We have a Masterbuilt electric smoker than we enjoy a lot. It's 3 years old & no problems. Haven't purchased commercial bacon or smoked sausages since the purchase. Many smoked chickens have been served here & I especially like smoked Mac 'n Cheese as a treat.

We got ours from QVC. Here's the link & there's a video.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: QVC Masterbuilt Smoker

I have a Brinkman. It is non-electric, but it can be converted to electric and they also have one that is already electric. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I read a lot of really good reviews about them for about a year or so before I chose it. I wanted the non-electric so we could take it RVing with us and it would be usable whether we had hook-ups or not.

Brinkmanns are fine for the $. I have one like the one at the link. They don't have a thermostat, but I've never found that interfered with my cooking something. But you can always get a magnetic stick-on thermometer if you want to get more scientific.

Hints: don't use an extension cord. It seems to be more efficient if you're plugged directly in to the socket.

Don't peek all the time. Take the lid off the smoker and it takes a good 15 minutes to get the system back up to temp. Likewise, if you're replenishing the water pan, replenish it with hot water; it'll take less time to get back up to speed.

If you're gonna do a lot of ribs, invest in a rib rack; makes a more efficient use of space. Ditto vertical chicken roasters; allows you to fit the chickens in more efficiently.

Put something fatty on the top rack (ribs, pork roast) and let the fat baste something drier on the bottom rack (turkey, chicken). Yum.

Smoke is a flavor, and like any flavor can be overdone. I prefer milder stuff like apple wood, maybe pecan or hickory; I personally don't like mesquite, but chacun a son gout.

Here is a link that might be useful: electric smoker

Thanks for the suggestions. Triciae, your linked smoker is the one I was thinking about at my local Home Depot. I figured I'd get it, try it out, and if I didn't like it, gift it to my daughter & her husband.

I want to give smoking a try just because my salt-restricted husband really loves all kinds of smoked meats. This would allow him to have his smoke without the salt.

Arley, thanks for the hints on meat placement. Really good advice.

I have the red Brinkmann and it is easy to use even without a thermostat. But with that said, if I had a do over, I would get one like you are looking at with the door on the front.

It is a pain sometimes to get to the second shelf on mine. You have to plan that carefully. Now I am eyeing a Traeger.

I've been considering getting a stovetop smoker- could someone tell me, please, if I'd be better off getting an electric one instead?

Shambo, we have the Masterbilt and Elery loves it. I've used it a couple of times but he's the one that really likes the process.

Anyway, it's been a very good machine for the money.

Annie

I think I'll surprise my daughter & her husband and buy the Materbuilt for me but encourage him and my son to learn how to operate it too. That way the whole family will be smoking!

I don't have a smoker yet.

I am waiting for smokers to incorporate the digital temperature control feature, which will come soon. The few that have that feature are still pricy.

PDI digital temperature electronics have drastically come down in price, from hundreds to about $20 to $30.

With digital temperature control, you can achieve accuracy to within one degree, giving you much more ability to smoke food. It will make a smoker like a sous vide cooker, cooking at precise low temperature air instead of low temperature water.

dcarch

I have a Masterbuilt too, (from Bass Pro),
but it has the black painted shell. If I
had it to do over, I would get the stainless
version. A few more bucks, but it shouldn't
rust.

lbpod,

We have the black Masterbuilt also. It lives outside here in coastal CT & has not rusted in three years. We do have the Masterbuilt cover on it all the time except when in use. We are a couple hundred feet from Long Island Sound on 3 sides. If rust was going to be a big problem we'd have known it long ago, I think.

/tricia

Triciae, just wait until a cat Christens it :o

Triciae, you addressed my next question for electric smoker owners. I wondered where you keep the smoker? I can't put it in the garage and only have a small section of our patio that is actually covered. In order to put it under the covered part, I'd have to use an outdoor, heavy duty extension cord. Also, if I have to move it into the garage for winter, I'd just as soon forget about it altogether.

