I need a new smoker!!

[mrblond]

I have a lil chief at the moment and the last few times the element does not seem to get hot enough and does not get a good smoke going, it seems to just char the wood.

Whats a good smoker? I have looked at electric as well as propane. I am not sure which is more cost effective either.
I mostly do jerky, fish, and ribs so I dont need a huge smoke house or anything.

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[Kruel J]

If the chief has served you well, maybe just get another one? Electric is the way to go IMHO.

 

[DirectDrive]

If the chief has served you well, maybe just get another one? Electric is the way to go IMHO.

Yep, electric is easy and you can usually throttle it down so that it isn't cooking the fish.
I have a Big Chief and these are like the Easy Bake Ovens in Smoker World.
They're inexpensive, but they're not that good. I had to mod the hell out of mine to get it to run OK.
Fish or jerky is all you can do on these.

I think the best electrics at the lower price points are the Masterbuilt and the Bradley.
There are much nicer ones, but much more money, such as...
Smokin' Tex and then Cook Shack ....Smokin' Tex is a Cook Shack Chinese knock-off.
Those can do ribs, you can't do ribs on a Chief smoker

 

[Kruel J]

^^^True. I do ribs on my Traeger.

 

[mjbskwim]

You know you can get replacement burners for those?




If your wife reads these threads and you just want to justify a new smoker,let me know and I'll delete this

 

[Member 5605]

Replacement burner. Cheap fix.

 

[uscsoldier]

Bi Mart has these for $180, I love mine

Amazon.com : Smoke Hollow 3615GW 36-Inch Propane Gas Smoker with Window : Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[Srbasbol2]

This one looks old and beat up, but still smokes like a champ. Won't smoke ribs, fish, and looks like jerky. She can roll her own though.

 

[Jamie6.5]

Don't get a Brinkman.
And that's all I have to say about that.

 

[mjbskwim]

Bi Mart has these for $180, I love mine

Amazon.com : Smoke Hollow 3615GW 36-Inch Propane Gas Smoker with Window : Patio, Lawn & Garden

For a buck 75 that looks like a good deal. I mean I have a big smoke house but that would be handy

 

[uscsoldier]

For a buck 75 that looks like a good deal. I mean I have a big smoke house but that would be handy

For me it's the perfect size, last weekend I did a 11lb brisket, smoked jalapeño poppers, baked beans and 2 racks of baby backs. It's stays at 225 very easy and being able to see the stuff being smoked without having to open the door is

 

[Mikej]

I smoke fish on a little chief, but only when the weather is warm enough. I doubt even if I were to put some insulation material on it wouldn't come up to the desired temp for fish when it's in the 40s.

I would love a smoker that will smoke and run at 140-160 degrees for fish. I've heard if you use a propane smoker you can't keep the temp down in the summer. If you run electricity you can keep the temp down but not have the heat to get a smoke going. I guess a Bradly would do it but buying "Pucks" sucks, and $300.00+ sucks a lot too. BiMart has a cold smoke thing but it's $110.00.

Any way, I haven't done a whole lot of research so I'm reading along here for info. Heck, maybe I don't even NEED a smoker. I didn't catch one salmon or steelhead last year!

 

[uscsoldier]

I smoke fish on a little chief, but only when the weather is warm enough. I doubt even if I were to put some insulation material on it wouldn't come up to the desired temp for fish when it's in the 40s.

I would love a smoker that will smoke and run at 140-160 degrees for fish. I've heard if you use a propane smoker you can't keep the temp down in the summer. If you run electricity you can keep the temp down but not have the heat to get a smoke going. I guess a Bradly would do it but buying "Pucks" sucks, and $300.00+ sucks a lot too. BiMart has a cold smoke thing but it's $110.00.

Any way, I haven't done a whole lot of research so I'm reading along here for info. Heck, maybe I don't even NEED a smoker. I didn't catch one salmon or steelhead last year!

Try one of these, I use it when I smoke cheese and Salmon. I can keep the temps really low. In my smoker I can keep it around 90 which is perfect for cheese, or for salmon I put in in my Webber BBQ and the temps stay around 140ish

A-MAZE-N 12 in. Smoker Tube-AMNTS-0002 - The Home Depot

 

[uscsoldier]

 

[Mikej]

View attachment 349730 View attachment 349731 View attachment 349732

I don't know where you put that? Setting it along side you food on a gas grill doesn't seem a good way to properly smoke fish. Food on the grill as shown in the picture is at well over 160 degrees. I tried one of those type things once, under the rack, and it was a pain and didn't do that great of a job.

 

[Norwestr55]

I've had 1 of the bimart Smoky Mountain smokers for 7-8 yrs and it works great. I've smoked everything from Jerky to turkeys in it and haven't had any problem keeping the temp down even in the summer. YMMV Watch for sales, they were $140 last week. My BIL bought the bigger version and wishes he'd went smaller because it goes through so much gas just to get it up to temperature.

ETA you can rig them to cold smoke with dryer hose/ducting and a little fan.

 

[uscsoldier]

I don't know where you put that? Setting it along side you food on a gas grill doesn't seem a good way to properly smoke fish. Food on the grill as shown in the picture is at well over 160 degrees. I tried one of those type things once, under the rack, and it was a pain and didn't do that great of a job.

I pull the flame covers and sit it down on the drip pan

 

[uscsoldier]

Did you end up getting one

 

[Norwestr55]

Bi Mart has these for $180, I love mine

Amazon.com : Smoke Hollow 3615GW 36-Inch Propane Gas Smoker with Window : Patio, Lawn & Garden

They're on sale for $140 this week.

 

[uscsoldier]

They're on sale for $140 this week.

For that price and because I love mine so much I'm seriously thinking about picking a second one up