Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load 1 ea

Comments about Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load, 1 ea:

any one can use this.. be sure to use outdoors. follow the examples for all types meat. do some research on how to brine the meat..

Comments about Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load, 1 ea:

easy to set up and use
easy to clean
food tastes good

Comments about Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load, 1 ea:

I got this unit due to the product is said to be manufactured in the U.S. I guess I would rather have a product made in China!

This tin box is a piece of junk! The "metal walls" are really heavy duty tin foil sitting on top of a little lihght weight heating element.

The trays to hold the food on that you are trying to smoke, are again very cheap, little weight items that are next to impossible to clean.

The smoker I got is going in the trash!

If you really want a smoker, either get something else, or just save your money and not get this lousy, cheaply made so called smoker.

Comments about Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load, 1 ea:

INEFFECTIVE SMOKER
The little chief smoker only smokes food -- it does not actually get hot enough to safely cook meats to eat out of the smoker. Beef and chicken have to be removed from the smoker and put in the oven to finish the cooking process. This can be a big mess, makes for more dirty pans to clean and is not at all convient.

The smoker then is to hot to smoke cheese. The cheese will melt and ran down through the cooker grates. The "cold smoke" method the manufacture suggested is a joke; turn the empty box upside on top of the open smoker. The flimsy box will last about a week and you still do not have a cold smoked product as a result.

DANGEROUS CHIEF SMOKER
The chief I purchased started to trip the ground fault. I though the problem was with the GFI and purchased and installed a new one. The GFI continued to trip. I then thought it was some internal wiring in that location of the house and plugged the mini chief smoker into another outlet. This time the result was near disastrous. The entire smoker went up in flames and smoke. The problem was with the supplied electrical cord. It appears to have sorted out and burned through about an inch from the back of the unit. Anyways, some quick thinking and the help of a garden hose put the fire out. There was minor damage to the house that I will now repair, or make an insurance claim for.

INVESTIGATION
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commision is currently investigating this product!

VERY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE
I contacted the manufacture and offered to send the unit back if they provided a call tag, or I could take photos of the damage to the driveway, house damaged electrical cord and ruined smoker. The smoker rep e mailed me that a call tag would be sent. Photos were not requested. Days went by and another rep got involved and asked questions (ie location of smoker when fire occurred) that had already been addressed. The rep now was requesting photos, etc. After additional delays I was told to just take the mini chief smoker back to the store where I bought it! Why wasn't that said when the whole process startered?

RECOMMENDATION
There are other very good smokers out there to buy. You can pay less, or maybe the same as a Chief Smoker and you will get a product that actually works, is not dangerous and if needed, I'm sure, provide good customer service!

Comments about Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load, 1 ea:

Front load is a big plus. Good recipes to add to our own. Great quality as always (this is my 5th product!).

Comments about Luhr Jensen Smoker Front Load, 1 ea:

I have used charcoal smokers before, and since i'm not supercommitted to the smoking process i often had trouble keeping a fresh pan of coals at the ready at the right time. the simple process was too much for a scatterbrain such as myself.

what i love about this smoker is that it is plug-and-play, really!

you use the very simple cure recipes (sugar+water+diamond crystal kosher salt), soak your meat overnight, then early the next day you preheat the smoker drain the meat from the marinade/cure, spray the racks with cooking spray, pop the meat in the smoker and allow the aroma to drive your appetite wild for few hours....

after reading the simple manual/recipe guide, i was confident enough to send my hubby out for 6# of fresh salmon for my first try--- (since i had been sent the bag of Alder chips- which i was able to get two salmon smoking sessions out of) the salmon came out perfectly!

if you want to do whole roasts, you do need to finish them off in the household oven, or on the grill- i use my cast iron dutch oven for this. i didn't list this as a "con" because the smoker's inability to complete this step isn't because of a manufacturing defect, its simply not designed for that part of the process.

i use a digital thermometer to keep an eye on the internal temp of the smoker, it seems to stay consistently within 160-185*F on a 75*F day in the shade if there is no or very little wind, a more breezy day can alter the temps very much. there is an insulating cover available that i am planning to buy because as my luck has it, i begin smoking on a still day, and it always becomes windy.lol

So, yes this is a great product, very easy to use, compact, easy to clean (only the racks really need it), produces deliciously flavored food with minimal fuss, the basic ingredients are inexpensive and easy to find, replacement parts and accessories are readily available at the supplier's (Smokehouse Products) site.