Presto indoor electric smoker

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...questions on a website named after a jungle river, they state that the hot smoke setting alternates from 190 to 240 depending on the "combo" smoke setting...whatever that means?!
...As for those old stove top pressure cookers, they certainly are versatile.
Though, I never witnessed one redecorating the kitchen despite all the horror stories and urban legends...
Ah yes, user reviews. I glanced at a few and noted many said you have to turn off your home smoke detectors with it. I think this is why local regulators eventually are able to create the legal pressure (no pun intended) to throttle back the Emsons of this world. I predict the same will happen with the mighty Presto, so get it while you can, because this Forum Brother may be buying one just to resell it at $500 some day.

Per the Presto Smoker user manual, combo means 40% of your set time (up to 6h max) is in Low Smoke mode, then the last 60% is at High Smoke.

Alas those stovetop pressure cookers had a tendency to build up previous cooks' worth of food coating within the center diameter hole that the jiggler sat on. The weight of the jiggler divided by the area of that hole was the pressure setpoint. The jiggler would bounce up and down with a musical clatter maintaining pressure within a psi of that pressure point. But as the hole closed off, well you could build up "excess" pressure. (I think the new Chinese self-powered units have a gooseneck sort of vent that traps this food "spit" and keeps the final metered path out clear "for the life of the unit".)

Of course the Presto having two vents is not new...all pressure systems have such redundancy since steam locomotive days. On old-school pressure cookers, the secondary relief is a half inch rubber pressed into an off-center position on the top lid. It's supposedly designed to blow at 2x the normal pressure of ~12 psi. But that old school rubber was notorious for getting hard and non-compliant with age so 5X is probably a realistic number for that time when my Dear Dad blew potatoes all over the ceiling. Naturally my old school mom & pop cleaned up, replaced the rubber (heck, they might have re-used the original if they could recover it stuck to the ceiling with the potatoes.)

I inherited and still have that pressure cooker, although I usually use the larger stainless model my folks gave me as a young man out on my own. But I still have memories of Dad meticulously cleaning the jiggler hole with a toothpick before and after each cook...at least after the potato explosion.

And I'm proud to say I've learned from Dad's experience. I always keep a handful of round toothpicks in the bottom of one of these old pressure cookers as a reminder to never forget this critical piece of maintenance.
 
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Presto is a great company. We have several old Presto appliances from years gone by still working well. A fellow at work has an Oster 16 qt smoker/roaster oven. He uses it quite frequently and until he retired would bring it to the office for smoked meat potluck. I will say it does smoke. Chips go into opposing corner pockets and that's all there is to it. And no one has ever complained about the food except for the lone vegetarian. Just another option to think about.

 
Nice find, and considerably larger than the Presto. A few complaints of burned paint around the chip cups but reviews are mostly good. (It's sold out on Amazon.) Interesting the Oster product literature is quite clear it's for outdoor use only as a smoker and for roasting only when indoors. (A problem for apartment dwellers who aren't allowed to cook outdoors.) I suspect Presto may have to add outdoor provisos to their literature at some point to avoid the ire of insurance companies not liking customers pulling the batteries out of smoke alarms.

Nordic Ware and "Charcoal Companion" sell stovetop units that use sawdust (or ground pellets?) on the bottom, with a slightly elevated water pan and meat rack on top. They don't work well on electric ranges (apparently smoke goes out when the burner cycles off) but you could probably make something like one yourself with any large pot with a lid. Might try it the next time the wife's out of town! :-)
 
I should have mentioned outside use only. I suppose a really strong range hood exhaust might take care of the smoke. But I would not count on it.
 
My wife found one at Kmart during their shutdown closeout. Not a bad little smoker for $50. Been using it a couple times a month for about 7 years or so and it's still kickin. I've found it works best with pellets or sawdust. Chips work ok too, but it's a pain separating the smallest ones or breaking them to fit in the burner can.

Best used outside though if you don't want your house smelling like a forest fire. First smoke was 2 racks of spares. Had to cut em into individual ribs to fit but it all went in. Smoked em for about 5 hours. Have done hams, full and cut up chickens, roasts, butts, seafood, cornbread. Line the bottom with foil for easier cleanup because it's kind of a bitch.

I've done spices and cheese too. Just put a little foil tray with ice for cheese or it'll be melting. I do one each on the top and bottom racks and put the cheese on the middle one to be sure it stays cool enough.

Wishing the wife would have gotten two of em. Haha! Pick one up if you find a decent price. It's definitely worth the $50 we got it for.

Cheers n beers🍻
 
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