quote:
Originally posted by Goober
Has anyone tried an "electric smoker box"? I've heard they are excellent using pellet chips.
Yes, I have used an electric. Actually, I've used two.
I used to have one that was basically just an aluminum box, sliding door on front, with a small pan that rested on an electrical element. The element heated the pan, which charred the wood chips to produce smoke.
The main problem that I had with this unit, is that the ONLY heat source was the small electrical element. I did manage to move the pan UNDER the element, and pile chips on that. That would get the chips hot enough to actually burn and produce enough heat to cook.
Because this unit lacked an actual heat source to cook, I would only recommend it as a "cold smoker", to smoke raw pork bellies into bacon, turn salmon into lox, make andouille, etc.
The second unit is the commercial smoker we use at my night job. It is a stainless steel box, about 4' high, and 24" wide and deep. It has a separate heat element to cook, and another element to char the wood. It's computer controlled, so we can set the oven temp, cook time, cook-then-hold time and/or temperature, etc.
I'm not sure how much a unit like that would cost.
I've got a Chargriller "Smokin' Pro", from Lowe's. I have the side firebox installed, so I can cook into the entire cooking chamber, with the fire on the side. I've used baffles to channel the smoke, which really evens out the temps.

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