Nordicware Kettle Smoker

Nordicware Kettle Smoker

Only used this 2-3 times so far, but it does work well.
Remember that it is a hot smoker, so cooks and flavours but does not preserve food (for which you would need a cold smoker). You can therefore make things like hot smoked trout /mackerel, but you can't do the classic cold smoked salmon (though hot smoked salmon is good).
Food will come out well flavoured and cooked, but not crispy, so be selective in what you choose to cook. Our chicken wings tasted good, but were less than appetising as the skin was soggy and should perhaps have been finished off in the oven or grill.
As others have said, it dosn't smoke out the house, but you ought to use it in a room with a decent extractor fan. It does need fairly constant monitoring to maintain the correct temperature (thermometer is included) but I suspect that you'll learn how it works with your cooker and get away with less attention as you get more experienced.
I'm not sure it is really worthwhile wrapping the drip tray in foil. Food will never come into contact with it and, after a few smoking sessions, the inside of the main container will be stained black from the smoke in any case.
Don't pay the extortionate price for wood shavings. Get yourself a rasp from a DIY store, find a bit of fallen beech, apple or oak and you can make your own shavings in a few minutes and dry them out on a radiator.
I've given it 4 stars because it would be good if there was a cold smoking attachment (as there is for some other hot smokers), though this may not be viable for a stove top smoker.

Nordicware Kettle Smoker

I have to admit I was very sceptical when my dear wife insisted on buying this item. I thought it would just impart a bit of smoke flavour to already cooked foods and be relegated to the back of the cupboard after a few sessions.
Wrong! This is a marvellous bit of kit that cooks food brilliantly while giving it a lovely subtle smoky flavour at the same time. So far we have used the wet smoking method for whole chickens, pheasants and pork chops, all great. Best of all were chinese pork ribs. No burnt carbonised gunk to clean up as the moist heat steams the food rather than grills it. The gentle heat (Note: it is 200F, not 200C), means that it is virtually impossible to overcook anything. Wrap the drip tray in double foil and then cleanup is a doddle.
Highly recommended and great fun!

Nordicware Kettle Smoker

Wary of buying this, would it be a waste of money, we love smoked food though so what the heck. Used 1.5tbsp of applewood supplied and cooked spare rib chops, the flavour was subtle but the meat was superb, normally these chops can be tough, but wet smoked they were so tender I could have eaten them again, the smoky flavour was just enough, towards the end of cooking I put in some sweet peppers and they were gorgeous too, hubby was well impressed. Good advice on this page to wrap the drip tray in foil, the rest of it cleaned easy. Had no trouble keeping the temperature on my electric cooker, but opening it for too long dropped the temperature quite a lot. Very little smoke produced but put on extraction fan, just in case. The beer chicken on the supplied instruction DVD is next. Recommended