| BBQ Water Smokers come in all shapes and sizes. | | | | features as gas. As long as you monitor your water |
| Trying to understand the difference between the | | | | levels and wood chips, cooking on an electric water |
| different styles can be confusing, but with a little | | | | smoker is fairly low maintenance. The biggest |
| information you should be able to make an educated | | | | downside to an electric water smoker is heat control. |
| choice. | | | | A lot of electric models do not contain thermostats. |
| Where will the heat come from? | | | | What size smoker do you need? |
| The most important question to ask is what is going | | | | Another thing to consider before purchasing a |
| to be used to produce the heat in your smoker. You | | | | smoker is the size of the cooking surface. Think |
| have three different options for heat; Charcoal, | | | | about how you are going to be using the water |
| Propane/Natural Gas, or Electric. When thinking about | | | | smoker and what you plan on smoking. Cooking |
| heating options, the main question you need to ask | | | | surfaces are generally measured in square inches. |
| yourself is how involved do you want to be in the | | | | Another thing to consider is how much weight the |
| cooking process. | | | | smoker can handle. Most small smokers have a 50 |
| Charcoal | | | | pound capacity. |
| Heating with charcoal is considered the "purist" way | | | | Where are you going to use your water smoker? |
| to smoke meat on a smoker. It also requires the | | | | Do you need a portable smoker or will it have a |
| most oversight. Hot charcoal must be added to the | | | | permanent location on your patio? Do you have |
| smoker throughout the cooking process in order to | | | | restrictions on the type of heat you can use? There |
| maintain the appropriate heat. | | | | are all kinds of options, but you need to decide how |
| Propane/Natural Gas | | | | much space you have available. Not only while you're |
| A gas smoker is an ideal option if you don't want to | | | | using the water smoker, but also storage space that |
| babysit. With gas you have a lot of control over the | | | | may be required. |
| heat. The only things you really have to monitor are | | | | I hope this has given you a little insight into the |
| the water level and wood chips. You'll need to make | | | | thought process needed before purchasing a water |
| sure that these are replenished throughout the | | | | smoker. Personally, I have a small portable smoker |
| cooking process. One downfall of using gas is the | | | | because I put it in my garage for storage. I also use |
| cost associated with filling the propane tanks. You'll | | | | charcoal for heat, because I enjoy the process |
| want to make sure you have an extra tank on hand | | | | involved. Fortunately, there are enough options |
| before you start cooking. | | | | available to meet everyone's smoking needs. Best of |
| Electric | | | | luck in your search! |
| An electric smoker offers the same convenience | | | | |