"Let me give you a little background first...

At home and at work I have developed a reputation for smoking briskets for friends, family, and BBQ competitions and other events at work. I had a large custom smoker that could cook about 8-10 full briskets. This smoker required attention at least every three hours and I would typically go through a large bag of charcoal and 3-4 logs of wood. In the end I would end up with one or more briskets that everyone loved and has won second place in completion. By the end of the day I was covered in smoke and had major cleanup of the smoker to deal with. Over time the enjoyment of cooking briskets was dwindling.  
This year my wife and I decided to totally rework our backyard. Part of this project required the removal of the custom smoker mainly because the aforementioned processes. The old smoker was taking up space as well and I did not enjoy the expense or labor involved with operating it anymore. So we shipped the old smoker off and I began researching a viable alternative. My initial plans were to get a new smaller smoker around April, however my company asked me to smoke a brisket for our company inventory process in March. I decided to go ahead and get one sooner for that event. I went back to researching and that is when I ran across SmokinTex. I was skeptical about electric smokers but after reading reviews on several electric smokers I decided to risk acquiring an electric smoker. After reviewing all the listed units on the web and their reviews I decided on a SmokinTex 1400. I based this decision on the construction materials used and the reviews. As I live in Texas I contacted SmokinTex directly and drove out to Plano, TX and picked up a new model 1400 unit.

The staff was super friendly and spent a great deal of time talking with me about the differences I should expect (lack of). At this point I had to have a brisket ready the following day by 11:30am for our company inventory team.

I took the unit home and set it through a seasoning cycle as described by the staff there at SmokinTex and then immediately set in 16lbs of brisket with one hand full of hickory wood chips. I set the unit to 225�F and inserted the temperature probe and did not touch the unit again until 8:00am the next morning.

I pulled the brisket out and took it to work and awaited the responses. The brisket was a huge success! I only had to use a hand full of wood chips!?! The cost savings alone is phenomenal! Not to mention I had a full night's sleep, no alarm every three hours to check the cooker.

Another side benefit was the fact that I was not covered in smoke and my nose was clear so I could enjoy the brisket too. I almost felt guilty.

This is the best way to smoke food and I cannot imagine a better unit to do it with. After my wife has seen how easy it is to use she now wants to smoke her own cheese with the SmokinTex (something we could not do with our other smoker). You do not have to be a slave to your smoker to create great brisket!

Free at last!"

By Haucke

Thank you, Haucke, for the kind words.

Edited.