Haven't seen much discussion here lately. As old charcoal fan I need tips on current features most useful.

Recently watched a review for the Weber SmokeFire. Reviewer gave it high marks. Had me tempted even though I lack funds, space, or the need for one.

If it's in your budget...I splurged and picked up a Smokin-It electric several years ago. It's built like a tank, airtight, easy to use, etc. It really is a "set it and forget it" type smoker. But, it ain't cheap.

I bought the digital version, not the newer wi-fi. A lot of folks seem to be into the wi-fi capabilities, to watch the smoker from inside the house, etc. That wasn't important to me. I'm usually home when I smoke something. And part of the fun for me is going outside to piddle and check the temps, etc.

https://www.smokin-it.com/

Rec-Tec pellet smoker/grill. All-stainless cooking chamber.

Tony.

I have a Traeger pellet smoker and would suggest one of the newer Traeger smokers, or the Green Mountain Smoker.

Green Mountain is a bit lower cost, both now come with temp probes built into the controller, and apps that allow you to start, control, monitor and turn off the smoker from your sofa.

These features are nice in that they allow you to monitor the cook from a distance so you're not married to sitting in the house for 11 hours to monitor the fire and meat in the smoker like a stick or charcoal unit requires.

https://greenmountaingrills.com/

https://www.traegergrills.com/

Total agreement on the smokin-it line of smokers. I've had mine almost 5 yrs and it has been great. The Customer Service (the owner) is outstanding as is the product performance. Their forum is much like here--good people,outstanding knowledge, great willingness to share expertise. Smoking does not have to be a complicated exercise of culinary abuse.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Rec-Tec pellet smoker/grill. All-stainless cooking chamber.

Tony.

Although Traeger is more popular, the Rec-Tec is a solid smoker. I have the Rec-Tec 680 ( Now the 700 ) model and love it. It has the remote app, light the pellets remotely, and ready to cook in 20 minutes. Just a good solid cooker along with great support.

thanks for the links gents, have been reading their products.


The remote start feature is on my "Un-want list" as I'm retired & prefer to fiddle a bit.

Also, despite the ease I find myself slipping towards pellet-grill, I have adequate newish charcoal Weber. Have just had unsatisfactory long-low temp charcoal results.

Trying to stay in the 'electric smoker' focus. Years ago gave a new Little Chief to a chef buddy, who made absolute stunning results on everything he touched with it. I've been unable to achieve his result even with his tips. Regrettably he is no longer in this world for further mentoring.

Did love the looks of the new Weber Smokefire listed above. Watched the video, called company to learn it too has $1k+ price tag.

Hoping to uncover suitable unit for $200 range.
From what I've seen this seems to limit to chips-on-a-plate in some kind of more or less fancy box.

I'll keep searching.

quote:

Originally posted by pawprintsdoc:
If it's in your budget...I splurged and picked up a Smokin-It electric several years ago. It's built like a tank, airtight, easy to use, etc. It really is a "set it and forget it" type smoker. But, it ain't cheap.

I bought the digital version, not the newer wi-fi. A lot of folks seem to be into the wi-fi capabilities, to watch the smoker from inside the house, etc. That wasn't important to me. I'm usually home when I smoke something. And part of the fun for me is going outside to piddle and check the temps, etc.

https://www.smokin-it.com/

+1 for smokin it. Had one for a couple years. Easy and tastes amazing.

Two words....Cook Shack.....you can thank me later!!

Camp Chef pellet smoker is what you want. Field & Stream AKA Dicks sporting goods carries them. Lot's of features other brands don't have. Facebook user group is fantastic. Customer service is as well. I have no affiliation with CC but after buying one a few years ago I now have nearly a dozen friends with one as well. Lumberjack pellets are the best as well.

For a couple hundred a Masterbuilt should do you. To that you'd ant to add an Amazen pellet tube for smoke instead of the chip tray or do a mailbox mod for smoke. In the future if it didn't satisfy you from a temp control standpoint you can add an Auber controller and maintain nice even temps.

Cookshack is great, I had one, Smokin It I believe is about the same thing. Great but pricey.

Pellets are convenient but I just sold my Yoder pellet smoker because my BGE turns out better food for me and is much cheaper to run.

