Smoker

Looking at getting at smoker. It will mainly be used for a couple deer a year. What are some recommendations?

If you want a really quality smoker, trawlers are very nice. You said you would only be using it a CNC Pyle times a year, Pit Boss makes nice user friendly smokers for a decent price. They are the best bang for your buck

How large do you want. I wish I would have bought a bit larger one. Just food for thought. I have an electric Masterbuilt and love it.

I Have a Bradley digital, complete garbage. I’d get propane if I get another. Electric smokers IMO are useless in the winter.

I’m far from and expert but if your using it for smoking sticks and sausage I would say a electric vertical smoker would be your best bet. I would stay away from the ones with the discs for smoke and just get one that looks like a mini fridge that uses wood chips, They work great steady even heat and plenty of smoke.

The answer is gonna be dependent on what you plan on smoking.. A vertical smoker for sure. Just make sure that if you plan on making summer sausage you buy one that is tall enough to handle whatever size casing you are using. I use 2 masterbuilt electric smokers, my buddies all rant and rave about the sticks i make. No problem using in the winter, put it in the unheated garage and crack the overhead door a bit and good to go. The garage smells wonderful for about a week once I’m done.

Gino wrote:

I Have a Bradley digital, complete garbage. I’d get propane if I get another. Electric smokers IMO are useless in the winter.

I have a small masterbuilt and it works like a charm, I smoke pork shoulders in sub zero weather with no issues at all. I think because it’s small it has no problem heating up and staying hot.

I have an old Masterbuilt also and flat out wore it out. Electric.

Like others have said the electric Masterbuilt. I use it year round.

Unless you are going to become a die-hard, stick with the electric smoker. Incredibly simple, plenty of smoke, steady heat, works perfect no matter how hot or cold the outside temp is. I regularly use it outside in WI winter.

Yep, depends on what you plan on making and how many pounds at a time. You can’t fit much in these small vertical electric cabinet smokers at one time. I’m also a fan of propane over electric.

I have a couple of the bigger masterbuilt and have replaced the element in one and the other one is only used a few times a year. For the price and the run time hours that are on it (6 years old usually used 2-3 times per month and around 50 hours for deer processing) I wouldn’t hesitate to get another.

I purchased an electric pitboss and love it so far. The lowest ambient temp I’ve smoked in was in the mid 20’s so I haven’t seen it in full winter action yet. It comes with a generous 5 year warranty and is insulated. The wood chip hopper is also slightly larger.

Home made smokers are a blast to create. I have made a couple that were dedicated to smoking fish. Large wood uprights to the small clay non-glazed pot design. All were using a hotplate and chip box for smoke. Winter temps not an issue. Food for thought.

Boogerbreath wrote:

Home made smokers are a blast to create. I have made a couple that were dedicated to smoking fish. Large wood uprights to the small clay non-glazed pot design. All were using a hotplate and chip box for smoke. Winter temps not an issue. Food for thought.

Any pictures?

I’ve owned electric and propane and I much prefer good old fashion wood and charcoal. I smoke with a weber smokey mountain. IMO this provides the best results and is the most fun to use. Yes it requires a little more effort but not much. Once you start smoking with wood it can become an obsession. Its truly an artform in some ways.

Many people prefer to “set it and forget it” but don’t rule out using wood. Once you get the hang of it its really not much more work then using an electric smoker and its a hell of a lot more fun.

Boogerbreath wrote:

I have made a couple that were dedicated to smoking fish.

Reminds me of the old joke.

Have you ever smoked fish?

Yes, but they are tough to draw on and they got my lips slimy, so I went back to cigars.

Grouse

A few older pics. – Boogs

Attachments:

1. 

   471078_3453285699248_412383916_o_3453285699248.jpg
   

2. 

   463175_4540217711869_2056242341_o_4540217711869.jpg
   

3. 

   461620_3431995327002_1481841492_o_3431995327002.jpg
   

My old clay pot. Yes, I tested it for lead. – Boogs

Attachments:

1. 

   11880670_10207377412821901_721752938201192891_n_10207377412821901.jpg
   

I should expand. The wood smoker is an old clothes chest that would be at the end of the bed. It is from the 50’s. My grandmother gave it to me. I turned it on its side and took the wheels off the bottom and moved them to the side that is now the new bottom. Pop some holes for vents and for the air intake/electrical out… line the bottom with foil and BAM!

I smoked a bunch of jerky yesterday in my Masterbuilt 560 gravity fed smoker.

As windy as it was i was able to hold 150 temp for the 8 hours it took to finish.

I love the thing.

I have a Masterbuilt vertical electric. While it does a somewhat decent job it is not what I would call an excellent smoker. They do not have enough airflow to get a deep smoke ring or get a good crispy crust. I can get a much better result just using my Weber grill with some wood chips.

My next smoker will be a pellet smoker just for the convenience.

KPE wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gino wrote:</div>
I Have a Bradley digital, complete garbage. I’d get propane if I get another. Electric smokers IMO are useless in the winter.

I have a small masterbuilt and it works like a charm, I smoke pork shoulders in sub zero weather with no issues at all. I think because it’s small it has no problem heating up and staying hot.

My 30″ Masterbuilt digital is very poorly designed. The digital control head for some reason sits on top of a hole in the housing where warmer air can come up through the insulation, which creates condensation on the circuit board and it will just turn off and not respond until you take it apart and completely dry it off for days. Per Google it is a known issue. They are sending me a new control head now, but they are on back order…wonder why. I guess after the 90 day warranty is up you are just out of luck.

Otherwise it works great for what it is.

Nice work boogs!

We bought our FIL a small lousisana vertical pellet. its a rebadged pitboss or vise versa. i think it was 250 bucks? that thing is pretty awesome. he loves it. he does traditional bbq but also uses it for his smoked fish and jerky.

I have a brisket in the Masterbuilt electric going right now at -1°. It was a very inexpensive unit and is keeping the set temp at 260° sitting on the deck outside. I have only used this smoker (or any smoker for that matter) 2-3 times…seems to be working just fine in the extreme cold.

I did my venison sausage on the big green egg last weekend. Maintaining 200 was very easy for 6 hours. Very tasty. Small capacity Is the only bad thing. I had 2 3# and 6 1# and it was packed.

For me it seems like electric is the best choice but Fleet has a nice propane smoker on clearance. How does propane do and how much gets used?
DT

deertracker wrote:

For me it seems like electric is the best choice but Fleet has a nice propane smoker on clearance. How does propane do and how much gets used?
DT

Propane is great for fast temp recovery after opening the door but requires a lot more wood feeding and low temps are very difficult to obtain. I love my propane smoker for doing all my side dishes because I am in and out of them all the time. The electric and pellet do my low and slow work.

I stopped using my Masterbuilt electric after I got a Kamado. But I used it again yesterday for brisket for the first time in years just because I wanted the convenience of setting and forgetting it during the winter. Went well and I’ll be doing it again.

I prefer the process of the charcoal and chunks way in the Kamado, but sometimes you don’t feel like babysitting it all day, so that’s where the electric has value.