Brinkmann 810-7080-8 Gourmet Electric Smoker and Grill with Vinyl Cover, Red

I have owned this smoker for 5 years now and have a few insights for those looking to purchase this smoker.

I have smoked 7 turkeys, alot of pork, and some beef all with really great results.

I love that its electric. Regulating temp with charcoal smokers can be tedious. You barely have to do anything to it except add water and chips. It will maintain the ideal temperature of 220 degrees fairly well, But there are a few issues with this smoker:

1. Materials and construction- metal is thin and the lid fits loosely. The lid is suppose to fit loosely! There is no vent so it helps with the smoke. But because the metal is thin, on cold and/or windy days, it can be difficult for it to maintain it's temp on long smokes. Often runs 200-210 degrees. This will increase your cooking time! On hot days it will run at 230- 240 degrees. Although I can't reccomend this modification to help with heat loss, I have actually heard of people fitting a electric...Read more

I picked up this smoker at Lowes for a lot less than Amazon. I also bought an inexpensive cover with elastic that works just fine. Overall this is a good smoker. Assembly took a while since the handles didn't match up with the holes on the smoker body and lid so I had to hammer at the handles a bit to get them to fit. Otherwise assembly was easy.

The food thus far has come out great. I have done salmon twice. I was smoking in 30 and 40 degree weather and the fish took the normal 2 hour smoke time. Once it was heated and smoking the temperature stayed between 200-250 degrees. I'm sure it will do turkey breasts and brisket just as well also.

I would recomend this to anyone who wants a fair priced entry level smoker.

Can someone else comment on how your turkey turned out? I tried to smoke a turkey but after 9 hours, I gave up and finished the 15lb bird in the oven. The internal temp of the smoker stayed at 200'-230' and yet the bird's temp only reached 150'. Far less than the 180' cooked temperature required.
I also noticed the thing ate wood chips. My bro-inlaw has a weber bullet smoker and only added 1 1/2 cups of soaked chips over an 8 hour period, whereas the Brinkmann smoked up 3 cups of soaked chips in 2 hours. I think it has to do with the design with the smoke escaping at the opening of the loose fitting lid.

I was disappointed because I thought the Brinkmann was a great value for a low maintenance electric smoker. I returned it.
Now looking at the old smokey....