GE Profile Good Indoor Smoker evaluation: a simple solution to barbecue indoors

My love affair with barbecue has been a gradual burn. I’m from England, the place BBQ means grilling burgers and steak within the backyard on a gasoline grill. So, once I moved to South Carolina over a decade in the past, I had no clue what pulled pork was or that brisket was even a factor. I realized shortly. Smoking meat is akin to faith round these components, and I think many pitmasters would view the most recent gadget I’ve been testing as one thing akin to heresy. 

Right this moment, barbecue is considered one of my favourite dishes — brisket from Lewis Barbecue in Charleston is what I might request for a final meal. Nevertheless, whereas I fancy myself as one thing of an achieved dwelling chef, I’ve by no means had a lot luck smoking my very own meats. So, I used to be intrigued to check the $999.95 GE Profile Good Indoor Smoker.

A wise indoor smoker, GE Profile’s gadget guarantees a neater, faster solution to get that smokey taste; plus, it’s actually the one choice in case you don’t have the area or an accommodating local weather for utilizing an outside smoker. I do have an outside smoker, however it not often will get used. It’s enormous, requires a whole lot of prep, and I really feel compelled to smoke a whole lot of meat to justify utilizing it — plus, as talked about, I’ve not been very profitable making my very own barbecue.

Its principal tips are being sufficiently small to suit in your countertop (though it’s not small) and smoking meals with out smoking up your kitchen. One thing known as Energetic Smoke Filtration expertise and an airflow system mixed with tight gaskets and seals retains the smoke within the equipment. This labored very properly. No smoke escaped the oven in any respect throughout cooking, however I nonetheless acquired the beautiful aromas. The one factor that did come out of the gadget was warmth. My kitchen acquired very heat whereas utilizing it. 

It is because it’s primarily an oven that provides smoke taste. In contrast to a real out of doors wood-pellet smoker, the Good Indoor Smoker doesn’t cook dinner your meals with smoke. It makes use of a separate heating aspect that does many of the arduous work whereas the smoke infuses it with taste. This considerably cuts down on cooking time and means you employ means fewer wooden pellets. However I did discover meats didn’t at all times obtain that tenderness you get from smoking alone.

If you wish to smoke meat indoors, although, this can be a excellent solution to do it. Purists may scoff, however it’s extra environment friendly than an outside smoker. And whereas I discovered it arduous to suit into my on a regular basis cooking routine — it nonetheless can’t cook dinner something in below an hour — within the two months I examined it, I used it no less than twice every week, way more typically than I exploit my out of doors smoker. It’s tremendous easy to make use of and simple to scrub, and its neat Hold Heat function meant I may put a bit of meat or some candy potatoes within the smoker within the morning, and it will be prepared for supper time.

Two downsides are the value — $1,000 is quite a bit for a single-purpose gadget — and the dimensions. Solely contemplate this if in case you have a whole lot of countertop area or someplace you possibly can retailer it when it’s not in use. It’s brief sufficient to suit below my cupboards, however not with the 4 inches of clearance the guide recommends. My husband didn’t need it close to something which may catch fireplace (he’s a firefighter and was deeply suspicious of this machine, however it by no means brought on any points). 

It must be huge so it will probably match the favored barbeque meats. GE Home equipment says its three detachable racks enable for sufficient area to cook dinner three racks of child again ribs, a brisket, a complete rooster, as much as 40 wings, or a 14-pound pork butt. I didn’t take a look at these capability limits — there’s solely a lot meat one household can eat. However it didn’t battle to deal with something I put in it, from a complete rooster to 2 racks of ribs to a sizeable brisket (halved). 

The remainder of the machine is equally well-designed. It has a pleasant huge digital show that’s straightforward to learn, with a big dial you flip and press to pick temperature and smoke degree, plus digital buttons for fundamental features. There are six presets for brisket, pork ribs, pork butt, rooster wings, rooster breast, and salmon that may be activated from the machine or GE Equipment’s Good HQ app. Then there’s a customise choice for setting your personal smoke. The app isn’t required, however it affords some ideas and tips and may provide you with a warning when the door is left open, when the smoker is preheated, or when the meals is nearly carried out, which is useful.

To start out a smoke, I chosen one of many presets, selected whether or not to make use of the built-in temperature probe or a set cook dinner time (annoyingly, you possibly can’t use each), added the pellets, stuffed the water bucket — the place the pellets go to be extinguished — and pressed begin on the machine. As soon as it reached the set temperature, I needed to press begin once more (which I couldn’t do remotely), and the smoking acquired underway. 

The smoker did an amazing job infusing every thing I cooked with a stunning smokey taste, starting from delicate for shorter cook dinner occasions to essentially wealthy for meats that had been slow-cooked over eight to 10 hours. I favored that I may monitor and management the machine from the app and use voice instructions with Alexa to regulate the temperature. 

However its smarts are restricted. As is widespread with good kitchen gadgets, I couldn’t remotely begin the equipment. I used to be additionally upset that the smoker couldn’t routinely regulate the cooking temperatures for me. The Traeger good smoker I’ve will regulate the temperatures over a protracted smoke, which takes a whole lot of the guesswork out of barbecuing. The GE Profile good smoker required frequent guide intervention for larger meats like brisket, together with rotating the meat for the reason that compartment doesn’t warmth evenly.

Sadly, my guide intervention was not profitable. Whereas all of the meats I cooked had glorious smokey taste, my two makes an attempt at pork butt and three tries at briskets all got here out chewy. Hen, salmon, and candy potatoes had been all high-quality, however these extra difficult meats I struggled to get proper. 

To be honest, I battle with these within the Traeger, too, however the GE Profile good smoker didn’t make me a greater pitmaster. That’s nonetheless a talent I assume a machine can’t be taught. Looking back (and based mostly on a related expertise this skilled griller had with the good smoker), it’s doubtless that utilizing the Hold Heat setting overcooked my meats. It takes some time for the interior temperature to get again down, so I in all probability wanted to regulate the cook dinner time to account for that.

What could be nice is that if this good smoker was good sufficient to do this for me. Or good sufficient to regulate the cooking temperature routinely throughout a smoke in order that the meat comes out tender each time. Whereas this progressive gadget brings one thing new to the kitchen, proper now, its good options are pretty fundamental. Good kitchen devices that assist you cook dinner are nice, however what I need most from the good kitchen are good gadgets that assist you be a higher cook dinner.

Pictures by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge