EAST OAK 30-inch Electric Smoker, Outdoor Smoker with Convenient Side Wood Chip Loader, 725 Sq Inches of Cooking, Digital Control and 4 Removable Racks for Outdoor Kitchen, BBQ, Backyard, Black

I can't say enough about this brand and the customer service. I will try...I've had the smoker for over a year now and I've used it quite a bit. I've smoked all types of proteins. Such as the most common - chicken, beef, and fish. No issues with the temperature control (although I wish it got hotter than 275f). The heating element didn't take too long to bring temperature to the set point. But you mileage may vary due to various outdoor temps. The unit sealed to perfection. Funny thing is that the first time I used the smoker and when I opened the door, I was blasted with a cloud of smoke that was unreal. Now, it wasn't a safety issue in terms of heat, it was just the volume of smoke that released - which was impressive. There timer appeared, at least to me, functioned correctly. The smoker is easy to move because of the handle and the 2 wheels. I also wanted to not that the slick design make it look like a refrigerator. I was asked about that many times and I told them what it was, they couldn't believe how great it looked. Unfortunately, the unit would not hold temperatures unexpectedly . It reached temps well above 275F and would error out and shut down the heating. So, as a reader, your asking yourself "why was 5 stars given if the smoker failed on this person?!?!" . I'll tell you why. It was East Oak's customer service. I wrote them to find out where I can find the thermostat kit for the smoker. At that time I thought I was past the warranty period and decided that I could repair the smoker myself. Anyway, I was sadly informed by EO that they don't sell the kit. Instead of them leaving me in a lurch that wanted to know the issue I was having and they actually made things right after a few emails and a video. The person that I was dealing with, (yes it was only one person) was a blessing. They were very professional and were very concerned that I had an issue with one of their products. All I can say is that the customer service was one of the best experiences I've had with any manufacture - hence the 5 starts.

Wow I have been impressed by this thing. I have a much more expensive smoker at my other house and this cabinet smoker puts out equally good flavor while taking up only half the space. Although this smoker uses water and wood chips whereas the more expensive smoker uses only wood pellets, I've found that they both put out a solid smoky flavor, and I think it's actually more cost effective per session using the chips. The only real downside is the startup time. For anybody new to smoking, you don't want to put your meat in the smoker until it's already at temp and producing smoke. The initial smoke from a newly lit wood source is acrid and will put a bad taste on your meat. You want that initial (really white) smoke to clear out first, and you'll get a deep and delicious smoke flavor from then on. Unfortunately this thing takes forever to start producing smoke, like 30 minutes to an hour. This is because the (recommended to be wet) wood chips sit in a stainless steel box and are essentially roasted with an electric induction coil from the underside. I don't think an actual fire ever occurs in this smoker which surprised me at first, the wood chips come out as black charcoal rather than ash. My pellet smoker is ready to go in 5 minutes or less, whereas this thing can take up to an hour. It's just something to consider. I love both smokers though, and for the price I can't complain at all about this one, it's just a different method of achieving smoke. Cleanup is so easy. Way easier than the pellet smoker. After the initial "burn-in" your first one or two cooks might taste weird. It will go away. Pros - Great Smoke Flavor - Easier cleanup than my pellet smoker - You can smoke A LOT of meat in this thing - Has wheels and a handle for easy moving - Cheapest electric smoker I could find at the time Cons - Takes a considerable amount of time for the smoking to start. Tips - BUY WOOD CHIPS. DON'T BUY WOOD CHUNKS. - Hickory and Mesquite give the strongest flavor. - I set the smoker to have an extra hour of cook time to account for how long it will take the smoker to start smoking. - If storing outdoors, buy legs for the smoker or put it up on cinderblocks to prevent water damage, also buy a cover. 2 cinderblocks and a cover was less than $25 for me. - A velcro strip for cable management is good for wrapping the power chord up and hanging it off of the handle when not in use. - I get more consistent and dependable results when I focus on the internal temperature of my meat rather than cook time. Monitor your temps with a good meat thermometer. - Prior to smoking, salt your meat on all sides and let it sit uncovered on a rack overnight if possible. You want airflow while it cures. The salt will cause your meat to sweat, the sweat will mix with the salt and act like a brine, the brine will be reabsorbed into the meat. Extra moisture will evaporate. The crust from this process is glorious. It will look dry on the outside, but it is still moist on the inside. At that point you could even hit it with a binder (mustard or Worcestershire) and put more seasoning on it if you wanted. - The majority of smoke flavor seems to set in within the first 3-4 hours. If I'm cooking brisket or chuck roast I'll smoke for 3-4 hours at 225, then wrap in butcher paper and place in a pyrex dish to finish it in the oven at the same temp. It seems a lot easier to break through "the wall" with the oven, probably because the heat is more consistent. - What is "the wall"? When smoking large slabs of meat you will often hit "the wall" where the meat's internal temp refuses to go past 155-165 degrees Fahrenheit for hours, but you need it to get to 180-210 degrees to soften up. Finishing it in the oven gets you there quicker, and also allows you to retain more of your smoked tallow (liquid gold) to cook with later. - Do not throw cuts of fat away, smoke them in a tray underneath your meat and collect the cooked fat (tallow). Some people use foil baking trays because you can throw it away afterwards. I use a pyrex dish and then pour into a Mason jar (filtering out particulates with a cheesecloth as a filter). You can use this tallow in place of any oil. It has a higher burning point than olive oil and imparts a delicious smoky flavor. It's called liquid gold for a reason. - I see no point to "spritzing". YouTubers will claim that you need a wet exterior for smoke absorption and constantly "spritzing" your meat with apple juice or other "spritzes" will enhance the smokiness. I don't believe it helps at all. If anything, it lets all the smoke out and causes unnecessary drops in temperature.

