Electric Smokers ??

[Tony Falotico]

I'm looking for a GOOD smoker grill, one to do ribs, pork, beef, poultry...... I like to slow cook and smoke meats for hours. I currently use a Brinkman two barrel smoker, the problem is it is almost impossible to maintain constant heat for long periods of time with a wood burner. I usually vary +- 100 degrees over the course of an afternoon (the target temp is 200 - 225). It's getting old and rusting out, I'm ready to replace and would like to upgrade. To what ?? I'm not sure.

I keep seeing electric and gas smokers on the net. BassPro shops seems to have a fair selection. The thought of smoking without a wood burning fire just doesn't seem to compute with me.......

Thoughts, comments, experiences and recommendations please.....

[Don Baer]

Tony,
I had a Luhr Jensen little chief electric smoker. It was what is called a cold smoker and it worked well to smoke the fish but it didn't get hot enough to cook. My sone smoked ribs in it but he'd cook them in the oven first then put em in the smoker to enfuse the smoke flavor.

[Allen Bookout]

I do not think that you can buy a GOOD homeowner grade smoker. I am from Texas and miss the really great barb-b-que beef sandwitches, so like you I have been looking around without much success. Rib City here makes good ribs but that is about it. Man does not live by ribs alone.

I have read in the past that the secret to a great smoker is thick metal which retains the heat and makes for even temperatures and cooking. The only good option that I see is buying some heavy sheet metal and welding one up myself. It seems as though if you use gas you have to have the flame removed from the cooking compartment for it to work right so a three compartment setup would be required. One for the hear source, one for the food and one for the smoke to be introduced. I suppose that electric could be done the same way with some sort of thermostat. I have not seen any good plans but have not really made a good search on line.

There is a place in Houston that will build you one but as I remember the cost was way up there. They mostly delt in commerical units. I think that it was a small company that was in the business of welding for the oil industry but when that business dried up they converted to grills. I do not remember the name of the company but a search would turn it up I am sure.

You are right on as far as the temperature required. I talked to a manager of one of the best bar-b-que places in Dallas and he told me they cook at 220 degrees for 12 hours minimum.

Now you have me thinking about it again. I had kind of given up but now I am rejuvenated.

The only other option is to move to Dallas I suppose.

Allen

[Neil Clemmons]

Take a look at Cookshack smokers. They're electric and require a small amount of wood for smoke. Thick stainless steel for easy cleanup and long lasting.

Their website has a lot of information and you can find them at a few online retailers or buy direct. They're not inexpensive, but they really do a great job. I have not yet bought one, though I have friends with them and the flavor is excellent, yet there is not a lot of work to them.

I too had a Brinkman for years, but keeping the fire at the right temperature was a full-time job. These electric smokers handle that part, and you throw the wood of your choice in and it delivers moist, smoked meat.

Neil

[Bruce Benjamin]

I've done business with a company called, The Sausage Maker. http://www.sausagemaker.com/ They have a pretty cool catalog and their website has lots of smokers for sale as well as all the parts you need to make your own.

I know what you mean about keeping a steady temperature. Just yesterday I did up 2 St. Louis cut racks of pork ribs and one rack of baby back beef ribs. I used a Big Chief top loading smoker but it's not hot enough to cook meat in. I have used it to smoke and cook salmon and beef jerky with great success but it's primitive. Wood chips in an electric smoker will smoke anything as well as a wood fired smoker but you need a better smoker than the Big Chief type so you can control the heat.

There are plenty of BBQ snobs who will insist that you can't get good results unless you have a, "Traditional" BBQ pit. I say that's BS. I've eaten quite a bit of BBQ in bigger restaurants as well as in the shack type places. I'll put my methods and end results up against any other method. If you're really thick skinned, (I mean rhino hide) go to one of the BBQ newsgroups and ask a few questions. If you're not careful you're likely to be ripped to cyber shreds by a gang of rabid BBQers. I had the good sense to just read and not comment but many folks weren't so wise. I think some of the poor guys switched to vegetarian after the beating they took. ;) It's been a few years since I've visited so maybe it's improved. But you can gleen some good info if you sift through the flame wars that make wood forum flame wars look like a discussion on a sewing forum. Good luck and let us know what you buy/make. I'm thinking about finally making my own with parts from the above company.

Bruce

[Robert E Lee]

Tony, I have a round electric Brinkman that you put wood chips in with the element to make smoke. Took a switch from the big burner of a electric stove so that I can control the temperature and it works pretty good now, it was to hot before and made crispy chips out of my smoked fish.
Bob

[James Stokes]

I too have an electric Brinkman smoker, I am now on my 4th one have been using them for about 20 years, I think they are great.

