Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have owned this smoker for 5 years now and have a few insights for those looking to purchase this smoker.
I have smoked 7 turkeys, alot of pork, and some beef all with really great results.
I love that its electric. Regulating temp with charcoal smokers can be tedious. You barely have to do anything to it except add water and chips. It will maintain the ideal temperature of 220 degrees fairly well, But there are a few issues with this smoker:
1. Materials and construction- metal is thin and the lid fits loosely. The lid is suppose to fit loosely! There is no vent so it helps with the smoke. But because the metal is thin, on cold and/or windy days, it can be difficult for it to maintain it's temp on long smokes. Often runs 200-210 degrees. This will increase your cooking time! On hot days it will run at 230- 240 degrees. Although I can't reccomend this modification to help with heat loss, I have actually heard of people fitting a electric water heating blanket to the outside of the smoker to help with this.
2. I wish the heating element was adjustable to help regulate the temp.
3. The door is small which makes it hard to add chips or water. Although you can take the unit off its base to add chips, this is akward and a bit dangerous since you may spill the water. It is nice to remove the base to help clean the unit though.
4. I installed an after market temp. gauge in the lid. (A must)
Overall a good entry level smoker that is super easy to use. Got mine at W-mart for $75. Anyhow, it's a great value for under a $100. Now after 5 years, it is about done and I need a new smoker. I will try to upgrade although after looking around at all the electric smokers, I might just buy another one of these. I love the "bullet" design of the vertical smokers.
The stainless steel version of this model looks nice and is obviously made of better material, but the main section is attacted to the base. I do like being able to remove the base. Plus the element is still not adjustable. The only other choice is a stainless steel meco smoker which has a better door design and a adjustable heating element, but is double the price. So I will either get this model again and do some modifications (temp gauge and maybe an adjustable element) or get the meco. Hope this review helps.
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Brinkmann 810-7080-8 Gourmet Electric Smoker and Grill with Vinyl Cover, Red
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