6 Best Smoke Generators For Curing Meat That Old-Timers Swear By
Find the best smoke generator for curing meat. We review 6 time-tested models that old-timers swear by for consistent, high-quality smoke results.
There’s nothing quite like pulling a side of bacon you cured yourself from the smokehouse, the result of patience and a little bit of science. But getting that perfect, even smoke flavor isn’t about luck; it’s about having the right tool for the job. A reliable smoke generator is the heart of any curing operation, turning a simple box into a preservation chamber.
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Key Features of a Reliable Meat Smoke Generator
When you’re looking at smoke generators, it’s easy to get lost in bells and whistles. The truth is, only a few things really matter. Consistency is number one. For long, slow cold smokes—the kind you need for bacon, ham, or fish—you need a unit that can smolder for hours without flaming up or dying out. A sudden temperature spike can ruin a batch, and a dead smoker means starting all over.
Next, consider the fuel capacity and burn time. You have other chores to do; you can’t be babysitting a smoker all day. A generator that can run for 8-12 hours on a single load of wood is a game-changer. It lets you set it up in the morning and trust that it will do its job while you’re mending fences or turning the compost pile.
Finally, look at the build quality. A smoke generator lives a hard life, dealing with heat, moisture, and acidic smoke. Stainless steel construction is almost always worth the extra money because it won’t rust out after a few seasons. Simple designs are also easier to clean, and you’ll be thankful for that when it’s time to break it down.
Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna for Large Smokehouse Batches
If you’re processing a whole hog or several deer at once, you need a generator that can fill a large space with a lot of smoke. The Big Kahuna is that tool. It’s an external, cold smoke generator that uses an adjustable air pump to force smoke into your smokehouse, giving you precise control over the smoke volume.
This unit is a workhorse. It’s designed to burn wood chips or chunks, which produce a heavy, dense smoke that penetrates deep into large cuts of meat like hams and shoulders. Because the smoke is generated outside the chamber and piped in, you get true cold smoke, keeping your meat safely below the temperatures where bacteria can thrive. It’s not a subtle tool, but for big jobs, its power is unmatched.
The tradeoff is the setup. It’s a more involved piece of equipment than a simple maze smoker and requires a bit more attention to get the airflow just right. For someone smoking a few pounds of salmon, it’s overkill. But for the serious homesteader looking to preserve a significant portion of their harvest, the Big Kahuna provides the volume and control needed for consistent, large-batch results.
ProQ Cold Smoke Generator for Consistent Slow Burns
The ProQ is a classic for a reason. It’s a simple, elegant maze made of stainless steel mesh, and it’s about as reliable as a tool can get. You fill the channel with fine wood dust, light it with a tea candle or torch at one end, and it smolders its way through the maze for up to 12 hours. No electricity, no moving parts.
Its genius is its gentle, consistent output. Because it uses sawdust and has no fan, it produces a very low volume of true cold smoke with almost no heat. This makes it perfect for delicate items that can be easily over-smoked or damaged by warmth, like cured salmon, sausages, or a wheel of cheese. It just works.
This isn’t the generator for a walk-in smokehouse. Its gentle smoke output is best suited for smaller containers like a dedicated smoking cabinet, a kettle grill, or even a sturdy cardboard box. Think of it as a specialist tool. For those who prioritize a true, traditional cold smoke for delicate foods, the ProQ is often the first and last generator they ever buy.
A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker for Versatile Fuel Options
The A-MAZE-N line of smokers takes the simple maze concept and adapts it for wood pellets. This is a significant advantage for many hobby farmers. Pellets are widely available, come in a huge variety of wood types, and their uniform size ensures a very predictable, consistent burn.
This versatility is its greatest strength. You can use an A-MAZE-N tray for cold smoking bacon in a barrel smoker on a cool day. You can also toss it into your gas grill to add real wood smoke flavor to a chicken without having to buy a whole new piece of equipment. It bridges the gap between cold smoking and hot smoking better than almost any other product.
The one thing to watch is temperature. Pellets can sometimes burn a little hotter than fine sawdust, especially in a well-insulated chamber. For true cold smoking below 85°F, you may need to use it on cooler days or vent your smokehouse slightly. Still, for its flexibility and ease of use, it’s an indispensable tool for someone who wants to do more than just traditional curing.
