Electric Smoker for Long Term

[nijiom]

Hi Everyone! Can anyone recommend me best electric smoker for long term. There is no issue of budget at all.

[Jean in Newcastle]

You mean like a Traeger?  (It smokes and grills).  Or do you only want to smoke things. 

[Alte Veste Academy]

DH has been very happy with his Rec-Teq RT-700. He got it after years of using Weber's Smokey Mountain (which he loved, but he grew weary of the constant tending all day when his family craved something smoked). He found it so convenient (wifi ability to turn it on and monitor it from anywhere, big hopper, etc.) that he wanted to make things on it that he had made on his Weber charcoal grills as well. Then the rest of us rebelled, lol, because we like charcoal flavor. Luckily, very recently Royal Oak came out with high quality charcoal pellets, so he bought a Rec-Teq Bullseye. It does not have the wifi, but he keeps the hopper filled exclusively with charcoal pellets and it's quicker to start/come to temp than a regular charcoal grill, and you can get it screaming hot for a great sear.

[Bambam]

We got my dh a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker 5 (?) years ago.  He smokes briskets maybe every 6 weeks or so - plus holiday turkeys - plus sometimes cheese and almonds. It is a basic model. He has some electronic temperature sensing probe he puts into the meat and has the receiver in the house - which he sets to alarm for different temperatures (too low, too high, meat done - that sort of thing). He has really enjoyed it.  He does have to walk outside to adjust the dial/temperature a couple of times when he starts it up. 

He has cut up limbs from our apple tree pruning to use as his own pellets (is that the right term?), but he also has some he purchased. 

[Alte Veste Academy]

3 hours ago, Bambam said:

We got my dh a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker 5 (?) years ago.  He smokes briskets maybe every 6 weeks or so - plus holiday turkeys - plus sometimes cheese and almonds. It is a basic model. He has some electronic temperature sensing probe he puts into the meat and has the receiver in the house - which he sets to alarm for different temperatures (too low, too high, meat done - that sort of thing). He has really enjoyed it.  He does have to walk outside to adjust the dial/temperature a couple of times when he starts it up. 

He has cut up limbs from our apple tree pruning to use as his own pellets (is that the right term?), but he also has some he purchased. 

Pellets are only for pellet style grills. When DH used his Weber Smokey Mountain, he used chunks. You can also get a smaller version, chips. 

[itsheresomewhere]

8 hours ago, Alte Veste Academy said:

Pellets are only for pellet style grills. When DH used his Weber Smokey Mountain, he used chunks. You can also get a smaller version, chips. 

There is now a tube thing that allows you to use pellets in none pellets grills/smokers. It works pretty well. 
 

OP-  Masterbuilt. I love mine.  

[Bambam]

13 hours ago, Alte Veste Academy said:

Pellets are only for pellet style grills. When DH used his Weber Smokey Mountain, he used chunks. You can also get a smaller version, chips. 

That makes sense. I know he chopped up those limbs, but they were still fairly decent sized compared to what I think of as pellets. 

[popmom]

I’d love to have a Traeger. My Costco was having a Traeger “event” this weekend. Ends Sunday. The nice thing about the Traeger is they don’t require near as much electricity as smokers with heating elements—which is nice because you don’t have to worry about the gauge of your extension cord. 
 

I’m currently using an ancient Brinkman electric smoker—bullet smoker. Got it for 20 bucks off FB marketplace a few years ago. They don’t make them anymore. I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth out of it. It does a surprisingly decent job. 

[itsheresomewhere]

41 minutes ago, popmom said:

I’d love to have a Traeger. My Costco was having a Traeger “event” this weekend. Ends Sunday. The nice thing about the Traeger is they don’t require near as much electricity as smokers with heating elements—which is nice because you don’t have to worry about the gauge of your extension cord. 
 

I’m currently using an ancient Brinkman electric smoker—bullet smoker. Got it for 20 bucks off FB marketplace a few years ago. They don’t make them anymore. I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth out of it. It does a surprisingly decent job. 

Those old brinkman’s were great.  

[Scarlett]

On 9/24/2021 at 3:00 PM, Alte Veste Academy said:

DH has been very happy with his Rec-Teq RT-700.

I bought this for Dh for our anniversary a year ago. He uses it a lot.