Smoker's Get In Here

[bowdog]

[M_Quick]

Absolutely tremendous!! made my own "paste" and smoked a 5.5lb rib for about 3 hours until the center was 140 ish. I wont eat prime rib any other way after doing this. I will try and posts some pics if i can figure it out.

Pic's look awesome!

[jdonn]

That looks amazing... nice job! I smoked a Boston Butt this past weekend. 9.5 lbs @235 for almost 18 hours. It was amazing.

[M_Quick]

That looks amazing... nice job! I smoked a Boston Butt this past weekend. 9.5 lbs @235 for almost 18 hours. It was amazing.

18hrs? Seams a bit extreme, but I take your word that it was amazing. That was the first thing I smoked and so far the best imo, but the turkey was a close 2nd.

[jdonn]

On 1/14/2017 at 11:15 PM, M_Quick said:

 

 

18hrs? Seams a bit extreme, but I take your word that it was amazing. That was the first thing I smoked and so far the best imo, but the turkey was a close 2nd.

 

 

I waited till it was 195... just happened to take 18 hrs. Normally, I've seen butts aroun 7lbs... this one over 9. Maybe that had something to do with it. I didn't wrap it in foil till it was 175... normally I would have done it at 160. 

[Gixxus Christ!]

ive been shopping smokers lately. looking to get something small and electric. had also thought of building my own, as im pretty familiar with building temp controlled electronics (built an electric brewery last fall)...but for what the element, thermocouple and controller would cost, i can buy one out of the box. I like electric because i dont want to futz with charcoal and propane, small because my wife doesn't eat pork or beef, which is what i plan on smoking.

 

who can point me in the right direction? i've looked at a few different ones on amazon with 4 star overall ratings, but the one-star ratings on all of them are horrible and describe very poor build quality and design issues. rather than rely on the word of internet strangers i'll never meet, i'd rather go with internet strangers i might meet one day, or have met before.

[smccrory]

I'm loving my Masterbuilt Sportsman 30" electric smoker.  I got mine without the window and bought a separate temp probe / remote monitor since I placed the smoker in my garage.  It's 1/3 the cost of a Traeger pellet smoker and does a great job.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Masterbuilt-30-in-Digital-Electric-Smoker-20070910/100660191?cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|G|0|G-BASE-PLA-D28I-Grills|&gclid=CNvnidOL8tECFYy2wAodTJQBvg&gclsrc=aw.ds

Shop around - these can be found at Field and Stream on sale from time to time.  I recently saw it for $139 in a local flyer a few weeks ago.  I think I paid $170 minus some points I had saved up.

It's incredibly easy to use, acts like an oven with a smoke tray and external chip feeder access.

Edited February 2, 2017 by smccrory

[bowdog]

^^^

This is basically what i have, they work great!

[jporter12]

I have the Char-broil older version of this, with the basic knob thermostat.  It works well.

[Bad324]

1 hour ago, smccrory said:

I'm loving my Masterbuilt Sportsman 30" electric smoker.  I got mine without the window and bought a separate temp probe / remote monitor since I placed the smoker in my garage.  It's 1/3 the cost of a Traeger pellet smoker and does a great job.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Masterbuilt-30-in-Digital-Electric-Smoker-20070910/100660191?cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|G|0|G-BASE-PLA-D28I-Grills|&gclid=CNvnidOL8tECFYy2wAodTJQBvg&gclsrc=aw.ds

Shop around - these can be found at Field and Stream on sale from time to time.  I recently saw it for $139 in a local flyer a few weeks ago.  I think I paid $170 minus some points I had saved up.

It's incredibly easy to use, acts like an oven with a smoke tray and external chip feeder access.

This. I got my propane version for $119 a few years back from home depot. I wish I would have went electric though 

[Gixxus Christ!]

I've read that you don't get the same flavor or the smoke ring with electric. 

[Bad324]

20 minutes ago, CrazySkullCrusher said:

I've read that you don't get the same flavor or the smoke ring with electric. 

Eh for a backyard hobby I don't think you'll notice much a differenc  

My first smoker was a Weber Smokey Mountain charcoal one because I read everything and thought I should go with the purism. I then bought the masterbuilt propane after a few years for when I was too lazy to babysit the charcoal one. After 3 months I didn't touch the charcoal one and couldn't tell the difference from the charcoal anyhow. My guess is that the difference from the propane to the charcoal is negligible. 

Im also a heavy rub and sauce kind of guy on just about everything except brisket so that could be why. 

Edited February 3, 2017 by Bad324

[Gixxus Christ!]

I have a rub I use for baby backs that's pretty damn delicious. I usually cook them in the crock pot at home, which does a superb job, or bundle them in tons of foil and cook with indirect heat from a campfire while camping...They cut with a plastic knife and you could shake the meat off the bone. I wanna see what I can do with a smoker. 

[Gixxus Christ!]

I have also considered making one out of a filing cabinet. Saw a video of one and it was damn cool...

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=XZQf_B42KsA

 

[smccrory]

1 hour ago, CrazySkullCrusher said:

I've read that you don't get the same flavor or the smoke ring with electric. 

I find this to be some degree true - the smoke concentration isn't as high when you're cooking at low temps for very long durations.  To pull that off, you're either into a pellet or chip smoker where the wood itself is the heat source, but note that temp control with those is a bitch unless you have a controller and auto-feed system.  That's why the Traegers are so much more expensive - the controller and screw feeder.

Now, I've enjoyed pork and brisket several times from my friend's Traeger and it's excellent, but to be honest my electric model gets almost the same level of smokiness and neither of them have the same smoke rings you'll find coming out of a giant pit operation.  I'd argue that for Chicken, Salmon and smaller cuts of beef and pork, the difference is small-to-none, plus the electric models heat up faster and only need a tray of additional wood every 90-120 minutes under most temps.

[Gixxus Christ!]

Ended up getting a master built portable propane smoker.  Decided that I'd get more utility out of it if I could take it camping. Also, I needed to store whatever I bought in my already crowded garage. 

 

Just pulled out a rack of baby backs and some wings I started earlier today. Smoked first on whisky barrel chips, then applewood. Dry rub on both. Wings came out delicious but the skin was a bit chewy. The ribs came out great but got a bit dark on the underside (I put them in bone side down) but tasty. Plenty of smoke flavor. I'll do a brisket or maybe a Boston butt soon, need someone to share the bigger cuts with, and my wife does not eat beef or pork. Also I bought an adaptor hose to run it off my 20 lb tank because the 1 lb bottles aren't very cost effective. 

[smccrory]

Good deal!  Yep, the rest is getting to know your smoker, meat, heat settings, time and permutations of all those things together.  Glad you're enjoying it already!

[Gixxus Christ!]

It was on the lowest setting and still blackened them up pretty good. They were on the lower rack, wings on the upper. Maybe things that have to smoke for a long time shouldn't be down there so close to the heat source. 

 

 

Ribs were fantastic, just had 4 more bones. Very tender, lots of smoke flavor and the rub I made was perfect. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, paprika, cayenne and brown sugar. Could have used oregano, maybe next time.  

[Bad324]

10 hours ago, CrazySkullCrusher said:

It was on the lowest setting and still blackened them up pretty good. They were on the lower rack, wings on the upper. Maybe things that have to smoke for a long time shouldn't be down there so close to the heat source. 

 

 

Ribs were fantastic, just had 4 more bones. Very tender, lots of smoke flavor and the rub I made was perfect. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, paprika, cayenne and brown sugar. Could have used oregano, maybe next time.  

Did you peel the membrane off the bone side of the ribs? That's what chars up really quick 

[Gixxus Christ!]

Yeah I peeled it off. 

[Gixxus Christ!]

OK, more smoking today. Did some chicken drumsticks rubbed with Cajun seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic and some boneless skinless chicken breasts marinated in honey, o.j. and soy sauce then rubbed with garlic powder and onion powder. 

 

Smoked both with mesquite with apple juice in the water pan.

 

The drummies were excellent. Juicy tender meat but again, tough skin. 

The breasts were bland. Couldn't taste any of the marinade. 

 

Couldn't taste much smoke or apple in either, not like the oak/applewood I did yesterday.  Wondering if mesquite is just a lighter flavor or if I need to do a larger cut so it gets more smoke over a longer time. 

 

Next up is a pork loin roast. Planning to brine it for a night, then rub with brown mustard, minced garlic and olive oil unless someone has a better suggestion. Also read about resting pork wrapped in foil and towels in a cooler for half an hour to get a more juicy finished product. 

 

Suggestions? Comments? Recipes? I'm all ears. Plan on doing a Boston butt and a brisket soon too. I have a lot of meat in the fridge to eat already tho...

[M_Quick]

Question on new electric smokers. Is a 800 watt element plenty, or should one look for the 1500 watt smokers?

 

[PhilD'oh!]

Mine is a 30" Masterbuilt electric 800 watt and I've had no problem smoking anything in it.  All 4 sides are insulated, so that helps.  I haven't used it in the dead of winter, but I suspect it'll be fine.  The key to any smoker is to minimize opening the door.  I use a wireless dual probe thermometer, so at least I don't need to open it to check temperatures. 

[smccrory]

1 minute ago, PhilD'oh! said:

Mine is a 30" Masterbuilt electric 800 watt and I've had no problem smoking anything in it.  All 4 sides are insulated, so that helps.  I haven't used it in the dead of winter, but I suspect it'll be fine.  The key to any smoker is to minimize opening the door.  I use a wireless dual probe thermometer, so at least I don't need to open it to check temperatures. 

Ditto and I smoked throughout last winter in a cold garage.  No problem.

[M_Quick]

thx guy's for info, I can't remember what mine is..My Uncle asked me to look at the $99 digital walmart black friday one for him. Sounds like he's getting into smoking too next year!