As much as the handy man part of my brain/cheap motherfucker wants to try building my own smoker I think I want to sack up and just get a half decent pre made one. This thread is fortuitous as I saw a electric smoker on sale at Kroger for 130. I assumed it was what ever cheap thing they could find to market in the summer grilling section. But Ive been putting off getting a smoker too long. I want to go electric because I'd like to be be able to smoke at super low temps for cheese and cured meats. I know you'd have to add more wood to smoke but I think I'd prefer the electric one over having to tend a coal burner all day. Anyone with good suggestions would be a big help. I'd like to spend 200-300.
I highly suggest buying a traditional smoker. I've got an electric and it sucks complete ass. Overcooks everything. I see no difference in cooking between 200 and 250. Everything that goes in is a charcoal briquette coming out. The only thing they are good for is putting a little smoke on things you intend to finish cooking in the oven. Which is how I do my bbq (until I buy a traditional barrel smoker with a hot box). You can make a cold smoke box fairly easy. Alton Brown did a show on it. Just seems like a waste to buy an electric just for that one purpose, because it fucks up royally meat.
See, my husband had the opposite problem with traditional vs electric. Maybe it has to do with brand/quality of the electric? I can ask him what he uses. We have not had to throw away one piece of meat since he got the electric and we are picky about it being overdone.
Spoiler This guy was one of the best investments I made for smoking. One probe for the grill temp and another for food temp plus the wireless unit has a pretty good range and you can set temperature alerts to let you know when the food is done or the grill temp goes out of the temp range you specified. Makes it a lot easier to not take the cover off so often http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Et-7...8&qid=1402418656&sr=8-2&keywords=maverick+bbq
For that price this one isn't a bad buy, I really hate recommending electric but I realize charcoal isn't for everyone. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00104WRCY/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00104WRCY&linkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=bestgrillsforthemoney-20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00104WRC ... hemoney-20</a>
I'm a relative novice at smoking food, but after building mine, I'd go with buying one. I had some old lumber laying around that me and my brother in-law used for the smoker and a nice picnic table, and it is a motherfucker to keep sealed. I originally used fire retarded caulk to seal the gaps, but the rain washed that shit out (causing the fire), now I resealed it with silicon on the outside and fire retarded caulk on the inside. I haven't used it in a couple of months though, so,,,, we'll see how it goes. If I can't keep it sealed, the next step is to break out the sheet metal brake and seal the inside with some small guage metal. I will say this though: I'm glad I built my own, because when I smoke/make sausage, I make a fuckton of it. I smoked over a 100 lbs of venison summer sausage in my smoker no problem. I don't think a you can buy a smoker big enough for my needs. I can smoke 300lbs of meat no problem, but if you want a smoker so you can slow roast a boston butt every once in a while.... Go commercial.