Reddit reviews Continental Electric CE23309 Single Burner, 1100 Watt Coil Heating Element, Adjustable Temperature Control, Chrome Drip Pan, Size, Black

This one seems to be almost exactly the same one that we sell (just a lot cheaper). The slightly tighter coil works well to hold coals. Interestingly, Amazon suggested that I purchase Coco Nara coals and foil along with the burner, so I guess it is popular amongst hookah smokers. Or Amazon is just that great at recommending products that are appropriate for me, heh.

I would personally rather use a single coil hotplate. It get's the job done quickly and is a hell of a lot cheaper to replace than a glass stove top, haha.


Sidenote: The "Frequently bought together" items for that hotplate makes me happy.

Coil Burner amigo. So much easier


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I bought this in 2012 and it's still chugging along:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TOBFM2/

There's no auto-off. After five years it's barely starting to give me some trouble heating up, but for $15 and five years, I can't complain.

I don't have keen financial advice, but I can offer some practical answers to your stove dilemma.

You can get replacement burners or even standalone burners for under $20.

Hell, for $70 you can get a sweet standalone induction burner, which is cool to the touch and gets the pan itself hot by using induction to interact directly with the metal. (Which means, in addition to being friggin' neat, these are less likely to burn your house down than a standalone traditional electric element)

EDIT: Also, to echo some other sentiments... I highly recommend you try renting a place together first, before you attempt to buy a house for your lady and her daughter... make sure you can really live together before make a huge commitment.

http://www.amazon.com/Continental-CE23309-SA-Single-Burner/dp/B002TOBFM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334719477&sr=8-1

You won't need any more than that.

Keep in mind a single burner, plug in stove, is easily available about anywhere. I bet you could go to a local grocery store and find them in the kitchenware area. Personally I got mine for $8 at a local Chinese Import shop.

I have one of these, it works really well. The one you linked should work as well.

invest a few bucks in one of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TOBFM2/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00 you wont regret it.

Here's the one I use:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TOBFM2/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

hi! yea i took Alton Brown's approach and modified it a bit, so that's a good place to start. i didnt like how he just dropped the whole electric hot plate into the bottom of the planter, there's no way to adjust the temperature knob without disassembling the whole structure, which is very counterproductive when youre trying to maintain a nice even temperature for smoking.

instead i unscrewed the heating element from the plastic body of this electric hot plate and re-wired it inside the planter; this way i can adjust the temperature from outside the planter without taking everything apart. the wood stakes you mentioned are therefore sitting on top of the plastic housing and supporting the planter, and are not in direct contact with the cooking element, thus not catching fire/smoking. i put the stakes/planks there to allow for some air to enter the system from the bottom of the planter.

i used a 10" diameter weber grate i had lying around from an old charcoal grill although you can find them on amazon too, and i can confirm it is made of steel. im not sure what you mean by a chrome surface, unless youre referring to stainless steel? the only real difference between the two is the heat retention properties of the material, but i had the lid on mine throughout the cooking process and kept an even temp the whole time so that wasn't really an issue for me.

smoking time is really variable for each smoker from what ive gathered. ive read people saying to smoke at 250F for 4 hours or some slight variation on those numbers, but really you just want to monitor the internal temp of the bird and wait for it to get to 165F.

I tossed my bird breast side down on the smoker at 10am and tried getting the smoking temp up to about 225-235F, but that took an hour (this was my first time, took a while to figure out how everything works out). after it reached temp i let it sit for a little while then took the top off to check on the bird (bad idea) and the temperature dropped by a lot, so i had to regain my temp, which took another half hour, putting me at 11:45am. i let it sit at that temperature for an hour, thinking that it had only cooked for 1 hour at smoking temp, and when i came to flip the bird at 12:45pm, the bird was done! in fact it was a little over-done, with breast temperature hovering around 170F. that puts the total time the chicken was in the smoker at about 3 hours at 225-235F.

i expected a longer cooking time since i was smoking at a lower temperature than what i had read online, but i guess the small size of my smoker put the bird closer to the heat source causing it to cook faster. again i think cooking time is really variable, so just monitor your meat to see when it reaches the appropriate internal temp. let me know if you have other questions/concerns, ill be happy to answer them. good luck smoking!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TOBFM2/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00

I use Coco Nara flats, so this coil works very well. Heats up fast, and within five minutes, both sides of the coal are red hot after one "flip". The cord is a bit short and since it heats up so hot so fast, I set the burner outside when my friends and I sit inside and smoke.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TOBFM2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the burner I use.

I have found them to be a lot better than the quick light coals. They last longer and can control the heat better. You don't have to worry about the nasty crap from the quick lights either. However you should invest in a single stove burner because they take awhile to light. [Something like this] (http://www.amazon.com/Continental-Electric-1100-Watt-Singler-Burner/dp/B002TOBFM2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367959190&sr=8-2&keywords=single+stove+burner)

Any old thing like this is fine.

This one is a lot cheaper, though.

This is the one I use. It's cheap and very effective for coco naras.

You can cook bacon, fish or scrambled eggs in a microwave.

It might be worth your while getting at least a single ring countertop thing though - like this...

http://www.amazon.com/Continental-Electric-1100-Watt-Singler-Burner/dp/B002TOBFM2

No outdoor grill?

I'm not sure about where to buy stuff online that will ship to Canada, but I can weigh in on the best way to light your coals.

I'm pretty sure you guys use the same power outlets as we do in the US. Is that right? If so, get yourself something like this. It gets natural coals going in about 10 minutes. Even if I'm out of nats and have to resort to quick lights, I still use my coil burner. I find that it helps to get rid of the nasty lighter fluid/gunpowder taste that improperly lit QLs can have.

That thread about lighting coals in a microwave did link to a YouTube video of someone doing it. I guess it's possible. I still wouldn't try. Especially with quick lights (the guy was using natural coals which aren't impregnated with gunpowder to assist with lighting), and especially when single coil burners are so cheap.

What kind of coals are you using, by the way?

If you're super worried about it, just use one of these! I had one in my dorm room freshman year, and I used my cast iron on it all the time!