From Jeff Phillip's newsletter yesterday!

[prudentsmoker]

Smoking Meat Question and Answer Session


Cabinet style electric smokers do not produce enough smoke, why?
As you probably know, these smokers have an electric element that cycles on and off to maintain the set temperature. The only time the chips are prompted to smoke is when the heating element is on.
Here is the problem.. often, the smokers are well insulated and the heating element does not cycle on enough to keep the chips smoking properly, especially in warmer weather.

 

[old sarge]

I wonder if my 3D knows that it should not be producing continuous smoke? 

 

[Meatball]

Curious as to what Jeff's forthcoming review of the Smokin It unit will be like.

 

[LarryD]

The 'well insulated' and 'especially in warmer weather' statements seem to be contradictory. 

Here is the problem.. often, the smokers are well insulated and the heating element does not cycle on enough to keep the chips smoking properly, especially in warmer weather.

 

[Muttley]

It's continuous low heat which is the foundation for "smoking" food (meats for reference), it's not the continuous generation of smoke getting the job done, however, this is a indication of low combustion.  My fire science buddies could bust out the physics of it all. 

I am not 100% I agree with the posted answer wherein the "well insulated smoker" doesn't generate smoke properly and where this is previously qualified as a "problem". 

I am smoking in 95F weather, I can firmly say I do not have an issue with "smoking properly".  Then again, I am not using chips either, so there is that entire aspect I am not even considering and cannot address. YMMV 

 

[EFGM]

Shhhhh! Quite everyone! I don't want my Briskets to hear about this. Thankful they can't read.

 

[old sarge]

Jeff Phillips has a nice site and forum.  The  electric smoker forum is  extremely heavy on Masterbuilt and it's legion of problems, failures, and modifications just to produce smoke. So I reckon Jeff was referring to Masterbuilt.  I have saved many a person from going in that direction.  It is for certain that he was not talking about SI! (my heavily biased opinion)