We all know that smoking and cooking with an electric smoker demands a lot of patience.
Why is that? Well, it’s because the electric smokers cook food slower than the grill or gas smokers. Perhaps, this might be the only thing you would have to suffer with; when smoking with an electric smoker.
However, it’s not like you can’t do anything about it. In fact, there are a few electric smoker tips and tricks that will help you get the best out of this electric appliance.
But how to figure out where you are going wrong? How to cook the perfect meat in an electric smoker? What is the thing you can’t seem to get right when cooking with an electric smoker?
Cool down! You will find all your answers in this article. So let’s begin!
Things to Keep In Mind When Cooking With an Electric Smoker
If you are looking for ways to show-off your smoking skills to everyone, these are a few things to consider when cooking with an electric smoker:
- Plugin the switch. Yes! People tend to forget this Basic step when smoking meat in an electric smoker.
- Avoid opening the door while the meat is inside.
- Do not soak the chips. And make sure the chips are dry. Plus, know that the smoke these chips form is blue and NOT white.
- If you see white smoke coming out of the chips-tray, know that it’s just steam and wouldn’t cause any flavourful impact on the meat.
- Take care of the vents and keep them open when the food is getting ready.
- Do not over smoke.
Though they sound negligible, these minor details can either run your small food business or ruin it terribly.
How to Cook With an Electric Smoker
After investing in a digital smoker, people often have concerns about how to cook with an electric smoker.
It’s pretty easy to cook in an electric smoker, however, it is tricky at the same time. If you are in the same boat, worry no more! Here is your answer.
Cooking time and temperature are the two crucial things that, if in anyways you forget, the whole struggle will go down the drain.
But before you adjust the time and temperature of cooking with an electric smoker, you must marinate the meat, before placing it inside the smoker.
After that, fill the chips-box, add water in the container, put the meat inside, open the vents, and lock the door carefully.
Most types of meats are smoked at 225 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit with the time-varying from one variety to another.
Electric Smoker Tips and Tricks to Make the Most Out of It
If you don’t know how to cook with an electric smoker and the sight of under or overcooked meat after waiting for hours makes you question your cooking skills, you need to consider the following tips for smoking meat in an electric smoker.
Pre-season the electric smoker
To increase the life of your electric smoker, do not forget to pre-season the smoker. This will help the smoker to prepare itself for future use beforehand.
Note: Always remember to cook a light meal on the first-try before you learn all the tricks about how to cook with an electric smoker.
Buy a separate meat thermometer
Many professionals suggest buying a separate thermometer to check the temperature of the meat.
This is because the prebuilt thermostat in the smoker is not very accurate and doesn’t tell the right temperature.
So the wrong temperature will ultimately increase or decrease the cooking time which will ruin the taste of your meal.
Temperature adjustment
We know that an electric smoker maintains the temperature itself. However, there are a few budget electric smokers whose insulating ability is not-so-good.
Cooking with an electric smoker that swings the temperature a little too much might be difficult. However, we have just the trick for you to cook without any trouble.
- Set the temperature to 15 or 20 degrees below the required temperature to cook meat.
- As the smoker tries to fluctuate the temperature, it will raise the temperature to 15 or 20 degrees above your preset temperature. (which would be the actual value for the meat)
- Once this has been achieved, reset the temperature, sit back, and relax.
Mix and match the chips to get variable flavors
Most of you might find it strange but mixing different types of wood chips creates an appetizing aroma that helps to multiply the taste of the meal several-fold.
Experimenting with the chips will also double the fun while cooking with an electric smoker. Try it out, and explore the chef in you!
Clean after every use
After taking the meat out of the chamber, remember to clean the racks and smoker’s body.
NEVER forget to clean it after every use. Otherwise, the drippings, oil, and smoke might get stuck inside inducing an awful smell.
FAQs
From meat to vegetables, you can smoke anything and everything in an electric smoker.
Each food has its way and time (or electric smoker cooking time, precisely). Out of which Turkey takes the longest time to cook.
Just marinate, put it in the smoker, and add the right flavor of wood chips to get the perfect smoky taste in every food.
The two Basic electric smoker tips and tricks are; seasoning and adjusting the right temperature when cooking with an electric smoker.
Conclusion
So these were some of the electric smoker tips and tricks that will increase the lifespan of your smoker. Plus, these tricks will help you to prepare the perfect meal for every barbecue.
Hopefully, your confusion about how to cook with an electric smoker is cleared now. Plus, we hope you have already figured out the point you were missing while cooking with an electric smoker.
Just don’t forget to pre-season before and clean after using the electric smoker. The rest is up to you!
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Hey! I’m Robert Miller, a passionate writer of this blog. Here, I write to provide you the honest reviews and buying guides for the very best of smokers found in the market. I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them for you.