Using An Electric Smoker

by Donn W.
(Blue Springs,MO)

I'm currently using an electric smoker,  a Royal Oak electric smoker, and so far I've smoked some spare ribs, and a brisket for Easter. Both turned out great!

But I'm having a problem using my smoker. I don't seem to get very much smoke at all from the wood chips. I soak them like the directions say to do,put the chips in the smoker box, put the lid on fill the water pan, let the smoker warm up, them put the meat in.

When I start cleaning up the smoker, the smoke box is still full of wood chips that show very little sign of burning. Should I leave the lid off of the chip box? Could I be putting too many chips in at one time? Also can the the humidity/steam from the water pan effect the burning of the chips?

Help, just a rookie!

Thanks,
Donn Wyckoff

Problem of The Smoker Not Making Enough Smoke

Greg L
by: Anonymous

Greg L, you will need to add wood multiple times with any smoker. You can't just add wood once and let it go. I smoked chicken wings for and hour and a half and I added wood chips 3 times.

I have never soaked my chips either. Put your little homemade chip tray on the rocks or element and put dry chips in it. When the wood burns up, add more.

Robyn
by: Anonymous

Robyn....Please do not tell people not to soak your chips in for a electric smoker....yes you do...put them touching the element...this will not effect the coil like some think. They will smoke quickly and correctly.

Wood chips
by: SteveinAL

I just bought a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker 30", I am not sure if it's because they are different manufacturers or what but the book that came with mine tells me that the tray with the lid is the chip tray and the other one is for H2O.

I just smoked a small ham and it was awesome. Once the chips started drying, it took a while for them but when they did the smoke kicked up. He said and it made sense if you have more moister less smoke= just steam.

Deer jerky
by: David

I am looking into buying and electric smoker and will use it for hams, ribs and turkeys but I also want to use to make deer jerky. Will an electric smoker work to make deer jerky.

Using an Electric Smoker
by: Leo

I got a new electric smoker from Brinkmann and found out they were discontinued. I ran it on an extension cord and it wouldn't get over 180 degrees. And took an hour to get that hot.

So I installed a plug outside and that didn't help a bit. So I wiggled the thermostat and tapped on it and Low and Behold! It's at 300 no and smoke barreling out of it. Now I can turn it down like I need to. Or cook a steak.

I was so disappointed with it to begin with. But now I think I will be using it several times a week. Yay!

electric smoker fix
by: ROBYN

You do not soak your wood with an electric smoker, all you have to do is turn your smoker up high until it starts to smoke really good then bring it back to the temperature you want.

Royal Oak electric heating element
by: Anonymous

My Royal Oak heating element on my electric smoker burnt out and I lost my manual. Does anyone know how I can order a part. I haven't had any luck finding anything on their home page, or anywhere to order parts from. The model # E16098. Please let me know if what I can do.

Tips For Using an Electric Smoker To Smoke Foods

NO HEAT
by: Anonymous

I have a Masterbuilt smoker converted to electric and i cant seen to keep heat smokes good but its only getting to like 100-120 degrees and i need to get it to like 200-215 so what is the problem.

advice for more smoke
by: Loy W.

I put the coil on 1/2 of the lava pellets then bury the coil under the remaining pellets so that the heat from the coil is evenly distributed. I soak the wood chips in liquid smoke for 2 hours.

I add the chips to a stainless steel bowl then pour enough water on them to cover them. I put the bowl directly on the pellets. I add water every 3 hours, if needed, to cover the chips.

The drippings fall in the bowl and on the lava pellets to create more smoke and flavoring. I rinse out the bowl when I'm finished, but do not use soap.

no directions.
by: steve

Walmart lost directions to my royal oaks smoker. Could someone please e-mail me directions for cooking with this grill please.

Smoke problem solved
by: M. Cunningham

I have a Royal Oak electric smoker (Model E1609B) and have altered the chip pan a little. I drilled 4, 5/32 holes in the lip at the corners on the top of the chip pan. I then went to home depot and bought 4, 1-1/2" "S" hooks and am hanging the chip pan from the rack that held it.