[Martin Shupe]

Does anyone have a Traeger grill? I know it is not electric, and it is pricey, but I have heard good things about them. Anyone have one they care to comment about?

[John Lohmann]

I've used a big green egg for 15 years. It will smoke at 200 & grill at 1000 deg. Primo makes a ceramic smoker also. Look dor kamado on the net. Unless you need a whole pig it should suffice.

[Jeff Cybulski]

Tony - I'd stay with a woodburner. I have used a Weber Smoky Mountain for the past 3 years. It's similiar in "looks" to the Brinkman but is maade and cooks a whole lot better. The vents actually work and allow you to keep the temp. constant over long periods of time. My only negative is that the water pan is to small. Well worth the money. Here's a link to a great site on the WSM.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/

Jeff

[Joe Pelonio]

Tony,
I had a Luhr Jensen little chief electric smoker. It was what is called a cold smoker and it worked well to smoke the fish but it didn't get hot enough to cook. My sone smoked ribs in it but he'd cook them in the oven first then put em in the smoker to enfuse the smoke flavor.
I have this one too. It's inexpensive but well worth it. For things like jerkey, salmon and trout it's fantastic. For bigger things you can smoke it for one or two pans of wood chips then BBQ or use the oven to finish it off. If i'm doing something like pulled pork I use the gas grill with wood chips in the tray and go 6-8 hours at 250.

[Aaron Koehl]

On a whim I bought a cheap Brinkmann one-barrel smoker-- wasn't bad, but I prefer other methods. I had to drill a hole in the bottom of the fire pan to keep enough air flow coming in to actually keep the coals firing.

That said, I've just been indirect grilling with a gas unit with delicious results. Though I have been thinking about giving an electric smoker a try. I'm curious to figure whether I can get more "bang" out of an electric unit in terms of the amount of electricity used, vs. the amount of gas I am currently using.

I think I can get about 3 pork shoulders (back to back) per tank (which I get filled locally for $15), roasting for about 10 hours.

[Tony Falotico]

Went to BassPro yesterday ready to get the electric unit....... the salesman talked me out of it. Ended up w/ the gas unit at 1/3rd the cost.... kept going back to the electric unit, he kept talking me into the gas unit......

Ended up w/ gas. The elec unit had some nice features, but it uses a proprietary wood biscuit (No, shop biscuits won't work :D ), and the feed / burn unit seem rather complicated -- lots to go wrong and not work properly.

So I ended with the gas unit, for what I paid for it if it doesn't work out I'll give it to one of the kids and get something else....... I'll find out next weekend.

[CARL McKENZIE]

Tony: Check Out The Master-built. You Can Set The Temp (up To 275 Deg), And The Cooking Time On It. Then You Add A Cup Of Wood Chips About Once An Hour, Thru A Slide Chute On The Side. Just Smoked My First Short Ribs, 4 Hrs At 225deg. Perfect. I Paid $316 At Sam's Club In Honolulu. But It Would Cost Less On The Mainland.
Carl Mckenzie

[Ben West]

If you want an electric smoker, you simply can not go wrong with a Cookshack. Cookshack smokers are built like a tank, will last forever, and are an American made product with excellent customer service. Best of all, the food out of a Cookshack is second-to-none...all the taste of an authentic BBQ pit without all the work.

[Kurt Strandberg]

We have a Masterbuilt electric digital smoker that we bought 4 or 5 months ago. I have been reading about smoking for about 5 years now and finally bought one, I bought one first, I forget the brand but is was made out of what I called "thick tin foil" so I returned that and bought this one from Cabela's

The nice thing about electric is I can set the temp and it will maintain the temp and I can work in the shop while the meat smokes.

I know you said grill, so maybe this is not what you are looking for.

[Bruce Benjamin]

Really interesting thread and a subject near and dear to my stomach. But you guys offering advice to the OP do realize that he asked this question just about a year ago, don't you?

Bruce

[Ed Falis]

I've used a big green egg for 15 years. It will smoke at 200 & grill at 1000 deg. Primo makes a ceramic smoker also. Look dor kamado on the net. Unless you need a whole pig it should suffice.

I'll second the BGE recommendation (google it). I've burned through three charcoal and gas metal smokers before I got it 5 years ago. Still going strong, and most of the parts have a lifetime warranty. Holds temps down to about 225 without any problem once you get the knack. Can do a brisket or pork butt in the large without needing to add fuel (it's very efficient). Food stays moist because of the ceramic. I'm sure the kamado and primus are good as well.

