I was fortunate to receive an electric smoker this past Christmas. It’s essentially this Masterbuilt Electric Smoker but branded by Cajun Injection Company. I gave it a test run over the holiday with mixed results but now that spring is here I am determined to master this machine.

I did some pork ribs a few weeks back in a two step process. Step 1 was smoking the rubbed ribs at around 165F for 6 hours over hickory. I utilized a technique I saw in a ChefSteps.com video that suggested I fill the water pan with crushed ice to help the smoker maintain a more consistent temperature and avoid the overshoot as best as possible. It appears to have worked well as the temperature didn’t fluctuate very wildly and stayed within 5-10F, which is pretty good from my past experience with electric smokers. Step 2 was to bag the ribs and throw them in the water bath for 24 hours at 62C to tenderize them. This was my first long cook since upgrading to a lab quality circulator and I was very happy with the results. The ribs were very tender, like a very tender ribeye steak, but still clung to the bone nicely enough to give you a bit of work when you bit into them. I decided to finish them with the torch while basting them with their own juices. The crust was nicely developed and the meat was super moist. I think in the future this will be my go to method for foods that traditionally require a long cook time in the smoker.

Next on the list is going to be some shellfish. Oysters have been calling my name lately and I would like to experiment a bit with the different textures and smoke levels I can get from them in the shell as well as on a perforated tray. I am also looking at making a smoked seafood sausage with scallops and shrimp as a base but welcome thoughts and ideas about whether I should cold smoke them first or make the sausage first and smoke it whole.

Future experiments will be with smoked water, tea smoking, cold smoking cheeses, smoked pasta, and smoked vinegar. I think I’m going to need a bigger pantry!