Old Smokey Electric Smoker

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of smoker to get. Read a million reviews, the pros and cons of different types, the whole deal. Finally decided I wanted an electric smoker. I am new to this, so wanted the benefit of ease of keeping the temperature right for hours on end. This smoker ended up being in the sweet spot, not too expensive, but not a cheap smoker either. Got this home, assembled it, without any problem. Bought two additional accessories. Bought an old smokey 2 inch thermometer, and drilled a hole in the lid and installed it. Also bought a electronic meat thermometer, drilled a small hole in the side of the old smokey to allow the probe and wire through it. There was a little extra space around the wire, so I have blocked it with aluminium foil. Proceeded to roast a Boston Butt, to make pulled pork sandwiches. Rubbed it, in the fridge overnight, and then smoked for 9 hours. Pulled it out and it was the absolute best pulled pork we have ever had. We had a bunch of teenage kids over, and it was gone before you knew it. Then this last weekend, put in 6 pounds of St Luis Ribs. Smoked those for 5 or 6 hours, and they were literally the best ribs I have ever had as well. Took them out of the smoker, brushed on a little bbq sauce and then put them on a hot grill for a minute a side to caramilize the sauce. 6 pounds of ribs for 6 people, and they were completely gone in 10 minutes. Insanely good, meat had a great smoke ring, tender, moist, and fell off the bone. So incredibly good. I can't recommend this smoker enough. I love mine. The only potential downside is that because it is so moist inside the unit (because it is sealed, has more smoke and moisture that remains in the unit) you don't get a hard crust or bark on the final product. But that is easily obtained by broiling or grilling the meet over high temps for a short amount of time before serving. And honestly I love the ease of use of this unit, the temp control is simple to set and adjust as necessary, it takes only a handful of wood chips, and if you have a electronic meat thermometer you don't even have to open the unit to check temps. Just set it, monitor the interior temp to keep it at your desired level (about 220 to 225 for me) and then sit back and adjust every so often. Hardest part was keeping the kids quiet so I could read my book and drink my beer.

Great for temperature control, amazing value for the money, super easy to use

I have used the Old Smokey to cook a pork shoulder, chicken, and beef ribs. The shoulder and chicken turned out great, and my wife says this is the best chicken she's ever eaten. The ribs didn't turn out as well because I cooked them way too fast and was in a hurry. Like someone said, the Old Smokey isn't a chef. I purchased it after reading the reviews here on Amazon. A friend of mine has the Big Green Egg, and another friend has an electric smoker which didn't get as good reviews as the Old Smokey. Both of these guys can make great tasting bbq, so I'm starting to think it's more the chef than the equipment. Get to know your equipment and then the rest is whatever meat, rubs, etc you use, and the cook time/temp. The Old Smokey retains all of the smoke since it's sealed, so your neighbors won't be able to smell the wonderful bbq smoke while you are cooking. But then, I think the meat stays more moist. I asked my friend with the Big Green Egg how he keeps the meat moist and he said he has to inject the meat. I like that it is so simple in design. It was very easy to assemble, although I substituted split washers on the inside, and put the flat washers on the outside. I haven't had to clean it yet, but it seems that it would be easier to clean if the heating element was removable. Evidently this is a very old, tested design and you would do well to buy one of these. Also, I didn't want the investment of a Big Green Egg or even a Smokey Mountain (Weber) until I see if I would really use this. Now that I have one, I'm wondering why I would buy another one at all since this one works so well (so far).

