Living in Alaska, we have access to a lot of fresh salmon. King, red, silver and even pink salmon are abundant and fill our freezer. A few years ago we decided to purchase a smoker so we could make our own smoked salmon, and the two types we purchased were made by Big Chief, which is a brand that nearly every store in Alaska sells First off, this product is made in the USA, something I always look for. It isn't too large, measuring about 2 feet in height, 1 1/2 feet wide and a foot in depth. It does come with a recipe book and instructions, but I found a recipe that was taken from a fishing magazine to be even better. I was always intimidated by friends who could smoke their own fish, but this is actually very easy to do. You need to buy bags of wood chips, which come in a variety of flavors, and I like the hickory the best. There is a small door at the bottom where you place your pan of wood chips, you plug it in and a heating element under the pan burns the wood and causes smoke to fill the container. The unit is made of silver colored aluminum, and the only thing I don't like about it is how the fish are loaded into the smoker. There are five grills that hold the fish. I spray mine with Pam non-stick spray before adding the salmon, which helps the fish release easily after smoking. The piece that holds the grills is tall and fits down inside the case or body of the smoker. You remove the lid, place the trays into the smoker, and the four feet will stop it when it has reached the bottom. Place the lid on and let it start working. In a few hours I am ready to start testing my smokes salmon. Some people like it almost raw, while others like it well done. I like it somewhere in the middle as I like my smoked salmon still moist and not dried out. These can be expensive smokers, but if you smoke a lot of salmon or game they really pay off and are well worth the cost. -- Durable, Embossed Aluminum Construction -- 5 Easy-Slide Chrome Plated Grills hold up to 50 pounds of meat or fish -- Guaranteed to be free from manufacturing or component defects for a period of 2 years -- 220V 450 Watt 2 Amp Export model also available...please contact Customer Service

Suze51

Eagle River, AK

I got this easy to use smoker for my boyfriend for christmas this year and he absolutely loves it! He plugged it in right away and as soon as you can say brine,marinade and smoke he had some awesome turkey jerky ready for the whole family to enjoy! The smoker comes with the wood chips and everything else you need including a great recipe book with tons of yummy ideas. You do have to plan time to marinate whatever your smoking for a while before you can smoke it but after that you just place the meat or cheese on the racks and turn on the smoker and then flip the food every 45 mins for a few hours. All his guy friends are begging to come over and smoke thier freshly caught salmon and deer meat, so it is a wonderful way to get the guys together and even make new friends at work. We have found that it works best if we let it heat up first and change out the wood chips once in the middle of the process. Also if you keep the box it came in and put the box on top of the smoker it helps to keep the smoke and heat in. It does need to be used outdoors so make sure you have an outlet i the garage or on the porch.

Easybakeovenluva

Port Angeles, WA