In-depth Smokin-It Model #1 Electric Smoker review. We evaluate build quality, capacity, smoke performance, real-world pros/cons, and top alternatives.
I’ve had a lot of smokers pass through my backyard over the years — cheap painted-steel boxes that rusted out in two seasons, pellet rigs with more electronics than my truck, and a couple of offsets that I still babysit every time I fire them up. So when a compact, all-stainless electric smoker like the Smokin-It Model #1 crosses my patio, I pay attention. Not because it’s flashy — it isn’t — but because “built like a tank and just works” is exactly the kind of thing I want to test.
The Model #1 is Smokin-It’s entry-level unit, and it’s built for a specific kind of cook: someone with a small yard, a small household, or a big appetite for “set it and forget it” smoking who doesn’t want to fuss with digital menus or app pairing. It’s not trying to be everything. It’s trying to be a smoker you can run for a decade without replacing a single part.
Here’s my honest, no-fluff take on whether that trade-off is worth it for you — and who should probably look elsewhere.
👉 [Check Current Price & Availability]
Overall Rating: 4.6 / 5
If you want a smoker that will still be running when your grandkids are grilling, and you don’t mind a manual dial instead of a digital screen, the Model #1 is one of the most honest, no-nonsense electric smokers on the market. It’s not for big cookouts, and it’s not for people who want app control. It’s for people who want a smoker that disappears into the background and just cooks.
Pros
Cons
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Smoker type | Electric, analog control |
| Cooking capacity | ~22 lbs of food |
| Construction | 18-gauge stainless steel (interior and exterior) |
| Heating element | 400 watts |
| Racks | 3 stainless steel racks |
| Controls | Analog rheostat dial |
| Warranty | 3-year |
| Portability | Compact footprint, side handles |
Only verified specs are listed here — always double-check current specs on the manufacturer’s page before buying, since manufacturing runs shift slightly over time.
👉 [See Current Price]
The Model #1 is the smallest unit in Smokin-It’s lineup, and it’s built around one idea: strip out everything that can fail, and build the rest out of steel that won’t quit. No plastic housings, no digital control board, no Wi-Fi module. Just a stainless cabinet, a heating element, a wood-chip box, and a dial.
Compare that to most electric smokers in this price range, which are painted sheet metal with a digital controller bolted on. Those digital controllers are nice when they work, but I’ve seen more than a few fail after a couple of humid summers. The Model #1 skips that risk entirely.
This is a smoker built for the person who’s smoked a few briskets on a cheap box store unit, gotten frustrated with rust and flimsy doors, and wants something that’ll actually last. It’s not trying to compete with a full-size digital electric smoker on capacity or convenience features — it’s competing on durability and simplicity.
This is where the Model #1 earns its price tag. The 18-gauge stainless steel — inside and out — is genuinely heavier and more rigid than what you’ll find on most electric smokers under $500. Most competitors use stainless (or stainless-look) on the outside and thin painted steel inside, which is where rust actually starts. Smokin-It didn’t cut that corner.
I’ve run stainless smokers left outside through brutal humidity and freeze-thaw cycles, and the difference in corrosion resistance over painted steel isn’t subtle — it’s the difference between a smoker that looks the same in year five and one that’s flaking rust into your food.
The door on the Model #1 seals tight, which matters more than people think. A smoker that leaks heat and smoke around the door forces the element to work overtime, burns more wood, and gives you inconsistent results rack to rack. The latch mechanism is simple — a lever, not a fussy multi-point system — and it does the job without needing adjustment over time.
For something built like a small safe, it moves around surprisingly well. Side handles and a compact footprint mean you can shift it around a patio, tuck it against a wall, or bring it along if you’re smoking at a friend’s place. It won’t feel “light,” but it’s manageable for one person.
The 400-watt element is paired with insulation that’s genuinely doing work. On a lot of budget electric smokers, insulation is an afterthought — a thin foam liner that lets heat bleed out the sides. Here, the fiberglass insulation holds cabinet temps steady, which is what lets that modest wattage element keep up in the first place.
Expert Tip: A well-insulated smoker running a smaller element will often out-perform a poorly insulated smoker with a bigger one, because it’s not fighting heat loss the whole cook. Insulation quality matters more than raw wattage.
The Model #1 uses a simple wood-chip smoke box — no water pan required, which is a departure from a lot of traditional electric and charcoal setups. You load chips or small wood chunks into the box, set your dial, and the element does the rest. Fewer parts means fewer things to clean and fewer things to troubleshoot mid-cook.
Here’s the honest trade-off: this dial is not a PID controller. A PID digital controller actively monitors and adjusts to hold an exact temperature. The Model #1’s rheostat just controls power output to the element — it gets you into the right range and holds reasonably steady, but it’s not going to lock in 225°F to the degree the way a $700 digital unit might.
In practice, this matters less than it sounds like it should. Long smokes are forgiving of small temperature swings. What kills a cook is wild temperature swings, not a steady simmer a few degrees off target.
I’ll be blunt: you need to budget for a separate digital thermometer with this smoker. There’s no built-in readout for cabinet temp or meat temp, and guessing is how you end up with dry chicken or an undercooked shoulder. A dual-probe wireless thermometer — one probe for the cabinet air temp, one for the meat — is the single most important accessory you’ll buy alongside this unit. Don’t skip it. Don’t treat it as optional. Treat it as part of the smoker.
Because the element is only 400 watts, opening the door to check on food or add wood costs you real recovery time — more than you’d lose on a smoker with a bigger element. In cold or windy weather, that recovery time stretches further. My advice: minimize door openings, load enough wood up front for the smoke phase, and if you’re smoking in genuinely cold weather, give yourself extra time in your schedule.