This puts the chip pan only about 3/16" above the heating element. I am getting much better smoke now. I do not soak the chips in water as the steam from the water pan keeps the humidity high enough in the smoker to keep the chips from flaming up.

Got a couple racks of ribs going as I type this. Using maple chips, REALLY GOOD on pork ribs. BTW, I keep the chip lid on the rack above the S hooks about 1-1/2" above the chip pan. Helps keep the drippings out of the chips.

No soaking did the trick
by: Anonymous

Right you are Willy Mac. When I did my Easter ham, I used the chips without the H2O and it went great. That being said, I'm anxious to try using a pork and bean can as a chip holder that I read about in the Blue Smoke Gazette. Thanks for the feedback!

No Smoke When Using My Electric Smoker
by: Willy Mac

I have a Royal Oak electric smoker E1609B this smoker is awesome I think the problem is you are soaking the chips that method is meant for gas and electric grill smoking.

If you read the directions with your smoker it says nothing about soaking the chips, only the bag of chips does. Just put the water in the water pan and the chips in the chip pan and you will have plenty of smoke.

Followup...
by: Greg L

Lots of good comments and advice here. The dutch oven stand came in and I put it in the heating pan of my smoker. It fit like a charm. I then found a perforated metal basket at a thrift store for $2.00 to hold the chips.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet though since it seems we have had nothing but blizzards or rain since I bought my smoker. Maybe when Spring officially sets in we'll get some decent weather and I can uncover my smoker and try out this new "system".

First timer with a Brinkmann Electric
by: Greg L

OK, I am SO glad to see that I am not alone here. I am smoking a pork loin right now and I have been fiddling, jury rigging and finagling everything I can to get smoke.

The day started off with me and my son going to Bass Pro Shops to get some apple wood chips. I didn't like the idea of putting the chips (which I soaked for 1/2 hour) on the lava rocks because I wanted quick cleanup so I made little pans out of aluminum foil for the chips to sit in. These three pans sat in between the gaps in the element.

I checked and checked and no smoke could be seen so I dumped out the chips onto the lava rocks. Big flames! Also, they basically burned up in no time.

So, I used three chunks of wood that came with my smoker. I have no idea what wood these samples are. They are chunks, not chips and they had been soaking for days. I forgot I had them soaking. They produced a lot of smoke, but they too seem to have burned up with an hour and a half to go in the cooking.

I thought I'd try to find some kind of "stand-off" that would hold a small aluminum cake pan over the element without touching it. I ordered a GSI Outdoors Wire Rack Support from Campmor. It is 11.25" x 11" x 4" and is sturdy enough to hold a dutch oven so I guess it'll hold a chip pan.

Can anyone see anything wrong with this plan? Any suggestions?

royal oak electric smoker
by: stoker toker

I want to thank everyone for this forum. I think I may be like a lot of you...I am a non professional BBQ smoker. By that I mean I have not competed. I consider myself ''not too bad'', though.

One thing is for sure, the meat I smoke or steaks I cook are well enjoyed. I am considering an electric smoker because of how convenient they sound, and if it is an easier method...then it means I will be smoking more.

I just don't have the time it takes to do it the ''other ways'' every single time. The constant tending the fire takes me out of any other surrounding fun and activities...and I like to play.

While I have been searching for my first electric, this thread about the problem making smoke caught my attention.

Basically, from what I have seen..these electrics come 2 ways...either controlled by a thermostat...or not. That may be the problem here.

I personally have decided to pursue getting one that has the thermostat because from what I have read the other do a good job...but they are too hot for all uses. I would bet that the non-thermostat ones do not have the ''no-smoke'' problem because the electric element is ''always'' on and hot.

This made me think that the thermostat ones, while better for obvious reasons, do have the problem of the wood chips not being exposed to non-stop heat. That is because the heating element has to shut off and on in order to maintain the smoker temperature.

