So far, a few of my posts have mentioned my smoker, so I thought it would be appropriate to write a gear review about it, in the event anyone out there is considering picking up an electric smoker. Mine is a Smokehouse Little Chief Electric Smoker. It’s an aluminum, front-load unit with an heating element on the bottom, a drip pan above that, and five shelves for smoking goodness. Just like the picture, the Little Chief comes with a bag of Alder Chips as well as a smoker recipe book.
So far, it has been put to use smoking beef jerky, trout, steelhead and salmon, nearly all of it has been excellent. I’ve even skipped the smoking chips and have used it as an outdoor dehydrator to make all-natural banana chips. However, the smoked meat has been, by far, the most delicious outcome. Let me just come out and say that this smoker is AWESOME! It’s virtually foolproof! You can make up a nice brine, toss in your meat and let it go unattended and you’ll still get something good–obviously, the more attention you pay to it, the better quality you get, but it takes all the work of a Traeger or a traditional wood or pellet smoker, and packages into a useful and handy unit for people who want quality, in less time.
One of the gripes that I have about the Little Chief is that on the racks that come with it, there is a little too much space between the rungs, which means you have to have long enough strips of meat to reach all the way across multiple rungs to keep it from falling down. For banana chips, I had to go out and buy some plastic grids to put on top of the metal rungs. These worked properly and my banana chips came out well. I’ve also been able to use this same setup for smoked fish. The other gripe that I have is that if it is cold out, or windy, it is hard to keep the smoker warm enough to do its job. I’ve been experimenting with a briquet of charcoal and hardier wood in the smoking chip pan to keep the heat smoldering. There are lots of sites on the Internet with contraptions and smoker wraps to keep the smoker warm in the winter. I’ll post a few links when I get some time to find them.
Little Chief Smoker
Here are some specs on the Little Chief Smoker from the Cabela’s Product Detail Page:
- Create tantalizing meats that will make your mouth water with this Little Chief Electric Smoker. This front-loading unit includes a recipe book, instructions for use and hickory chips for up to six loads. It uses 110-volt household current and holds up to 20 pounds of meat.
- Dimensions : 11-1/2″ x 12-1/2″ x 24-1/2″.
- Weight: 16 lbs.
The Smokehouse Little Chief Electric Smoker is only $119 at Cabela’s. Bass Pro Shops has the Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse Smoker which is supposed to be pretty good, although it is $229. This is current pricing as of 1/5/2010.
A few things that I have done with the smoker recently is trying organic meat versus regular meat, which has not produced significantly noticeable results. I’ll post some more if we get anything good. The other interesting variation that I’ve done is use dried clippings of branches from my fruit trees and using those in the smoker. Those add a very nice, light and fruitful taste to the smoked meat, especially when mixed with some alder chips. The fruit trees are all organic, so the smoke in the meat is certainly chemical-free. Please post a comment below if you’re interested in buying some of my organic fruit tree chips.
Here are a few pieces of advice for anyone wanting to buy a smoker:
- Teriyaki is an extremely complicated flavor. Whatever you do, do not try to make smoked teriyaki flavored anything until you’ve smoked at least 10 different things.
- Mesquite Smoking Chips are really good with beef, but are a little overpowering for fish.
- Allow at least 8 hours for your smoker to smoke the meat–less in the summer, more in the winter.
- Modern refrigeration is easily accessible, so you don’t need to make shoe-leather jerky.
- It’s always good to lightly rinse off the super-salty brine from the outside of the fish.
- A lot of people have asked, so I wanted to point out that the Little Chief, and Big Chief, for that matter, are made for smoking small amounts of fish or jerky, and for adding smoke flavor to meats to be finished off in the oven. The Chief smokers have a permanently set thermostat that maintains a temperature of about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t hot enough for most types of smoking, and is too hot for real cold smoking.
Here’s one of my more recent smoking attempt on the Little Chief Smoker, smoked tuna! These went REALLY well with medium to dark beer while watching football.
Smoked Tuna
OK, try THIS on for size: Alder-Smoked Albacore Tuna, attempt number 2!
