Product Review: Nordic Ware Kettle Smoker Indoor/Outdoor Cooker
The Nordic Ware Kettle Smoker is the perfect way to get that smoky flavor for great tasting fish, steaks and even Pizza.
Ease of Use/Performance: 23/25
Convenience/Storage 23/25
Appearance/Design 24/25
How much I enjoy 25/25
Total: 95/100
Nordic Ware may be familiar for their great Bundt brand of cookware but they also have some other great products like the Kettle Smoker Indoor/Outdoor Cooker that smokes food indoors or out. This smoker cooker can smoke foods with a great hickory or any other woody flavor depending on the smoking chips you use.
The cooker is large enough to hold large roasts, chickens but not a turkey and works great for fish and steaks. The Nordic Smoker can also smoke vegetables and pizza as well and works easily without the hassle or mess of a grill or outdoor smoker.
Product Description from Nordic Ware website:
Includes high-domed cover for large capacity, water pan for moist, flavorful smoked food, a non-stick smoking rack, adjustable smoke vent, thermometer, and recipe booklet. Wood chips are included to get started!
Length: 6.88 in (17.48 cm)
Width: 13 in (33.02 cm)
Height: 13.5 in (34.29 cm)
A turkey over about ten pounds will not fit in the Nordic Smoker cooker but a smaller one will as well as chickens, roasts, fish and even a small to medium pizza. Pizza is great smoked and adds that zing and new flavor that many families crave.
Smoking food adds a delightful flavor and taste to the food and that new type of cooking that is not only great tasting but very healthy for you. Cooking without fats and oils and smoking your food more slowly brings the flavor out and the fat. The smoker cooks your food slowly when using the required 200 to 220 degrees and just creates a great tasting meal.
You can smoke and add hickory flavoring to just about anything you enjoy like salmon, vegetables and even garlic or onions. Smoking things like vegetables has become a rage in cooking and to smoke things like garlic is wonderful for that smoked and almost roasted flavor.
The Nordic Ware cooker is great for the winter cooking as you cook directly on your stove using the regular burner, either gas or electric. You can also pop in the enclosed DVD to see just how to slow smoke a chicken with beer basting or ribs for that instructional video help.
The cooking takes place on the non stick Teflon covered tray that sits in the middle of the cooker. The woodchips are a smaller finer woodchip than you would use on a grill and sits directly on the bottom of the cooker. The woodchips are dry and if they do get wet will stick to the bottom and make a bit of a mess.
The wood chips will smolder while cooking and impart a great smoky flavor into the food on the tray but the food will not make a mess in the bottom of the cooker. The drip tray sits under the cooking tray and is large enough to catch the drippings of whatever you’re cooking. You can also add some liquid like water, apple juice or even beer for a juicier and flavorful cooking. The cooking tray has holes in it that are just within the diameter of the drip tray to catch all these drippings.
The drip tray sits right on top of the smoking chips and you do have to make sure it is centered in the bottom so the drippings do not miss the drip tray. If there is a mess inside the cooker on the bottom it does clean up but it also does stain the bottom which is normal. The drip tray and the cooking tray are both Teflon coated so your food mess will clean up easily and you can throw the whole cooker in the dishwasher if you want. Just make sure you clean out all the wood chips before using the dishwasher as they will clog up your washer.
Smoking meats like fish, beef and birds like chicken work great and you can smoke turkey easily by just using cut up pieces instead of using a whole bird. Those frozen chicken breasts you can purchase in the bag work so great and you can create some really different meals using the variety of flavors available at your local grocery or kitchen specialty stores. You can buy the finer smoking chips in home improvement stores that sell grills as well as grocery stores. The regular smoking chips you will just not work well in the smoker cooker so you should find the kind that is ground up like saw dust.
The Nordic Smoker Cooker sits right on the burner and works very well with an electric range on the burner coil. The electric range is easy to keep the cooker at the desired 200 to 220 degrees using the enclosed thermometer that also doubles as a doneness testing thermometer.
To use the whole cooker you simply set the base on the burner, sprinkle about two to three tablespoons of smoking chips in the bottom and spread evenly. Set the drip tray in the center right on the chips, add liquid if desired, and then set the cooking tray in the cooker.
The lid fits on after adding your meats, vegetables or pizza and the lid has a hole for the thermometer. You just turn the heat on to about medium high and watch the thermometer to make any adjustments while cooking. It will take about ten minutes for the cooker to get up to about 200 degrees but the food will start cooking in a couple of minutes. There will be some smoke from the cooker but no more than cooking in a pan and certainly less than boiling water.
I have cooked chicken, pork steaks, fish and even a pizza with very good results and salmon is fantastic. The pizza is different but still very good. The Nordic Kettle Smoker works so very well and allows you to cook and smoke things inside without all the mess and hassle of an outdoor grill or smoker.
I really enjoy the Nordic Ware Kettle Smoker Indoor/Outdoor Cooker and think it makes a great way to add some flair and different cooking techniques to your kitchen. The Nordic Ware Kettle Smoker works great and is a definite recommendation from this cook.