One other question, can any of you recommend a good source for smoking info? Stuff like temperatures for cooking and doneness of different meats, etc. Thanks again.

We've had a Masterbuilt for a couple of years.. I haven't used it much...turkeys, turkey breast, a pot roast, some ribs, and bacon. So far we like it a lot.

I've used the Masterbuilt website for recipes and Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn (used their bacon recipe, thanks, Annie). Also have a copy of Smoke and Spice from a swap that has nice recipes. Once I figured out smoking is not as difficult as it sounds, I started picking up old smoking and curing cookbooks. I bought casings...smokies are next.

We park ours in the woodshed and haul it out from under the roof to use. It seems to have weathered the last two winters OK. A cover wouldn't be a bad idea, though.

I live in S Fl so mine lives on the patio all year, can't help with that.

I go to the forums on this website for tips.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheSmokeRing

Shambo, our smoker is on a brick patio raised on cinder blocks for ease of access. Like I said, it's been there 3 years, no problems. Last year, it went through Hurricane Irene just fine. I highly recommend the cover though - that will, of course, also prevent "cat" incidents. (smile)

/tricia

Katie & Joan, thanks for the website info. Triciae, thanks for the idea of raising the smoker on cinder blocks. Sounds like good advice. The next time I'm near Home Depot, I'll pick up the Masterbuilt AND a cover.

Ibpod, I got a chuckle out of your comment. We had a male cat that loved to spray, especially anything with black plastic. We had to be careful about garbage bags, plastic containers, etc. He ended up being an outside only cat, coming in the garage at night for safety. He "perfumed" the garage though. The strange thing was that when we moved to our present home, he never sprayed in the garage or his litter box again. But we could see him every morning when we let him out of the garage, making his rounds from tree to tree marking his territory outside. But the garage was pristine. Who can possibly understand what goes on in a feline mind?

I have a HUGE male cat, (Mr. Doodles), and he sprayes
EVERYTHING. I have my smoker on one of those wooden
furniture cart dollies, and it usually is parked in
a corner of my shed. Well, I had only had the smoker
for a few months, and when I brought it out, to use,
I saw that one side of it had started to rust. I
believe cat urine is one of the most corrosive agents
in the entire world, and even paint doesn't seem to stop
it from ultimately reaching the metal. But Mr. Doodles
is such a loveable creature that it is impossible to
stay mad at him for long. I have just learned to
'Doodle-Proof' everything that I can.

Thanks for this thread!! Saturday Kevin and I went to HD and Kevin bought a Masterbuilt electric smoker, assembled it, and primed it. We looked at the Brinkman, but the Masterbuilt was the one I wanted us to have. I really was not familiar with electric smokers before, but once I got more information, I was hooked. Today we smoked a 6 pound chicken, two ears of corn, two eggplants (for me to make Babaganoush), some asparagus, a large crimini mushroom, three ripe habanero chilies (from the garden), a couple of green Serrano chilies, and a couple of TJ's pesto chicken sausages. We had to buy some {{gwi:1524664}} in order to get the vegetables in under the chicken. These pans appear to have been designed specifically for the Masterbuilt smoker, as they fit exactly on the racks with no space to spare. We used the Brinkman beer can chicken holder for the chicken, and that fit perfectly on the top rack.

For dinner, we ate the two sausages and the two ears of corn plus some of the asparagus, and saved the rest for later. We did eat the chicken wings, however, and they were moist, which was a surprise, since I did not tuck them under. I did cut the bottom fat from the chicken and insert it at the tops of the breasts, so that they would not get dry, but I have not tasted the breast meat yet. I'm sure it will be very good. It took four hours to smoke a six pound chicken, and we kept the temp around 250 degrees. The chicken tested 165 degrees at that point, which was what I was aiming for. The other food we cooked for about an hour or more, except for the eggplants, which took two hours or so. We don't have this down to a science yet, but I do like the electric controls!

Lars

Congratulations Lars and welcome to the wonderful world of "Low & Slow" cooking.

