I have inherited an Outers brand electric smoker. It is about
2ft high x 1ft x 1ft. All aluminum construction. One whole
side is a flip-up door. There are several racks inside. It has
a single electric element at the bottom. Directly above the
element is a rack which holds a small frying-pan type container,
with a wooden handle. There is a small trap door at the base of
the flip-up to allow removal of this pan. The pan has a wooden
handle, and the handle protrudes through a hole in the trap
door.

I did not get any instructions with this unit. The box says it can
be used for "smoking and curing". Is this more of a cold-smoker
than a cooker? Is this smoking for preservation and flavor, rather
than cooking and flavor as in larger smokers such as an ECB?
I am hoping to use this for deep smoking of fish and cheeese,
as well as perhaps slices of beef tongue, etc. Christmas being
right around the corner, I am thinking of home-made treats as
gifts.

Any ideas as to where I can get a user manual, or some guidance
on using this? I did a Google search, but did not find any real
references to Outers. Have they gone out of business?

Thanks!

--
Tank

Welcome to the "Q" Zone!

Tank wrote:
> I have inherited an Outers brand electric smoker. It is about
> 2ft high x 1ft x 1ft. All aluminum construction. One whole
> side is a flip-up door. There are several racks inside. It has
> a single electric element at the bottom. Directly above the
> element is a rack which holds a small frying-pan type container,
> with a wooden handle. There is a small trap door at the base of
> the flip-up to allow removal of this pan. The pan has a wooden
> handle, and the handle protrudes through a hole in the trap
> door.
>
> I did not get any instructions with this unit. The box says it can
> be used for "smoking and curing". Is this more of a cold-smoker
> than a cooker? Is this smoking for preservation and flavor, rather
> than cooking and flavor as in larger smokers such as an ECB?
> I am hoping to use this for deep smoking of fish and cheeese,
> as well as perhaps slices of beef tongue, etc. Christmas being
> right around the corner, I am thinking of home-made treats as
> gifts.
>
> Any ideas as to where I can get a user manual, or some guidance
> on using this? I did a Google search, but did not find any real
> references to Outers. Have they gone out of business?
>
> Thanks!

Years ago I bought a Pop Geer smoker that sounds very similar to the unit
you have. I hated the thing. It was suitable only for cold smoking or
making jerky, which takes days to achieve good results. I suggest you
measure the temperature that your unit will reach to determine its cooking
range, since cold smoking occurs at 90-100°, whereas barbecue requires
temperatures of 200°+. IIRC, there was a small electric element at the
bottom of the unit upon which a pan full of wood chips was placed to make
smoke. I also strongly recommend you place your unit well away from your
house or anything flammable, since the electric elements can short circut
and cause fires. Having said that, it might be fine for smoking cheese,
which doesn't take days.

Jack Curry

"Tank" > wrote in message
...
> I did not get any instructions with this unit. The box says it can
> be used for "smoking and curing". Is this more of a cold-smoker
> than a cooker? Is this smoking for preservation and flavor, rather
> than cooking and flavor as in larger smokers such as an ECB?
> I am hoping to use this for deep smoking of fish and cheeese,
> as well as perhaps slices of beef tongue, etc. Christmas being
> right around the corner, I am thinking of home-made treats as
> gifts.
>
> Any ideas as to where I can get a user manual, or some guidance
> on using this? I did a Google search, but did not find any real
> references to Outers. Have they gone out of business?
>
Think outers is long gone but sounds real similiar to the electric smokers
made by Luhr-Jensen--little chief etc. just finished making a bunch of
chipotles in mine(which I bought at a garage sale w/o intructions), also
smokes garlic very well!! Should work great fopr jerky too--just gotta wait
for a sale on rump roasts!

Buzz

I agree with Jack that you need to check to temperature range. Most electric
smokers don't have a thermostat. The pan is for the wood chips, wich you
want to put on dry, unlike soaked chips on charcoal. I have an ECB that I've
used for years, but got tired of getting up at 2:30 in the morning to make
sure my Christmas ham didn't get cold. I finally found an Old Smokey
electric with a thermostat control. The high range is around 325 degrees,
and works great as a smoke cooker, or I can turn it down, throw ice in the
drip pan to help keep down the heat and smoke cheese. Play around with yours
and see what your limits are, and I'm sure you'll find some good use for it.

