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Introduction: Electric Smoker of the Minor Dieties
So you might be looking for an electric smoker. You might be looking for a pellet smoker. Well gather round whilst I top up my Knob and Ginger and let me tell you what I do to make myself a fantastic smoker that happens to be inexpensive as all getout.
If you read the reviews of every smoke online, you'll repeatedly find the same issues coming up constantly:
1. The analog thermometer is inaccurate garage.
2. The electronics die/fail/fall apart, etc.
3. Smoke leaks everywhere except on the meat.
4. Fire backed up into the pellet hopper of my grill and burned down my block.
5. My grill got oxygen starved and blew me up when I opened it.
6. My grill doesn't get hot enough.
Now that we know all of the problems (thanks Amazon Reviews) Let's use our newfound knowledge and put money where it matters and skip the things that are going to fail.
The simple reasons for most of these issues are the same. They are all made overseas and the quality of components that they all share are all over the place. The electronics are inexpensive junk and having the electronics package on the top of a 225F+ box isn't really a great thing if you want them to live. Acceptable tolerances seem to be suggestions rather than absolutes.
There was one review somewhere that had the same idea and put it well saying 'if you can't buy quality, fix the problems and make it inexpensive to repair' or something like that. I tip my drink to that person, and would like to provide the solutions I used to solve these issues.
Step 1: Choosing Your Smoker
While there are a brazillion opinions on this, let me give you my thoughts.
First, let's consider size.
What you really need is an insulated box. The size of said box needs to fit all the things you need including the heater, moisture control, smoke, and that which you wish to smoke.
Next, let's consider the heat source.
Pellet smokers can have problems. The pellets may burn at unpredictable rates varying the temperature greatly, the fire can back up into the hopper and start an unwanted fire smoking your house down, the pellets can get stuck in the auger and it can go out entirely, and they can be loud and annoying. I'm sure there are more reasons, but that's enough for now.
Charcoal smokers are the bee's knees if you want to spend the time learning that grill really well and want to tend to the cook constantly. Don't get me wrong, they're fantastic, but I'm lazy and want the 'same' results in a set and forget package.
Electric smokers are set and forget, but not really. The electronics are usually garbage, the smoke is lackluster, and without water you can dry everything out to a nice West Texas consistency.
So, all of these options have problems. But hark! One has easy solutions!
If you take an electric smoker and fix those issues then what you'll get is the set and forget you want, and remedy the issues you don't. 459
So let's go electric.
So you're going with an electric smoker. Whatcha want?
Back to the first point. Whatcha need? What we need is an insulated box large enough to fit what we want with the minimal compliment of electronics.The main thing you want is to find one that is analog. We're going to
add out own temperature controls that don't suck as much and you can actually replace when they go out with minimal fuss. Everything else we can fix. For me, I went with a Char Broil Analog Smoker. You don't need to get this one. If you want something bigger, get it. Size matters when you want to smoke a ton of stuff. Everything else in this instructable will still work. They aren't paying me (yet... Hint, hint Char Broil). I bought one off of Amazon for about $130ish. It was delivered because I'm just that lazy.
Step 2: Let's Fix Problem #1
Problem #1: The Sealinnig
As discussed earlier, these things leak smoke. Some of them leak grease. Some leak everything everywhere all over your deck. That'd suck. So with prevention being easier than cleaning, let's fix that now. Let's seal the seams, rivet holes, and whatever you want with high-temp food grade sealant! Permatex Red RTV is my choice for this, but they aren't paying me either (Hint, hint) so if you know of something better... I chose this because it's used by several manufacturers like Oklahoma Joe's for use on their smokers.
Step 1: Seal EVERYTHING on the inside! 626