Meat smoker.. electric or gas?

[NM_Shooter]

I've decided that I want to get a small smoker for making jerky and smoked fish.  I've used charcoal based ones previously, and I find them to be too much of a hassle to work with... hard to get the temperature right, keep the fire going, cleanup, etc. 

So I am looking at a couple of different small smokers.  Any benefit to either gas or electric?  I'm leaning towards gas, as I can take it with me to my ranch, but the electric is cheaper and more compact. 

Thoughts?

[rwanders]

Heat control is always easier with gas and slow steady heat is important for good and safe results.

[Redoverfarm]

Frank in your "spare time" you could always construct a "smoke house"    More room bigger meat.

[rwanders]

A caveat for building a larger smoke house----you must be able to achieve and maintain high enough temperature to safely cure your meat or fish. I have seen those who got too ambitious about size and couldn't do that.

[NM_Shooter]

Red is poking fun at me because he knows that my plate is full and I am always picking projects that I can't seem to finish 

No. No big smokehouse.  Two main reasons:

1)  My wife would beat me until I was dead.
2)  She would then beat me some more.

I just want a small smoker...enough to do maybe 5 or 6 lbs of fish at a time, or a chicken, or a couple of lbs of jerky.  I'm looking for cheap, quick, and easy to put away when done!

Maybe this one : http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Grills-Accessories-Smokers-Fryers/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zaq53/R-100661410/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[MushCreek]

I like the idea of gas, too, for the portability. I recently built a smoker out of a stainless steel 55 gallon drum. It runs too hot for jerky, though. It cruises at about 225 with charcoal; just right for pork.

[RainDog]

Very nice lookin' rig there, MushCreek.

Iranians are gonna want to recruit you for their missile program, they see that.

[OlJarhead]

Weber Bullet!  Charcoal

That's what I use and I love it!

[NM_Shooter]

I like the idea of gas, too, for the portability. I recently built a smoker out of a stainless steel 55 gallon drum. It runs too hot for jerky, though. It cruises at about 225 with charcoal; just right for pork.

That's good looking!  What the heck is that conduit running down the side?

[Pox Eclipse]

I really like my electric smoker from Cabela's.  It is thermostatically controlled, so once it reaches 225 degrees, it is pretty easy to keep it there. 

The other advantage to electric is it won't add moisture to the smoke like gas will, so if you are making jerky, it will dry faster.

[MushCreek]

The conduit has a little valve on top so I can control the intake. There are two other holes in the bottom, which I plug with foil. I need to make a couple flaps to cover those. With all 3 vents open, it runs about 375, ideal for poultry.

[NM_Shooter]

Well, I knew it would come to this 

I can't find the smoker I want at a price I'm willing to pay.  I'm thinking of buying a turkey fryer combo kit, and building a metal box to sit on top of the burner assembly.  The Fryer will have all the HP needed to bring the box up to temp, although I don't think we ever ran ours higher than 250 degrees. 

Hmmmmmm....... I need some sheet metal!

[OlJarhead]

I mentioned the weber bullet before -- did you look at it?  Cost wise it's decent, but overall I think it rocks!

Truth is controlling the temperature is easy once you've used it a couple times (I set and forget almost now) and the amount of space is awesome   I can do two 14lbs turkey's at once no problem -- though usually we do a roast and a bird, or a ham and a bird etc -- always make more and freeze it!


Alder smoked salmon I did last year -- superb!  Best I've had in years.


Smoking the Thanksgiving Bird a few years ago


Can you say awesome

[NM_Shooter]

I ended up buying a propane fired unit from Lowe's for $89 and have employed it for two sessions already!  I love it!