Opinions on electric smokers?

I've had a Brinkmann for 20 yrs. I love the thing. I replaced the element 1 time. Soak the chips, double wrap them n foil and you're ready. Beef roasts over JD barrel chips are very good. I smoke beef, chicken, pork, sausage, armadillo eggs, venison roasts, hams, etc.. I cook on it about every weekend.

I have a smokin it #3 with a heatermeter on it. Smokin it is the cheaper cousin of the cookshack. Cookshack, smokin tex and smokin it are some of the higher end electric smokers. They do the job very well. They use very little wood even for 12+ hour smokes. Talking 6 ounces of wood chunks placed in the smoker initially and never having add more for a full packer brisket. If you want to go cheaper, I recommend the oldest gen 40" masterbuilts and use an AMNPS pellet smoker instead of the chip drawer.

If you go with a chip drawer, you don't need to soak your chips like stated above. It does nothing but delay smoke production, it doesn't prevent combustion. Preventing combustion is done by using better quality chips that aren't super dried out. The foil boat is a way to reduce combustion though.

You can produce a faux smoke ring with electrics if you brine with pinking salt, but it is just for show on electrics. There is a lot of good info on electrics over at a certain smoking meat forums website.

Extremely easy to use, so its good for beginners. The old man has one that I've used a couple of times and I think it turned out pretty well. Its convenient because you can set it and let it go, much less effort than other smokers.

I picked up a Masterbuilt on an Amazon lightning deal last black Friday. I was skeptical at first but after a half dozen smokes I'm a convinced it was a good purchase. One trick for smoke rings that I learned from others is to mix a few pieces of lump charcoal into the wood chips of the smoke box. This won't give you competition level BBQ but it gets the job done.

I like to light fires and drink beer

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I like to light fires and drink beer

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Me too, but having a electric smoker might not be a bad idea.

I got a 40" Masterbuilt for Christmas. I love it. Get one with the top vent. I also got the cold smoking attachment for it as well. We use it every week now.

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I have used one a few times. You do get the flavor and its super easy. But I love when you smoke a brisket or Boston butt and the outer layer gets dark and crispy to the point where it is almost burnt. Its the best part of smoked meat. You chop and mix it in the meat. Don't get this with the electric smoker.

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Yes, you can get that with an electric, may have just been the quality of the electric you were using. If you want a crispy chicken skin is where there is an issue because you can't usually get a high temp out of a lot of the electrics. That's solved by popping them in the oven for 30 minutes at the end of the smoke.

Used a Bradley Digital for many years, they do a great job.

Pros

Easy clean up
Changing wood types is easy with the pucks
Makes a good looking smoke ring
Set it and walk away

Cons

The pucks aren't inexpensive and not readily available

If in the market I'd seriously consider the Traeger. You get the additional versatility of being a grill too. Plus there are some aftermarket alternatives to their wood chips.

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I have used one a few times. You do get the flavor and its super easy. But I love when you smoke a brisket or Boston butt and the outer layer gets dark and crispy to the point where it is almost burnt. Its the best part of smoked meat. You chop and mix it in the meat. Don't get this with the electric smoker.

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I get dark and crispy with deep smoke rings just fine with my electric. It's not like the wood or the meat knows what kind of heat source you use.

Or maybe I'm running mine too hot.