So my smoker died on the 4th of July. It was a Masterbuilt electric and was the second I’ve had in about 10 years. I need you to disabuse me of my prejudices because I find fault with all the types that are on the market.
I don’t like pellet smokers. I like to be able to get down low on temp. I make bacon and sometimes smoke cheese and pellet smokers apparently don’t get low enough.
Electric ones only emit smoke when the burner is on, so you don’t get a lot of smoke at low temps or on hot days. Also, I don’t like having an electrical cord out in the rain when I’m doing a long smoke and the daily 3 PM rains come to Colorado Springs.
Propane seem to be finicky for temperature control and, again have trouble keeping a low temp
Charcoal allow good temp control and I don’t mind tending the fire, but when I used to do this, it would take a bag of charcoal to do a pork shoulder. A 10 dollar hunk of meat would cost that same price to cook.
The eggs seem to cost a lot–well over $1000 dollars and I’ve hear there are taste issues (acrid flavors) and temp control is really hard because of the thermal mass ( if its too high, it takes a while for your actions to take effect, then the temp might be too low, and you wind up chasing temp)
What do I have wrong above and what are some recommendations?
I have a Masterbuilt electric smoker and just recently got the cold smoker attachment. Basically it just creates smoke separately from the main unit so you there’s no active heat inside the cabinet. It’s self-powered so you don’t even have to turn the main unit on. Aside from the cord, sounds like it might be just what you need.
I believe the “acrid flavors” come from not enough ventilation.
Acrid flavors is, yes, usually improper ventilation, too much wood, and/or not letting the wood burn down a bit before throwing in your meat. You don’t want billowing white smoke—the smoke you’re aiming for is a whispy bluish white smoke. I usually let it burn for about 20-30 minutes before throwing what I’m smoking on.
I personally have no experience using an Egg, but I’ve not heard complaints about the flavor, with a properly maintained fire.
I recommend a wood smoker with a fire chamber off to the side. No cord. Be aware, the built in thermometer is WRONG. I use a GrillEye thermometer. With individual probes, both the cooking temperature and the meal temperature show up on my phone. Yes, wood fires require more tending. They also allow you to choose woods to better fit what flavor you want from the smoke. Wood fires are also a great excuse to sit in the back yard and drink beer while “tending the fire.”
I’d recommend a good wood drum (or bullet) smoker. If you get one that’s airtight then you won’t use much wood and you can close it up when you’re done which will save the wood for the next cook.
We had a good thread a few months ago with some good advice but when I search for it I only get a link for the old boards. I’ll try again later.
I agree with my friend Onthefly A good off set smoker is the way to go. Mine is an Oklahoma Joe Longhorn It burns splits of hardwood to produce some great barbecue. Beer can chicken is popular at my house along with ribs, pulled pork and brisket.
And that’s a good example of the kind of smoke you’re looking for when smoking: nice, clean smoke. Not that billowy white, cloudy looking stuff that you get in the beginning.
Wood isn’t an option. Procuring wood out here is expensive unless you’re looking at pine and I don’t feel like eating tar flavored pinesol. I actually have the cold smoker attachment on my Masterbuilt. I find that if I have them both plugged in, I can’t keep temperature on the main unit I can’t seem to get much above 225/250 (I like to cook a bit hotter–like 275 for most things). A hint on those, don’t use chips, they tend to get stuck–use pellets, they work great.
If you like to bbq around 275, a bullet-style smoker would be good for you. I own a Weber 18" Smokey Mountain and I love it. Don’t know where you live, but I’m not sure why procuring wood is a problem for you. I picked up a big bag of hickory chunks from Home Depot a couple years ago and I still haven’t finished the bag. I don’t use all wood when I bbq, I use a mix of charcoal and charcoal-sized wood chunks in maybe a 6 to 1 ratio.
Yeah, I can mix, but the stick burners, from my understanding, like real wood. I could be mistaken though. I’m in Colorado Springs. All that’s here is pine and aspen, so whatever I get I’d have to buy and from my local bbq store, hardwoods are expensive.
Yeah, 8 is about the max I will go for wood chunks in a WSM: four on top and then four buried in the middle of the unburnt coals. In other types of smokers that are less efficient and have more airflow, I’ll use more wood (for example, we built a temporary offset cinder block smoker about ten years ago to smoke four pork shoulders and about 20 pounds of hot links, and that one we ran on straight split logs, no charcoal, but it had plenty of airflow and was also terribly inefficient in terms of air leaks and the burn rate. But it got the job done!)
I have a setup I’m very happy with after a lot of tinkering. I started with Masterbuilt electric smoke that I got on sale for dirt cheap. Didn’t care about the model or features for reasons that will make sense momentarily.
First thing I did was replace the dodgy digital controls with a PID controller. I built my first PID controller, but when that eventually died after a couple of years of exposure to the elements, I bought one of the premade models from Auber. The PID I have is dual probe, meaning it monitors the temperature of the cabinet and controls the heater, and a second probe tracks internal temperature. I can put in simple programs to ramp the temperature over time, and stop heating at a set internal temp.
Next, I took out the wood chip tray, opening the side hole up to connect with rigid gas flue ducting. That ducting connects to a hole I cut in a standard mailbox about two feet to the side and below the main cabinet. In the mailbox, I have one of those mesh pellet burner trays. I stole that idea from the internet. Now I have smoke independent of the heat, and can generate smoke more or less unattended for up to 12 hours.
Last but not least, after using this setup for a year or two, I swapped out the stock 800w heating element with a 1200w unit. The cabinet can now get easily to 275-300 degrees and does so more quickly.
After all this work, the number one request from friends and family is for smoked Cheez-its.
