Model #2 Electric Smoker

I cannot believe how well made this smoker is for the price. There is a bunch of info already on the build so I just want to share a couple of tips. First, when setting the temp on your smoker I would recommend you turn up the temperature up in increments vs just setting to the temp you want right away. For example, I smoked a pork butt at 250 degrees and started at 175 and then moved it up in 10 degree increments until I got to 250. By bringing it up slowly you will get a longer and more consistent burning of the wood vs pouring the smoke to it within the first hour. I used 7.3 oz of wood and it burned for about 2.5 hrs and that is in the ball park of the amount of smoke you want to hit the meat with. Another benefit is by having the smoke last longer you are less likely to end up with "off" flavors. If you have done any smoking, you know what I'm talking about. And as stated in the directions, if you don't have much experience smoking meat, it is always better to use less wood until you know what you are doing. Many people use too much wood and then end up with off and bitter flavors and blame it on the smoker. Just a note: I have a scale and that is how I know what the weight of the wood is. The directions tell you not to use over 8 oz of wood at a time so if you really want to monitor what your are doing you can but a decent kitchen scale for twenty to forty bucks. If you buy the chunk wood from one of the box stores, it's about two to three chunks depending on the size. If you are not sure or don't have a scale, I would recommend two chunks as long as they fit and you can close the lid on the smoker box. I did check a couple of times and when you first turn the unit up (I did this and the outside temp was 40 degrees) you will get a 40 to 50 degree temp spike. Now once the box heats up the temp levels off and will stay at the temp you set it to. I verified this using a Thermoworks thermometer. With that said after 3 hours I checked the temp and it was spot on. I have to admit I wasn't expecting the unit to be this accurate and would have been happy if it was within 10 degrees. Now this might not happen if you begin smoking when the outside temp is 70 degrees or higher so I'll check when it warms up here in Northern Ohio and post the results. I am going to add a photo and hopefully you will be able to see the bottom temp which is the internal smoker temp. Again, took the pic after 3 hours. I bought the Smokin-It to use along side my Big Green Egg. I love my Egg but for party's and entertaining I needed more space for smoking. About two years ago I had a Bradly smoker that uses the wood pucks and it was ok, but for what you pay for the Smokin-It, there just isn't a comparison IMHO. Every time it was real humid outside or it rained the pucks would fall apart and that drove me nuts. I gave it to my brother-in-law...enough said. I echo what has everyone is saying, super quality for the money, holds temp where you want it, and easy to clean. Follow the directions and you should end up with some tasty BBQ!

This item is very well constructed. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I went with the middle-sized unit because I figured I'd just be using it to augment the larger scale stuff I do with a stickburner. I still use it mostly for small items that require precise heat control (bacon, fish, nuts, etc), but I was amazed at how well it works for larger items too such as pork shoulders. I can't quite get 4 large pork shoulder in it raw, but if you start them on a stickburner for a few hours, they'll shrink enough to finish them in this unit, which is a great thing when you want to set something and forget it overnight. I love the versatility of this smoker. I'd recommend purchasing some key accessories to go with it. One thing that's essential is a dual probe thermometer. I got the Ivation long range thermometer and it works very well with this smoker. I route both probes through the smoke hole on the top. One probe goes in the meat, and one probe clips in just below the smoke hole to monitor the overall temperature of the smoker. I will say that the temp gage on the smoker's switch isn't totally accurate, but that's to be expected and you can dial in exactly what you need with a proper thermometer setup. Mine runs a bit hotter than the setting indicated on the switch, so getting that error dialed in is crucial because you don't want to err on the side of being too hot. Another key accessory is a perforated pizza tray such as the Adcraft PZ-18714, which fits perfectly in the #2 smoker. This is essential for smoking smaller items like strips of fish, nuts, and cheese. Speaking of fish and cheese, this smoker can be easily modified to function as a cold smoker. All you need to do is run a cheap soldering iron (one that's never been used to actually solder with) through the bottom drain hole and set it in the woodbox under a pile of small woodchips or sawdust. It helps to line the bottom of the box with aluminum foil for this application. You'll want to monitor it with the thermometer through the smoke hole to make sure an alarm goes off in the event of a flareup, but I've found that it works very well with a little attention.

cooked a 12 pound turkey for thanksgiving, based on the info i recieved thought it would be cooked in about 4 hours, 7 hours later still not cooked completely. Had to put in the oven to complete, turkey was completely dried out after this desperation move....cooked as instructed at 225. very disappointing experience, will try ribs in a few weeks maybe that will change my opinion.

The debate about which type of smoker is best (electric, wood, propane, charcoal) goes on forever. But it was easy for me, because I am relatively new to smoking and don't have the interest or patience to fuss with trying to maintain charcoal or wood fires at a consistent temperature for a "low and slow" smoke. And propane always seems to run out at inopportune times and then require refills. This electric smoker keeps an even temperature without any effort. Throw a chunk of Hickory (or your other favorite hardwood) into the smoker box and it puts out plenty of smoke for hours. To test it out the first day, I brined a couple of chickens overnight and then smoked them. We had them for dinner and it was some of the best chicken I've ever had - the family literally attacked them. But I got the Model 2 for a reason - I've always wanted to smoke a whole turkey and it's big enough to do the trick - plus some. Again I brined a 12-lb turkey (nothing fancy - a $7 on-sale frozen Butterball) and started it bright and early on Thanksgiving day. It took a little longer than I expected but again, the result was marvelous - tasting if not looking. (I think this smoker will easily handle a bit larger turkey but all of the smoking books I have advise against trying to smoke a bird larger than 18-lbs.) Since then, pork shoulder and chicken-apple sausages. The latter came out looking a little ugly because I probably kept them in too long. But I ate one and it was deliciously smokey. At first my kids didn't want to try them. But one bite in, they refused to give them back and told their mother that she wouldn't like them so could they have hers?! ;-). Like others, I have routed wireless or wired meat thermometer probes down through the top hole to track the meat temperature. The smoker temperature control seems to be accurate. The manual advises against opening the door during the smoking process since flare ups are possible and you'll lose smoker temperature in any event. The smoker comes assembled (except for the wheels which quickly screw on). It is well-built and well-insulated, similar to other smokers costing much more. The top and sides do not feel hot during a smoke. I'd buy this smoker again.

