Big Chief/Little Chief

[Sitting Bull]

Hey guys I went through the smoker thread and lots of great stuff. I picket up a Mini Chief from a fellow AO member. All the info here is on the expensive smokers with lots of bells and whistles.
Does anybody use any of the Chief smokers? Could you offer advice and tricks as well as how too's ? Pictures are always great.
I realize that these are not like the others but i am sure there must be a following out there.

[Scott N]

I have a True North Electric Smoker, which is more or less the same as yours in that it's an uninsulated aluminum box with removable racks and an electric element to put your smoke / chip pan on. There are tons of recipes online, but a couple of general comments:

I found that due to the nature of the heat source, it helps to rotate your shelves during the drying process to maintain evenness. Every hour or so will help make sure that your bottom tray isn't finished before the top tray is.

Being able to shelter the smoker from the wind will help keep the heat up. Mine recommended keeping the shipping / packing box to use as a cover during windy conditions, so anything that fits fairly close to the smoker cabinet will help.

[GOBBLER FANATIC]

Hello - I have used these 2 smokers for over 35 years - for me, they have produced absolutely fantastic results, however, they are limited in what they can do... For starters, they are classified as "cold smoke" smokers which means exactly that - they don't use high temperatures and therefore, should be used in warmer temperatures and only for specific purposes. Also, the temperature is fixed as the heat source is an electric element which can't be modulated. I have mostly used my smokers for smoking salmon/trout fillets and have done some chicken and wild turkey with great results but the meat/fish has to be sliced no larger than 1/2 an inch in thickness. Once I tried smoking chunks of spring salmon that were up to 2 inches thick and it was a disaster for 2 reasons - firstly, I didn't leave the salmon in the brine long enough to properly soak up the brine flavoring and secondly, it took 2 days to adequately cook the fish properly. I won't attempt that again with my Big Chief smoker!!
If you're looking to smoke larger quantities of sausage, for example, you should really consider the larger, "Hot" smokers like Bradley, Masterbuilt or Cabelas. They have temperature regulators and timers that allow you to adjust the temperature to what you require for your particular smoking project and multiple fuel options from chips, to pucks, to propane to electricty.

I'm happy to provide more information if you would like to PM me.
Best of luck with your smoking!!

GOBBLER FANATIC

[icehunter]

Originally Posted by Scott N

I have a True North Electric Smoker, which is more or less the same as yours in that it's an uninsulated aluminum box with removable racks and an electric element to put your smoke / chip pan on. There are tons of recipes online, but a couple of general comments:

I found that due to the nature of the heat source, it helps to rotate your shelves during the drying process to maintain evenness. Every hour or so will help make sure that your bottom tray isn't finished before the top tray is.

Being able to shelter the smoker from the wind will help keep the heat up. Mine recommended keeping the shipping / packing box to use as a cover during windy conditions, so anything that fits fairly close to the smoker cabinet will help.

X2

[scesfiremedic]

I used to use one to do smoked pike, some duck breasts filleted to make duck jerky. it worked good for that purpose. I insulated the outside with Reflectix to try and keep the heat in. They definitely don’t work well in the cold.