Electric Smoker of the Minor Dieties

So you might be looking for an electric smoker. You might be looking for a pellet smoker. Well gather round whilst I top up my Knob and Ginger and let me tell you what I do to make myself a fantastic smoker that happens to be inexpensive as all getout.

If you read the reviews of every smoke online, you'll repeatedly find the same issues coming up constantly:

1. The analog thermometer is inaccurate garage.

2. The electronics die/fail/fall apart, etc.

3. Smoke leaks everywhere except on the meat.

4. Fire backed up into the pellet hopper of my grill and burned down my block.

5. My grill got oxygen starved and blew me up when I opened it.

6. My grill doesn't get hot enough.

Now that we know all of the problems (thanks Amazon Reviews) Let's use our newfound knowledge and put money where it matters and skip the things that are going to fail.

The simple reasons for most of these issues are the same. They are all made overseas and the quality of components that they all share are all over the place. The electronics are inexpensive junk and having the electronics package on the top of a 225F+ box isn't really a great thing if you want them to live. Acceptable tolerances seem to be suggestions rather than absolutes.

There was one review somewhere that had the same idea and put it well saying 'if you can't buy quality, fix the problems and make it inexpensive to repair' or something like that. I tip my drink to that person, and would like to provide the solutions I used to solve these issues.

While there are a brazillion opinions on this, let me give you my thoughts.

First, let's consider size.

What you really need is an insulated box. The size of said box needs to fit all the things you need including the heater, moisture control, smoke, and that which you wish to smoke.

Next, let's consider the heat source.

Pellet smokers can have problems. The pellets may burn at unpredictable rates varying the temperature greatly, the fire can back up into the hopper and start an unwanted fire smoking your house down, the pellets can get stuck in the auger and it can go out entirely, and they can be loud and annoying. I'm sure there are more reasons, but that's enough for now.

Charcoal smokers are the bee's knees if you want to spend the time learning that grill really well and want to tend to the cook constantly. Don't get me wrong, they're fantastic, but I'm lazy and want the 'same' results in a set and forget package.

Electric smokers are set and forget, but not really. The electronics are usually garbage, the smoke is lackluster, and without water you can dry everything out to a nice West Texas consistency.

So, all of these options have problems. But hark! One has easy solutions!

If you take an electric smoker and fix those issues then what you'll get is the set and forget you want, and remedy the issues you don't. So let's go electric.

So you're going with an electric smoker. Whatcha want?

Back to the first point. Whatcha need? What we need is an insulated box large enough to fit what we want with the minimal compliment of electronics.The main thing you want is to find one that is analog. We're going to
add out own temperature controls that don't suck as much and you can actually replace when they go out with minimal fuss. Everything else we can fix. For me, I went with a Char Broil Analog Smoker. You don't need to get this one. If you want something bigger, get it. Size matters when you want to smoke a ton of stuff. Everything else in this instructable will still work. They aren't paying me (yet... Hint, hint Char Broil). I bought one off of Amazon for about $130ish. It was delivered because I'm just that lazy.

Problem #1: The Sealinnig

As discussed earlier, these things leak smoke. Some of them leak grease. Some leak everything everywhere all over your deck. That'd suck. So with prevention being easier than cleaning, let's fix that now. Let's seal the seams, rivet holes, and whatever you want with high-temp food grade sealant! Permatex Red RTV is my choice for this, but they aren't paying me either (Hint, hint) so if you know of something better... I chose this because it's used by several manufacturers like Oklahoma Joe's for use on their smokers.

Step 1: Seal EVERYTHING on the inside!

With the exceptions of the grease hole and the top smoke holes, seal it. Also, leave the door seal. We're gonna fix it in a second there, Gunter. Seal every seam. Every Rivet. Every screw. Seal everything. No smoke or grease is getting going to leak if there aren't holes to let them leak from.

Step 2: Sealing the door.

Luckily, there are seals made for this. I bought a roll from Lowes for around $16 from Oklahoma Joe's. Just stick it on like tape and be sure to make the seal as tight as you can. I even cut little corners for where the tops and sides meet. With this in place your door shouldn't leak smoke in all the wrong places.

Give it a day to cure and we can move on!

Problem #2: Weak smoke

The next major problem with electrics is that the smoke sucks. That's due to the fact that the chips one would usually use burn up too quickly, and that the heating element constantly heats and cools to maintain temperature. So let's skip all of that. Welcome to the world of the smoke tube. This little puppy gets filled with pellets, lit on fire, and burns for hours. It smokes like a champ for hours. It can't burn more fuel than is there, so you're not going to burn your house down like some people have reported in the reviews of pellet smokers. You can use whatever wood you want without being locked in to some proprietary manufacturer's recommendations (another common complaint). So, problem solved. We need this for the next part.