I've owned two electric smokers before this one. One thing I learned is that it's too much of a pain to keep smokers with a window clean and clear enough to be useful. I stick to the windowless ones now, plus I think they offer even better insulation than a windowed smoker. For the money, this East Oak 30" smoker is the best you can get by far. This smoker arrived very well packaged, though it took far too long for it to arrive; a full two weeks. Shipping could definitely be quicker! Installing all the parts is easy, especially if you have prior smoker experience. I recommend following the instructions to make sure you don't miss anything. I noticed a mistake was made at some point during manufacturing, because the water bowl max fill line is actually spelled backwards, lol, but no big deal. What's most important is that everything seems very well made! I was a bit nervous purchasing this smoker since it's from a brand that's new to the smoker world, but after my initial experience I am completely happy with it. My favorite feature of this smoker is that is uses a wood chip loading tray that can be pulled out without opening the smoker door. This is something that I've only seen with the patented design that Masterbuilt has on their smokers, but this design is different because the shape and size of the tray is larger, allowing for a longer-term smoke. I love that, as I can load it once and not worry about it. 3-4 hours should be plenty of time to get the smoke flavor into anything you're making. If you need more time than that to cook a larger meat such as a turkey, ribs, or brisket, then finish it in your oven. Not only will this save on your smokers heating element by increasing its lifespan, but you can also take that time between swapping from smoker to oven to wrap the meat in foil and add a small amount of water to allow the meat to steam/tenderize better in the oven. Smoke only penetrates so deep into the meat anyway, so what some people don't realize is leaving meat in the smoker all day long isn't going to give it any more smoke flavor. Know that this model is cheaper than most but the only shortcut it seems to take is not to include Bluetooth to connect an app with your phone for temp controls and timing. I find that once I've set the temperature I rarely if ever change it, so that's not a problem. I also use a wireless meat thermometer of my own choosing in order to track internal temp without having to open the smoker door and check it manually. I just smoked some pork loin and salmon today and was able to route the cable for the temperature probe through the smoker ventilation outlet, which ensured I could keep the door area completely free of any obstructions. One thing to note - please read the instructions and be sure to perform the initial seasoning steps as outlined in the product manual. I've seen some of the reviews here state they took everything out of the box and cooked right away as if they skipped that step. That means your meat was getting the factory fumes and residue into the meat itself. Gross! My advice is to perform the seasoning steps, then let it cool down, then add water to the water reservoir, fill the chip tray with your smoking chips of choice and just let it run around 220-225 for about 3 hours. That will further take care of any odd smells/taste before your first smoke with food! The first thing I smoked was a rack of ribs which I included a picture of on this review. They were in at 225 degrees for about 3 hours and when I took them out to move them to the oven I noticed the bones were already exposed about half an inch, which is a good way to know that they are already getting tender. ** Update as of 1/6/2024 ** I noticed after several times using this smoker that no matter what I cooked in it, the meats were getting done much quicker than suggested times said online. I picked up an oven thermometer the other day and hung it from the center rack, turned it on to run a cycle with just the water tray filled to proper line, and some smoking chips. I set the temp to 225 and let it heat up. I came back and checked, and found the outside temp was reading 230. I opened the door and it was up to 265! That's 45 degrees hotter than I set it to. I then let some of the air out and set the temp to 200. Gave it time to settle and discovered that my 200 setting was displaying 197 degrees but actual interior temp was right around 225. Be careful when cooking, as mine seems to run hotter than it's supposed to. Now that I figured out this out, I know to run it lower to get a more accurate cooking time. I knew there was no way that the ribs I had been smoking were getting done so fast, or that I was able to cook a brisket in 4.5 hours. I also ruined my first smoked turkey experience because I went purely based on time for pound, and even though I checked it early it was already way overdone and crispy. Perhaps my smoked meats will be more juicy and tender once I figure out the proper temps. I had to knock a star off due to the inaccurate cooking temperature. That aside, I do love everything else about the smoker. The price has gone up about 30% since I purchased it though. Maybe wait and see if it goes on sale, or else it might be worth going with a name brand you trust if it's near $300.

