Review: Old Smokey Electric Smoker

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When I want to show off, I smoke a couple of Boston Butts in my old-school Brinkman charcoal smoker (the one that looks like R2D2). The results are amazing, but you have to baby-sit it all day. Aaaalllll daaaayyyy.

When I want good BBQ that’s easy and consistent, I haul out the Old Smokey Electric Smoker. My wife surprised me with one for my birthday last year. I’ll admit to having a mildly snobbish reaction–”Charcoal is the ONLY way to smoke…”–but then I plugged it in. Hallelujah!

It works without water in the pan because it’s a sealed canister. The moisture (and smoke) circulates throughout the cabin during cooking, so the meat doesn’t dry out and the chips don’t catch fire. It’s a clever design.

The consensus among online reviewers is that a traditional charcoal smoker produces better results but that the Old Smokey makes the best smoked meat for the price and amount of effort you put in. I couldn’t agree more. The meat from Old Smokey doesn’t have that characteristic bark of charcoal or wood-fired smokers, but it’s consistently good/great and is completely set it and forget it.

If you want competition-grade smoked meat, get a small loan from the bank and ask for some time off work. If you want to create restaurant-quality meat on your own schedule, look into the Old Smokey. Good price, too!

The Results

Here is our creation from today. Pork Loin, rubbed with Rendezvous Famous Seasoning and wrapped in bacon, which was then sprinkled with more rub. Before:

3 hours later:

And yes, it did taste as good as it looks. We’ll have y’all over for Boston Butt and sweet potato biscuits sometime. Which reminds me, I’ve still got to perfect my sauce recipe. I have not been successful with my applesauce-based concoctions thus far.