Smokehouse Smoke Chief for Set-and-Forget Smoking
For the farmer with too much to do and not enough time, automation is a blessing. The Smoke Chief is built for exactly that. It’s an electric-powered unit that uses an auger to feed pellets onto a small heating element, while a fan blows the resulting smoke out a tube and into your smokehouse.
The primary benefit here is unattended operation. You can fill the hopper with pellets, plug it in, and walk away for up to 10 hours. It maintains a steady, continuous stream of smoke without any intervention. This is invaluable when you have a full day of other tasks and can’t afford to be checking on a smoldering fire.
The system does require electricity, which can be a dealbreaker for an off-grid smokehouse. The smoke produced is also very "clean" due to the high-temperature burn, which some traditionalists find less complex than the flavor from a natural smolder. But for sheer convenience and reliability, the Smoke Chief lets you produce consistently smoked goods with minimal effort.
Bradley Smoker Generator for Automated Bisquette Feed
The Bradley system is another automated option, but it operates on a completely unique principle. It uses proprietary wood "bisquettes," which are uniform pucks of compressed sawdust. The generator automatically feeds a new bisquette onto a heater every 20 minutes, simultaneously pushing the spent one into a water pan to extinguish it.
This process is the key to its appeal. By extinguishing the wood before it burns to ash, the Bradley system prevents the release of bitter-tasting tars and creosote. The result is an incredibly clean, consistent, and repeatable smoke flavor. For products where flavor purity is paramount, like smoked fish or cheese, this level of control is a major advantage.
The obvious tradeoff is that you are locked into buying their specific bisquettes. You can’t just use any bag of chips or pellets you find at the hardware store. This can be more expensive and limits your fuel flexibility. It’s a choice between the ultimate convenience and flavor control versus the freedom to use generic, less expensive fuel sources.
Masterbuilt Slow Smoker for Electric Smoker Add-On
Many people get their start with a Masterbuilt electric smoker. The Masterbuilt Slow Smoker is an accessory designed to turn one of these popular hot smokers into a legitimate cold smoking machine. It’s a simple external box that attaches to the side port of the smoker, housing its own wood chip tray and low-wattage heating element.
By generating the smoke outside the main cabinet, it allows you to fill the chamber with smoke without ever turning on the primary heating element inside. This keeps the internal temperature low, making it possible to cold smoke bacon, cheese, and fish in a unit that was primarily designed for hot smoking ribs or brisket. It’s a brilliant way to expand the capability of a tool you already own.
This is fundamentally an add-on, not a standalone unit. Its capacity is smaller than dedicated generators, and it’s designed specifically for Masterbuilt’s ecosystem. But for someone who already has the smoker and wants to get into curing without buying a whole new setup, it’s the most practical and cost-effective entry point available.
Matching Fuel Type to Your Desired Smoke Flavor
The generator is the engine, but the fuel is what creates the flavor. Choosing the right type of wood—and the right form of that wood—is just as important as choosing the smoker itself. The form factor of the fuel dictates the type of smoke you’ll get.
- Wood Dust/Sawdust: This is the fuel for maze-style smokers like the ProQ. It smolders slowly with very little heat, producing a delicate smoke. It’s the top choice for traditional cold-smoked salmon, cheese, and other foods that can’t take much heat or heavy smoke.
- Pellets: Used by units like the A-MAZE-N and Smoke Chief, pellets offer consistency and convenience. They produce a clean, steady smoke and come in dozens of flavors, from standard hickory and apple to more unique options like bourbon barrel oak. They are a fantastic all-purpose fuel.
- Chips and Chunks: These are the fuel for powerful generators like the Smoke Daddy. They produce a heavy, moisture-rich smoke that’s perfect for large, dense cuts of meat like pork shoulder and ham. The robust flavor stands up to long curing and smoking times.
- Bisquettes: The proprietary fuel for Bradley smokers. Their main advantage is creating a repeatable flavor profile with no bitterness from ash. This is for the person who values precision and consistency above all else.
Your choice of generator often locks you into a specific fuel type. So, think first about what you want to smoke. A delicate fish needs a different approach than a 20-pound ham, and the right generator and fuel combination is what ensures you get the result you’re after.
Ultimately, the best smoke generator is the one that fits the scale of your operation and the time you have to give it. Whether it’s a simple maze you light and leave or an automated unit that does the work for you, the goal is the same: to reliably transform your hard-earned harvest into something delicious that will last. Choose the tool that makes that process a pleasure, not a chore.
