SD2OR:
I'm thinking of getting into smoking next year, and was hoping y'all might have some pointers and advice.
I've read that electric is basically easier, and propane produces better taste. I hear pellets are preferable to wood chips.
I'll mostly be using it for fish, but would like to experiment with meat as well.
Any recommendations of style, brand or model would be most appreciated. Hoping to find something around $200 or less, tho I know that may be fairly limiting.
Thanks in advance!
Nobaddays:
I have the older version of the Smoke Hollow brand propane smoker that I got at Bimart a long time ago for about $150. It has a large burner and a water bath to keep the moisture up. I have been really happy with the flavor and the speed to smoke stuff. The down side is it doesn’t have a very low setting. Around 200° is about as low as it gets with everything closed up. The current version is a little different than mine, so I don’t know how it compares.
I previously had the little chief and big chief electric smokers and I think the flavor of the propane smoker is much better and way faster.
C_Run:
I have been using a Little Chief which is basically an aluminum box with and element and racks. It works great, no bells and whistles. The bigger version is Big Chief. Last I looked, Little Chief was still under or about $100. I've been using alder chips most of the time and just doing various salmonids. If you are just doing one average salmon or steelhead, the Little Chief is about the right size. For brines and rubs, I'd buy "Smoking Salmon & Steelhead" by Scott and Tiffany Haugen. You can buy the book, smoker, and chips at BiMart. I've been using my buddy's wife's top-secret brine which I later learned is one of the first brines in the booklet that comes with the Little Chief. I have been cautioned by family not to tinker with the brine recipe since it seems to be to everyone's liking. One thing about the Little Chief to keep in mind is that on cold days, it takes forever. You can buy a special insulating blanket for that but I just wrap mine with an old bath towel to hold in the heat. Don't throw out the collars. That's the best part.
SD2OR:
Great info, thanks guys!
pmmpete:
I started smoking fish with a Little Chief smoker which a friend gave me. It got me going on smoking, and I produced some good smoked fish, but I quickly discovered why my friend didn't ask me to pay him anything for the smoker - Little Chief and Big Chief smokers suck. They don't have any thermostatic control over the temperature of the chamber or any thermometer to monitor the temperature of the chamber, and in cold weather the heating element is too weak to get the smoked fish up to a high enough internal temperature to produce safe smoked fish, and even to produce smoke by burning chips. After a year or so I gave the Little Chief away and bought a Masterbuilt 4-rack electric smoker. It was great, reasonably priced, and I used it for many years. I decided I needed a bigger smoker, so I bought a Masterbuilt 6-rack electric smoker, which is also great and was reasonably priced. I sold the 4-rack smoker to a friend - I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think it was a good smoker! I use wood chips to produce smoke. I'd avoid smokers like the Bradley smokers which require you to use their brand of wood pucks or pellets, because the proprietary pucks or pellets tend to be expensive.
A couple minor suggestions - avoid smokers which have a glass door, because the glass will get gunked up by the smoke. And cover the bottom of the smoker with aluminum foil before you start using it, to catch the fat drippings and other goobers. Foil will make it easier to keep the smoker clean. And wash the racks after every batch of smoked fish.
For a couple of good brine recipes, see https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22369.msg232170#msg232170. For pictures of the fish smoking process, see https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=21999.msg230191#msg230191.