A dirty little secret


 
J

Jim Babek

TVWBB Pro
Okay, here it goes. I have been Q'ing on a WSM for almost 8 years now with absolutely incredible results. Ive invested in the pitmaster which is a phenominal gadget which I recommend to anyone for long cooks. My Webshots account still gets about 800 views a month with my big three tier cook from my daughters baptism...she's 6 years old now.

But over Christmas and my birthday I have gotten a bunch of Cabela's gift cards and bought a Masterbuilt electric smoker. I did a bunch of ribs on it the other weekend and have to say that absent the smoke ring they were some of the best ribs Ive made or eaten for that matter. The smoke seemed mellower and sweeter, the meat juicer and more "porky" flavored as opposed to arcidic.

Is the electric smoker cheating? Absolutely. Will it ever replace my WSM? Absolutely not. But it is more convienent for a quick fix when I want Q and am lazy. The build of the unit is nice but the heating element and thermometer suck. Id love to somehow modify it to have the heat and smoke produced in the wsm and be brought over to the smoker box of the Masterbuilt.
 
Im still researching that so I dont know the answer. Its something about the chemical reaction of wood/charcoal and the meat. I actually asked that question a while ago and someone gave a link. I just clicked on it but its dead.
 
AFAIK,

The Smoke Ring is most likely caused by CO (Carbon Monoxide). If you ever read-up on people who die of asphyxiation caused by CO, their bodies usually turn pink.

Although it produces smoke, the electric smoker probably does not not produce sufficient quantities of CO to give you the ring. (There's not as much combustion going on here.)

I believe that this is why most charcoal grills come with warnings to not use them indoors - they produce significant quantities of CO which could kill you (but leave YOU with a nice smoke ring).

I also think that this at least partially explains why some users experience differences in the amount of smoke ring from briquettes vs. lump - lump typically burns "cleaner" with less CO / less smoke ring, while briquettes produce more CO in their products of combustion / more smoke ring.

Some types of brines / cures - particularly thos used for bacon & ham, contain other reagents that can cause some "pinking". This may be desireable for some items that may be smoked in the electric.
 
I have a Cookshack and smoke rings are absent in that as well. However, if you put a couple of charcoal bricks in the firebox with the wood it does the trick. The food is still as smokey as ever with or w/o it.
 
I can sympathize. In my pre-WSM days, I was so busy and so wanting some good eats that I actually modded an ECB (!) with an electric element!
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Only used it that way a few times and the results don't particularly stand out in my mind, but sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do!
 
PS--those photos look good. I did 4 p-butts on my 22.5-er (Volcana Meatbane) a few weeks ago and have a cryo of ice po'k butt brick thawing in the fridge for tonight's eatin'...
 
Been using an electric for some time now.
Saving up for a WSM.
I wish someone had told me a couple of things when I started -- that would of that would of made my life much easier.

1) Don't open the door!
Don't sauce, don't check temps, do everything you can not to open that door. This means an internal therm is required.

2) Don't use it if weather is below 60 degrees.

3) If you have to open the door for foiling. Just put it in the oven to finish the cook. Saves a ton of hassle.


If you obey these rules I think you can produce some good Que. And without much work.
 
2) Don't use it if weather is below 60 degrees.
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It depends on the model bro. My Smokette hums along even during some of the worst snow storms we've seen in years. It's a pretty well insulated machine. Like others, I use mine when I'm lazy but it still produces competition quality que.
 
Darrel J. ...how would you compare your Smokette ribs to WSM ribs? I'm thinkin about gettin a Smokette or Amerique...but am wondering about the smokiness & taste difference when compared to the WSM... Does your smokette get hot enough to consume the smoke wood?? THX
 
I'm not sure about the effect of CO (I know it does tightly bond with myoglobin) but I believe the ring is primarily produced by nitrogen compounds in the smoke. A similar effect to the smoke ring can be created by adding products like tenderquick (that contain nitrate).

I feel your pain regarding the smoke flavor produced by the wsm. Personally, I want it better than what I'm getting now.

I switched my method around a bit by letting the minion go for a while before adding the meat, and burying the wood in the minion so it wont ignite until the fire is fairly hot and the gases released from the wood have to pass through a hot layer of coals. The result is that I went from a very, very slight acrid/sooty note to the smoke to almost no smoke flavor at all. Just the other day, I reheated a 1/2 rack of ribs that I had vacpacked and froze. I was really surprised at how clean they tasted. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get clean wood smoke back into the mix.

I often shop at a local sausage maker who has the sweetest smelling smokehouse. I asked them what they use and they told me a mixture of hardwood saw dust. So I can only assume that their great smoke flavor is produced electrically. It makes me think that there's a difference between wood smoke made by charcoal and that smoke made by an electric element. Your post seems to confirm that.
 
Originally posted by ron "Rondo" hanson:
Darrel J. ...how would you compare your Smokette ribs to WSM ribs? I'm thinkin about gettin a Smokette or Amerique...but am wondering about the smokiness & taste difference when compared to the WSM... Does your smokette get hot enough to consume the smoke wood?? THX
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I've had nothing but good things come out of that Smokette. It readily consumes the smoke wood and by the end of most long cooks I'm looking at just ash in the firebox. The ribs, brisket and shoulders that I take out are really no different taste wise than my other two smokers. I recently upgraded for a bigger model and I'm giving the Smokette to my sister as an anniversary present. As mentioned above, there is a learning curve. It's a very moist and sealed environment so you don't want to open it much at all. IMO no spritzing needed although you can buy a small verion of a moisture pan as an accessory. I don't think it needs it though.

In fact, when I first bought it I cooked some ribs in both cookers and asked my family if they could tell which one came from where and they couldn't tell. They use these things on the bbq circuit so they can't be all bad (i.e Fast Eddy). I'm not going to go into too much detail since this is a WSM site though.
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