Meat smokers?

[Rambler]

Never used an electric smoker, always charcoal (have three different kinds)...let us know how it goes. I may get one if they save me the time and effort of dealing with the charcoal.

R

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I had a charcoal cheapo bullet smoker for a while and went to the electric bullet.

I think theres a distinction in the process. If you like tending fires, have a lot of time on your hands, and you're into the "man and his smoker becoming one with the universe" thing, the charcoal version will work. I was using chunk mesquite charcoal and I had one hell of a time maintaining a constant temperature. If you just want to eat the food and treat the process like a slow cooker without liquid in it, the electric is pretty slick.

Set it and forget it. On a cold or windy cool winter day, you can put a big cardboard box over the whole thing and cut a little flap in it to check the temperature. Traps the heat beautifully and maintains a nice 190-220 degree temp. Done!

This new box model I got has a dual layer design and I see from prodding it a little that it has some yellow fiberglass looking insulation in between the layers. Maybe I wont need a box.

[TromboneAl]

The part I bought for mine was a metal plate with a heating element. It wasn't quite strong enough for our 60 degree, shady, breezy weather, so I added a second element (one of those charcoal starter things).

You put a metal plate on the heating element, and periodically place new chunks of wood on that plate. It's kind of pitiful really, you have to spend a lot of time adding the wood, and monitoring the amount of smoke.

The thermometer on this model is totally inadequate, so I drilled a hole in the top and added a meat thermometer.

Here's a tip: don't bother soaking the wood chips or chunks. It really doesn't make much difference. Soak one overnight, and cut it open. You'll see that the water penetrates less than a millimeter.

[HFWR]

Yeah, I've never bothered with soaking the chips. If you keep the oxygen level low (i.e. keep the lid closed), the chips will smolder, providing plenty of carcinogens good smoke...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Chips?

CHUNKS!

[HFWR]

Insert Tim the Toolman grunt here...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

It all worked quite well for me. I did brisket, some brats, a half dozen corn on the cob and the dozen ABT's. All came out tasty. The ABT's were surprisingly mild. I removed the seeds and membrane and the filling seems to have neutralized most of the rest of the heat.

In fact, if I made them again I'd probably increase the amount of spice rub and add a good bit of cayenne to the cream cheese. Maybe slip a little sliver of really spicy sausage in there.

As anticipated, all the innards came out of the box ready for the dishwasher, and the box itself wiped clean with a wad of paper towels and some ammonia spray cleaner.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just as a followup, this has worked very well for me and is highly recommended. Its apparently made by Brinkman, since a call to the listed Kenmore customer service line took me to Brinkmans customer support.

I've really appreciated being able to add/access food, water and chips on the fly very quickly and without having to remove the lid and then the top rack(s). With the four separate racks, I can load up each with food and then at the right time stick it in the smoker in 3 seconds, minimizing heat loss.

I also noticed that the arrangement allows for rib hooks or hanging fish racks to be hung from the top rack with excellent access. I could do four full racks of spare ribs or four whole fish in this with no problems. A little homemade heavy aluminum baby "coat hanger" hook inserted in a turkey would also let me get away with about an 18 pounder.

So now I know whats for thanksgiving.

On the last session I did baby back ribs, a chub of Jimmy Dean sausage with a rub on it, and another batch of ABT's. I put a LOT more spice rub into the cream cheese, mixed some minced little smokies in, and upped the green onions. I removed the pepper seeds but left most of the membrane in there, and used a thinner bacon that would crisp up more quickly. Perfect. A little spicier, more flavor, and overall an excellent artery clogger.

I glazed the ribs and the sausage "fatty" with hot jalapeno jelly...which generally isnt super spicy but has a nice mix of sweet and hot. I added a little cayenne and honey to the ribs glaze and straight jelly on the fatty.

I think the next time I'm going to do a chicken and set one of the jimmy dean sage chubs over it for some auto-basting...