Smoker recommendations?

What's up NCKA?

Now that I've got salmon in the freezer (hopefully more after tomorrow) I NEED A SMOKER!

Can you guys recommend a good one for a decent price (preferably less than $100-150)?

Thing is, I'm pretty sensitive to the taste of burned propane, lighter fluid, match-light charcoal, etc, etc. I do all my grilling over hardwood lump charcoal. I'm thinking I need a smoker that's either electric or coal- fired to avoid unwanted flavors.

What do you guys use, and how do you like it?

Thanks in advance!

~Alex

Check out this electric one @ Home Depot.  I have friends who have smoked in theirs at least 3x a week for the past 5+ years.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Masterbuilt-30-in-Vertical-Digital-Electric-Smoker-20070106/100660191

This is not necessarily a recommendation, but I use a Brinkman.. shaped like a contac capsule, about 3' tall cylinder.
Positives:
Wood-fired (I use apple tree prunings)
Simple, basic, easy
Thermometer built in on lid
Few parts
Very Cheap (I got mine free, but I think they're $30-$40 new
Great flavor coming out.
2 racks for double racks of meat. Will easily fit 2 10 lb pork shoulders.

Negatives:
Not insulated, so have to watch/manage temperature
Not insulated, so cools quickly when fire goes out.
Cheap, so left outside will rust in time
Cheap, so water basin inside will rust in time.
Diameter about 24", so salmon would need to be trimmed to 24" long or rigged on hooks vertically maybe...
Flavor may cause addiction quickly...

 

Sounds like the same Brinkmann I use (however I use a mix of charcoal & wood; apple, hickory, cherry .... depends on the meat.  Not a bad deal for $40.  I have 1 full year on mine so far.

Is it hard to keep the temp right in a wood-fired unit? Does it take a lot of tending?

Like I said, I'm no expert on smoking fish (or any other meat).

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. I was looking at that Home Depot electric one last time I was there and I almost pulled the trigger...

I've never done fish.  The meat isn't all that hard.  Longest smoke I've done was about 6-7 hours.

[/quote]

Thing is, I'm pretty sensitive to the taste of burned propane, lighter fluid, match-light charcoal, etc, etc. I do all my grilling over hardwood lump charcoal. I'm thinking I need a smoker that's either electric or coal- fired to avoid unwanted flavors.




+1

Its not a  recommendation but this is what I did to escape what your talking about.
I converted this smoker with the electric element from an R2D2 style smoker and then added the Bradley smoke generator to the fire box. I can set it for when I smoke salmon @195-215 for 6-8 hrs. and had nothing but great smoked fish.I even done ling and cabs.
 Add the bisquettes for how long you want to smoke. Its basically set it and forget it.

http://www.smokenator.com/

Check this out. Its perfect if you already have an 22" Weber. I have an offset smoker but i tend to use the smokenator because it's easier to control the temp.

I use the little chief and have gotten used to it. You need a warm day without a lot of wind to get consistent dry times. Etienne uses his just for the smoke phase and finishes them in the oven at 175 degrees. It has no insulation so on a cold days dry times are very long. I do all my smoking from July-October and they last well to the next season. It is not an exact science like an insulated smoker with a thermometer. You check for doneness by pushing on it first, then breaking a piece open. The more expensive insulated smokers don't need as much checking. I use Rockfish's version of ChuckE's Indian smoked candy and is a real crowd pleaser.

I pretty into smoking foods.  I have a couple smokers that are well over the $1,000 range.  For your use and frequency, I recommend an electric smoker and a good thermostat that has a remote probe so you can track the temps inside and another for the meat.  An electric will allow you to fine tune at the low temps smoking requires.  Propane and wood smoke have to get too hot and there fore require a lot of air to move through them in order to keep the wood ignited and smoking.  That dries out the product.  Good for jerky but not anything you want to have moist and tender.  An electric smoker will also NOT give the smoked meat that authentic "smoke ring" that a traditional smoker will give to beef and pork.  This is because the wood doesn't provide the primary source of heat, just flavor and not enough nitrates are released from the wood. 

If you get into smoking a lot, let me know and I'll steer you to some great forums out there that give a lot of useful help and information.  Just about anything can be smoked; cheese, fish, shell fish, nuts, veggies, etc. 

can't wait to smoke some salmon in my mini wsm

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=44391.msg490576#msg490576

I purchased the small traeger grill/smoker from Costco I've had it about 3 yrs and love it you can turn the dial to smoke and keep a consistent temp the whole time 

For $50 or less you can build a UDS (ugly drum smoker) out of a 55g drum. Done right, they're pretty foolproof. You get them dialed in to the point where you just fill the briquettes (or lump and/or wood/bark) up, add some lit ones and can pretty much set and forget. Mine runs from about 180* to 220* solid for 14+ hours if I don't open it. Not for everyone, but if you're into it, they're easy to make.

I almost didn't respond to this post because I figured so many people would push the very basic and simple Big/Little Chief... 

The more advanced methods and tools described here are obviously a great option for potentially superior quality, but for easy and consistent results you can't beat a Big or Little Chief.  I'm brining overnight and smoking 10 to 16 hours with one or two pans of chips and it's easy-peasy, lots of compliments.  I'd buy a Big or Little Chief and start there.

...