For those of you who have electric smokers, an insulation blanket will save you operating cost as well as more even cooking temperature inside the smoker, especially cooking outdoors in colder temperature.

You can get custom fit insulation blankets on eBay.

dcarch

I have been following this timely (for me) thread as I am also in the market. A friend highly recommended an Orion so I have been researching it for a week. Great reviews on all websites but seems that the purist don't consider it a real smoker. But then, I'm not a real smoker either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Orion

congratulations, Lars, you're going to love it. We smoked duck and it was one of my favorite ways to cook duck.

Ours stays in the garage, also on one of those furniture dollies, so Elery can smoke things in the winter too. We've been so busy with house remodeling on both places that we haven't used it in a month or so, we need to do that.

Maybe this weekend....

the only problem we've encountered is that, even in the garage, it gets cold. If it gets below zero the electronic controls don't like to work and we have to bring them into the house to warm up!

Annie

I worked for Luhr Jensen in Hood River OR in the mid '70's (they make a lot of the most popular fishing lures). I bought two front loading Little Chief smokers from them and still use them after all this time (40 years - yikes) but not constantly, of course. Made in USA from aluminum so no rusting, electric coil for a pan of hardwood chips. Replaced one electric cord and one pan, is all I've had to repair. I've always used Alder chips and only have smoked fish. Tons of fish; tons and tons of fish. Yum.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Luhr Jensen Smoker

I ordered a cover for the smoker (HD does not stock them in stores) from Amazon, and we will probably leave it outside most of the time. It is in a spot that gets a lot of afternoon sun, and so it did not take much energy to get it to temperature. After the sun went down, we had to turn the heat up a bit. The manual says that it will take more energy when the outside temperature is below 65 degrees, but if it is that cold here during the day, it is usually raining, and so we would not be using it then. I think we'll probably use this more in the winter than we do the regular barbeques because it requires less attention.

I really like the amount of space inside.

Lars

Congratulations, Lars! I think you'll have lots of great meals from your smoker. We are planning a backyard BBQ/smoker party the first weekend in July. It'll be the first time we used ours this season. We also don't use ours if the weather's yucky.

/tricia

Lars, congratulations. I'm jealous that you got to HD before I did. I'm amazed at the different things you smoked on your first try. I'm especially intrigued by the eggplant and corn. I love the Greek version of eggplant salad/dip, and think the smokiness would add a wonderful dimension of flavor.

Mustangs, I really had to laugh at your comment about purists. I'm no purist either. I just want food that will have a smokey flavor and be a welcome change from the regular low sodium fare I serve up. And since I'm going to be the one using the smoker, I want it as easy as possible.

I'm with you Shambo i.e. I will do the smoking so I'm trying to educate myself in this area. That's why my friend recommended the Orion--easy of use. The Masterbuilt looks easy too and I wouldn't have to deal with bags of charcoal. I'll hold off and do some more research.

(1) Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse Smoker with Window and RF Controller (Old Generation 30 inch, #3 Best Sellers and #10 Top Rated in Amazon's Outdoor Smokers list. (2) Bradley BTIS1 Original Fully Automatic 4-Rack Outdoor Food Smoker, #17 Best Sellers and #59 Top Rated. (3) Smokin-It Model #1 Electric Smoker,#53 Best Sellers and #3 Top Rated. (4) WEBER 721001 Smokey Mountain Cooker 18.5 Inch Charcoal Black Smoker,#5 Amazon Best Sellers and #2 Top Rated. More reviews and comment from other purchasers and users at http://ElectricSmokerReviewsInfo.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Electric Smoker Reviews Info Site

Our Masterbuilt electric smoker did not survive Sandy. :(

/tricia

Only smoker to get is a Kamado type smoker, like a big Green Egg or in my case I got a Visions Kamado which is just as good if not better and cost much less.

I smoked a nice pork shoulder for 11 hours one day, took about 2 minutes to start the coals and get it to 250 degrees and it stayed right at 250 degrees for 11 hours without having to even touch it and had lots of charcoal left.

this is ours on the left.

{{gwi:44793}}