At this group dedicated to these smokers one guy figured his gas useage, as stated below. As far as whether the bottle of gas will last "weeks", it depends on how often you smoke!
> I've been holding cooking temps at around 220 degrees F. on
> average. To achieve this, the dial has ranged from just below
> medium to "below the low setting" (i.e. I had to turn past high
> toward the off position to get a flame small enough to maintain
> 220). Today I had the dial a little below medium due to a cold
> front that moved through a couple of days ago (temps today around
> 60).
>
> I just finished my 49th hour of smoking time (over about 5 smoking
> sessions) on my first tank of gas. And my propane tank still
weighs
> 22.5 lbs. My tank weighed 36.5 pounds freshly filled before I
> started smoking.
>
> Since an empty tank is supposed to weigh 17 lbs., I'd guess that I
> still have 4-5 lbs of gas (trying to estimate conservatively).
>
> I've used 14 lbs so far. This calculates to 49/14 = 3.5
> hours per pound (in my application).
>
> I should have another (4 x 3.5 =) 14 hours of smoke time left,
> assuming similar smoking conditions. If so, then I'd be getting
> over 60 hours on a tank of gas. At about $10 per tank (my cost),
> that calculates to around $.15/hour cost to smoke.
The unit has a cast brass burner in the bottom. Right above that, on a rack, is a cast iron "wood box" with a slotted lid. Some use wood chips, or chunks. I've read complaints that the chips or chunks burned out too quickly and in two or three hours had to be replenished. I have a pretty good supply of various hardwoods generally due to a woodworking hobby, and have been cutting slabs of scrap to about 6"X6"X1" or so so they'll lay flat in the bowl, stacked two high with the lid on. Seem to be getting smoke 4-5 hours this way, but if you wanted more replenishment wouldn't be a problem with mitts or something like pliers to handle the hot iron. I'm not expert in this, but have read that the smoke flavor is introduced into the meat during the first couple of hours. Also, I think some of the people concerned about smoke think it should be "boiling" smoke to be effective. A lot of times the smoke doesn't have to be really visible, but just thin wisps you can hardly see, and is effective. There's also a water bowl that can be used if desired to help maintain moisture. I've found that the smoker should be rinsed out every so often to prevent accumulation of "creosote" flavored buildup that will invade your meats. Meats will do better if not put into the smoker "cold", but allow to get closer to room temperature.
I've not tried any low temperature smoking so far, but did cook some pork chops about 1-1/4" thick, and tried to hold the temp around 210. You have to be careful with these as they don't have the fat in them and will dry out easily.
I believe I can stabilize the temperature around 180-190 but am not sure as I haven't tried. I didn't get visible smoke under 200 so I stayed in that area. After a little tinkering I realized that it takes a while for the temperature to stabilize after making adjustments to the valve. I turned it down "a little" thinking it should go from 250 to about 200 with that adjustment, and when I came back by about thirty minutes later it was about 170. I intend to do more along the lines of checking actual temperatures on different levels and areas of the smoker against the thermometer in the door too so I'll know more about what's going on in there.
As far as the electric models, I looked for something around this area that was thermostat controlled but couldn't find one. From my reading it seemed that with these you place your chips/chunks near or on the electric heating element??? Also, all the electrics I did see were very flimsy looking. Overall, I'm very pleased with this one, and since I got it have noticed several around my community and have heard nothing but positive things about them.