Now we are ready responsibly to light some stuff on fire and get hot. Remember how we sealed the box and gave it a day to cure? Now that time has passed and a new day has dawned. Let's fill up our spanking new smoke tube with wood and start a fire. There are several ways to do this on YouTube, but I stick with the propane torch method. Fill tube, light torch, set the open part of the tube ablaze, give it 10 minutes or so to form a coal, blow it out. We also need to go ahead and use the smoker's heating element and controller. This is the one time you need to mess with setting the controller, so pay attention closely. Set it to the max. Once. Never change it. Not today, not tomorrow. It can stay on max for the rest of it's life. Remember we are going to be controlling it with our own electronics. For those electronics to do their job well it's best to leave it on max forever. Let's put the smoker tube in the box as low as you can get it. Smoke goes up. Let's smoke the whole thing.

Now you should have a smoker getting hot and smoking like a *redacted*. Leave it alone for 4-5 hours. If you want bonus imaginary points do this twice or fill the smoke tube again once it's burnt out and smoke it out. The more smoke that clings to the walls, the happier you'll be. Take some time to make sure you don't see any other leaks you might have missed. If you need to seal it more, do this entire step again once you've given the sealant time to cure. No gaps, no mess. I'm lazy. No mess is a necessity.

Problem 3: Electronics are inaccurate junk

As I stated earlier, the electronics are usually junk. They are placed in the worst spot (the top). Heat rises as it does and that's never ideal for the longevity of your circuit boards or LCD screens. When they go out they expect you to repair it for free like some soldering iron wielding chump. I don't want to do that to you.

The solution? A PID electronics package designed for projects exactly adjacent to this! While you can make this pretty easily out of a PID, relay, electrical receptacles, and some wire I'm lazy and they make them complete for less than the cost of making one these days. I've made them from scratch long ago, and these little units work just as well. This external electronics pack will be far more precise, can be adjusted if they are off, and can be replaced cheaply and easily if/when they get left out in a storm without a protractor and soldering iron.

I have a Willhi WH1436a laying around that I use for a crockpot sous vide that'll do the job for me. If you aren't like me and don't have this already, don't get this one. It's not that it doesn't work, or that it's been saying mean things behind my back or anything. The simple fact is that it's rated to 10 amps. Most likely your outlet will be good to 15 amps. More amps, more power. More power, faster heat-up, higher temps if you want to use this thing as a grill.

Go with one of these if you're buying new. If you bought a bigger smoker with twin elements, go with a one of these. I'm not a brand person. Buy whatever you want. These are just suggestions based on reviews. You already know what I have. You do you!

Go ahead and set it up. Read the instructions and then throw them in the trash and find a YouTube video of someone that already figured it out. I've never seen one of these units with instructions that made any kind of logical sense. Just go ahead and figure out how to use the electronics. Set it to Celsius or Farenheight. Make sure it's measuring temperature and not pressure. Most importantly, learn to set the temperature. That's what it's for, right? These have a minimum and maximum temperature range. You're going to be outdoors, so don't expect a .1 degree tolerance. There's wind, sun, clouds, etc. that are going to keep you from tat kind of accuracy. I use a setting of Low of 222F, High of 225F mostly for smoking. Just know how to set your temps for your device.

The water pan might be too small. It might not. On my smoker it's way too small. I don't want to open the door and fill it while I'm cooking. I can fill it any time I'm scheduled to mess with the meat, but it needs to hold enough water to get me there. I use a standard pan that holds around 2 quarts. It gets me through a full cook but if I need to top it up I can in hour 3 or 4. You want it low in the box, above the heating element. It will keep your meat moist and the density of steam will help keep the temperature steady as she goes.

It's time. Well, almost.

Now you need to get your meat ready. Whatever meat you want to do, do it. Whatever prep you want, it's your time to shine. I'm making pork ribs. Skip my recipe, change it, do whatever you want. I like dry rubbed ribs. It's my jam. Equal parts salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika blended is my standard rub. I also cut them into 3-4 chunks of ribs of 3-4 ribs each. It's easier to store them for later. My kids are too young to enjoy burning your face off heat so I make food they will eat without crying and teaching me 8-year-old swear words. You like sauce? Use sauce. You like ghost pepper puree? Knock yourself out. There are wrong ways to make ribs, but you aren't inviting me over so do whatever pleases you. I won't be there to judge.

Ready the smoker!

Smoke tube full, fire applied, give it 10 minutes to form a coal that'll burn through the cook, put it in the smoker.

Fill your oversized water pan.

Set the PID to your target temps (I use 222F-225F for ribs) and it it come to temp. I use a separate BBQ thermometer to check ambient temperature inside the smoker.

Make sure the temperature sensor for the PID (and, for me, the second BBQ thermometer) don't touch the sides, the grate, or the meat! This will throw your temps off.

Apply meat to your smoker now that it's heated and smoking and relax for whatever predetermined time your meat requires. For me, I use the 321 method for ribs, so I leave it alone for 3 hours, wrap it in foil and replace it in the smoker for 2 hours, and unwrap it and smoke it on the grate for the last hour.

Yeah, they're good.

You did the work. You're fed. Now for the easy part.

Unplug your electronics and put them somewhere safe. You sealed everything, so any grease will be in the drip pan. Dump any extra water and you're done. Clean the grates later when they've cooled. It's time for a nap.

Adios and happy BBQ bellies!