Alder Smoked Albacore Tuna
Here are some other links to some of the fish that have been on my smoker:
- Clackamas River Winter Steelhead
- Nehalem Bay Coho Salmon
- Estacada Lake Rainbow Trout
- Lake Simtustus Rainbow Trout
- Albacore Tuna from the Oregon Coast
Here are some places to buy a Smokehouse Little Chief Electric Smoker:
Despite the thin metal construction this is an outstanding smoker. Though this smoker will not really get hot enough to cook while it smokes it will produce fantastic smoked fish and jerky. I’ve smoke-flavored pork loin, chicken, turkey, even hamburgers with excellent results. Throw on a pan or two of chips, remove the meat then cook as you normally would (I prefere the grill for them all) and watch your guests light up. You can’t go wrong on this one in my opinion.
I had a charcoal smoker I used to it’s death, and quit smoking all together due to the inconsistent results and a big mess to clean up. I picked this unit up and brined 8 medium salmon fillets overnight with the quick recipe in the book. I seasoned the smoker while air drying the fillets, placed 4 full racks of fish in, added 3 pans of wood chips and had perfect results in just 4 hours. The racks cleaned up easy and I could not be happier with my results. Can’t wait to do the next batch, this was too easy.
by alaskie oklahoma on April 1, 2009
This little smoker is SWEET. Used one in Alaska for several years for variety of smoking and drying purposes, with smoking salmon the primary use. Was more than pleased with the results. Upon moving to Oklahoma I order a new smoker, this one being a front loader which I consider more user friendly for my needs. This is not a cooker, don’t expect to do this or you will be disappointed. What is does extremely well is what it is designed for, smoking/low temp. drying. I have dried many pounds of tomatoes, as well as a variety of fruits as well as making my own jerkey.The little chief smoker is a quality product, does its job very well, and fairly priced.
by LittleSmokeyWife Island Park, Idaho on December 8, 2008
We made Buffalo Jerkey. It came out delicious.It was great that the chips came with the smoker, we could get smoking right away with out having to go buy anything extra.I bought this for my husbands birthday. He was surprised and happy to get a smoker. We had a Little Chief 20 years ago, they haven’t changed, they’re still the same great little smoker.We soaked the racks briefly and they cleaned up very nicely. It was easy to assemble too.
by lakewoodguy long beach, ca on December 18, 2007
The Little Chief smoker is great for an average family. It makes enough beef jerkey for 4, and works wel for smoking pork for Pulled Pork sandwiches. It is best for jerkey, is small so it is easily stored, does not take up much room when in use and produces a rich smokey flavor in meats.
by smokinsalmon Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 30, 2008
Although it took several months to be available again online (sold out) it was well worth it. Price alone. Other stores had them at $99 or more, not including tax & shipping. The instuctions are very basic, temperature is hot, quality is great. I just need more time in the day to use it! I can’t wait to try other items instead of just smoking salmon. Well worth the wait and getting it through the site to store instead of delivery, saved me $11. I would totally recomend this product.
by Smoker on April 25, 2008
Tried a brisket 12hrs and it didnt get done but smoked it good. Was hopeing it would cook it too. But great flavor for cooked meats.
by Algea Hobbs, NM on October 13, 2009
My son and daughter both have the Little Chief andI always got my smoked fish from them. Now I amliving in New Mexico and have to smoke my own. Igot thier recipes and now have my own Little Chief so do not have to rely on them. Great little smoker.
“Everything is working out great. I’ve never smoked foods before and was concerned it would be a big challenge. I smoked some ducks last week and they came out great. Next I made duck jerky and the whole family loved it. I’m doing another batch because I hardly got any of the first batch, everyone else gobbled it up. As for the function, the directions were easy and straight forword. Everything works just as described. It really is easy to do. The recipe book has given me all kinds of new ideas. I would have liked to have had a temperature gauge for internal temp, but so far, by following the recipies, it hasn’t really been necessary. Everything has come out just fine. I am very pleasantly surprised.”
FIVE STARS!!!! For homeowners use it is perfect. Does the job well.
I did some smoked steelhead on the Little Chief this past weekend and it was awesome! Use some apple juice, soy sauce, salt, brown sugar, garlic and a touch of cinnamon. I also mixed in some dried pear and apple chips from my fruit trees with some alder and it worked out pretty well. There was a cold wind blowing, so the smoker didn’t get really hot so it took a bit longer than usual.
