ABU GARCIA Metal Smoker - Silver

Start with a caution. If you use this indoors or outdoors, do not place on a flamable or soft surface that may melt or catch light. Do not use in close cramped conditions, and do not touch with your bare hands after use. Ever. Always make sure you are using a well ventilated, open area.My family have never had fresh smoked anything before, my wife, the inlaws and other relatives, never. This, for me, was a discovery that I didn't entirely understand. But, soon rectified. After a little while of browsing I found this, and it's ideal for our purposes. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a smoking kit only to find that the reason my family have never had smoked food was because they didn't like it. I was convinced they'd love it, but better safe than sorry.So, ordered, waited impatiently for the couple days it took to send this and unpacked it with great eagerness. It comes in several parts. The base, the bin, the lid, a plate to hold the wood chips, and two wire mesh trays. Oh, and of course, two burners.For their first meal, I bought some Bream from the fishmonger and set up the smoker outside. The burners are nicely designed so distribute heat across the bottom of the smoker bin quite efficiently, and come with their own caps if you need to extinguish the burners. I would suggest you use this in a wind sheltered area though, as having wind blow through it will take away a fair amount of heat and may extend the cooking time. You can use this indoors, provided it is a well ventilated area, but be prepared to smell the product for a couple days afterwards if you do.I won't bore you with what wood I used or how the fish were prepared or what else I did, as this is not a recipe, it's a review.Suffice to say that, including prepping the fish, an hour later we had fresh, hot smoke fish with fluffy crispy chips and fresh garden peas for dinner. For their first experience I have to say this was a revelation for the family. They loved it. My wife especially enjoyed her meal and has become quite a fan of smoking food now, so I may invest in a larger cabinet smoker next year so we can smoke our own meat and stuff.This unit is simplicity itself to use. Follow the included instructions, which are clear and concise and you can't go wrong.Cautions.This unit gets very hot, VERY hot. The burners are extremely efficient, and provided you don't overfill them, will burn themselves out. I would suggest not filling them above the mesh and cotton in the base. This should give you sufficient burn to smoke most fish. You can get six Bream or Mackeral in here with space to spare so, it will feed a four to five member family comfortably. As this is a small unit it's not really suitable for smoking joints of meat, although you can do "small" pieces of meat it's best for fish I think. Do use oven gloves or heat resistant gloves when opening the vent and removing the lid. Do not touch the main unit until at least 30-60 minutes after the flames are out.Cleaning is simple, no really, it is. The wire trays are chromed and well manufactured, so simplicity itself to clean. The main bin is a bit more of a challenge as it will discolour over time from use, but that doesn't matter as it does not affect it's efficiency, the tray that sits over the woodchips will take a bit more effort to clean, but not so much that it becomes a chore. Cleaning out the burnt wood chips needs a bit of care and caution as they may still be hot, so make sure they go into a heat proof ash can for a couple hours before disposing in the bin or compost. Seriously, take time and care over the ashes, you'd be surprised how often they will still be hot and even glowing after use. Do NOT put them in a plastic bag or bin directly, let them cool for a couple hours first. I cannot stress this enough.Likewise the smoker itself stays hot for a while, so don't try to clean or wash it for at least an hour after use.I suggest using it outside for the simple reason it's a "smoker". That's not just a name, it's what it does. The smoke will infest your house and it will smell for a while. Not an unpleasant smell, but all the same it is invasive and quite strong. So, try to use in a sheltered area outside the house. Outside has the added benefit of driving the neighbours nuts because smoking food has an aura all it's own, and to all but the most ardent of meat opponents, it's quite a mouthwatering aroma.Following the basic instructions included with this unit will produce tasty, flavoursome, hot food. A real treat, and more so because you did it yourself. It is more than possible to use this to cook fresh fish you've caught, or while camping. Provided you never forget that this thing can burn and cause serious injury if you aren't careful.But seriously folks, fresh smoked juicy fish served hot on your plate is a life changing experience. There is nothing to beat it, and it goes great at a weekend barbecue with a cold drink and a warm sun. There are a number of books available on smoking food, and a wide variety of spices and wood flavourings to use. Experiment, try different things, you will rarely be disappointed.Just be careful. This is live flame, and a lot of heat. Take care, eat well, enjoy.

This is a good-looking piece of equipment, but it has numerous components and it is not easy to see how they all go together. There is no diagram, and the written instructions do not give a full explanation; the picture on the box is some help, but aspects of it are different from the product itself. I emailed the supplier for clarification, but had no response, so I haven't yet used the smoker. I will have to just try it out, and see what works.

No instructions which made it difficult to know how to put it together. We put part of the handle on the wrong way round, which then snapped it. Looked it up on you tube to find how to put it together.Works great though now that it’s out together properly

A reasonable smoker using top quality stainless steel but only one smoke rack which limits the amount of food you can smoke at one time. Very easy to use but needs another smoker rack.