# pressure smoker?!?!?



## bama bbq (Aug 27, 2012)

I was watchin diners, drive ins, and dives and the guy uses a "pressure smoker".  I never heard of one.  I did an internet search and found this:  http://www.hammacher.com/product/79504   Has anyone every seen one of these/used one of these?


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## sqwib (Sep 17, 2012)

Nope never heard of that


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## smokinhusker (Sep 17, 2012)

I haven't heard of it


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## jirodriguez (Sep 17, 2012)

They produce very mushy sub-standard BBQ. A local vendor here has one and was bragging how he can cook pork butt and brisket in 2 hrs., but the end result was a pile of mushy meat that you had to drown in BBQ sauce to flavor. Oh... and the "smoke" flavor comes from liquid smoke.... 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






But like I said he was very proud of his thousands of dollars investment.


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## alelover (Sep 17, 2012)

Short cuts rarely ever work.


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## foos (Sep 17, 2012)

My good buddy just bought  a Smokaroma at an equipment auction on last week.  It is a BAR-B-Q BOSS as seen here: http://www.smokaroma.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=54
 

We have not hooked it up yet, need a different plug for the 220v hookup.  It actually does not use liquid smoke, but burns wood chips.  After we try it out I will report back.


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## BGKYSmoker (Sep 17, 2012)

Those have been on QVripoffC

Hurry very limited


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## ponderingturtle (Sep 20, 2012)

I am currious why it would cook faster in a high pressure enviroment,  normal pressure cookers make sense as they permit the water to get up to 250 instead of 212 so it is clear that the higher temp will cook faster, similar to why frying cooks faster than boiling.

But as it would be dependant on convection and radiation like in an oven I am not sure why it would work better.  I guess I could see it speeding up the breakdown of connective tissues as the water in the meat will get up to an elevated temp so the meat will be hotter.  If so it is kind of the opposite of sous vide cooking.

I suspect there are some dishes that this could be good for, but it would be an entirely different kind of cooking than low temperature smoking.


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## roller (Sep 20, 2012)

alelover said:


> Short cuts rarely ever work.


Ever !


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## grossy71 (Sep 20, 2012)

it is physics... change in pressure = change in temp...... not sure why you would want to rush bbq.... it is art  not just science


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## ponderingturtle (Sep 20, 2012)

grossy71 said:


> it is physics... change in pressure = change in temp...... not sure why you would want to rush bbq.... it is art  not just science


The thing is these are not that high pressure and certainly not heating through compression and PV=NRT.

The most significant change this will have is on the boiling point of water.  Sure you will get something from the higher pressure meaning better heating through convection.


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## grossy71 (Sep 24, 2012)

never said it was only cooking by pressure.... and since this is not a physics forum simple is best... any change or increase in pressure will increase the temp no matter how slight. Increased temp will increase the pressure and vise versa... so if it is pressurized as the pressure increases the temp will increase resulting in faster cooking... not always better when smoking


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## ponderingturtle (Sep 25, 2012)

grossy71 said:


> never said it was only cooking by pressure.... and since this is not a physics forum simple is best... any change or increase in pressure will increase the temp no matter how slight. Increased temp will increase the pressure and vise versa... so if it is pressurized as the pressure increases the temp will increase resulting in faster cooking... not always better when smoking


The thing is that we are talking about cooking until tender not a certain temperature is reached, you could get that effect by putting it in a hotter environment and increased convection, so say a 400 degree f convection oven.  The pressure is intended to do something different that just make it a hotter environment.  This is all about cooking, not some abstract physics question.


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## brebitzer (Dec 6, 2016)

Have you guys tried out the Smok-a-roma yet?


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## foos (Dec 8, 2016)

Sorry, it was so unimpressive that I forgot to report back. We used it a few times, then sold it. Chicken was moist, but brisket came out tasting like it came from a crockpot. No bark on anything.


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## brebitzer (Dec 8, 2016)

Thanks for the quick response.  We're currently trying to come up with solutions in a very limited sized kitchen as well as a mandatory hand sink for our outdoor smoker and no real possibility of a build out.  Kind of a problem in the upper Midwest during winter since we can't wash our hands with ice.  I just picked one up and was concerned about a bark issue myself.  Definitely wouldn't be able to get burnt ends, but might be able to work with chicken, potatoes etc.


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## johnmeyer (Dec 8, 2016)

This looks like an extraordinarily bad idea.

I have a pressure cooker and I use it every week. It not only cooks faster, but for many recipes, it produces better food. Steamed rice in a pressure cooker takes seven minutes, and is infinitely better than cooked traditionally. I also do split pea, black bean, and lentil soups, and they are much better cooked this way.  I just did some amazing chili last night and it was amazing.

So pressure cooking is in fact both faster and better (although it obviously isn't for everything).

However ...

From what I've learned over the past year (this is the one-year anniversary of my first smoke), good smoking requires air circulation -- LOTS of air. My MES is notorious for being a very closed environment, and lots of people (including me) have complained about the difficulty in obtaining a clean smoke taste. Thus, while I haven't tried this, I would suspect that the end product would not taste much like real BBQ.

You can read reviews of similar products here:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=pressure+smoker

Most of the negative reviews are about poor product build quality.

Here's a YouTube video of the exact item shown in post #1


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## dr k (Dec 8, 2016)

johnmeyer said:


> This looks like an extraordinarily bad idea.
> 
> I have a pressure cooker and I use it every week. It not only cooks faster, but for many recipes, it produces better food. Steamed rice in a pressure cooker takes seven minutes, and is infinitely better than cooked traditionally. I also do split pea, black bean, and lentil soups, and they are much better cooked this way.  I just did some amazing chili last night and it was amazing.
> 
> ...


I agree with pressure cookers having a place for certain foods like you mentioned with rice, legumes and chili/soups. Even putting in uncooked noodles for mac and cheese and lasagna when browning isnt wanted. Everything seems to come out of a pressure cooker with the same texture when it comes to animal protein which is pulverized falling off the bone which I dont care for. Except chichen for soup.   Chef Eric Theis cooks buffalo wings in the pressure cooker XL on tv. Soggy chicken skin isnt for me. 
-Kurt


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## gringodave (Dec 8, 2016)

I've seen those - but this one really cooked my noodle. I would love to try this out.

*"The all new Cajun Express Smoker is the fastest smoker in the bayou! Cook baby back ribs in only 35 to 40 minutes, or an entire brisket in two hours. This amazing smoker works off of a patented smoking process that utilizes a pressure/vacuum regulator revolutionizes cooking times."*

http://www.cajunfryer.com/CES.html  













DoorShutSmall.jpg



__ gringodave
__ Dec 8, 2016






Note: Not affiliated in any way.


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## johnmeyer (Dec 8, 2016)

Dr K said:


> I agree with pressure cookers having a place for certain foods like you mentioned with rice, legumes and chili/soups. Even putting in uncooked noodles for mac and cheese and lasagna when browning isnt wanted. Everything seems to come out of a pressure cooker with the same texture when it comes to animal protein which is pulverized falling off the bone which I dont care for. Except chichen for soup. Chef Eric Theis cooks buffalo wings in the pressure cooker XL on tv. Soggy chicken skin isnt for me.
> -Kurt


Yes, there is most definitely no universal cooking tool.

To that point, I remember when I got my first microwave oven back in 1979 (I still have it and it still works, although I did have to replace the magnetron back around 2000). I thought it would make everything faster and better, and I actually did try almost everything. This led to some epic failures.

Don't laugh, but I actually made the following in my microwave oven:

*Biscuits*. The ultimate mismatch. They turned out like a really bad gnocchi dumpling.

*Brownies*. Not only did they fail to have the right texture, but the unevenness of microwaves (and I did turn the pan several times) led to a really amazing combination of something resembling brownies interspersed with un-cooked batter. If I'd worked at it, I suppose I could have figured out a way to make a "chocolate volcano."

*A whole, 12-pound turkey. *Talk about bad skin, this was absolutely horrible.

*Eggs*. This is where I found out about microwave oven explosions. Quite a mess to clean up.

Back to the pressure cooker. I did try pasta in it just the other day. I used a "trick" of putting a small amount of water in the pressure cooker, and then putting the food in a metal bowl placed on top of a trivet above the water. Thus, the food is cooked by high pressure steam. I found this trick in the "bible" of pressure cooking, Lorna Sass' "Cooking Under Pressure:"


I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about using their pressure cooker correctly.

[edit]I just saw the post about the Cajun Express smoker. That actually looks interesting. I'm researching this forum (and elsewhere) to see whether it is good. It sure looks to be well-built.

[edit2]I watched their demo video on YouTube, and it achieves shorter cooking times primarily because it smokes at 350 degrees. The "pressure" part of the design is totally bogus, as you can tell by the lack of any sort of interlock for the front door. If there was any sort of pressure inside, and you opened up that door, really bad things would happen.


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## gringodave (Dec 8, 2016)

johnmeyer said:


> [edit]I just saw the post about the Cajun Express smoker. That actually looks interesting. I'm researching this forum (and elsewhere) to see whether it is good. It sure looks to be well-built.
> 
> [edit2]I watched their demo video on YouTube, and it achieves shorter cooking times primarily because it smokes at 350 degrees. The "pressure" part of the design is totally bogus, as you can tell by the lack of any sort of interlock for the front door. If there was any sort of pressure inside, and you opened up that door, really bad things would happen.


I had the same opinion on the "pressure" statement, but the concept seems sound - kind of like putting that heavy lid on a dutch oven. Not sure it's worth the money though - and there isn't enough room for a whole hog either. (grin)


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## DNE_Smokedmeats (Jul 8, 2018)

I am new to the forum. I a have been practice smoking for a while, most recently in a masterbuilt cabinet.  I am thinking i’m buying a smokaroma tomorrow.  

My purpose is To ‘smoke’ (steam with smoke) sausage and/or burgers at events, to get them up to health inspection temps quickly (from being on ice). 

Does anyone have any ‘good’ experience with this?


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## hoity toit (Jul 9, 2018)

bama bbq said:


> I was watchin diners, drive ins, and dives and the guy uses a "pressure smoker".  I never heard of one.  I did an internet search and found this:  http://www.hammacher.com/product/79504   Has anyone every seen one of these/used one of these?





It is not big enough for what most of us cook, but it does look cool.

HT


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## DNE_Smokedmeats (Jul 9, 2018)

hoity toit said:


> It is not big enough for what most of us cook, but it does look cool.
> 
> HT


Bought it today for $100. It is quite small. I still think it’ll be good for sausage and burger.


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## peter48 (Nov 10, 2018)

DNE_Smokedmeats said:


> Bought it today for $100. It is quite small. I still think it’ll be good for sausage and burger.



Bin looking for one of these for a number of years. Back in the early 80's I operated a deli in a bar, on site they had a smoke-a-roma machine which I fell in love with. Side ribs were awesome and once I tried a potato, big Russet with skin on, Fantastic! After smoking, I cut it open and you could see that the smoke penetrated to a depth of an inch all around.
The machine was designed primarily for cooking beef roasts which were then sliced thin and piled high on a bun. Very popular. It was basicly a large pressure cooker with a 3 inch chamber coming off the side with another ellement in it onto which you would place the metal cup with wood chips. Can't recall all the particulars but cooking times were pretty quick and all the meat was well done with smoky flavour going right through the whole roast. Ribs only took about 20 minutes and while they didn't have the same appearance they tasted great. They were cooked plain and sauce was put on after as they were being served. 
Will be interested in hearing about your results with it


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## sputnut (Nov 26, 2020)

bama bbq said:


> I was watchin diners, drive ins, and dives and the guy uses a "pressure smoker".  I never heard of one.  I did an internet search and found this:  http://www.hammacher.com/product/79504   Has anyone every seen one of these/used one of these?


I don't know about that one but I used a smokaroma in a meat dept I once ran and used it many times over several years. They use real wood to smoke and cook with 10-12 lbs pressure. I tell you, it was some of the BEST smoked meat I ever had, and in way less time, too. Smoked a 22 lb turkey to fall off the bone tender but not dry at all in an hour and a half. I did several every year for Thanksgiving orders and had nothing but compliments. I smoked all kinds of meat to sell and even made my own ring bologna and hams using boneless pork sirloin chops. I am sure the smoke nazis will hate me for saying it is better than old fashioned slow smoking, but if they had a blind taste test, they would pick pressure smoked meat every time. Normally I would be the guy swearing the old ways are best, but since I had to use the thing, I got to tasting the products and they really are superior.


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