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Top 12 Electric Smoker Tips 2

Electric Smoker Tips

Smoking food is a common method of preparing food to add in some extra flavor. Most people like to smoke their food outdoors; however, some prefer to do it indoors. The environments in both conditions are different. Smoking food inside can be dangerous which is why you have to be extra careful while smoking inside otherwise it can go really bad really fast.

Electric smokers can be tricky to run and maintain which is why we have provided several tips for all of you who are electric smoker owners. These tips will help you clean, use and even maintain your electric smoker.

1. Use apple cider for cleaning

One of the most helpful electric smoker tips you’ll ever find on the internet or elsewhere is to use apple cider for cleaning the interior of the electric smokers. Apple cider is a great reducing agent which means it can effectively remove rust as well as grease.

To use apple cider, you must prepare a spray bottle. You must mix apple cider with hot water in a 50-50 ratio. Then just use this bottle to spray the mixture on the inside of the electric smoker and scrub using a sponge.

Electric Smoker Tips

2. Use your smoker as an outdoor oven

While some electric smokers are definitely marketed as outdoor portable ovens, we would not specifically recommend using electric smokers as ovens. They are usually aimed at lower temperatures which means, if you want to bake a cake in one, you might have some trouble.

However, with this electric smoker tip, you will surely be able to use it as an oven for protein. All you have to do is not add wood chips into the electric smoker and let the heating element get heated up to a particular temperature which you desire. This will provide ample heat for the protein to evenly cook through.

3. Should I soak wood chips?

There isn’t a simple or a single answer to this question. Whether or not you want to soak wood chips before using the electric smoker is entirely a preference and depends on what you want to achieve as a cook.

Soaking wood chips before smoking is a great way to get maximum smoke out of the wood chips. However, some may argue that this is entirely dependent on the kind of wood used. You can additionally soak the wood chips in juice, beer or any other sort of beverage for extra flavor.

3. Should I soak wood chips?

There isn’t a simple or a single answer to this question. Whether or not you want to soak wood chips before using the electric smoker is entirely a preference and depends on what you want to achieve as a cook.

Soaking wood chips before smoking is a great way to get maximum smoke out of the wood chips. However, some may argue that this is entirely dependent on the kind of wood used. You can additionally soak the wood chips in juice, beer or any other sort of beverage for extra flavor.

4. Using electric smoker without wood chips

Ideally, you should use your electric smoker with wood chips and not without. This is because the wood chips help in making the smoke. If you’re out of wood chips or you’re considering using your electric smoker for more than one purpose, then we have just the right kind of electric smoker tip for you.

You can use your electric smoker without wood chips. However, you cannot smoke the food without them. You can use the device as a slow roaster and allow the meat or vegetables to cook through without adding that smokey flavor to them.

5. Get more smoke

With this great electric smoker tip, you’ll never have to worry about getting more smoke out of the wood chips you added into the electric smoker. All you have to do is to change two aspects of the electric smoker and you’ll eventually have more smoke in your electric smoker.

Firstly, what you can do is to add more water to the water pan or you can soak the wood chips before entering them into the electric smoker. This will create much more smoke. Other than this, you should keep a lower temperature for the smoke to form properly without getting the meat cooked before the smoke can add flavor to the food.

6. Put in the right amount of wood

Most people using electric smokers have no idea of how much wood to add to the electric smoker to get the perfect smokey flavor in the food you’re cooking. This electric smoker tip will help you in figuring out how much wood goes into the electric smoker for different kinds of food.

For vegetables or even fruits, ideally, you should use 2 to 3 ounces of wood chips. For chicken or turkey, we would highly recommend using 4 to 5 ounces of wood chips as this is enough for making smoke for adding the flavor. In the case of red meat or any other kind, you can use 8 ounces of wood chips for adding that perfect smoke flavor.

Electric Smoker Tips

7. Steam cleaning electric smokers

Steam cleaning electric smokers can be a real challenge because you have to be very careful. You have to be careful to not let the water get to the electrical components as this can greatly damage them and in turn, you’ll have an electric smoker that doesn’t work. But our experts have a pro electric smoker tip for you to effectively clean your electric smokers without worrying about malfunction.

Get yourself a spray bottle and add the water and a very tiny amount of washing liquid in the spray bottle. Next, you have to mix them up in the bottle. Then lightly spray the inside of the electric smoker but be careful not to let the water get to the electrical components. Now, close the door of the electric smoker and simply turn up the heat. The water will turn into steam and clean out the electric smoker.

You should then open the door and allow the steam and heat to air out of the electric smoker. As another electric smoker tip, we would recommend using a blower or fan to get the steam out of the electric smoker.

8. Frequency of cleaning the smoker

Here’s a great electric smoker tip which will help you regulate the cleaning times of your electric smoker. We would recommend cleaning the electric smoker at least every 3 weeks. This is if you use the electric smoker frequently. However, if you don’t use it that frequently, then we would recommend cleaning it out every 2 months. This is so that all the components don’t foster any maggots or any other infestations.

9. Maggot problem inside

Maggots can be a huge problem if one day you leave the door of the electric smoker open. As soon as you realize that you have a maggot infestation inside your electric smoker, we would recommend getting your local pest control to take care of it. However, you can also use this pro electric smoker tip to get rid of the maggots too.

Get your pressure washer hose and just spray on the insides of your electric smoker. Make sure to get into every spot. Then wait for the water to dry out. Don’t turn on the electric smoker until it dries out. Try not to take very long with this as water can damage the delicate electric components.

10. Cleaning the electric smoker racks

If you’re keen on cleaning the electric smoker racks every time you want to use it, then we have the perfect electric smoker tip for you. All you have to do is get a large water dish or tray and then place the racks inside the tray. Get yourself a spray bottle and mix water with dish soap. Make sure that dish soap and water are in a 70-30 ratio. Now simply spray it over the water and allow for the froth to form.

Now using a pressure hose, wash down the racks till you feel the grease and gunk are out. You can then allow for them to dry or soak them in the soapy water if you feel there’s a need.

11. Clean the glass door on Masterbuilt electric smokers

The glass door is perhaps the dirtiest part of the electric smokers as you can see the grease and another kind of unclean substances on there. We will use another spray bottle for cleaning the glass door. You must mix soap with water in a way that there are more soap and lesser water. Now simply spray the mixture onto the glass door and allow for it to set for half an hour.

Electric Smoker Tips

After half an hour, simply use a sponge or a rough rag to clean the glass door on the Masterbuilt electric smokers. Make sure you use a clean dry rag to soak up the water and the mixture from the glass door.

12. Clean the mold from the racks

Cleaning the mold from the racks can be a bit cumbersome but it’s fast and easy if you know the right electric smoker tip. You should fire up the electric smoker as hot as possible and allow for the mold to burn up into a crisp. Then simply use tip #10 to clean the racks and the mold will be gone easily.

Wrap up

Electric smokers can be tricky to keep up with because of the many components and delicate parts included in smokers. These delicate parts are dangerous and they can easily malfunction if you don’t treat them properly.

With these electric smoker tips, we hope you’ll have a better electric smoker experience overall. These tips will help you in cleaning the smokers, maintaining them and also getting the best out of them.


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