Previous Reviews Before buying this smoker, I poured through all the reviews to ensure I wasn't buying a dud. I found several to be helpful, but I didn't find one that covered everything I was interested in so here goes... But let me give you the punch line first, the unit operates as advertised and you shouldn't have any problems, but here's a few things to think about... Vendor to buy from... The first thing I noticed in the reviews were several said their smokers arrived damaged and recommended not to buy from Northern Tools. They said in most cases they were able to fix the problem themselves by bending the metal back in place. That's fine, but if I buy something brand new (and pay a brand new price), then it should be brand new. I was extremely worried about the lid where this seemed to be a trouble point. I wanted the lid to fit snuggly as it should, not bent! I'm not buying a smoker to smoke meat just to have it escape through a damaged lid! So I ordered from River Country. At the time, their price was the same as Northern Tools (if you realized theirs was $20 more, but you got the gauge) and the shipping was actually less. The unit arrived quickly, but the box was damaged. Upon opening the box, I found the unit to be very poorly packed. This is an Old Smokey problem, not River Country or Northern Tools. Just one piece of bubble wrap seperated the top from the unit, but nothing wrapped the unit inside the box. So I did have dent in the side of mine. But the lid was fine so I was placated. Nothing was missing. Construction The unit is easy to assemble, instructions are clear, but this isn't a high durable item. The handles just screw in with nuts and loosen over time unless you are able to really ratchet them down. The socket to plug the power supply in is loosening on mine as well (although this part came preassembled), but I should be able to tighen this too. The one feature I really don't like on this unit is the way the shelves and drip pan are held in place. You put in screws, tighten with nuts and then the shelves and drip pan just sit on the screw lengths. From a weight stand point, I haven't had a problem, but let me tell you, if I had a dollar for every time my hand, sleeve, hot mitt etc... snagged on the screw, I could buy a nicer smoker. You constantly have to reach in, of course, and getting a little snag or a small slice in your skin due to a screw thread isn't fun. ESPECIALLY when you try to clean the unit. The racks have folding handles, a very nice feature, so you can turn them downward a little. This is so handy so you don't have to paw the sides of the smoker with your mitts to get a hold of them since if you didn't fold them down, they would be flush with the sides. The racks are very light weight, but seem to hold weight well. The drip pan is heavy duty! The small tray for the wood chips has very subtle edges, but it's not enough to keep chips from falling off. If you accidently hit the tray, like when you're lowering it into the smoker, chips fall off. A wire basket or high edges would have been a nice feature, but not on this one. The unit sits on a wire stand. It's not much to look at, but does the job quite well. Mine seems level and doesn't wobble or tip. Last item to cover here is the cord. It's heavy duty, should hold up well over time, but it's only 5 feet long. It may seem like a lot, but it's not. Most of us have our outdoor outlets by our front door or back door and so now the smoker is setting next to a door where people are coming and going. 5 feet just isn't a lot to move the smoker out of a traffic area. I'm sure you can use a grounded, heavy duty extension cord, but I try to avoid extension cords on heating units. The Gauge Buy the temperature gauge! You absolutely need it to maintain the temperature in the smoker. Outdoor temperatures really do affect the inside temperature more than you might think. The gauge instructions don't tell you where to place the gauge and this I understand. They don't know what type of smoker or grill you might be attaching it to. So I did fully expect the Old Smokey instructions to recommend the best place to attach it, but it didn't. Very disappointing. I really only had 2 options, in the lid or near the bottom. Anywhere else it would interfere with the screws that hold the racks and drip pan in place. I opted for the lid. Didn't want it too close to the heating unit. This turned out to be a great choice. Now I can just glance at the top and see the temperature and it seems to be representative of the whole unit's internal temperature. I drilled a hole in the lid as instructed, but the metal is so thin and pliable, it bent when I drilled through it. But once I put in the gauge and tightened it down, the metal evened back out and it looks nicely installed. Operation The unit operates very easily. Just layer the absorbant on the bottom, put chips in the tray and turn on. It heats up very quickly. Put in your drip pan and meat and you're smoking! As I said in the very beginning, it operates as advertised. Remember though, it's a tool, not a chef. I saw many reviews that talked about how great the food was. That is more of your talent, not the smoker. It will smoke to the temperature you select, but the rest is up to you. Everything from the type, quality and cut of meat (or vegetables), rubs, marinades, sauces, type of wood chips, volume of wood chips, how long you smoke etc... One quick note, I have read from several sources, not to mop (baste) in electric smokers... Size Serious smokers may want to consider buying something bigger. This just isn't going to hold a lot food. It will hold a whole pork shoulder of average size on one rack and maybe a chicken and some vegetables on the other. But whole slabs of brisket for instance, will need to be cut down and then, will still probably not all fit. Final Thought Overall, I am very happy with this smoker. It has a few annoying features, but it performs well. It's a great buy for the casual smoker.