This is a great product. I had an old Little Chief top loader handed down from my father in law, and I produced smoked Bluefish with it for many years. The heating element eventually went so this year I ordered a new front-loading model (though I later discovered that I could have ordered a replacement element). It works great. Just finished my first batch of six fillets and they were very good. This is such an honest product. It’s simple, refined close to perfection, and simply works as advertised. It even comes with a full-sized bag of chips, not just a little sample. I’m not sure whether I like the top-loading arrangement or the front-loading arrangement better. They both have advantages. Either way, you’ll get an easy-to-use smoker that works really well and will last for a long, long time. Capacity wise, I tend not to over stuff it and usually smoke the fillets from three, six to nine pound fish.
When the Alaska salmon runs and it’s $3.99/lb, I start smoking.
I had a top loader Little Chief that I bought for $50 and it lasted more than 15 years. I bought the front loader as a replacement, and it’s even nicer. easy to clean and use, and it holds more than the old one did in the same amount of space.
A wonderful little addition to the patio (occasionally) and the Fire Department knows that the smell is a GOOD thing at my house.
We bought the Smokehouse Little Chief Smoker and have used it twice this week! Both times the meat has turned out really well especially for people like ourselves no nothing about smoking meats. Most of the meat has to be cooked in the oven after smoking but we don’t find that a problem. The little smoker is easy to set up and clean after using, we have found it very convenient and fun! It is also realy economical because we want to make smoked fish and smoked beef jerky for friends for Christmas and Holiday gifts too.
Here’s how to do Pork Ribs on the Little Chief Smoker. Click the link here too for the link on Chowhound.
I would smoke for four to six hours in the Little Chief, changing the wood in the little pan four times. Note that cooler outdoor temps make for a longer smoking time in this little smoker. As far as wood, I prefer mesquite or hickory, but apple would be good as well. I’m smoking some Atlantic salmon in mine as I type.
Check out my favorite place for Alder Smoking Salmon Recipes: http://www.justsmokedsalmon.com/alderrecipes.htm
I use the Little Chief Smokehouse primarilyh.
I built a dbl walled box for my Little Chief out of fir and 1/8″ masonite. The box has a large enought space to accomidate the smoker with a hinged opening for the chip pan and access hole for electrical plug in. This lid is set uo to drop in and seal, a set of exterior handles makes it very portiable. Smoking time is cut to two hours the internal temp stays at 160.
The box sidewalls and both the top and bottom are filled with high heat insolation, each insolated cell is gluded/clamped and nailed to the fir frames. total weight 41 lbs.
Save time or more fishing and hunting! PUT THE BOX IN A BOX!
That’s a pretty neat idea, Robert! I’m not quite ready to do that to my Little Chief yet, however, ask me again on a cold day in the fall or winter when I’ve got to wait 12 hours for some smoked meat! May certainly make for a fun winter project!
I took some of my famous beef jerky (yes, from the Little Chief) out on the Pacific Crest Trail Backpacking Trip, and it was a big hit.
Also upon returning from the backpacking trip, I used the box from the Little Chief to create a cold-smoking extension box where I made some smoked cheese.
I studied electric smokers on quite a few websites for days and found that this smoker had the best reviews. So, I went for it and am so glad I did. I’ve never smoked before but everything that I’ve smoked turned out absolutely delicious. When I bought it, my husband was very skeptical that I’d use it very often or that the smoked meat would be so much better than making it on the grill. I smoked pork ribs first, and after one bite he said not to make it any other way from now on. I smoked a turkey next for Thanksgiving and everybody raved. I couldn’t believe how moist and tender it was and even leftovers stayed moist!
PROS:
1. VERY easy to use
2. Digital temperature control is great! It keeps consistent temp–
even on really cold days!
3. Don’t have to open door to add more wood chips
4. Plenty of shelves so you can smoke a lot at one time or
remove 2 trays to smoke 2 large turkeys or hams
5. Shelving is made so that you can smoke even small items on
them and they won’t fall thru
CONS:
Wish the unit had wheels on it, so I could wheel it in and out of garage when I want to use it. BUT, unit is extremely light so it’s not something that would keep me from buying it.