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What We Like
- A high 25-pound smoking capacity
- Easy-to-access premium grills
- Slow-cooking consistent temperature
- Durable aluminum construction
- Minimal assembly required
- Bonus wood chips and recipe booklet
What We Don’t Like
- Temperature is not adjustable
- No grill cover included
Bottom Line
A smoker recognized for its slow-cooking and excellent performance in traditional meat and fish smoking, at a pocket-friendly price.
Introduction
Also known as “Little Chief”, the Smokehouse 9900 is your ultimate family smoker, which offers a high grilling capacity at a very pocket-friendly price.
It is packaged in a strong and durable housing, with very easy-to-access chrome-plated grills, which promises to grill all your meat and other food at once. Also, it is lightweight and easy to shift around outdoors.
Smokehouse 9900 Review
Photo: Smokehouse
Performance: High-Capacity Slow Smoking
Smokehouse 9900 was designed with the original smoker from Salmon County, Alaska, in mind. When it comes to smoking fish, beef jerky, cheese, bacon, hams, ribs, pork, stakes, and even nuts, consistent slow cooking is the way to go, and no smoker does it better than the Little Chief.
To ensure your meats and other foods absorb as much traditional smoked wood flavor as possible, this smoker cooks with a consistently low temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. As the manufacturer puts it, “This way you never have to worry that your temperature shot up and you’re now cooking and ruining your expensive.” It is such a capability that makes the smoker ideal for home use.
Also, the smoker offers you a superior smoking capacity of up to 25 pounds. With 4 racks to support even distribution of food, you can fill the smoker with meat, fish, or a mix of both, and they will all be smoked in one go.
Because the smoker is electric-powered, you can run for a decent amount of time without worrying about running out of fuel as is sometimes the case with non-electric models.
As a bonus, you get a 1.75-pound bag of Smokehouse Alder Wood Chips, and a free recipe booklet to get you started with the smoker as soon as you receive it.
Design: Medium-Standing and Durable Build
At 24.5 inches in height, the Smokehouse 9900 rises well above the ground to allow for hassle-free access and handling. This height allows you to reach all the grill racks without bending awkwardly, which is advantageous if you’re fulling all of them with food.
Another feature worth recognizing is the smoker’s overall weight of only 12.16 pounds, which is without a doubt, in the lightweight category. The advantage of this low weight is that it allows you to transport and even store the unit with relative ease.
Also, you can always choose to head outdoor with the smoker and use it in settings that have a reliable electricity supply.
Switching to build quality, the smoker boasts of embossed aluminum construction. This material is strong and rust-resistant guaranteeing the durability of your smoker especially because it is designed for outdoor use only.
While this may not be apparent, the fact that this smoker assumes a regular box design makes it incredibly easy to clean compared to other designs. It has fewer tight spots and hidden components that are often hard to access and clean. You can maintain the hygiene of this smoker much easily.
Installation: No Assembly Required
The Smokehouse 9900 is designed such that no assembly is required to get started with using the smoker. It has not separate components of any that require attaching as is the case with many smoker models.
And this construction benefits works in everyone’s favor, especially if you’re just getting started with smokers. You get to understand the basics of these machines without having to go through the agony of painstaking assembly, which can be morale-killer.
However, before you get started smoking food with your newly-acquired unit, it’s important to understand some operating requirements. First, this smoker is designed for use only on concrete and similar non-combustible surfaces. Second, the circuit that supplies power to the smoker should be properly grounded with a GFI.
You can only use the smoker outside the house, which is not an issue because that is where most smokers are placed, but it’s a bit disappointing that Smokehouse did not include a cover to keep the unit protected from the elements when not in use.
Smoking Setup: Easy to Access and Operate
The smoking setup on this machine is pretty straightforward and simple to use. There is a large door/opening that gives you access to all the 4 chrome-plated grills of this smoker.