12/28/25 update, East Oak contacted me and did offer a new smoke box. I highly recommend this smoker. This is my first smoker, and I was prepared for my first attempt to fail, but it didn't! My turkey breast turned out moist and delicious. I did a lot of reading before trying it and used a lot of different tips from others and recommend everyone do that. I've now made turkey breast, pork roast and brisket. The only thing that didn't work out was the pork roast, but I think that was my fault. Open everything before the first use, the fire box has a sticker or something that should be removed. I missed that the first use and it stuck the lid on. I had to take a chisel and hammer to it. East Oak will not replace it, if you make this mistake be prepared to use steel wool and a lot of elbow grease. Also the top has some styrofoam that needs to be removed. I almost missed that piece. It has always keep the temp within a degree or two.

Finally a cheater electric smoker designed by people who apparently understand how electricity works. All the complaints from all my previous Masterbuilts were addressed in one unit. I've owned three Masterbuilts over the years, and have been keeping them running with a ridiculous number of hacks and replacement parts and finally gave up on yet another heat coil that may or may not work. So gave this a shot. Not perfect but jeez, at least i can trust it not to set my deck on fire or just stop working. All the electronics are in places unlikely to be affected by moisture. The tray is huge and positioned such that wood chars and ashes and smokes slowly rather than burning yellow smoke. The vent is on the side rather than the top, so it can't drip suet liquid down on your food. Electronics appear to not be on the freaking bottom of the smoker where leaking cooking liquid or condensation could short it out (you listening MB?) Not perfect of course. Only a 30 inch version, so can't put a turkey or full rack in there. If there was a 40 inch version I'd buy it tomorrow. The front panel is hard to read, but if you're using the panel frequently you're doing it wrong. The whole point is set it and forget it. It took me a couple of smokes to figure the right offset temp with a full chamber, but i dialed it in (runs about 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the thermostat shows until about 4 or 5 hours into the cook). Big tray allows safe use of chips to start coals and small chunks to carry the long smoke, though you need to shuffle the tray every so often to keep the pieces oxygenated. Keep it in the shade and the coil will kick in more frequently so the smoke keeps going. People complaining about it not working right need to get aftermarket thermometers. Put an ambient one in the smoker to monitor the actual temp, because the built-in ones are always way way off for a few reasons that don't really matter. Use your own and offset the temp control till you get it dialed in. It's not rocket science but it does require knowing how hot it really is in there. No, its not a reverse offset stick burner, so its not going to make a smoke ring or give you perfect smoke constantly. And no, its not a crock pot, you will have to pay attention to it and adjust things periodically. Its a cooking device for chrissakes. You gotta use your brain and a real thermometer or two. East Oak, please replicate this with a 40 inch version.