GE Profile Indoor Smoker Review: A Pitmaster’s Perspective

Pitmaster Christie Vanover tested brisket, pork, chicken and ribs on the GE Profile Indoor Smoker and provides her honest review.

Disclosure: GE Profile provided a smoker for me to review for this post. Opinions are my own.

What is an indoor smoker?

The GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker is an electric smoker that allows you to cook meats and vegetables indoors with the addition of wood smoke.

That ability to add real smoke sets it apart from an oven, slow cooker or Instant pot.

I had the opportunity to interview Laura Hammond, GE Aplliance’s commercial director, at the Consumer Electronics Show. She said the indoor smoker is “revolutionary.”

“My favorite thing is to put a brisket or pork butt on before I go to bed, to check it from my phone in the morning because it is a connected appliance, to get that alert when I’m out running errands that the food is done, and then to be able to come home and have barbecue for dinner on a Tuesday.”

Laura Hammond, GE Appliance Commercial Director

She admitted that she had never smoked anything before using this smoker but now said she has the confidence of a pitmaster.

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How does it work?

The indoor smoker should be placed on a counter or sturdy table and plugged into an outlet. You’ll choose your temperature settings and the internal electric heating element will cook your food.

For the smoke, you’ll load wood pellets into the top of the smoker. When they burn, the smoke blows into the chamber, flavoring your meat.

Then, the pellets drop into a drawer of water to extinguish.

The smoke gets sucked into an active smoke filtration system in the back, which converts the smoke into warm air, making it safe to use indoors.

Because the filtration or catalyzation process is a chemical reaction that occurs with the smoke, there are no filters to replace or clean. It works similarly to how a car’s catalytic converter works.

In the end, you have food that’s fully cooked with a kiss of smoke.

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Who is this smoker for?

This smoker is ideal for people who either don’t have the space for an outdoor grill or smoker or for someone who isn’t allowed to burn wood, coals or wood pellets where they live.

It definitely solves a problem for someone like that who loves the taste of smoked food, but has restrictions.

It’s also a good option for people who are new to barbecue because it’s pretty plug and play and less cumbersome that most outdoor grills.

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Why would a pitmaster buy an indoor smoker?

If you have the space for an outdoor smoker and you’re looking to smoke authentic Texas-style brisket, this isn’t the smoker for you. For that, I would recommend going with a charcoal-fueled smoker.

However, as a pitmaster, I did find that the GE Profile Indoor Smoker does have some features that I love, features that I can’t currently get with any of my 30+ outdoor grills and smokers.

The Keep Warm Setting

Honestly, the Keep Warm Setting is my favorite part of the entire smoker.

With the GE Profile Indoor Smoker, you can put it on “keep warm” at a temperature of 140-170F and hold it there for up to 24 hours.

This is ideal for resting smoked meat after it has been cooked. Neither my outdoor grills nor my oven can go down to 140F. This is like having a household-size Alto-Shaam.

Usually, I advise you to wrap smoked meat in a towel and place it in a cooler without ice. The downside to that method is that the temperature isn’t controlled. Once the temp of the cooler drops below 140F degrees, the food is no longer in the safe zone.

With the indoor smoker’s keep warm setting, your food will remain in the USDA-approved safe zone for hours, which is great for party planning.

The only limitation with the keep warm setting is that, if you smoked your meat on a different smoker, you food may need to cut it into smaller portions to get it to fit inside the smoker.

Low Smoke Temps

Another feature that I love about the GE Profile Indoor Smoker from a pitmaster perspective is that it can smoke at temps as low as 170F degrees.

Again, none of my outdoor smokers can go that low very easily, especially not with this level of control.

A temperature of 170-180F degrees is ideal for smoking sausages because it cooks the meat without rendering the fat too quickly. A temp of 180F is also great for making jerky.

The smoker temperature doesn’t go low enough to cold smoke, so you can’t really make smoked cheeses. GE Profile explained to me that they need the heat of 170F degrees for the smoke filtration system to work.

But at 170F, you can play around with smoked simple syrup and smoked sugar to make fun cocktails.

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To learn more about the indoor smoker, such as how to assemble it, the different settings, how to cook on it and how to clean it, click on the buttons below.

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How does BBQ cooked on an indoor smoker taste?

Barbecue cooked on the GE Profile Smoker has a mild smoke flavor. It’s nowhere near as prevalent as cooking on a charcoal grill, but it’s definitely different that cooking meat in the oven.

I did a test where I smoked a rack of ribs in the indoor smoker and cooked a rack of ribs in the oven at the same time.

I could definitely taste the difference. The ribs cooked on the indoor smoker had a better bark and tasted smoky all the way through.

While the bark looked great, the interior of the meat did tend to be a little more gray compared to an outdoor smoker, especially on brisket.

Also, don’t expect a smoke ring. The pellets only smolder on this grill, so they don’t produce enough nitric oxide to interact with the meat’s myoglobin to create a smoke ring.

Smoke rings don’t equal flavor, so that doesn’t really matter, but it’s just something worth sharing.

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How much food can the smoker hold?

Each rack is 9.25 inches wide by 11 inches long, which does create some limitations. For instance, you can’t cook a full packer brisket. However, if you separate the flat from the point, you can fit the full brisket on two shelves.

For my first cook, I smoked a 4-pound brisket flat and it fit perfectly on one rack.

The smoker can easily fit a pork shoulder or pork butt. Just install one rack toward the bottom above the drip pan.

If you use all three racks, it will fit 40 chicken wing pieces and three racks of ribs. However, you will need to cut the racks of ribs in half. Then, place two halves side-by-side on each grate.

I was also able to smoke a whole chicken on the bottom rack and a pan of smoked mac and cheese on an upper rack.

MY THOUGHTS: I think the interior size is sufficient for the average family. I wish it was just a smidge wider so it could fit a quarter sheet pan or 13x9 pan, but I wouldn't want it much larger than that because then it would take up more counter space. 

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If this review was helpful, I would appreciate it if you would use the link below when you purchase your indoor smoker. After you make a purchase, I will be provided a slight commission at no extra cost to you.