Tips For Making The Best Smoked Meat In An Electric Smoker

When we want a large amount of meat to store for many days, smoking is the best solution. Through smoking, meat is cooked at low temperatures for a long duration of time to prevent it from spoiling. Plus, it adds flavor to the meat. If you have a busy life, find a best electric smoker for this purpose. Electric smoker smokes meat without making you spend a long time in monitoring the smoker.

What Type of Electric Smoker Will You Use?

Decide first what type of electric smoker you will use.

Vertical water smokers are comparatively cheap and work well in warm climate, but they can’t keep their core temperature in cold atmosphere. Therefore, before you purchase a vertical smoker, be sure that you will smoke meat only in the hot summer months.

Electric cabinet smokers look like small refrigerators. They commonly have a temperature gauge to enable you to control the core temperature. While cooking meat using an electric smoker, being able to control temperature is important.

Reading Instruction Manual

Electric smokers are of several types, each of which has its own operating techniques. Therefore, you need to know how your particular smoker works, and so, you should read the instruction manual carefully.

Seasoning or Curing A New Electric Smoker

The process of “seasoning” or “curing” a new electric smoker removes dust, odors and solvents from a new electric smoker, before preparing it for cooking food. Follow the instructions in the manual to season the smoker.

• Brush the indoor surfaces and racks of the smoker with cooking oil.
• Turn it on and leave it so for two hours. Turn it off after 2 hours and open the hood to make it cool off.

Preparing Meat

While preparing meat for smoking, season it with a dry rub, like salt, sugar and herbs, or marinate it in an acidic marinade. Leave it overnight to let the flavor gets absorbed completely.

Turning the Smoker On

• If your smoker has a water receptacle, add water to the smoker.
• Buy wood chips which you can get at a hardware store, grocery shop or online.
• Add chips of cherry, maple, hickory, plum or alder to wood chip container. You will need about 4 cups (946.35 ml) wood chips every 3 to 5 hours of smoking for an electric smoker.

Cooking

• While the meat is being cooked, it is important that the internal temperature is monitored. Most of the electric smokers have the facility of an internal temperature gauge. Adjust it. Some smokers have a dial so as to enable you to turn the temperature up and down, while others are set at a particular high point, like 235 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Wait till the smoker reaches the desired temperature. While cooking with an electric smoker, you need not start cooking till the correct temperature is achieved.
• Put the prepared meat in the racks of the smoker once the smoker acquires the desired temperature. Smoke the meat till it becomes tender. This takes anywhere between 3 and 8 hours. Check by inserting a meat thermometer into the meat.

More Tips

If you have no experience of smoking food, consider buying an inexpensive variety of cooker and make a practice. Once you become a smoking expert, you can invest into a high-end electric smoker.

Try adding wine, beer or apple juice if you have a water container to your electric smoker. This will add a nice sweet flavor to your smoked meat.