Since many smokers like to cook with lower heat for a longer period of time...then that would make the problem of keeping the woods chips/chunks smoking from the heating element, worse.

I am not sure how to solve this, but I thought I would throw this thought in so maybe some of you can comment on a solution taking this fact I have mentioned. I will think on it.

I already have some ideas, but I do think that this is the key to the problem. Hmmm...a separate, smaller, heating element for just the chips??? I dunno. Talk ta me.

Not enough smoke
by: Anonymous

Place the wood chip pan without the lid directly on the electric element. I have so much smoke I couldn't use anymore!!

Grease in the Smoker Box!
by: Raymond

I have used the smoker several times only to find the smoker box dripping with grease from the meat on the racks above.How can I correct this problem?

Smoke problems
by: dragger1

I'm having the same trouble as Rookie. My problem is, I don't seem to get very much smoke at all from the wood chips. I soak them like the directions say to do,put the chips in the smoker box, put the lid on fill the water pan, let the smoker warm up, them put the meat in.

When I start cleaning up the smoker, the smoke box is still full of wood chips that show very little sign of burning. Should I leave the lid off of the chip box?

Could I be putting too many chips in at one time? Also can the the humidity/steam from the water pan effect the burning of the chips ?

Gaining Smoke
by: Jeff

I have a Brinkmann Electric Smoker that has basically the same issues that most of these type smokers have.

1. Wood Pan too far from the element to heat correctly and...

2. Enough power to heat correctly

Read a lot online and figured a couple things that will really help

1. Get a larger pan (tin, aluminum or cast) to replace the factory. I personally went with a 9" cake pan.

2. Get it closer to the heating element...but not on it. It needs to be off the element or it will greatly reduce the life. I used 3 cat food cans (with the labels removed) which put it about a half inch off the element.

3. Big extension cords. The further away you run it from an outlet the larger the extension cord needs to be. Best to plug directly into the outlet if possible...but if not then don't even think of less than a 12 gauge extension cord. Low power will lessen the life of the heating element and lower your overall cooking temp.

Until I figured these simple things I had a lot of problem getting any kind of decent smoke from mine...no longer.

Hope this helps

Electric Smoker ModelE1609B Royal Oaks
by: Ronald

The chip pan sits too high above the heating element so the wood gets turned into charcoal but does not smoke! I don't want to sit the pan or wood right on the element because that's hazardous.. I called Royal Oaks for advice but no answer yet. I will return it to WalMart if there is no solution.

Not enough smoke
by: Anonymous

Anonymous,
Thank you for your suggestions too! I really appreciated Howard's suggestion of putting a pan directly on the heating element. But I wasn't sure what if anything that might do to the element.

I bought some 1/2 X 1/8 inch flat iron and made a bracket that hooks onto the guides for the grill racks which puts the chip box directly over the element, but doesn't sit right on it.

There's about 1/2 inch space between the two now, which will give plenty of space for trying unsoaked chunks of wood as you suggested.

Thanks again,
Donn W.

Using an Electric Royal Oak Smoker

Royal Oak Electric Smoker
by: Anonymous

To get the maximum smoke time, you should be using unsoaked chunks, not soaked chips. Placing any metal objects on the element will greatly shorten element life.

Just place a decent sized chunk of wood between the element, making sure it's not touching, and it will smoke just fine. A chunk of wood should smoke for approximately 1 to 1 and 1/2 hrs.

Remember, if you can still smell smoke even if you can't see it, you're still smoking.

Not Enough Smoke When Using an Electric Smoker
by: Donn W.

Howard,

Thanks for your suggestion of putting a cast iron pan on top of the heating element.It makes sense to have the chips closer to the heat source.I'll give that a try.

Thanks Again,
Donn

Not enough smoke
by: Howard

I had the same problem. I bought a small cast-iron pan that sits on top of the heating element, and then put the chips in that. I get a lot more smoke this way. You still want to soak the chips - they'll still catch fire if you're not careful.