Best inexpensive electric smoker

This works very well and is a pretty good bargain

Masterbuilt

Can you load chunks of wood into the feeder box or just chips. I like to use oak and pecan chunks.

You can get the masterbilt Cold Smoke attachment for longer smokes and smaller chunks. $89 on Amazon. I’m on my third Masterbuilt in probably 15 years, and I really like them. Mine’s attached right to the smoker since I don’t cold smoke, so it’s really just a big reservoir that will get you an extra couple of hours before having to reload.

Cold Smoke Box- Masterbilt

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So does that attachment have a separate heating element

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Yes- it’s got an electric coil in the bottom. I usually turn it on for 30-60 minutes to get the coals going, then turn it off to let it feed itself and not burn too quickly. My first box melted down because it got too hot If you have a long smoke like a pork butt, you can turn it back on if necessary. It’s been worth the extra expense so you don’t have to feed chips in as often. The chips will catch fire and burn, not smolder if they’re too dry, so I’ll sometimes soak them a little to make sure they don’t burn too quickly.

You can run a dryer vent so you just get the smoke and not the heat, but like I said, I don’t cold smoke, so I’ve never used it like that. It fits right in to the smoker where the chip cylinder goes, and there’s a screw attachment that keeps it connected so the smoke loss is minimal.

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Can you load chunks of wood into the feeder box or just chips. I like to use oak and pecan chunks

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It is a bit of a hassle reloading chips every 2-3 hours but after 4-5 hours the meat has taken in about as much smoke as it will. This was a 12lb butt that took a little less than 16 hrs. It started to fall apart a bit cracking the bark.


I’ve never been able to get much of a smoke ring on brisket but it tastes great. Sounds like that’s not a concern for you having an offset.

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I’ve never been able to get much of a smoke ring on brisket

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You aren’t going to get smoke rings on electric unless you do a fake one with pinking salt brine. Just how that style of smoking works.

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You aren’t going to get smoke rings on electric unless you do a fake one with pinking salt brine.

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Yeah I’m not that concerned with smoke rings. I much prefer the convenience of an electric and not having to worry about temperature fluctuations if I can’t be next to it all day long. I don’t have any problems with smoke flavor, though.

Just pulled this 3lb prime sirloin off


Turkey breast is still hanging out. Maybe another hour or so.

ETA- the biggest downside to the Masterbilt is the max temp is 275. I wish I could get crispier skin on chicken without having to light the grill, too.

I used to use a 30" Masterbuilt with a pellet tube in it. Worked well for sausage but if hanging it you can only fit about 15 lbs at a time. I now have a Pitt Boss vertical pellet (around $400 if I remember right) and I can hang a lot more sausage plus I think it does a better job. For some reason with the electric I couldn't ever get the sausage to all be uniform in color. Don't have that problem with the pellet.

The Masterbuilt only goes up to 275 degrees. The Pit Boss goes up to 450. If I were going to get another electric I'd get the Masterbuilt 40, much more room.