Best cheap electric smoker?

[teacherman]

Well, after a supremely successful stab at making Kassler Rippchen (thanks to Retired RailRoader for the recipe), I decided I want a smoker. I used my neighbor's Mini Chief with apple chips, and it was great. Cold smoke adaptation shown below.
What is a relatively good, relatively cheap electric smoker? I'm thinking about a 30" analog control Masterbuilt, available for about 150 locally. SIze is about right, and I may be able to afford it. Someday I'll get a pellet rig, but not for a while.

Thanks in advance for any ideas, folks.

 

[Retired RailRoader]

Glad you like the Kassler Rippchen recipe. I got tired of trying to keep my Big Green Eggs at a low temperature when making sausages so I recently picked up a 40 in. Masterbuilt from Lowes. So far I've made summer sausage, snack sticks and Hot links with good results. Jerky is still a work in progress with the Masterbuilt and I just may go back to doing jerky in my BGE's if the next batch doesn't give me the results I'm looking for. Hope this helps.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I like the Masterbuilts but I would build a UDS.


http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23436

 

[LongIslandEd]

I have the MES 30" - the meat probe went screwy after a year. I also bought the side cold smoker from Amazon for $58. Get that and forget the little chip tray. Its so much better and will give about 3 hrs of smoke without reloading. Of course you can also get a smoke tube and use some pellets for more smoke.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Academy Sports


http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/cajun-injector-electric-smoker?repChildCatid=27646


http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/mas...productImageLink&experimentId=&testElementId=

 

[SmittyJonz]

Weber kettle grills make good smokers.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129246

 

[SmittyJonz]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20070910-30-Inch-Electric-Controller/dp/B00104WRCY/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1451878826&sr=1-1&keywords=electric+smoker"]Amazon.com : Masterbuilt 20070910 30-Inch Black Electric Digital Smoker, Top Controller : Patio, Lawn & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41qXico-UDL.@@AMEPARAM@@41qXico-UDL[/ame]

 

[Lexicon Devil]

My first smoker was a Brinkmann (I think) electric water smoker. I liked it fine, it was cheap, held up well and cooked good food. You will probably need to upgrade after a year though. I sure did. Nothing wrong with the Brinkmann, I just wanted bigger and bette after I got my feet wet.

 

[Jason TQ]

MES 30 digital is what I started on and works fine. Not a ton of smoke flavor, but was what I needed to play around and see if I like it. Things only went downhill from there :-D

 

[Lexicon Devil]

Welp, I just saw that Brinkmann has filed for bankruptcy and is no longer honoring warranties and such. Sooooo I guess the Brinkmann is out.

 

[Retired RailRoader]

Teacherman, just as a follow up I use Pro-Q cold smoker in my Masterbuilt when smoking sausages at low temps. This is the unit I use.
http://www.macsbbq.com/cold-smokers

 

[airedale]

You're in a large metro area; just find something on CraigsList and buy it. This is one of those deals where the first thing you buy just teaches you what you really wanted. So go for the cheap tuition.

 

[Shagdog]

If its cold smoking you're after...

https://www.amazenproducts.com/

Add this to any regular smoker for great cold smoking.. Seriously, these babies are awesome. Great flavor and no babysitting. I would recommend against buying an electric smoker. They work ok for cold smoking, but beyond that you will be frustrated and eventually scrap it for something better..

If you don't currently have anything to smoke in, and are only thinking about cold smoking for now, get on craigslist. You will easily find some sort of metal cabinet or old bullet smoker for pennies on the dollar. I mean, you just need something to hold food and keep smoke in, right? Alton Brown built a cold smoker out of an old crate. it really doesn't take much. I say save your money for the Pellet you really want down the road.

 

[KevinJ]

Weber kettle grills make good smokers.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129246

Once I started Smoking on a Kettle I gave my MES away.

 

[HappyFool]

I've got an electronic smoker; although it doesn't have an automatic feed for chips, I have to manually add them.

Works great, and am happy with the results.

You'd definitely find some good and cheap options in this review!
https://wisepick.org/best-electric-smoker-under-200/

 

[Peteg]

I've had a bradley and an MES 30 at different times. I think the MES 30 is probably the best bang for the buck. I got it just for sausage making and the low temps were a little to erratic for that, but it was just fine other things. I ended up ripping out the electronics and hooking up an auber temp controller and installing a side box for cold smoking. after that it was a machine, holding temps within 2-3 degrees. Out of the box though, it was just fine for anything in the 200-250 degree range.