SMOKIN-IT SMOKER

[xoltri]

Forgot the picture.

photo.jpg

• xoltri
• Feb 21, 2013

 

[xoltri]

Couple of things to note.  It was -8 Celcius while I was doing this, and with the fan on the temperature on the dial was a good 40 degrees lower than what's in the box.  So I ignored the dial and just used a digital thermometer. 

Sorry, it should read that the temperature on the dial was 40 degrees higher than the actual temperature.

 

[crvtt]

Looks great xoltri.   Do you think it'd work without the fan or is the fan absolutely critical to making jerky?

 

[xoltri]

Well, what put me on to this was the accessory that smokin-it has for sale now.  I emailed Steve about it and he said that without the fan the smoker doesn't have enough air passing through to dry jerky.  But obviously with the fan it works great.

 

[grimm5577]

Thanks Xoltri! I know what I'll be doing this weekend. I imagine I can use my bilge fan from my old keezer.

 

[wingzofsteel]

A+

 

[xoltri]

Thanks Xoltri! I know what I'll be doing this weekend. I imagine I can use my bilge fan from my old keezer.

Awesome, let us know how it turns out! 

 

[suya]

About to pull the trigger on the Model #3 but I'm seeing a shipping price of $120 for ground. Thats adds quite a bit to the cost. Has anyone seen any free shipping promotions ever? Or Coupon codes that might be helpful? I was thinking perhaps Amazon might have the smoker with free shipping but no luck so far. Any help in bringing the cost on this thing down would be appreciated 

 

[black]

z

 

[suya]

Sorry Black, I've spent so much time reading and learning from this site that I never got round to updating my profile. Done now.

 

[old sarge]

Suya,

You may want to give Steve a call and see if a slower and longer FEDEX delivery time is available. He aims to get you the smoker as fast as possible, barring bad weather on the highways.

I too was a little surprised at the shipping cost, but it is boxed very well.  And  any accessories that you order are packed inside the smoker which means before it leaves his warehouse, it is opened and I would assume, inspected while placing the accessories inside.  Nice touch. 

Considering the value, and the cost of a similar size, similarly constructed unit from SmokinTex, I would say the overall cost is fair. But that is just me. 

 

[suya]

Thanks Sarge, 

I might just do that. I'm going to get one regardless, but I thought since I have been this patient and I'm not in any particular rush, I want to make sure there are not any free shipping deals I might be missing out on. I think that price was the FedEx Ground so I don't think there are any less. 

BTW, there is another Old Sarge on a Canon forum. Any chance that is also you?

 

[crvtt]

I paid $25 or so for my #1 to get shipped. It only traveled 100 miles but that doesn't usually make that big of a difference. Are you ordering the stand? I'm sure the stand would drive the shipping up a lot. I've never seen a #3 in person so maybe it's not fair to compare #3 shipping to #1. Like old sarge said, check to see if there is a slower cheaper shipping method. With free shipping on amazon you usually end up with the longer slower option, there is definitely slower options beyond just regular FedEx ground. Either way i would say it is money well spent.

I've been reading posts of MES owners and they seem to have quite a few problems. I've seen some pellet smokers say they use nearly $5/hr in pellets! I think a big thing that hasn't been said about the Smokin it is how much money it saves you in wood and electricity costs. My #1 is just 350 watts meaning it costs under $1 in electricity for a 12 hour smoke. The amount of wood used is so little I wonder how I get continuous smoke with just a few ounces of wood when I read of other electric smokers needing to keep having wood added to them, to the point where they have automatic wood feeders! Those wood feeders btw only use special sized wood bisquettes. 48 bisquettes are $25, each bisquettes lasts just twenty minutes!!! A twelve hour smoke in one of those auto feeder smokers would cost around $20 with wood and electric! I bet I use $0.25 worth of wood in a 12 hour smoke on my #1 (a big heavy bag of hickory or mesquitte is $8 at lowes and it's going to last me a very very long time.) A 12 hour smoke in a #3 should be well under $5. A few years of smoking and the Smokin it pays for itself.

 

[smoke happens]

I'm into my # 3 $645, $145 to ship it up here to WA. I went through the same sticker shock when I saw the shipping price. Finally convinced myself to pull the trigger on a $500 smoker which was hard enough, then got nailed with the freight. In the end I am certainly glad I did, but it stings for sure and I can understand where you are coming from. I never saw a shipping promotion when looking though, I think you're stuck on that.

 

[old sarge]

Suya,

Nope.  I'm a die hard Nikon F2as user.  Still the film fanatic.

 

[chef willie]

Yep,ever saw a S&H promo. I don't believe Amazon sells the #3...just #1 & 2. I'm with Smoke Happens up in the NW....146 for S&H but I don't even think about that anymore. A new MES at Cabelas is 450....I'll stick with my Smokin-It even with S&H.

 

[grimm5577]

I'm doing the jerky today, and I'm not sure how it will turn out, my cure was for about 1/4lbs more meat and my wood caught fire during the first portion of smoking/cooking. The other problem I'm facing is condensation on the top of the smoker from the fan. Xoltri, With your fan box, did you get a lot of condensation/water on the outside top of the smoker? I'm using a bilge fan that i used to use to move air in my keezer, the transformer is set to about 5w. for the fan. With in a minute of it being over the exhaust hole it built up moisture. I'm going to go line some towels around it, and maybe make a cardboard gasket to soak up the moisture for now. Maybe this fan is overkill?

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• grimm5577
• Feb 24, 2013

 

[suya]

F it! Pulled the trigger.

Thanks folks, I know I'll be happy with it. Details when I get it.

 

[xoltri]

Grimm, 

Nope, no condensation on the top of the smoker.  Although I don't think it would hurt anything, it is stainless after all 

I do notice a bit of condensation on the fan itself when I first turn it on and it's pulling the big amount of moisture that's built up for the 30 min smoke with no fan.  But after that it's pretty dry.

I'm wondering about your fan, is it high airflow like the computer fan I used?  Mine is spinning pretty fast.  Maybe you just need to crank your fan up a bit.  Mine is rated 12v 0.56 amps, but I'm not sure of the rpm.

I'm doing another run now, another 3 lbs.  Seems to be going according to schedule, and I'm loving this maverick wireless thermometer.

 

[smoke happens]

F it! Pulled the trigger.
Thanks folks, I know I'll be happy with it. Details when I get it.

Congrats!