A stand-alone gas-fired smoker for cooking a food product comprising: a. a cabinet with a top, a bottom, sides, a back, an access door, and at least one rack vertically located within the cabinet for holding the food product to be cooked; b. a gas burner located adjacent the bottom of the cabinet and connected to a source of flammable gas by means of a variable gas valve , the variable gas valve comprising: i. a valve body having (a) an inlet port; (b) an outlet port; and (c) a valve seat ii. a valve plunger for engaging the valve seat; iii. a control knob stem for advancing into and retracting from the valve body; iv. a spring positioned between the control valve stem and the valve plunger , the spring engaging one side of the valve plunger ; v. a flexible bellows positioned between the valve body and an opposite side of the valve plunger ; vi. an oil filled temperature sensor bulb connected to the bellows of the variable gas valve by a capillary tube for exerting pressure inside the bellows and thereby modulating the amount of gas passing through the variable gas valve to the gas burner c. a safety/igniter valve connected between the source of flammable gas and the variable gas valve; and d. a flame sensor connected to the safety/igniter valve for sensing the existence of a flame at the gas burner and closing the safety/igniter valve when the gas burner is extinguished. a. a cabinet with a top, a bottom, sides, a back, an access door, and at least one rack vertically located within the cabinet for holding the food product to be cooked; b. a gas burner located adjacent the bottom of the cabinet and connected to a source of flammable gas by means of a variable gas valve , the variable gas valve comprising: i. a valve body having (a) an inlet port; (b) an outlet port; and (c) a valve seat ii. a valve plunger for engaging the valve seat; iii. a control knob stem for advancing into and retracting from the valve body; iv. a spring positioned between the control valve stem and the valve plunger , the spring engaging one side of the valve plunger ; v. a flexible bellows positioned between the valve body and an opposite side of the valve plunger ; vi. an oil filled temperature sensor bulb connected to the bellows of the variable gas valve by a capillary tube for exerting pressure inside the bellows and thereby modulating the amount of gas passing through the variable gas valve to the gas burner i. a valve body having (a) an inlet port; (b) an outlet port; and (c) a valve seat (a) an inlet port; (b) an outlet port; and (c) a valve seat ii. a valve plunger for engaging the valve seat; iii. a control knob stem for advancing into and retracting from the valve body; iv. a spring positioned between the control valve stem and the valve plunger , the spring engaging one side of the valve plunger ; v. a flexible bellows positioned between the valve body and an opposite side of the valve plunger ; vi. an oil filled temperature sensor bulb connected to the bellows of the variable gas valve by a capillary tube for exerting pressure inside the bellows and thereby modulating the amount of gas passing through the variable gas valve to the gas burner c. a safety/igniter valve connected between the source of flammable gas and the variable gas valve; and d. a flame sensor connected to the safety/igniter valve for sensing the existence of a flame at the gas burner and closing the safety/igniter valve when the gas burner is extinguished. <EOS>