Today I would like to share with you why the Masterbuild 30 Electric Smoker is so good. But first the other day I wrote about grilling. And I just love to grill outdoors. But smoking, now that is something different entirely.

Now let me give you a definition, my definition of bbq. Barbecuing should be considered as a long and slow process where you cook over indirect heat. This is a lower heat method and you usually use charcoal or wood. This will cook your food with lots and lots of smoke. I guess the closest I can come to the best definition of barbecuing is that it is cooking with smoke. – as compared to grilling which I talked about the other day which is fast and over very high heat.

I am going to share with you some of the pros and cons of one of my favorite smokers  which is the Masterbuild 30 Electric Smoker, but first let me share some tips with you about how to use a smoker properly.

You want whatever it is that you are going to smoke to be ready. For most cases you will have put barbecue rub on it the night before and wrapped it up and it is ready to go today. Have your Masterbuild 30 Electric Smoker ready to go with a temperature between 225 and 250 degrees. You want to add some water to your pan. I have found out (the hard way) to wrap this up in aluminum foil for as the fat starts to drip down and this pan catches it, eventually it really looks ugly. Ask my daughter about her pizza pan I used when I was younger; I totally destroyed it. So just be careful and think long, long term. You are going to have this probably for the rest of your life.

The smoker is ready to go and you can put the meat on to smoke. Now all you have to do is monitor the smoke. You might have to add some more wood, or wood chips from time to time, but keep an eye on it.

Here is a good rule of thumb: for smoking it is usually between 1 and 1.5 hours per pound of meat which you are smoking.

Now here is an important thing to remember when using an electric smoker like the masterbuild smoker.  You are just going to keep adding more and more time to your smoking process if you keep opening the door. There is no need to do that. I know you have to do that when grilling because there are flare ups and you have to put those down or you are going to be serving blackened chicken  ….whether you like it or not. So just be cognizant of that fact. Here is something to ponder:

the meat is further away from the heat source

the heat is lower

and you are using a drip pan so the fat is collected
so I just want you to know that every time you open up that door to take a peek, you are adding more time to the smoking process.

Here is that review I promised you: