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I am on my second Green Mountain pellet smoker and still am not happy with the amount of smoke flavor in the meat. I have tried several things and am just done. I think its time for a new machine. The Cookshack SM045 looks promising but before I go even deeper in the hole I want to be sure that I will be happy with the amount of smoke flavor it produces. Being that it uses real hard wood and not compressed pellets Im hoping this is the right direction. 

Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

 

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I have had a 066 Amerique for about 7 years now. I have been very happy with the amount of smoke, but I understand and realize it is not the same as comes from a stick burner, or even most pellet smokers. I'm ok with that as long as I get the smoke I want. I guess I'd ask, is the smoke you get in a typical commercial BBQ place enough for you? If not, by a large margin, you might want to consider other than an electric smoker. The commercial restaurants in my experience keep it to the tastes of their majority of customers. A CS electric doesn't give you a chance for overwhelming smoke flavor, just the way it works. Just to be clear, I have occasionally had too much smoke for me, but I think my comment still stands.

Thank you for the reply. It still leaves me uncertain but it does get me off in the right direction. I will say that my first smoker was a Masterbuilt and after 3 months it caught fire and burned my house down. Now while it seemed to give me good smoke flavor, I was hesitant to buy another one like it due to what happened so I checked around and got the Green Mountain. It is a very good smoker/grill but I have never thought that it had as much smoke flavor as the Masterbuilt did. It would be nice if there was a forum member who has had both and can confirm for me that the CS smokers will definitely give me more smoke flavor than the Green Mountain but I may not get that lucky. 

 

Well, as it turns out I also had a Masterbuilt electric smoker years ago, before I got my Amerique. So considering those two, although the systems are different (soaked chips vs dry chunks, ability with the Masterbuilt to add wood without opening), I think the amount of smoke flavor available with each is comparable. Hope that helps.

I have had all three, Masterbuilt MES30 electric, Green Mountain Davy Crockett and Cookshack 09 (plus a Smokin Tex 1400 and Smokin-It #1 & #3).

I have gotten the best smoke flavor from the Cookshack and its clones and as previous poster said, uses chunks.  GMG is more of a grill and only produces smoke flavor when run at less than 200 deg. The Masterbuilt without modifications requires feeding chips every 30 min or so but does give a fair smoke flavor.

For ease of use and ability to different amounts of wood chunks to give desired amount of smoke flavor, go with the Cookshack.

According to the experts meat stops absorbs most of smoke flavor before meat temperature gets to 140 deg.  The best way to get more smoke flavor is to get the temperature very slowly up to 140, keeping in mind food safety.

Last edited by LonzinomakerCS

Wow great post and thank you so much for that. Just the information and comparison I was looking for. I realize in the end I just need to make a decision but hearing from someone who has used them all makes a huge difference.  Im leaning heavily towards the SM045 with the only slight consideration still being maybe a SI 3D....with the only real thing being the wider temp range, larger wheels and slightly less cost. Im not sure any of that is a deal breaker when I just want the best of the best. 

I have the analog #3 SI, very satisfied with it. Cost was the deciding factor in choosing it over a 045, don't miss the digital option of a #3D at all. I have bought 2 used CS 008 and one 09.  The 08s were rusted and took quite a bit of metal repair work and needed new grates, they were gifted to family.  The 09 is like new even though it was made in 2005. All the CS work very well and produce great BBQ.

You won't go wrong buying a Cookshack smoker if it is in your budget.

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Last edited by LonzinomakerCS

Cookshack does NOT make offset smokers.  Electric and pellet.  An offset stick burner can be a reasonable $150.00 on up to several thousand.  It all depends upon what you want and how often you will use it.  The cook shack electrics will give you all the smoke you want; and their Fast Eddy pellet grills should satisfy you if you are looking for fire as well as smoke.

Most pellet smokers, even Cookshack's, have a lower smoke profile than a stick burner or one that uses chunks of wood. And with several years of pellet smoking use, I have not found any way around it. Pellet smokers are just easier to use but create a different taste. If this is a deal-breaker for you, you could look at a Pit Barrel Cooker. I had one and made some great smoky 'cue on it. I just got tired of dealing with charcoal. But the price is right, $350. You can use your GMG as needed and supplement with your PBC.

I have among many other outdoor cookers a Memphis Pro, and still own a CookShack PG500.

Sold the Memphis and upgraded to the PG500 in hopes the smoke flavor would be better. Not much of a difference between the 2 so I kept the PG500 and purchased an SMO66.

I personally believe the pellet cookers which are always fan operated blow the smoke to quickly over the meat to ever give a true wood fire taste.

The 66 absolutely will stand tor to toe with any stick burner out there flavor wise, and blows them away in ease of use.

CookShack was originally a commercial product and also serves back yard Q'er's.

You will not regret your decision to go with the SMO45.

To answer your question: Yes, the SM045 (or any electric) will definitely have more smoke flavor than your GM pellet smoker. The weight of the wood you use determines the amount of smoke flavor with electric smokers and, as mentioned, you can actually get too much smoke flavor by using too much wood in an electric.

electric > pellet for amount of smoke flavor possible (electric is tunable to your taste based on wood weight,). You can also add a pellet tube to your current pellet-pooper to up the smoke profile...  

Last edited by pgsd

I just bought a SM066. I am amazed at the amount of smoke that is infused into your cook. I posted on my first two cooks. I used two ounces of hickory that was supplied by Cookshack. The efficiency of these smokers is amazing. I have a Webber Kettle where I used six ounces of wood and did not get the same amount of smoke from two ounces on the SM066. You will not be disappointed. 

I bought a Traeger one day without doing enough homework. I'm a 20+ year veteran of Cookshack's Smokette.  The pellet grill does a very poor job of putting smoke flavor on anything. I suspect it's because the blower inside keeps the pellets burning and also keeps the air moving constantly, which prevents good smoke deposits. After 8 months of struggle with little smoke flavor, I gave the Traeger away to a friend who is new to Q and loves it. He will probably give it away in a few years, too. Meanwhile, my Smokette does a great job on everything I put in it without any problems. I compete against my neighbor's Green Egg,  & I always get similar smoke with a lot less work.

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