Gas Or Electric for my smoking needs

[fordjnky]

I recieved an electric smoker for x mas this year. The MES 30 with digital control. I know for sure I want larger capacity. Not sure about electric or gas though. I am posting this same question in the electreic forum to get the best results. I am an outdoorsman so Venison ( Deer ) and fish is a must. I want to do Hot sticks and jerky, I cook lots of chicken and turkey, pork ribs, I want to try a briscuit. I like the portabilty of gas. Dont like that I have to have 20# tank full at all times. I live in wisconsin and in winter it can be -15*f and summer 90*f. So I want a unit that can handle my weather. Please give me your reasons why or why not I should get one or the other.

 

[kathrynn]

I really like my Smoke Vaullt...24"

It is so easy to use..clean and everything. I can do anything I want with it. I live in North Alabama and as of yesterday...it is fine thru 3 seasons so far.

Have an electric too. It is gathering dust. Would buy another Smoke Vault when this one plays out!

 

[michael ark]

Gosm are great smokers. You can get a. Smoke ring with a gasser and higher temps are easy to achive. I run mine up to 300f all the time to smoke pizza. You can't do that with a sparky unless you build it your self.

 

[woodcutter]

Mine is homemade but it is electric and I really like not switching out tanks or wondering how long a partial tank will last if I want to go to bed. I just filled 2 20#s last week for my turkey cooker and it was $35.

The down side is mine is 220v (which I need in WI because of the size)  it won't be traveling anywhere. A stick burner would be another option.
 

 

[fordjnky]

Keep em coming. As I figured everyone on here is die hard propane and on electric forum it's all die hard electric. It's still a toss up. I love the gas for the ease of poultry . Gotta have crispy skin. Not a fan of lugging around propane and or running out of propane. I never lose electricity so that's not a worry.

 

[michael ark]

I never run out of propane I have 5 tanks. Keep that many just in case power goes out. Don't get me wrong I love my stick burrner. But when the weather are at their worst lp is constant portable source of heat ,light and cooking ablity. Now if I can get that propane gen from sams. I'll have it made when the power goes out and for hunting and camping.

 

[yardbird]

I never run out of propane I have 5 tanks. Keep that many just in case power goes out. Don't get me wrong I love my stick burrner. But when the weather are at their worst lp is constant portable source of heat ,light and cooking ablity. Now if I can get that propane gen from sams. I'll have it made when the power goes out and for hunting and camping.

You can get a converter to make any generator under about 12hp burn propane. Actually, the same place has kits that let you burn propane, gasoline or NG.

I have a propane smoker. I just did a pair of 8 pound butts (13 hours), a turkey (4 hours or 4 and a half....can't remember exactly) and a batch of 60 pork shots, all on one tank, and the outside air temp was in the high 20s to low 30s with wind about 30mph. I have a wind screen (3-sided) but.... the butts ran at 250, the turkey at 350 to 375 (finished at 400 for crispy skin) and the pork shots ran at about 230. All on one 20# tank.A tank fill here costs me about 12 bucks. I have 2 tanks.

I would love the set-and-forget convenience of an electric but unless I'm missing something somewhere, they don't get hot enough to do poultry the way I like. And I was reading on the electric smoker forums about running out every 30 minutes or so to put ships in .... no thanks. So that means I'd also need a AMNPS which isn't a bad thing, but a consideration. And a mailbox mod. And it still won't get hot enough for poultry.

I'm thinking now that if I get another smoker, it might be a pellet pooper. I'd still get a tube smoke generator for it for the higher temp stuff I do, but I don't see that as a negative. The price of the pellet grill .... that's a bit of a negative. I can probably replace my propane smoker 6 or 7 times for the price of a decent pellet grill.

Maybe I just need one of each! :)

 

[smokinhusker]

I have the MES40 and absolutely love it except for poultry skin, but we throw it on the grill to crisp it!!! I am going to add a propane to my arsenal, but I will continue using the electric for sausage, jerky, snack sticks and the like...the electric is outstanding for those types of foods IMHO. I also have the remote which makes it nice when bumping temps when smoking sausage, etc. For long smokes or cold smokes, the AMNPS is the way to go.

 

[pastorgadget]

I just got a MB pro Dual Fuel popane smoker and I was REALLY surprised how long one tank last.  Becuase you cook at such low temps (I like mine @ 225). The fuel last for quite a long time.  I always have two tanks, the one that is being reserved and one on deck. I have also been smoking over the last couple of weeks at 30 degree temps and the Propane smoker has done just great.

From what I have read the electric smokers are definately worth a look but being in the northern midwest ( I am in the Detoit Metro). Gas is the way to go for our cold winters. But I did enjoy my ECB during the summer but I did not want the mess of charcoal load and unload, I did not want to even try that in the snow and cold so I asked my Hottie Wife if I could get a gas smoker for Xmas :).   I got my MB propane smoker for $179 at Home Depot. 

Just my 2 cents.  

 

[pastorgadget]

After I started smoking on my ECB last summer, a freind saw my post on FB.  He liked the idea and came accross a great deal on a MES for $75 and he bought it. He has smoked ribs, chicken, pork shoulder and briskett. We were comparing notes my gasser and his electric. I elected for the gasser because of the cold winter days we get in the winter, it was 17 degrees today but I still smoked 6# pork shoulder and 2 chickens today. But I was able to keep temps between 225-250.  My freind keeps his electric in the garage with good ventilation, I remember a friend of mine in TX had tow electric smokers he kept in his garage and did some great chicken on them.