Smokin-It rates the Model #1 around 22 lbs of total food capacity across its racks. Numbers on a spec sheet don’t tell you much, so here’s what that actually looks like when you’re loading the cabinet:
If you’re regularly cooking for more than four to six people, doing full packer briskets on the regular, or hosting cookouts where you need multiple proteins going at once, look at Smokin-It’s larger models instead. The Model #1 is happiest doing focused, smaller-batch cooks — not feeding a crowd.
👉 [Compare Smokin-It Models & Pricing]
The wood-chip system here produces a clean, consistent smoke without the acrid bite you sometimes get from smokers that smolder chips too hot. It’s not as aggressive as a stick-burning offset, but it’s noticeably more pronounced than what you get out of a lot of budget electric units that barely get chips smoking at all.
Expert Tip: Try small wood chunks instead of chips for longer cooks like pork shoulder or brisket. Chunks smolder slower and mean fewer door openings to reload — which matters even more here given the recovery-time consideration above.
Be realistic here: electric smokers, even good ones, don’t produce the same bark or smoke ring you’ll get from charcoal or offset cooking. The lower moisture-driven smoke and steadier temps mean a softer bark and a lighter ring. If deep, dark bark is your top priority, this isn’t the tool for it — but if you’re after tender, consistently smoked food without babysitting a fire, it delivers.
Before your first cook, run the smoker empty for about 45 minutes to an hour at a moderate-high setting. This burns off manufacturing oils and residue from the stainless surfaces and starts building a light seasoning layer inside the cabinet. Skip this step and your first cook can pick up a slightly metallic or off taste — it’s a five-minute task that saves you a ruined first brisket.
Loading wood, setting the dial, and monitoring with your separate thermometer is really the whole routine. There’s no menu to navigate, no app to open, no firmware to update. That simplicity is the whole point of this smoker, and it’s genuinely refreshing if you’ve dealt with a finicky digital controller before.
Yes, with one caveat. The lack of a digital readout means beginners need to commit to buying and using a separate thermometer — skip that step and you’re flying blind. But once that’s covered, this is one of the more beginner-forgiving smokers out there specifically because there’s so little to go wrong mechanically.
| Feature | Smokin-It Model #1 | Masterbuilt 30″ Digital Electric | Bradley Original |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Analog electric | Digital electric | Analog/semi-auto electric |
| Capacity | ~22 lbs | Larger, multi-rack | Moderate |
| Temperature Control | Manual rheostat | Digital, programmable | Manual dial |
| Construction | 18-gauge stainless (in and out) | Painted steel body | Painted steel with plastic housing |
| Portability | Compact, moderate weight | Bulkier | Compact |
| Ease of Use | Very simple, no screen | Digital menu, more features | Simple, auto-feed chips |
| Best For | Durability-focused, small batch | Feature-focused, larger cooks | Convenience-focused users |
The Masterbuilt gives you more capacity and a digital controller with presets — genuinely useful if you want programmable convenience. But you’re trading that for a painted steel body that won’t hold up to the elements the way the Model #1’s full stainless build does. If longevity outdoors is your priority, the Model #1 wins. If you want more room and app-style convenience, Masterbuilt makes sense.
Pellet smokers give you better temperature precision and more hands-off convenience, but they’re mechanically more complex — augers, fans, controller boards — and there’s more that can eventually need repair. The Model #1 trades that convenience for near-bulletproof simplicity and a smoke flavor that, in my experience, is a bit more pronounced than what most pellet rigs produce.
A charcoal smoker like the WSM gives you deeper bark and more traditional smoke character, but it demands real fire management — vent adjustments, fuel monitoring, more attention overall. The Model #1 is the better choice if you want a “load it and walk away” cook; the WSM is better if you enjoy the hands-on process and want maximum traditional flavor.
👉 [Check Current Price & Availability]
Buy it if: You value long-term durability over features, you’re cooking for a small household, you don’t mind adding a separate thermometer, and you want a smoker you can genuinely run for a decade without babying it.
Skip it if: You need digital app connectivity, you regularly cook for a crowd, or you want the deep bark and smoke ring you only get from offset or heavy charcoal smoking.
Final Verdict: 4.6 / 5 — Buy, for the right person. This isn’t the smoker for everyone, and it’s not trying to be. But for what it’s built to do — simple, durable, small-batch smoking — it does it about as well as anything on the market.
👉 [Check the Latest Price & Availability]
Does the Smokin-It Model #1 require a water pan? No. It uses a wood-chip smoke box system rather than relying on a water pan for moisture and temperature stability.
How much wood chip/block volume does it consume per cook? This varies by cook length, but small wood chunks tend to last longer per load than fine chips, meaning fewer door openings on longer smokes.
Can you leave the Smokin-It Model #1 outdoors? The stainless construction handles weather exposure well, but a weatherproof cover is still recommended to protect seals, hardware, and the control dial over time.
Does it have an internal thermometer? No built-in digital readout for cabinet or meat temp. A separate dual-probe wireless thermometer is strongly recommended.
Can you smoke a full-size packer brisket in the Model #1? Not without folding or cutting it. A trimmed flat or smaller packer fits; a full untrimmed packer generally won’t.
Introduction I've scrubbed a lot of grates in my time. Some brushes I've used…
If you've ever stood over a grill at 9 PM, tinfoil-wrapped brisket sweating under the…
If you've ever tried to trim a brisket, apply rub to a rack of ribs,…
I've burned through more bags of wood chips than I'd like to admit — some…
If you've spent any time scrolling through gas grill listings, you already know the problem:…
I get some version of this question every couple of weeks: "Andy, I've narrowed it…
View Comments
Awesome! Your review here has made me decided on getting this electric smoker. Thanks!
Great to hear that. Glad we could help!