One thing with an electric smoker is that they tend to pop GFCI's so you should probably plan on not plugging into one. Try it but know they have a tendency to pop them.

quote:

One thing with an electric smoker is that they tend to pop GFCI's so you should probably plan on not plugging into one. Try it but know they have a tendency to pop them.

They should not. If they are, then either appliance is bad or there is an electrical problem. All a GFI does is measure load on hot and neutral wires which should always be exactly the same. Any item that is properly working should never trip a GFI.

I did a lot of research a few weeks ago, went and touched the models I could. I decided I wanted a pellet smoker. The Treagers and smoky mountain ones seemed very flimsy for the price. Started leaning toward the the Pit Boss ones, they do sell them at walmart which is where I first saw them, I went to Lowes and they had them as well for more money but if you look at both, the ones at Lowes are of built heavier. At Lowes they had a Pit Boss upright pellet smoker that peaked my interest. Mainly because the inside height restrictions on the barrel ones. I decided this one at Lowes is what I wanted for $379

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Pit-B...et-Smoker/1000601259

But then I happen to be in Academy sports and saw their Pit Boss Copperhead series 3 for $349 with a $100 gift card to Academy. Looks like it's $299 now with a gift card

https://www.academy.com/shop/p...rtical-pellet-smoker

I have used it twice and now wish I would have gotten the series 4 at Lowes only because of the bigger size. I do love it but it does run hotter at the bottom and the back which limits your cooking area for consistent cooking. The pellet hopper is much larger in the uprights, you can truly leave it running for a few hours without worrying about it, just the occasional check of the water pan.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
Two words....Cook Shack.....you can thank me later!!

THIS!!!!

Mine is now about 20 years old.

MADE IN THE USA!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

One thing with an electric smoker is that they tend to pop GFCI's so you should probably plan on not plugging into one. Try it but know they have a tendency to pop them.

They should not. If they are, then either appliance is bad or there is an electrical problem. All a GFI does is measure load on hot and neutral wires which should always be exactly the same. Any item that is properly working should never trip a GFI.

I agree they shouldn't but it's very common for them to do so.

You could DIY an electric smoker with a garbage can, a heating element, fan and a controller off amazon for a few bucks lol

Didn't we have someone here from the north east that built a smoke house that looked like an outhouse and hooked a traeger style pellet smoker to it so he could cold smoke home made sausage, or add a heating element to the smokeouthouse for heat?

In your price range, I have been using this for about six months:

https://www.masterbuilt.com/co...ital-electric-smoker

I've been pleased with it and have gotten my money's worth out of it. A downside is the maximum cook temperature being 275.

I just picked up a masterbuilt 340g.

Its huge, and works great for everything i need to smoke.

These dont get hot enough to do well on chicken, usually resulting in tough rubbery skin. I developed my own technique to overcome this.

Its on sale right now for 349$, and comes with an accessory kit thats worth about 50$. Its a pretty decent deal.

https://www.masterbuilt.com/pr...ital-electric-smoker


For anyone who uses an electric smoker, and likes smoked chicken, the problem is the 275° temp limit on these smokers. You need to smoke chicken at about 350° to get the skin right.

I like to brine the chicken overnight, then spatchcock it.

I preheat my oven to 550°, and sear the outside of the chicken untill a pretty gold brown. The interior temp of the thigh and breast is only about 110° by the time the skin is gold brown @550°

Then i move it to the smoker and smoke it over maple or apple chips untill the thighs hit 165 internal.

Smoking a chicken whole without spatchcocking it always results in overcooking the breast in order to get the thighs up to 165°.

Spatchcocking results in much more even internal temps.

The Master Built are raved about and popular. They are cheap and readily available. I had two, never again, both were trashed after controller failures. I did buy and use a pellet burner with it, I found the built in wood chip burner a joke. I hear their customer service is good but just how much expensive meat do you want to put at risk because of junk equipment?

I decided I wanted to actually smoke with wood as the heat source but not have to invest the time to actually learn a stick burner or want to take the time to babysit one. So... I went with a vertical pellet smoker from Pit Boss. Love pellet smoking, but if doing it over I would buy a machine a few steps up in performance and quality, probably one with a PID controller.