Robert Brown|Here's how to smoke ribs or brisket in your kitchen: GE Profile's Smart Indoor Smoker

GE is Robert Brownabout to make smoking meat a lot easier – with a countertop indoor smoker.

The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker ($999) is becoming available now at retailers including Best Buy, Crate & Barrel and Williams Sonoma. Similar in size to a microwave on its side or a large air fryer, the countertop appliance smokes beef, pork, chicken, fish and vegetables while keeping all of the smoke inside.

GE calls it "the first and only indoor smoker," although there are other methods of indoor smoking of food including smoking guns and slow cookers. But its unique Smart Smoke Generation System controls the temperature of the pellets and brings wood-smoked flavor to foods, the company says.

"We believe that this product will completely change the game when it comes to smoked food,” said André Zdanow, executive director of small appliances at GE Appliances, in a press release announcing the smoker.

Cooking times range from short cooks to 24 hours or more, because the indoor smoker cooks food long and slow, just as if you would smoke it outdoors – but with less fuss. And you don't have plumes of smoke filling up the house.

“Whether you are a novice or an expert smoker, the GE Profile Indoor Smoker will take your smoking skills to the next level, all from the comfort of your kitchen counter,” said Dallas McGarity, executive chef and owner of The Fat Lamb. McGarity, who won the Food Network’s cooking challenge show “Chopped” in February 2019, is the GE Profile chef ambassador. The indoor smoker comes with cookbook created by McGarity.

“I find that smoking food can be a social experience, and this indoor smoker now gives me the flexibility to smoke even small meals inside with my family and friends," he said in the release. "From traditional meats to smoked brussels sprouts and desserts like s’mores, the meals you can create are endless.”

Will GE indoor smoker be a hit at CES?

The smoker, which GE says can hold a brisket, three racks of baby back ribs, a whole chicken, up to 40 chicken wings or a 14-pound pork butt, will be on display at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next week in Las Vegas.

You can customize cooking with temperature and smoke settings – it has five levels of smoke flavor – and there are six preset food settings (for brisket, pork ribs, pork butt, chicken wings, chicken breast and salmon).

The smoker has a built-in temperature probe and GE Profile's SmartHQ app lets you monitor and adjust the progress if needed. A Smoke and Hold feature keeps your smoked dish warm for up to 24 hours. The removable racks and dip trays can be washed in your dishwasher.

Like outdoor smokers, the GE Profile Indoor Smoker uses any brand of wood pellets made for smokers and grills, but much fewer of them, GE says. It comes with a bag of co-branded GE Profile and Kona wood pellets and you can get up to 20% off when you re-order those or get a Kona pellet description.

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Shelly Palmer, who is well-known for his executive tech briefings and floor tours at CES, already has deemed the indoor smoker "the device I am most excited to see at CES 2024" in his blog and newsletter.

"I love barbecue, and while it may be a bit pricey at $999, the idea of having a smoker compact enough to fit on my kitchen countertop – yet spacious enough to handle a whole brisket, three racks of ribs, or a small flock of chicken wings – makes me hungry!" said Palmer, who is also the founder of The Palmer Group and professor of advanced media in residence at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications.

How does GE's indoor smoker work?

The smoker – its dimensions are 16.5 inches tall by 16.5 inches wide by 10.5 inches deep – uses what GE calls Active Smoke Filtration technology, which allows warm smoke to flow around the food, but keeps it within the smoker. You may get a smoky aroma from the cooking food, but no smoke.

You can customize smoke intensity and temperature because the smoker has two heat sources: one for heat and one for burning pellets. A GE Profile video shows someone prepping the smoker to cook a brisket at 300 degrees and for 12 hours.

When your cook has ended, a capture system "extinguishes the used pellets and collects them in a water tank for easy disposal," GE says.

How does the food taste when cooked in GE's new indoor smoker?

Carisha Swanson, market director for House Beautiful magazine, got to preview the smoker and successfully smoked prime rib for two, then browned it in her oven. "But the flavor was there and the temperature was right thanks to the probe," she wrote. "While it’s not the least expensive countertop appliance you can have, it is in a league of its own. Any true BBQ lover will gladly push aside the crock pot to make room for this game changing unit."

At The Wall Street Journal, Buy Side senior editor Nick Guy wrote how so far he had smoked chicken wings, pork butt and turkey legs in his test drive of the smoker. "The beauty of cooking with smoke is the deep, rich smoky flavor that simply can’t be achieved from a standard oven, and while I wouldn’t call what I’ve made competition quality, it’s the best barbecue I’ve ever cooked," he wrote.

GE hopes to give more home cooks a chance to try smoking food. "So if you talk to anybody who's into smoking, if they're smoking a brisket, it's an event. You're constantly checking it, adjusting the smoke, potentially waking up during the night to add wood or add pellets. This does all of that for you," Chris Naber, director of product development at FirstBuild, told USA TODAY.

FirstBuild is a GE Appliances-started and owned subsidiary that developed the Arden Indoor Pellet Smoker as an IndieGogo campaign. More than 1,150 of those were shipped in fall 2023 and the product has been renamed the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker.

"This allows you to really smoke hands-free," Naber said.

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