I purchased an electric smoker on Amazon a couple of years ago, and am still deciding if I think it was a good purchase or not. I have a barbeque grill that I use regularly, but I have not been using the smoker very often (4 times in 2.5 years), so it is hard to have too many opinions at this point. That being said I will go through a few pros and cons based on my experience so far:
Pros: I will start with the pros. Perhaps the best thing is the temperature regulation on an electric smoker. Since you can “set” the temperature, it is much easier to keep the smoker in the desired temperature range, whereas traditional smoker you need to really watch carefully and be adjusting constantly. The electric smoker allows you to set it and check it much less frequently, though you still need to add your smoking wood chips from time to time. The other main pro is the simple convenience of the size and lack of extra space for the fire – I feel it is easier to store and maintain this way.
Cons: The main con is that you do not get as true of a smoke flavor. Even regular fire/coals produce some smoke, in addition to the smoking wood chips, so I feel like it can sometimes steam the box with a little smoking wood, so it ends up being closer to an oven than a true smoke flavor from a real fire. Also, the more compact electric smokers make doing a bigger run of meat more difficult. The smokers claim to have lots of capacity, but the problem is they tend to go up in direction, and I have had issues where the meat dripping from the upper trays is falling right on to the meat on the lower trays, which is just gross and looks bad. Given how much work it is to smoke meats (usually have to prep, smoke and monitor all day), you generally want a bigger run to make it worth it, but most electric smokers do not have the greatest capacity without meats dripping on each other.
My reasoning for not using the smoker too much is actually due to the cleanup. Since the smoker is boxy in nature, you need to clean the drips, smoking woods, and even the walls of the smoker as there is reside everywhere. You essentially need to take it apart to clean it each time you use it, while the barbecue needs a deep cleaning from time to time, but less cleaning with each use (apart from the grill plates). Plus, I usually have so much going on, that I can’t take the full day at home to make sure the smoking is going well.
I have enjoyed smoking meats on my electric smoker though, and plan to do more soon. Here is a shot of some ribs and turkey legs I have smoked:
How about you – have you tried a wood or traditional smoker before? What was your experience?
Thanks for stopping by!
Brian