Smoke solution (maybe..) for Charbroil Analog Electric Smoker

[larkl]

Just bought this last week. Not new to this, did briskets for years on my grill and also did the vertical cylindrical electric smoker (brisket, turkey) for years.

First trial was a Boston Butt (pork shoulder). Turned out nice, but too little smoke and not enough flavor. Some time searching the forums point me toward a few options - don't soak the wood, get more air into it.

Observations this morning....
- using dry wood is better
- smoke is really only generated when the smoker is on high. This is not an option as it gets too hot (>350).
- chips never really burn. It appears that only the bottom of the chips get charred. Stirring the chips can restart the smoke. I guess it gets a new surface on the bottom of the pan.
- There is virtually no clearance between the bottom of the chip tray and the element.
- taking off the drip pan and setting it on the ground is a bit better. Theory here is that this is opening the ~3/4" hole to allow it as act as an air input.
- Pulling the chip tray out and setting it in the floor of the smoker (after it's generating smoke) REALLY helps. 15 minutes later, I still have smoke and there are actual embers in the pan. I believe this confirms the theory that the chip pan is too starved for air.

The chip tray has maybe 5 small (1/8"?) holes on each side, I'm going to enlarge those considerably. Also, continue to lower the drip pan to allow more air. I even thought about drilling a hole in the bottom of the chip pan. So what if a few embers fall through?

I'm not ready to do anything wild like cutting holes or building a mailbox. Any other tips are appreciated. I do have the A-Maze-N smoke tube. I think I'll try it next time.

Thanks

 

[JLeonard]

Lots of guys on here go the tube route.
Jim

 

[larkl]

Round two yesterday. I drilled 8 - 3/8" holes on the sides of the chip pan. The smoke production was great for the 30 or so minutes the smoker was on high, not so much when I dropped the setting down to keep the temperature in range. So, not much difference from the first time. I did use my A-Maze-N smoke tube this time and it worked great. Everything went to ash there. So, I probably don't have much of an air problem. The chip tray was mostly charred wood after 5 hours of cooking time.

This morning I drilled maybe 50 - 1/4" holes in the bottom of the chip tray. We'll see how that goes next time. If it's not better, I'll just let the chip tray smoke like crazy for the first half hour or so, then fire up the smoke tube.

 

[larkl]

Round three today. Smoke production was again great while the smoker was on high. Again dropped off when the temperature setpoint was lowered. But, this time when I checked the chip tray, it contained embers instead of black charred wood. I had only added maybe 1/2" of chips to the tray. So, previously it stopped smoking because it wasn't hot enough or wasn't getting enough air. Now, it appears to have stopped because it ran out of wood/fuel. So, if I fill the chip tray at first - I'm thinking I can get good smoke for quite a bit longer. I had only put maybe 1/2" layer of chips in the tray. If I can get decent smoke for maybe 2 hours from the tray, then light the smoke tube, I'm good.

 

[larkl]

Worked like a champ for the dry brined turkey yesterday. Three hours at 270. Two trays of apple wood burned up for smoke. Best turkey ever!

So, if you decide to buy one of these, my suggestions for getting more smoke:

1. Always take the drip pan off and set it on the ground under the hole. This allows that hole to act as an air intake.

2. Drill 8 - 3/8" holes around the perimeter of the chip tray.

3. Drill 50 - 1/4" holes in the base of the chip tray.

4. Buy a smoke tube in case you need it.

Thanks all.