I've owned my Smokin' It model 2 for about 4 months now. I've owned two charcoal/wood smokers in the past and was disappointed with their inability to regulate temperature well, as well as my own limited skills required to keep fiddling with them to get them to maintain temperature. Granted these were fairly cheap units to the legendary El-Cheapo Brickman (ECB) and a Walmart Special Char-Broil lateral-smoker/grill. I enjoy making barbecue, and love the results when it comes out good. But when it comes out bad, which was more often than not with my previous smokers, I obviously don't get as much enjoyment out of it. So I decided I needed a higher quality tool for the job, so I could focus on my technique more than focusing on building and maintaining a fire. I looked high and low for all variety of smokers. Pellet seemed to be the way I wanted to go, but from a lot of reviews, you just can't get the smoke you need for BBQ out of it. So that's out. Propane seems like too much of a headache when smoking because at the last minute you could run a bottle dry and be half-way done with a smoke. So, I decided Electric was the thing. I knew that I wanted to be able to smoke during all kinds of weather, hot or cold. So insulated cabinets were a must. Quality of construction was also a must have. This unit meets both. The walls are thick and well insulated. The stainless steel looks like something out of a professional kitchen, and not just the pretty to look at stuff you find on other appliances. This unit takes a bit of a learning curve. First things first, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!! They will specifically tell you how to prep the smoker for your first run. When I did this, there was a bit of a shock factor. I was doing it on a fairly chilly March morning. Twice while doing this, the unit made an audible whistle, and wheeze followed by a FFOOOOMMMM!!!! sound, followed by smoke billowing from the door seals and blow-hole. I read up and some people experienced this on colder days especially if wind would blow cold air up into the unit. The sounds / smoking I saw was likely the result of a pressure differential. I'm OK with that. Little science experiment never hurt anybody. Maybe a little blurb in the write-up would be helpful for this? So far, it hasn't happened again, as far as I can tell. Second thing to learn. In the manual, they mention to use less wood in the smoke box. YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS!!!! Especially if you're smoking with hardwoods like oak, hickory and mesquite. I also suggest not using chips as they burn too fast and make too much smoke. Instead use chunk wood, and sparing pieces of it too. I've used four fist-sized pieces of oak before and it's been too much. Two or three pieces of fruit-wood like apple or cherry seems to be the right amount for a good smoke. Third, I prefer to wet-smoke, depending on what I'm making. and set a pan of water or other liquid in with whatever I'm cooking. THe results are night and day. Also, anything I smoke, I brine first. It really helps to add to the flavor and moisture. I do wish that the thermal probe on the unit were located a little higher in the chamber. I think it's too close to the fire box, so it causes the thermostat to kick off sooner than it should. I tend to mitigate this by keeping a digital thermal probe in the cook box so i can monitor the temperature inside better, and adjust the heat inside accordingly. Also, a bigger knob with a more graduated scale would be appreciated. It seems that the knob for the temperature control usually spends it's life between 250 and 225. And the range between those two on the knob is barely 1/4" so it's difficult to dial in with any granularity. Besides that I love the unit and can't wait to smoke on it year round.

It's sturdy and reliable. I've been using it for five months and have run through the learning curve that comes with starting the art of smoking. The first rule is not to use too wood. An amount of wood equivalent to about four inches of broom handles is a good starting point, and start with oak. My advice is not even try to operate without a remote-reading thermometer, like the Maverick. That gives both the smoker temperature and the meat temperature. The smoker temperature varies over a large range +- 20 degrees or more from the nominal setting. Home ovens do the same thing; it's not a problem. There are too many variables to figure the cooking time exactly; just cook until the thermometer says it's done. Two important variables are the temperature of the meat at the start (whether refrigerated or nearly room temperature) and, of course, the thickness. I recommend getting a book on smoking or doing some web searching. Lower temps, <200, work best for beef. Anyway, there is not much that can go wrong with the smoker itself, and nothing has. The shelves, shelf brackets, and smoke box come loose easily and can be run through a dishwasher. The compression latches on the doors work well. Get some heavy duty foil to cover the bottom of the smoker and the top of the smoke box.

I purchased a Smokin It model 2 for my restaurant. Lasted 2 months. Heating element burns out so the owner sends me parts to fix his machine. Then we find wiring problems in the back of unit and it won't operate when plugged back in. When you buy cheap, you get a cheap product that can't work at the commercial level. Owner does very little to help other small business owners like myself. Save your time and money and buy a Cookshack.

I set the temp to 250 to clock a pork roast . The temperature varied fro 206 to 278: Quality construction.