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Because they are so easy to use, and so very convenient, electric smokers are among the most beginner-friendly smokers available. However, there are so many competing brands and models that picking one out can feel overwhelming.
To address this problem, we launched our own personal crusade to find the best electric smokers on the market. We scoured model after model, keeping in mind ease of use and overall smoking performance.
In the end, the very best of the best was the Dyna-Glo DGU732BDE-D for its ease of use at a very affordable price. You also get fantastic heat retention and a fully digital display, giving complete control over the process.
Nonetheless, there are a lot of other high-quality electric smokers available. For a quick overview of our top 7, and how to select the smoker that’s right for you, keep reading.
Our Top 3 Favorites
- Lare cooking space to cook for big groups
- Removable food thermometer
- Amazing customer service
- Easy to assemble
- Great for smoking fish, jerky and sausage
- Excellent "plug-n-play" smoker.
- Temperature are easy to set and accurate
- Great as daily cooker
How to Pick the Best Electric Smoker For Your Needs
Electric smokers have the same goal as other types of smokers: to apply low heat over long periods. This is required to achieve tender juiciness in tougher cuts of meat like briskets.
Unlike other smokers, however, electric smokers don’t involve burning wood or fuel to create smoke. Instead, they use a heating element to generate the heat necessary for cooking. To prevent the meat from drying out, a pan of water is located above the heating element. This turns the water to steam over time,
Because there’s no wood or charcoal being burned, electric smokers produce the least flavorful results. This is undoubtedly their biggest drawback. Some electric smokers allow you to optionally put in a tray of wood chips to emulate some smoke, but the results aren’t as convincing as a real wood-fire smoker.
You also don’t get the “smoke ring” – the pink ring around your meat that adds another layer of visual complexity. So, if you’re after authenticity, you just won’t get it with an electric smoker.
So why even use electric smokers? For one, they’re easier to use. Like using an oven, all that’s needed is to set the smoker to the desired temperature, and it does the rest. No more messing around with starting (and maintaining) a smoke.
Also, if you want to smoke meats but live in a cramped space (like an apartment), electric smokers are convenient. It’s quite dangerous and impractical to operate a wood-fired smoker in an apartment building. Hence, an electric smoker still allows you to smoke your own meats inside your living quarters.
Not all electric smokers are created equal, however. Some will be better for you, depending on your needs. To help you out, here are the biggest factors you need to take into consideration:
Temperature Control and Range
Temperature control is arguably one of the most crucial factors when buying an electric smoker. Since it will maintain the temperature based on its settings, the thermostat must be spot on. Otherwise, you’ll get inconsistent results.
You should also consider the lower end of the temperature range, which is easy to overlook. More moderate temperatures allow you to smoke more delicate food like cold-smoked salmon.
For the best in flexibility, go for an electric smoker that can go as low as 100 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This gives you the most variety in the range of meats and food you can smoke.
Front Loading
The majority of electric smokers in the market utilize a front-loading design, and for a good reason – they’re much easier and safer to use.
Front-loading smokers are built like a refrigerator. The front door opens, and you get access to shelves, typically around four. This is where you place all the food that you want to cook. Usually, it also allows you to set a tray of water and wood chips on the lowest shelf.
This design is excellent because you can quickly check and rearrange your food by merely opening the door. In the older top-loading models, you have to take out the upper shelves before you could reach the lower ones. Not only is this time consuming, but it’s also dangerous.
For the ultimate in monitoring, you can opt for clear glass windows on your smoker doors. This allows you to check on the progress of your meat without having to open the door.
Two Door Design
The front-loading design mentioned above is fantastic, except for one flaw. When you open the front door to refill the water pan or wood chip tray (which you’ll often do over the course of longer cooks), you let heat escape, lowering the temperature of the internal chamber.
The solution to this is the two-door design. This separates the door of the food chamber from that of the water and wood chip chamber. That way, you can open the lower door to adjust the water and wood chips, without exposing the food chamber to the air.
Some units also have one door but allow you to refill the water and wood tray via an easy-access drawer. This is also quite convenient.
Width
The front-loading design of most electric smokers has a vertical setup. The cooking area is usually divided into multiple shelves. This means that a 500 square inch cooking area in a vertical electric smoker and is not the same as a 500 square inch cooking area in an offset smoker.
This doesn’t sound problematic until you try cooking a large piece of meat in one. You’d think a full slab of ribs should be no problem with 500 square inches of space. But with multiple shelves, that 500 square inch now becomes a little over 100 square inches in an electric smoker.
Suddenly, your full slab doesn’t quite fit inside your smoker.
That’s why for vertical designs (like many electric smokers), it’s much better to consider the width of the cooking area as well. Ask for the actual dimensions of the smoker, and try getting the widest you can.
