Newbie from Wisconsin

[eddie haskell]

I bought a Little Chief electric smoker from a friend about 2 years ago and tomorrow I am going to try it out for the first time. I am doing a cut up chicken, plan on putting a rub on it (any suggestions?) that I found on the web...we'll see how it goes [emoji]128526[/emoji]

 

[one eyed jack]

Welcome to the site Eddy.  How did that chicken turn out?

 

[eddie haskell]

Well, the chicken is still in the smoker! I am using a thermometer that I put in the hot oil when I deep fry Turkey and as far as I can tell, the smoker isn't hot enough. I wrapped the smoker in cardboard to try and get it hotter but...
I'm not sure if the thermometer is wrong or if the smoker is indeed, not getting hot enough. I am headed out to buy an actual meat thermometer in a bit...frustrated but it's my own fault for not being prepared.

 

[one eyed jack]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.  A good thermometer is a very useful tool.  A lot of us use the Maverick dual probe.


Are you monitoring smoke chamber temps or meat temps?

I just did a little research on your smoker and I read that the heating element is non adjustable and set at 165*.  If this is so it is not going to cook your chicken quickly enough to be safe as the meat will likely stay in the danger zone,  (Temperature wise), long enough to be unsafe to eat.

I generally cook chicken in a 275 - 350* cook chamber.

 

[eddie haskell]

I took the chicken out of the smoker and put it in the oven, it turned out real good. 165 degrees was real close to what my thermometer was reading, I guess I should have looked up how hot this smoker gets. Now I have more questions, like what good is a smoker that only goes to 165 degrees? I've always wanted to smoke meats and this was my first attempt, I thought smoking a cut up chicken would be pretty simple but I guess this might be a bigger and more expensive undertaking than I thought...time to buy a new smoker and a Maverick dual probe[emoji]128526[/emoji]
To answer your question; I wasn't very prepared so I had a single long stem el cheapo thermometer that I used last about 8 years ago when I deep fried my last Turkey.
Time to do more research.

 

[one eyed jack]

Glad to hear that your chicken turned out good.

There are quite a few "cold smoking" projects that your Chief would work for.  (Smoked cheese, for instance, and cured meats as well).

There are many smokers to choose from that will do hotter cooking.  You will want to decide what type of fuel you want to pursue and go from there.

I use a Weber kettle for many of my smokes although I do have several other smokers.  The kettle is very flexible when using various fueling techniques.  The kettles do, however demand a fair amount of attention to maintain steady temperatures.

You will get a lot of use out of the Maverick thermometer.