Updated!! Been looking at electric smokers...

[coltle6920]

The ones made by Bradley are pretty much what I want except for the price but I might not have a choice.

I want to be able to set the temperature digitally and I like the self feeding wood biscuits.Don't want to get off the couch any more than is necessary.

Does the wattage affect the max temperature and what would be the highest wattage needed to be able to cook everything?

Any suggestions?

 

[03hemi]

Electric is the only way to go.

 

[Faulkner]

I have a Masterbuilt 40 inch w/digital control and remote control that I'm very fond of.

When I was shopping around I never really gave much consideration to wattage, I just wanted to know what the cooking temperature range is. For smoking, you really only need up to about 250 degrees and mine will heat up to 275. Most smoking is done in the 190 to 220 degree range, depending on what you're cooking. I'd venture to guess 90% of what I smoke (ribs, brisket, turkey, pork butt, etc.) is around 200 degrees.

Also, you really only have to "smoke" whatever you're cooking for the first hour or two, so even though I may "smoke" the food for 6 or more hours, you only have to have load the wood chips once at the beginning and they'll last for several hours



Pork butt

Babyback ribs

 

[rick1085]

Was looking a couple of years ago and didn't choose the Bradley
Partly because of the proprietary wood biscuits. Ended up with a Master built mostly for the remote. Can check status and control temp from my easy chair. There was a problem with a caster wheel mounting when I first received. Called Master built and they sent out a new one right away. I've smoked fish, chicken, pork roast, ribs, and brisket all with results as expected. My only complaint is the wood chip tray doesn't get hot enough to produce a lot of smoke at low temperature when doing fish. Speaking of fish, my Grandniece Lauren says my smoked Kokanee is to die for .

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Love my Masterbuilt electric smoker.......Wouldn't have anything else!.....Butts/ribs/turkeys/chicken/summer sausage......All come out wonderful!

 

[turbo38gn]

I'm a Bradley baby... absolutely love it... for exactly the reasons you listed. The biscuits mentioned here are no problem, the fact is, they're just easy to work with. No need to worry about low temp smoking as the biscuit feeder has it's own heater and feeder. Just load up the number needed to smoke for the time required. 20 minutes per biscuit, if you need 3 hrs smoking time, you put in 9 biscuits plus 2 to feed the full amount. Set the timer and set the temp.. go watch your favorite show, go shopping, hit the range for a few hours, it's that simple. As for the wattage, you just want to make sure you don't have some long azzz extension cord causing a voltage drop. Don't get the 6 rack Bradley, stick with the 4 rack, and get the one that cost around $350 on Amazon.. You can purchase the biscuits from Amazon or Cabella's. I always just purchase online at Cabella's.

Also there are lots of recipes online for smoking with the Bradley, BBoards with lots of info like we have here. As for Bradleys support, I messed my smoker up the 1st time I cooked pulled pork, I closed the vent on top and messed up the pork, the paint around the trim and on top of the smoker got messed up. I emailed Bradley, they had me send pictures of the damage and sent me a new smoker!!! free. Great customer service and they went over and above, as it was totally my fault. The instructions even said to not close the vent!! But I was cooking in the middle of winter and thought it would help in keep the temp up.. I learned quickly that instructions are made to be followed..

 

[vic3620]

I just bought the masterbuilt 40" with the glass in the door.
Academy sport opened a new store in town and had them for $199.00.
I'm very satisfied with it. And so are the guys at work that I'm sharing my deer roasts with.

Vic3620

 

[STCM(SW)]

I must be different.
My old Texas off set charcoal smoker does just fine for me, but it's an old one.
Probably only last another 40-50 years....
And it works even if I don't have power in the house!

 

[2fingers]

I have the Weber model and it does anything I want it to. Two meat racks and a water drip pan under them. Think it is rated for Forty pounds of meat.

 

[targetchief]

I have a 30in Masterbuilt electric smoker. Digital temp and time settings. I think it was around $170 from amazon. I love it. Smoked pork tenderlion is fantastic. I have my own seasoned hickory to make chips and a friend gave me some cherry from a wood working project. The cherry is milder and sweeter than the hickory. Used the cherry on pork tenderloin and it was wonderful. Happy smoking and good luck with witch ever one you choose

 

[model70hunter]

I bought propane. I did quite a bit of research. Electric burners don't seem to last if used often according to some reports.

I bought a separate temp gauge. When set it maintains the correct heat well.

4 or 5 years ago I was smoking some deer parts in the winter and the power went out for several hours. The smoker kept on going.

 

[gdnagle]

Was looking a couple of years ago and didn't choose the Bradley
Partly because of the proprietary wood biscuits. Ended up with a Master built mostly for the remote. Can check status and control temp from my easy chair. There was a problem with a caster wheel mounting when I first received. Called Master built and they sent out a new one right away. I've smoked fish, chicken, pork roast, ribs, and brisket all with results as expected. My only complaint is the wood chip tray doesn't get hot enough to produce a lot of smoke at low temperature when doing fish. Speaking of fish, my Grandniece Lauren says my smoked Kokanee is to die for .

Another Masterbuilt fan here. I got tired of getting up all night long to load charcoal in the first smoker I have. Since then I have a small smoker, forget which brand as it only holds maybe a little more then 10 pounds of meat. The got two Masterbuilts one 30inch and then the 40inch with the glass door.

Can't beat Masterbuilt's CS. The 40 inch door had a leak in two spots, nothing serious just a little smoke escaping from the two spots, on about 1inch the other about 1/4inch. Called them sent pictures of the leak and picture of S/n they sent me a complete new door within a week after calling. Can't beat that CS with a stick.

