Gas vs. Electric

[campinas]

I'm looking to buy a smoker for the first time.  I can 't seem to find anything that tells me the difference between a gas and electric smoker.  Electric would be easier, but is gas is better, I'd like to know.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Yeah, electric is easier, if you can get it hot enough to cook in. If you buy electric make sure it has over an 800 watt heater element, or you may not be able to hot smoke in winter, even with an insulated cabinet. Some electric smokers are not insulated, but these typically have ~1500 watt heater elements.

Propane smokers will put out more than enough BTUs to hot smoke in the winter, even though they are not insulated cabinets. With propane you need to dial in the smoke chamber temp to what you want, and there is a slight learning curve involved.

Whatever you buy do not trust the factory installed door/lid/cabinet thermometer...they are notorious for not being accurate (off by 30-50*+) and need to be verified with another temp reading source. Most analog thermometers can be calibrated, so they're not a total waste, they just need to be tweeked after you get it home and set it up for it's seasoning and 1st smoke. Thermometers should be verified periodically, especially if you transport your smoker...vibration and shock can throw the reading off a lot.

I've never had the inclination to buy electric...don't think I ever will. Propane did everything I wanted to do back in the day...then I went to the dark side a few years ago and I've only cooked with charcoal since then.

Eric

 

[dirtsailor2003]

You can't smoke using an electric in the rain...

So you have to have a covered area if you plan to smoke anytime the weather is iffy.

I have a gas smoker that I use for all my sausage, jerky, smoked fish smokes. It works great and I can control the temps because I installed a needle valve to control the fuel.

For other smokes I typically use my WSM's which are charcoal smokers.

With the charcoal and propane smokers I can smoke anywhere (nonpower needed) in any weather.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Good point about rain and electric cookers/cords, Case...guess I didn't even think about mentioning that because I made it a habit when I was young to never play in water with electricity...that and I got hammered pretty good by an arc welder @ 35 volts AC pushing 175 amps...damp clothes, sitting on grounded steel, coupled with defective electrode holder insulator...

Did I forget to mention there a lot of complaints about thermostat issues with electric smokers? OK, now I did.

Eric

 

[SmokyMose]

There's a big difference between gas and electric, but the guys above have hit all the points.
I know you'll hear squauks from the mes folks, but if you go electric just be sure you have a suitable circuit to run it on. They don't use a lot, but just be sure. I ran a gasser before I went to the even darker side. Stick Burner!
Whatever you go with, be safe and have fun with it!
Welcome to the addiction/hobby :biggrin:

 

[chef jimmyj]

These guys got you covered but...Please Post your Questions in the appropriate Forum...You are asking about Smokers in the forum for discussion on the 5-day E-course...This thread should be in Smoking Supplies and Equipment. Thanks...JJ

 

[SmokinAl]

I moved this to general discussion.

Al

 

[kalleybin]

I also support Electric Cigarettes as well. How long are you smoking?

 

[campinas]

Thank you.  What's an WSM?

 

[SmokyMose]

Thank you.  What's an WSM?

 

[SmokyMose]

Thank you.  What's an WSM?

Weber Smokey Mountain

 

[kalleybin]

 
Thank you.  What's an WSM?

Don't have better idea. Just heard about this. Please describe a bit.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

WSM is the Weber Smoky Mountain charcoal smoker. They are a vertical round barrel "bullet" design with high-dome lid and deep dome fire bowl. The 3 grate diameter sizes (models) currently available are 14.5", 18.5" and 22.5" (that's a beast).

I've had the 18.5" for a year, and have been very pleased with temp control, among other things. they're a bit spendy, but for good out-of-the-box performance I don't think they can be beat. Very few mods really need to be done to these smokers to get them to do the job well. Some have pit temp controllers for theirs but I've really been debating the actual need for one...I get good temp control, and I haven't done anything to mine except wire the coal ring to the coal grate so they come out in one piece...then I bent the tabs on the intake damper controls so you can close them all the way and kill the fire when you're done cooking...that's it.

Go to Weber's site and check them out, if you're interested...they give pretty good details and specs on them. Lots of venders selling Weber now-days, so there's never an excuse for not buying one if you really want it.

Eric