You can remove and replace each grill independently because of their easy-slide capability. This design choice makes it easy to load food on the grills especially because you don’t have to squeeze anything on top of, or underneath them.
You’ll find the wood flavor pan at the smoker’s lower section. It’d be an injustice to ignore just how easy it is to operate the flavor pan, which has been designed such that accessing it won’t require opening the main grill door again after the food has been loaded.
And this design choice has another major benefit, in that the wood flavor pan can be removed and inserted without risking any heat loss of temperature fluctuation from within the smoker, an indicator that the manufacturer had the users’ interest in mind when making this component.
Heating: Slow and Consistent
This smoker is built for slow smoking. For this reason, the maximum temperature output of this unit is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Because its heat capacity is consistently low, expect the smoker to cook gradually and with an efficient infusion of wood flavor into the meat or salmon. Note, however, that the temperature of this smoker is not adjustable.
To get the smoker all powered up, simply plug it into a standard 120V power outlet, and this will fire up the 250W heating element to highs of 165℉. Then you can load the chrome-plated grills with your desired food. Finally, pick your favorite flavor of wood chips and add them in the pan.
You benefit a great deal from the engineering that goes into ensuring the smoke ventilation on this smoker is premium and efficient. And even though the smoke has to travel across 4 levels of the grill, the circulation is pretty impressive. The food on the top grill gets smoked just as thoroughly as that at the bottom grill.
Cleaning: Simplified for Convenience
When it comes to cleaning your smoker, Smokehouse has simplified this process by making the drip pan dishwasher safe.
Remember, the drip pan catches the bulk of grease and oils produced by the foods you’re smoking. Therefore, instead of spending a lot of time trying to get the grease off manually, slipping the item into the dishwasher saves you both time and energy.
Obviously, most of the other smoker’s components require regular cleaning. And while they cannot be put in the dishwasher, you can simplify their cleaning process by making the task regular, perhaps after every 2 or 3 cooks.
And if you’re smoking food regularly, cleaning the setup immediately after use, even though lightly, can go a long way in simplifying the cleaning process for you in the long run.
Remember that you need the right tools to clean your smoker. Avoid using water around the electrical components as a safety precaution. You can opt for a reliable grill spray and grill brushes to clean the chrome-plated grills, which require only a gentle scrub to retain their coating.
Price: Unbeatable for the Value You Get
Many Smokehouse 9900’s owners were probably drawn to it by the immense value offered by a smoker going for less than $100. A food capacity of up 25 pounds is really substantial, especially from a low-cots grill. Also, the smoker’s construction is impressively strong, ensuring that you enjoy the services of this unit for many years to come.
Also, we can’t ignore the fact that the smoker is lightweight given how heavy these machines can get, especially as their capacity increases. But this smoker maintains a low weight that supports portability and easy storage. Its closest competitor, the Masterbuilt MB20071117 electric smoker, offers pretty much the performance, but costs twice as much.
Verdict
A high-capacity, durable, and lightweight smoker whose slow-cooking feature makes it ideal for preparing flavorful meats and fish.
For meat and fish lovers who value the traditional smoked wood flavors, Smokehouse 9900 checks all the boxes with its high food capacity and consistently low-temperature output.
Specs
- Product Name: Smokehouse 9900
- Product Brand: Smokehouse
- Product Dimensions: 24.5 x 11.5 x 11.5 inches
- Total Cooking Capacity: Up to 25 pounds
- Fuel Type: Wood
- Power Source: 120V, 250W
- Maximum Temperature: 165℉ (73.9℃)
- Warranty: 2 Years
- Product Weight: 12.16 pounds
Key Features
- A high 25-pound capacity for smoking meat of fish
- 4 easy-slide chrome-plated grills for robust grilling space
- Durable, embossed aluminum build for reliable lifetime service
- Superior smoke ventilation, air circulation, and efficient dehydration
- Relatively lightweight and portable at 12.16 pounds
- A free 1.75-pound bag of Smokehouse natural wood chips included