Electric smokers
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@tmeiners82 how is the campchef doing for you? Mainly smoking at low temps for sausages? I still havent pulled the trigger yet on something new but i really like all the features on the xxl. Also how does the low smoke work? Or do u just run or at the temps? Does it put smoke out?thanks
Stats77
I switched out the pellets today and ran it for 2hrs with nothing in it. 1hr at 150 and 1hr on low smoke with no issues. The low smoke setting ran at 154 degrees, would probably be at lower temp if the smoker was full of meat. I plan on doing 25lbs of summer sausage this weekend, hopefully no more flame outs! -
@tmeiners82 how is the campchef doing for you? Mainly smoking at low temps for sausages? I still havent pulled the trigger yet on something new but i really like all the features on the xxl. Also how does the low smoke work? Or do u just run or at the temps? Does it put smoke out?thanks
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@tmeiners82 awesome thanks for the update! Let me know how it works for a long smoke. I’m pretty new to the idea of pellet grills. When I do pork shoulder or brisket I only add smoke for the first three or four hours. Doesn’t sound like you can manage the smoke for long cooks. Would think it would be to much for a 12 hour cook.
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Stats77 “low smoke” Yeah, I’d say you are gonna get some nice smoke flavor from that thing!
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Stats77 “low smoke” Yeah, I’d say you are gonna get some nice smoke flavor from that thing!
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I just purchased a PK100 it looks very well built. I have a couple questions.
The unit keeps shooting way past the set temp by 20+ deg it does not drop that far below the temp. I run a Meater when I did my bacons it really rendered out.
Second is that in book it says only saw dust. Right on the face it says chips and saw dust? -
mosales Been jamming on the PK100 for about a year now. I don’t seem to have issues with overshooting the temp. I’d put a second wire probe in and double check it. As for the chips vs dust, I like the dust. I got the 20# box of hickory-wayyyyyy too much. Get the 5# bags, Walton’s has the best price including shipping. I really like pecan and alder, very smooth and mild great for chicken/turkey/fish. I have tried the shredded wood, I’m concerned it will catch on fire so I’m sticking with the dust but it did work just fine. Easy to replenish, I keep a metal bucket with a lid I use for charcoal out when I’m smoking just dump the leftover in there and refill. I’d also make sure you are soaking the gasket with mineral oil. I have it in a spray bottle and wipe it down after each use keeps it from sticking.
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mosales Any electric smoker is going to be on a wave. If you set for 120 it will shoot for a little over that and then turn off the heating coil, it will wait until the temp is just below the target temp and then kick back on and go over again. 20°F sounds like too much though. I assume you are on the high wattage mode?
Dust/chips are okay, what it should say is do not use with pellets.
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I had a 20 year old electric smoker, and the rack for the chip pan was so high above the element, I couldn’t get it to start smoking until it got to about 300 degrees (and the bottom was starting to rust out, so it was time to be replaced). I picked up a Masterbuilt Pro online for under 150 w/free shipping. I haven’t used it yet, but assembled and seasoned it yesterday. Dual source heating (propane/charcoal). Took the huge vented chip/charcoal pan out, and went with an old 10" cast iron skillet to put my chips in (used a couple of small metal stakes across the burner hole and under the skillet, to give it room to breath above the flame (no problem getting chips to smolder/smoke now). With the flame turned way down, top vent open, and the door cracked it looks like get it down to 120 - 125 for the start temperature step for making snack sticks.
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@tmeiners82 awesome thanks for the update! Let me know how it works for a long smoke. I’m pretty new to the idea of pellet grills. When I do pork shoulder or brisket I only add smoke for the first three or four hours. Doesn’t sound like you can manage the smoke for long cooks. Would think it would be to much for a 12 hour cook.
Stats77

Hey Stats77 I made some H Summer Sausage 50/50 pork and venison on the Camp Chef yesterday. The smoker had no issues, and the sausage turned out great! It took 6hrs for the meat temp to get to 160 with the smoker started at 150 for 2hrs then to 175 for 2hrs and 185 2hrs. The meat wasn’t over smoked at all if you are worried about that. Thanks for all the great info everyone! -
I just picked up a Camp Chef XXL vertical pellet smoker for $500. I have been using a Bradley electric for years with no issues, but decided to make the switch to the XXL because of the bigger smoking chamber for sausage making. I think the pellet smoker will do a better job of getting up to temp when it’s Minnesota cold out. I plan on making some snack sticks in the next week or two. I will do a follow up review if anyone is interested?
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@Brian-Ragland I really like it, had some issues with the flame going out in the first couple cooks. No issues when I did summer sausage, I changed the pellet blend, that may have been the problem. The smoker comes with 7 racks and a rack with 12 sausage hooks. It gets up to temp fast when full and in cold temps and recovers well after opening the door. It produces smoke while it cooking but nothing has been over smoked. I have only used it 3 times, but I really do like it so far.
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Great, I had a MB 30 that I used for several years, it shot craps on me so I thought I’d look around for an reasonably priced upgrade. Thanks
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I currently have an LP vertical smoker but am looking at switching to an electric or pellet smoker. A lot of Walton’s recipes call for starting the product on the smoker for the first hour without introducing smoke. How can this be accomplished using a vertical pellet smoker?
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I currently have an LP vertical smoker but am looking at switching to an electric or pellet smoker. A lot of Walton’s recipes call for starting the product on the smoker for the first hour without introducing smoke. How can this be accomplished using a vertical pellet smoker?
Rob Lee You won’t be able to get no smoke from a pellet cooker, since it depends on burning pellets for heat. If your oven is large enough to hold everything you want to smoke, just use it for that first step with no smoke.
Crack open the door if you can’t get your oven down as low as 120-125F (and cracking it open helps let out the humidity, anyhow).I used the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula to crack open the door, even though my oven runs low enough. I wanted to get rid of the humidity. Running the oven around 130-135 got me the interior temperature I wanted with that door cracked open.
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Rob Lee You won’t be able to get no smoke from a pellet cooker, since it depends on burning pellets for heat. If your oven is large enough to hold everything you want to smoke, just use it for that first step with no smoke.
Crack open the door if you can’t get your oven down as low as 120-125F (and cracking it open helps let out the humidity, anyhow).I used the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula to crack open the door, even though my oven runs low enough. I wanted to get rid of the humidity. Running the oven around 130-135 got me the interior temperature I wanted with that door cracked open.
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Rob Lee You won’t be able to get no smoke from a pellet cooker, since it depends on burning pellets for heat. If your oven is large enough to hold everything you want to smoke, just use it for that first step with no smoke.
Crack open the door if you can’t get your oven down as low as 120-125F (and cracking it open helps let out the humidity, anyhow).I used the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula to crack open the door, even though my oven runs low enough. I wanted to get rid of the humidity. Running the oven around 130-135 got me the interior temperature I wanted with that door cracked open.
TexLaw said in Electric smokers:
Rob Lee You won’t be able to get no smoke from a pellet cooker, since it depends on burning pellets for heat. If your oven is large enough to hold everything you want to smoke, just use it for that first step with no smoke.
Crack open the door if you can’t get your oven down as low as 120-125F (and cracking it open helps let out the humidity, anyhow).I used the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula to crack open the door, even though my oven runs low enough. I wanted to get rid of the humidity. Running the oven around 130-135 got me the interior temperature I wanted with that door cracked open.
no smoke from a pellet smoker?
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