Bear in mind that this is doing warm smoking (>180 degrees) like your other one did, and not cold smoking (<180 degrees) for making and preserving cold cuts and such.

[Ha, completely missed the post date!]

[Frank Kobilsek]

Bruce,

Its a holiday weekend. Que is an excellent topic to revive a thread.

I won a Brinkman Deluxe (2 barrel) smoker at a charity drawing last winter and plan to test run it this weekend. I doubt I can do better than I can do the regular oven in the house but I gotta try it.

My 'in-side' recipe for brisquet is this

1. Dry rub and leave in fridge over night or 24 hours.

2. Sear on hot grill, then marinade in favorite sauce that has had liquid smoke added. I like to add a shot of bourbon to both the marinate and myself at this point. Marinate over night.

3. Early in the morning wrap meat and some suace in tin foil, place on rimmed cookie sheet and put in the oven at 200 degrees for 6 to 10 hours.

4. About 45 minutes before you want to serve dinner remove from oven cover still wrapped with some towels and let them set until it time to cut.

I don't get nice slices, more of a 'chop', but it tastes great, juicy and tender.

Frank

[Ed Falis]

Sounds like a plan, Frank!

[Bruce Benjamin]

Bruce,

Its a holiday weekend. Que is an excellent topic to revive a thread.


I have no problem with this thread at all and didn't indicate that I did. I just was pointing out that the people who were replying directly to the OP might want to know that they are about a year late. Sorry my point wasn't more clear. Now, continue blowing smoke...Heh heh...Get it? Blowing smoke...As in, "Smokers". :rolleyes: ;) :D ...Sorry.

Bruce

[Randy Denby]

I guess I'm more of a BBQ snob than I thought...being from Texas and owning a BBQ restaurant back in the 70's. Some of these recipes sound like marinated roast beef to me :( Where 's the beef..err smoke :D If you'll notice...the best BBQ rated restaurants here in Texas use coals.They will have a seperate fire pit to generate coals for their main pit. This helps in keeping a constant temp.Alot of trouble for one brisquet for sure. So one way is to buy a brisquet with the "deckle" still attached. Marinade to your taste,Start the fire and get some good coals going and set the brisquet on with the fatty deckle on bottom. This will shield the main meat from too hot a fire. When the fire simmers down to around 200-225, flip it to allow the fatty juice to flow down to the meat. Always keep a water pan in with the meat.Its best to have the water pan directly underneath if possible or between the fire and meat. I also like to build a "bowl" with tin foil to keep the meat in to help keep it moist. Itcomes in handy later for wrapping if you feel its getting too dry. I also like 8-10 lb size best. Lots of tricks and this is just a few I learned...hope this helps. Now I'm hungry ;)

[Bruce Benjamin]

I guess I'm more of a BBQ snob than I thought...being from Texas and owning a BBQ restaurant back in the 70's. Some of these recipes sound like marinated roast beef to me :( Where 's the beef..err smoke :D If you'll notice...the best BBQ rated restaurants here in Texas use coals.They will have a seperate fire pit to generate coals for their main pit. This helps in keeping a constant temp.Alot of trouble for one brisquet for sure. So one way is to buy a brisquet with the "deckle" still attached. Marinade to your taste,Start the fire and get some good coals going and set the brisquet on with the fatty deckle on bottom. This will shield the main meat from too hot a fire. When the fire simmers down to around 200-225, flip it to allow the fatty juice to flow down to the meat. Always keep a water pan in with the meat.Its best to have the water pan directly underneath if possible or between the fire and meat. I also like to build a "bowl" with tin foil to keep the meat in to help keep it moist. Itcomes in handy later for wrapping if you feel its getting too dry. I also like 8-10 lb size best. Lots of tricks and this is just a few I learned...hope this helps. Now I'm hungry ;)

Hi Randy. As you may be aware, this topic can get ugly pretty fast depending on who's participating and how snobbish and opinionated they are. I used to visit a couple of BBQ forums and there were the most nasty, mean, and narrow minded people I've ever seen on any kind of forum. I never even bothered to post but I did read for a while until I decided I didn't want to learn from those kind of people. I'm not saying that you are that kind because you didn't include any of the long list of insults that would normally accompany a post that calls somebody's idea of BBQ, "Roast beef". :rolleyes: ;)

I'm no stranger to, "Authentic Texas BBQ". Most of my inlaws live in Texas and I've visited there enough in the past to know what it's, "supposed" to taste like. Not one place tasted the same by the way. I've also eaten in other parts of the country too and there is a big difference of opinion of what it's supposed to taste like and just how it's supposed to be cooked. I'm of the opinion that there are different ways to skin a cat.

