This New GE Profile Appliance Makes Indoor BBQ Smoking a Reality

By Nick Guy

I’m someone who loves spending hours at a time on cooking projects, but as an apartment dweller, my options are limited to what I can do inside my four walls. That means low-and-slow barbecuing has always been out of the picture. That’s why I was so intrigued when GE Profile introduced its Smart Indoor Smoker, promising the benefits of a smoker in a box that fits on my countertop, and pleasantly surprised by its performance.

Smoking has traditionally been an outdoor project because, well, it produces a lot of smoke. That’s what flavors your food. The challenge for an indoor solution is imbuing the meat, veggies or whatever else you’re cooking with that smoky flavor, without the health hazards (or the clinging smell). The Smart Indoor Smoker, which I’ve been testing for a few weeks, is roughly the size of a standard to large microwave, turned on its side, with a two-element system: There’s a heating coil, much like in an electric oven, and a separate heat source for igniting wood pellets, which creates smoke. GE says the smoker can fit a whole brisket (split into a few pieces), 40 wings or three racks of baby back ribs.

The smoke level and cooking temperature are controlled independently, allowing for the right levels for whatever you’re cooking and your personal tastes, and they can be set via the touch-display or a companion app. There’s also an included probe thermometer so you can ensure your food is cooked to the proper temperature. A handful of preset recipes, including brisket, chicken breast and salmon, are programmed in, and GE Profile includes a recipe book to get you started. Pellets are easy to find at hardware stores and online.

So far, I’ve smoked chicken wings, pork butt and turkey legs in the Smart Indoor Smoker, and I’ve been impressed by the results with each, with cook times ranging from about an hour to six hours for bigger cuts of meat. 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. The wings were rather small, so using the provided recipe produced drier meat than I would have liked, but the pork butt and turkey legs were incredibly juicy and flavorful.