I'm in a position where I can't use my stick burner or UDS on the regular, so I'm and looking to get a small cabinet smoker I can put out in my deck. Cabella's has a few nice ones that I'm considering, but not sure if I ought to get gas or electric. I've been firmly against gas grills my entire life, but what about a smoker? will it leave a funny taste in the meat after cooking that long?



On the other hand, an electric smoker just seems like a glorified oven. All I've ever used are wood or coal burning cookers, so I feel lost, but I gotta get a smoker up and running. ASAP

Id probably go electric if charcoal (Webber Smokey Mountain) is not an option. If you local Walmart has a 14.5" WSM its probably priced fairly cheap right now. I don't have a 14.5 but a 18.5 and its been great.


My father in law has had a Cook Shack for years and its been pretty reliable. If you buying one to last then you might take a look at them.
http://www.cookshack.com/

If it's the deck/fire your worried about you can still use charcoal taking steps to abate the risk.

I'm running the Weber 18.5" smokey mountain on my deck. Keep it at least two feet from railings/house. I also put ceramic tiles under the cooker that extend out from the cooker one foot.


EBR

It's not fire I'm worried about. It's the HOA for the condo that will not allow it and my hyper nosy neighbor who has turned me in twice now for grilling/smoking on the deck. They don't allow any wood/coal fired cooking on the decks.

Those look pretty sweet.

Here is a great resource to help out.


Click me for grill info


EBR

 

A quality electric smoker shouldn't have any trouble maintaining heat in cold weather.

I ended up with the masterbuilt 30 electric smoker. Ive only used it three times in the last week, but can say it has no problem holding hear down to 30* out side.

The one complaint I have. Is that the meat comes out only ok so far. It's not really all that smokey. It's nice that the temp will stay constant with out me having to screw around with it at all. But it's just not the same as meat that comes off the uds or my offset. Not much smoke ring, the meat tastes a bit like it was cooked in the oven with a little bit of smoke...I'll try it again tomorrow and I'll just make sure I'm loading a shitload of chips in...

Add more wood for a stronger smoke flavor. You don't get much of a smoke ring using electric. Smoke ring is cause by NO and CO dissolving in to moisture and penitrationg the meat. It reacts with a protein I belive in pork and beef.  You get a little more CO using a propane smoker so there is a little bit of a smoke ring. Burning charcoal or wood as the heat source produces much CO and NO so they develope a more pronounced smoke ring.   A smoke ring is not a reliable gauge to tell how well something is smoked. Most BBQ judges are told to ignore the smoke ring because it can be artificially created. Seasoning with nitrates can cause a smoke ring to develop.


You might try adding a pan of water to the bottom rack. Water / humidity can help the smoke flavor penetrate and stick to the meat.

Yeah, I'm not super concerned about a smoke ring, but the smoke flavore is huge. I'll keep experimenting with it. I'm sure that I'll figure it out soon enough. Maybe I'll just have to tend it more often to keep the smoke up.

I've also thought of adding a little duct inside to pull the smoke across the chamber a bit better. As it stands, the chip pot and the exhaust are on the same side.


I'll report back after tomorrow.

Do you use chuncks or chips. You might try chunks cause they tend to smoke a little longer.

I'm using chunks. Yesterday I soaked them for a half hour before putting them in and put a lot in at a time. It seemed to help. The smoke flavor penetrated the meat a lot better.

The greener the wood the more smoke you will have.