You might not need to smoke a large brisket now, but you may want to in the future. It’s always good to have options.
However, you also need to consider the impact the width has on portability as well. If you plan to move your smoker around, or if you have limited space in your apartment or porch, then you need to factor this into your decision.
Proper Seal
Keeping all the heat in is the mark of a true smoker, and it’s the same with an electric one. Any leaks or holes will make it harder for the unit to maintain constant temperatures. This leads to the heating element overworking, raising electricity costs.
The primary source of leaks is, as expected, the door. Check the hinges and the edges of the door itself. Fortunately, fixing them isn’t a problem. A high-temperature gasket is all you need to repair any leaks you might find.
Smoke Controller
There are three primary ways you control an electric smoker, with lots of variation in between. All of these options affect the price and the precision of control you have over your smoker’s temperature.
The most common you’ll find is the multi-position controller. This involves a rotary dial that you can turn to set your smoker to the desired temperature. There’s a limit to the number of temperature settings you can use, which depends on the number of increments available to you.
The most basic among these is the three-position controller, which allows you to set the smoker’s temperature to low, medium, or high. While cheap, it offers the least precision for temperature control.
Going up a tad bit in precision is the One Touch Controller. It features a digital display and up/down buttons, allowing you to set the temperature in smaller (usually 5 – 10F) increments.
While this is easier to use, the accuracy still isn’t 100% spot on. There’s typically a margin of error (around 15 – 20F) in the set vs. actual temperature.
For the most accurate temperature control, PID Controllers are the absolute best. They allow finer increments and maintain internal smoker temperatures more accurately. They can even be used in conjunction with a meat probe.
Ease of Cleaning
Electric smokers don’t have the same cleaning problems as wood-fired smokers do. So no need to dabble with ash removal trays and the like. This makes them vastly easier to clean than traditional smokers.
However, that doesn’t mean electric smokers don’t need cleaning features.
While they don’t produce ash, electric smokers do produce quite a lot of grease dripping from the meat. Some models feature a grease tray, which you can quickly empty and clean in between cooking sessions.
Durability
Electric smokers are exposed to constant heat over long periods, so it’s crucial that they’re built to withstand high temperatures.
This is primarily dependent on the material used to manufacture the smoker. Stainless steel is the most common and acceptable material since it’s resistant to rust. Alternative materials include porcelain and cast iron. All of them have fantastic heat retention and decent durability.
The thickness of the walls is also something that needs to be looked into. The right thickness will contain the heat better, which makes maintaining temperatures easier with less fuel. A quarter inch is a standard thickness to aim for.
Stability
For most electric smokers (that are built vertically), stability is an added consideration. Remember, you’re putting pounds of meat into it over long periods. It has to withstand all of that and remain stable.
Look for electric smokers with wide legs, as they are a good foundation for really tall units. If your smoker has wheels or casters, make sure they’re durable as well and can support all the added weight.
Wireless Capabilities
Electric smokers have their perks. Because they are electric, advanced features are much more straightforward than with wood-fired smokers.
One of the better features of some smokers is wireless connectivity. This allows you to monitor and even control your electric smoker anywhere in your house via Bluetooth. For the ultimate in convenience, some also enable WiFi connectivity for control anywhere on Earth!
More than for “lazy” pitmasters, this allows you to manage long cooking sessions while still being able to go about your day. Go to the office or run errands, check on your smoke, and come home to a perfectly smoked dinner.
Price
Relatively speaking, electric smokers are less expensive than the traditional offset smoker or even pellet smoker. One can argue that they’re also cheaper to use compared to buying wood and pellets (although this highly depends on how much you pay for electricity in your area).
When the price is an issue (isn’t it always?), you need to carefully consider the value you get and the features you need. The most significant influence on price is the size, so if you plan to only cook for your family, buying an appropriately-sized smoker can save you hundreds.
The cheapest electric smoker costs around $100 and the best of the best will set you back around $600 or more. For a good balance of costs vs. value, expect to shell out about $200 – $300.
Top 7 Electric Smoker Reviews
6. Masterbuit Smoke Hollow SH19079518
7. Masterbuilt 20072115
Final Verdict: Best Electric Smoker For Your Money
In our roundup of the best electric smoker in the market, we’ve covered a lot of features and specs. While many of them are fantastic in their own right, we picked one out that we feel can be appreciated by both beginners and veterans alike.
That smoker is the Char-Broil Deluxe Digital Electric Smoker. This is a piece of durable equipment that has the fantastic ability to hold heat in and maintain temperature levels. That means it can lead to consistent results every time.
Its fantastic heat retention, coupled with a generous cooking space and digital controls, make this a winning smoker. Oh, and did we also mention that it’s affordable?
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