Nice to be able just set the temp and time and only have to get up to feed the chips which I only do about 2 times on a 12hour Smoke and there is still a lot of smoke in there when I open the door for the bone twist test on the ribs.

Come to think about it think it's time to throw something in the smoker, thanks for the reminder.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I grew up in the BBQ brisket business. We used an electric smoker that would do 16 briskets at a time. The thing had been rebuilt many times over the years with mismatched parts because the original manufacturer was out of business, but my family loved that smoker. I remember they bought new ones a couple of times to try out and wound up selling them off and keeping the old one. If I recall the brand was called Barbematic. By the time Dad sold the place there wasn't anything original left except the case itself. All the works had been rebuilt with whatever parts could be made to fit in order to keep it going.

Electric will get the job done.

 

[timn8er]

Ya'll have some fancy sounding smokers! I used to have a Weber that the only control you had was plugging it in. You could vent the top a little, but that was it. The first time I tasted a brisket that I had smoked on that puppy, I remember thinking that buying the smoker was one of the nicest things I ever did for myself!

 

[Brian41]

I had an electric smoker that was much easier to deal with than the charcoal one I had before it. My only real complaint was in cold weather it couldn't keep the temperature up very well. There's only so much power possible from a 120volt 15 amp circuit which is why they have limitations. It worked just fine in warmer temperature though.
I replaced it with a larger propane one that has no problems maintaining temperature even in coldest weather. One Christmas I put a huge turkey in to smoke about 0600 and still wasn't done getting close to when family would get here to eat. I cranked it up to 350 degrees to finish cooking it which I could have never done except for the propane.

 

[lonejacklarry]

I, too, have a Bradley smoker. I've had a Oklahoma Joe's smoker for probably 20 years and it is still used occasionally. If I have nothing to do I'll use the old smoker. I use a remote thermometer for either one and it is basically foolproof. (Insert your own joke here)

If I have something else to do I'll used the Bradley. Yes, they require the biscuits to work right. Once I figured out that I was wasting two or three biscuits, I had
some aluma biscuits made at my local fabrication shop. Add the aluminum biscuits at the end and the smoker will push them through.

After the machine shop guy made my aluminum biscuits, he told me that ebay was loaded with them for sale.

He owed me anyway.

 

[turbo38gn]

I, too, have a Bradley smoker. I've had a Oklahoma Joe's smoker for probably 20 years and it is still used occasionally. If I have nothing to do I'll use the old smoker. I use a remote thermometer for either one and it is basically foolproof. (Insert your own joke here)

If I have something else to do I'll used the Bradley. Yes, they require the biscuits to work right. Once I figured out that I was wasting two or three biscuits, I have some aluma biscuits made at my local fabrication shop. Add the aluminum biscuits at the end and the smoker will push them through.

After the machine shop guy made my aluminum biscuits, he told me that ebay was loaded with them for sale.

He owed me anyway.

Aaaaah .... first I heard of the alum biscuits. Thanks. I have learned a lot of little tricks over the last couple years with my Bradley. Most of the negative stuff I read, I was able to prove BS through my own experiences. I looked for the positive reviews and learned a lot. I used my smoker all through the last 2 winters and had virtually no problem.

 

[coltle6920]

So I went and bought a Masterbuilt smoker...$199 from Lowes

30inch...meat probe...4 racks...control panel...no door window

I don't have a backyard deck or patio so will probably use in the garage.I'm assuming the garage door should also be kept open to some degree if not all the way to eliminate fumes.

I'm wondering if I should get an extended warranty based on some Youtube videos I've watched.It's not very comforting when a company changes their warranty from 1 year to 90 days even if they back their products with what seems to be good customer service.

I would like to know what experience others have had with their smokers.Does yours work great but you only use it infrequently or do you use it a lot and expect things to wear out (i.e. the heating element)?

Any other types of hazards I should be aware of such as using it too close to a dryboard wall or using an extension cord?

I'd also like to thank those who already posted here about their electric smokers.

 

[turbo38gn]

So I went and bought a Masterbuilt smoker...$199 from Lowes

30inch...meat probe...4 racks...control panel...no door window

I don't have a backyard deck or patio so will probably use in the garage.I'm assuming the garage door should also be kept open to some degree if not all the way to eliminate fumes.

I'm wondering if I should get an extended warranty based on some Youtube videos I've watched.It's not very comforting when a company changes their warranty from 1 year to 90 days even if they back their products with what seems to be good customer service.

I would like to know what experience others have had with their smokers.Does yours work great but you only use it infrequently or do you use it a lot and expect things to wear out (i.e. the heating element)?

Any other types of hazards I should be aware of such as using it too close to a dryboard wall or using an extension cord?

I'd also like to thank those who already posted here about their electric smokers.

Hahaha... I'm sorry... but had to share that... YOU CAN STORE IT IN THE GARAGE.... BUT YOU CANNOT USE IT IN THE GARAGE.... it's a smoker, it generates smoke, that comes out the top of it. You must use it outside.. you won't need to worry about drywall, unless you have it piled up in the driveway.. a short heavy ext cord would be recommended if you have to use one to prevent voltage drop...

 

[gdnagle]

I just used both my 30 inch and 40 inch at the same time in my 26X28 detached garage has 2X6 insulated wall with 3/4 ply painted walls, ran it for over 24 hours smelled good in there for a couple days and either I've gotten use to the smoke smell or it has disputed as there is no more smoke smell or maybe the heat from the pellet stove helped remove it. If you have smoke detectors in there it will set them off. I wasn't going outside in below freezing temperatures to tend mine. Besides the wind was really holing when I was using the smoker and I wasn't sure how it would effect smoking time. Now I wouldn't use it in the house and I'm not sure if my chickens liked the idea of me smoking some of there kind as the coop is right next to the garage.