One thing that you didn't mention in your description was smoke. I can only assume that the coals you speak of also have some way of generating smoke. Otherwise, heat is heat. Whether it's from hot coals that are no longer generating smoke or if it's from an oven or a gas grill. Other than direct or indirect heat, the meat doesn't know what's generating the heat. Of course there are other variables such as the humidity of the cooking container, (oven, BBQ pit, grill, etc.)

If you add some smoke to the meat early on in the cooking process the meat will be smoked. The longer the smoke, the more the flavor. In my opinion, meat that's subjected to a medium to heavy smoke for too many hours is over smoked and you lose the flavor of the meat. That's just my opinion though. A long, lighter smoke is better but I also believe that you can get by with a shorter, more intense concentration of smoke followed by a smokeless heat and achieve excellent results.

With that in mind, I believe that excellent results can be attained by using a smaller home style smoker that really cranks out the smoke for a few hours followed by a low and slow heat either in an oven or on a closed grill. It's harder to utilize an indirect heat in an oven or on a grill so shielding the meat is a good idea to keep it from drying out. One thing I've found is that if you wrap the meat in foil tight enough to keep it from drying out, you might as well shut off the smoke. And if you're removing the smoke from the equation then what good is a wood coal fired BBQ pit? If you can achieve the same low and slow indirect heat without a pit, why do you need the pit? Convenience and cooking capacity are the main reasons in my opinion.

As I said, I've eaten BBQ from several parts of the country, including Texas and I know what it's supposed to taste like. Well, depending on where you are when you're eating it at least. I've also eaten and made plenty of BBQ that was cooked without a real BBQ pit using the smoker combined with either an oven or covered grill. I've even used one of those portable roaster ovens as the final heat source and I've found them to be one of the best because it's so easy to control the heat and the meat doesn't dry out. The results have been outstanding. I've made ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, and chicken that would match that of many of the premium BBQ joints I've visited. That's not just my opinion but that of many of my guests as well. I'm not talking wine sipping yuppies either. I mean some serious foodies who didn't train their taste buds by watching the Food Network and Bobby Flay.

I won't even debate the subject of what kind of meat is suitable for BBQ. Talk to some Texans and they'll insist that a brisket is the only way to go. Other people agree with me that pork, (both ribs and shoulder) is king with beef pulling in a close second. To each their own though. I love it all! Honestly, the best BBQ I've ever had anywhere came from a place called, "Lonnie's Ribs" in Santa Clara, California. They moved to Los Gatos, CA. right before I left the area and I think they were damaged, possibly closed by the 1989 Bay Area earth quake. Not sure though. Regardless, they did it all the old fashioned way in which you would probably approve and everything from their ribs, shoulder, brisket, and chicken was unbelievable. I've never had better anywhere, not even my own. I was a chef at the time and he offered me a chance to be the first non-family member to ever work for him. I was moving in a few weeks so I turned him down. I still regret that decision.:( What I could've learned from that guy would've been worth postponing the move.

My real point is that nobody cooks their meat the same way and few will agree on what tastes best or even how to cook it. If they did, every plate of BBQ would taste the same. What fun would that be? I judge the food by the end result, not necessarily how it got there. Oh, I almost forgot. Dry or wet? :cool:

Bruce

[Randy Denby]

Bruce,...I agree totally with you. I didnt go into detail cuz I know it gets into personal preference.There is truly alot of ways to skin a cat...make a wood joint....or BBQ. My main comment, for the OP, was to how some of the pro's keep a consistent temp and thru in what I learned to do to help keep the meat moist.
I am gonna be smoking tomorrow ....mmm mmmm mmmmm!!!I am getting excited now buddy!!
Ya'll have great weekend

Oh yeah....wet/dry , kind of depends on what/and when. :)

[Ben West]

Duh...I saw this pop up as a "new" message, but never looked at the #$@(*# date, which I usually do. Football season is upon us, and I'm anxious for some tailgating, so my excitement caused to to jump the gun!

[Bruce Benjamin]

Duh...I saw this pop up as a "new" message, but never looked at the #$@(*# date, which I usually do. Football season is upon us, and I'm anxious for some tailgating, so my excitement caused to to jump the gun!

That's ok Ben. It's always a good time to talk about BBQ. Have you ever been talking to someone but not looking at them? Then after a while you realize that they have walked away and you were talking to yourself? Well, I was ready to take his place.:cool:

Bruce