Draegus


"Tank" > wrote in message
...
> I have inherited an Outers brand electric smoker. It is about
> 2ft high x 1ft x 1ft. All aluminum construction. One whole
> side is a flip-up door. There are several racks inside. It has
> a single electric element at the bottom. Directly above the
> element is a rack which holds a small frying-pan type container,
> with a wooden handle. There is a small trap door at the base of
> the flip-up to allow removal of this pan. The pan has a wooden
> handle, and the handle protrudes through a hole in the trap
> door.
>
> I did not get any instructions with this unit. The box says it can
> be used for "smoking and curing". Is this more of a cold-smoker
> than a cooker? Is this smoking for preservation and flavor, rather
> than cooking and flavor as in larger smokers such as an ECB?
> I am hoping to use this for deep smoking of fish and cheeese,
> as well as perhaps slices of beef tongue, etc. Christmas being
> right around the corner, I am thinking of home-made treats as
> gifts.
>
> Any ideas as to where I can get a user manual, or some guidance
> on using this? I did a Google search, but did not find any real
> references to Outers. Have they gone out of business?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Tank
>
> Welcome to the "Q" Zone!
>
>

I have one of these and have a manual somewhere. The manual is just a skinny
booklet with a few recipes as well as simple operating instructions. I used
to use it for smoking fish, pork chops and whole chickens. The smoker is a
hot cooker, when the wood changes to charcoal and starts to glow, the
temperature inside can rise considerably. I have never measured the
temperature, not having the means to do it. I don't think it would be
suitable for cheese, unless you like smoked melted cheese :-)

I brine the meat, adding plentiful amounts of garlic and onion powder, dried
basil and a touch of chili pepper. Place the meat in a container (Pyrex
baking dishes work well). Do not use metal pans unless they are stainless
steel. Add enough cold water to just cover the meat. Pour off the water into
a mixing bowl and add enough PLAIN salt to make a raw egg just float. Use an
electric mixer to help dissolve the salt. It's difficult to tell you the
quantities of the garlic and onion powder, I never measure then. Just add
equal and generous amounts of both and mix them in with the mixer. Sprinkle
in the dried basil and a touch of the red pepper. When it is all mixed well,
pour the brine mix back into the Pyrex dishes to just cover the meat. Cover
the dishes with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to soak. Never
use aluminum foil or pans, the salt will eat it up.

The soaking time depends on the type of meat:

pork chops, overnight if thick, 4 hours if thin ( I used thin ones)

Fish, 3 hours

Whole chicken, all day, smoke all night.


Fish fillets should have the skin left on and filleted from the belly of the
fish up to the dorsal fins so that the two sides are connected by the skin
at the top of the fish. This allows you to hang the fish from the bars on
the racks, meat side out. Smoking the fish this way enables you to pack a
lot more fish onto the smoker and the fish drains well this way too. This
smoking method is used to make kippers back in my home land.

After soaking is done, remove the meat and dump the brine (unless you have
another batch to do). rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Place
the meat in the smoker

The smoking is finished when the wood has turned into charcoal then ash.
Use big chunks of wood, as big as you can pack into the pan, I use hickory.
You can pack in taller wood if you place the pan on the heating element then
fit the front panel on the smoker so that the handle of the pan pokes out
the little flap door.

You may want to adjust the spice quantities to suit your taste. Do not
change the salt amount, the raw egg acts as a hydrometer, vary the soak time
if it is too salty for your taste, consume lots of beer if too salty ;-)
That's about enough info to get you started, email me at
jmcgauch_AT_ev1_dot_net if you need additional help (adjust the email
address so that it will work-spammers suck)

John
"Tank" > wrote in message
...
> I have inherited an Outers brand electric smoker. It is about
> 2ft high x 1ft x 1ft. All aluminum construction. One whole
> side is a flip-up door. There are several racks inside. It has
> a single electric element at the bottom. Directly above the
> element is a rack which holds a small frying-pan type container,
> with a wooden handle. There is a small trap door at the base of
> the flip-up to allow removal of this pan. The pan has a wooden
> handle, and the handle protrudes through a hole in the trap
> door.
>
> I did not get any instructions with this unit. The box says it can
> be used for "smoking and curing". Is this more of a cold-smoker
> than a cooker? Is this smoking for preservation and flavor, rather
> than cooking and flavor as in larger smokers such as an ECB?
> I am hoping to use this for deep smoking of fish and cheeese,
> as well as perhaps slices of beef tongue, etc. Christmas being
> right around the corner, I am thinking of home-made treats as
> gifts.
>
> Any ideas as to where I can get a user manual, or some guidance
> on using this? I did a Google search, but did not find any real
> references to Outers. Have they gone out of business?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Tank
>
> Welcome to the "Q" Zone!
>
>