each additional use the rust burn increases. You can see the cooking chamber and wood almost looks like new. I keep it covered but if I get three seasons I'll be lucky.

I use liquid too but a half apple juice / half water mix with whatever leftover marinade I may of used. I usually just use a bread pan for that and stick it in the cooking chamber right inside the hole on the fire box side.

P.S. I modified the charcoal pan in the firebox too. I made a box that sits on the grate that would be used for grilling if you grilled in the fire box. This lifts the fire up higher (closer to the hole), makes it easier to empty ashes if needed and gives me a larger area for wood.

 

[LoftonPack80]

I did the same thing. I used a basket and attached bolts to it so it sits on the lip inside the firebox, above the bottom to shake out ash easier

 

[Breaker99]

I use a cabinet style electrical smoker for fish because it just works better and is easier to manage the fish inside of a cabinet. I smoke salmon and tuna that I catch.

For meat, I have in the past primarily used a wood chip/pellet smoker.... I have tried both, and especially as the cut of meat gets bigger, nothing works better than true chip/pellet fed smoker.

if you can't spend more than 400 bucks, buy one of these... they are very simple and work great.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Weber-721001-Smokey-Mountain-Charcoal/dp/B001I8ZTJ0]Amazon.com: Weber 721001 Smokey Mountain Cooker 18-1/2-Inch Charcoal Smoker, Black: Patio, Lawn & Garden[/ame]

Before I got this grill/smoker I doubt I would have ever spent a grand on a BBQ, but my ex boss gave me this smoker as a wedding gift... and now I would in a heartbeat. Love this thing... Best Grill/Smoker I have ever used.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/REC-TEC-Wood-Pellet-Grill/dp/B008DZS1LO]Amazon.com : REC TEC Wood Pellet Grill - Featuring Smart Grill TechnologyTM : Patio, Lawn & Garden[/ame]

 

[4down20]

I've been thinking about this thing:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-GS40-Propane-Smoker-40-Inch/dp/B004EBTYCG]Amazon.com : Masterbuilt GS40 Black Propane Smoker, 40-Inch : Outdoor Smokers : Patio, Lawn & Garden[/ame]