Old Smokey Electric Smoker

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of smoker to get. Read a million reviews, the pros and cons of different types, the whole deal. Finally decided I wanted an electric smoker. I am new to this, so wanted the benefit of ease of keeping the temperature right for hours on end. This smoker ended up being in the sweet spot, not too expensive, but not a cheap smoker either.Got this home, assembled it, without any problem. Bought two additional accessories. Bought an old smokey 2 inch thermometer, and drilled a hole in the lid and installed it. Also bought a electronic meat thermometer, drilled a small hole in the side of the old smokey to allow the probe and wire through it. There was a little extra space around the wire, so I have blocked it with aluminium foil.Proceeded to roast a Boston Butt, to make pulled pork sandwiches. Rubbed it, in the fridge overnight, and then smoked for 9 hours. Pulled it out and it was the absolute best pulled pork we have ever had. We had a bunch of teenage kids over, and it was gone before you knew it.Then this last weekend, put in 6 pounds of St Luis Ribs. Smoked those for 5 or 6 hours, and they were literally the best ribs I have ever had as well. Took them out of the smoker, brushed on a little bbq sauce and then put them on a hot grill for a minute a side to caramilize the sauce. 6 pounds of ribs for 6 people, and they were completely gone in 10 minutes. Insanely good, meat had a great smoke ring, tender, moist, and fell off the bone. So incredibly good.I can't recommend this smoker enough. I love mine. The only potential downside is that because it is so moist inside the unit (because it is sealed, has more smoke and moisture that remains in the unit) you don't get a hard crust or bark on the final product. But that is easily obtained by broiling or grilling the meet over high temps for a short amount of time before serving. And honestly I love the ease of use of this unit, the temp control is simple to set and adjust as necessary, it takes only a handful of wood chips, and if you have a electronic meat thermometer you don't even have to open the unit to check temps. Just set it, monitor the interior temp to keep it at your desired level (about 220 to 225 for me) and then sit back and adjust every so often. Hardest part was keeping the kids quiet so I could read my book and drink my beer.

I have used the Old Smokey to cook a pork shoulder, chicken, and beef ribs. The shoulder and chicken turned out great, and my wife says this is the best chicken she's ever eaten. The ribs didn't turn out as well because I cooked them way too fast and was in a hurry. Like someone said, the Old Smokey isn't a chef. I purchased it after reading the reviews here on Amazon. A friend of mine has the Big Green Egg, and another friend has an electric smoker which didn't get as good reviews as the Old Smokey. Both of these guys can make great tasting bbq, so I'm starting to think it's more the chef than the equipment. Get to know your equipment and then the rest is whatever meat, rubs, etc you use, and the cook time/temp. The Old Smokey retains all of the smoke since it's sealed, so your neighbors won't be able to smell the wonderful bbq smoke while you are cooking. But then, I think the meat stays more moist. I asked my friend with the Big Green Egg how he keeps the meat moist and he said he has to inject the meat.I like that it is so simple in design. It was very easy to assemble, although I substituted split washers on the inside, and put the flat washers on the outside. I haven't had to clean it yet, but it seems that it would be easier to clean if the heating element was removable. Evidently this is a very old, tested design and you would do well to buy one of these. Also, I didn't want the investment of a Big Green Egg or even a Smokey Mountain (Weber) until I see if I would really use this. Now that I have one, I'm wondering why I would buy another one at all since this one works so well (so far).

This American-made smoker fits nicely on my apartment deck. The setup process was simple. The smoking part was easy - The steaks we smoked...were out of this world good! We also smoked potatoes, pork, sausage, corn on the cob, mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower. All veggies turned out great, but some take longer than others. I'm so happy with this purchase! Can't wait to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving!