Smoker. Gas or electric or charcoal

[maxx]

#1569761

I am on my second propane smoker. The one I have is the two chamber masterbuilt. It does the job but it likes to run a higher temps and as the food cooks and temps change you have to manually adjust the temp. I like how it is vertical because I can do sausage in it.

When my current gas grill finally gives out I am going to get a pellet grill. I haven’t decided which one yet, Green Mountain, Traeger, Rek tek. The Green Mountain and Traeger are medium grade and the Rek Tek is a notch up. I would like to get something that I can set and forget about. Specially when I want to do over night cooks.

I will keep the vertical for sausage.

[IaCraig]

#1569759

Quote by: dart383

Wow. Everyone has a great opioions. BBQ is almost a religion! I ended up getting the gas Cabela’s smoker. Cheap starter and I will at least get my feet wet and go from there. It has a charcoal smoking option. So I can dabble in that too. Can wait to try it. Do I dare ask for good rub or pork recipe? Or is that like asking for a food spot on public ground???? If so I’ll pass and figure it out myself 😯

I advise you join this forum and learn to navigate it. Tons of good advice and recipes. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com

[mj1966]

#1569753

I started out with gas, then went to a chargriller with off set box (sorta cheap but worked) wanted to be sure this is something I would enjoy doing.
I now have 2, XL Green Egg and a Horizon Marshall RD, 24″. love them both. I know the pellet grills and the high end electric smokers (cook shacks) are very easy to use and set temps and such, but for some reason I enjoy usung lump charcoal and messing with the vents and such. Nothing beats the smell of a smoker no matter what your set up is.

[dart383]

#1569751

Can’t wait until this thing arrives in the mail. What’s a good choice on a meat thermometer? Not sure on the proper name but I want one that I can stick into the meat and view the temp without opening the smoker., any advice on what kind or brand?

[IaCraig]

#1569750

Quote by: dart383

Can’t wait until this thing arrives in the mail. What’s a good choice on a meat thermometer? Not sure on the proper name but I want one that I can stick into the meat and view the temp without opening the smoker., any advice on what kind or brand?

One of my best investments was a digital dual probe thermometer with alarms. One probe in the meat, the other keeping track of the temp in the smoker. I think the brand of mine is Maverick or something like that.

[moose07]

#1569747

I would highly highly recommend the thermoworks smoke. It should be around 100 bucks but you will be glad you have it. I have the maverick 733 I believe and it’s great but a pain to program. The smoke wasn’t out yet or I would have got that one. I do have the thermopen and love it but you can save some money and get the thermopop or even weber has a decent one. To make it easy you could go to Walmart and pick up a pork shoulder, ribs or even chicken thighs for something real cheap. Figure out what you would like to try or what sounds good then watch some videos. There’s so many different youtube videos out there, it’s a great place to learn and get ideas.

[BBQ_Mayor]

#1569745

My 2 cents. I have tried damn near every smoker out there. In my opinion, electric is a summer smoker only. Can’t get the temp up when its cold and rainy. A gas smoker doesn’t get the smoke and temps can easily spike.
Smokers I own or used to own. Weber Smokey Mountain, Louisanna Grills Whole Hog Pellet smoker, Traeger table top smoker, Green Mountain Pellet smoker, Gateway Drum, Hunsaker Drum, and Good One Marshall Charcoal Smoker. Used to have a Backwoods Gator, Trailer mounted Offset Stick burner and IPT Pellet smoker.

Of those, for a beginner a WSM, Hunsaker, or a Green Mountain is what I would recommend.
WSM’s are your simple bullet smokers using charcoal and a water pan. These run a great all year and can cook 8 plus hours on a load of charcoal. Easily cooking over night for big chunks of meat. I would take the Hunsaker over the Gateway. Basically the same price and cook identical but the hunsaker comes with some nice features like a hinged lid, the vortex charcoal basket, and big wheels. If you want a pellet, the Green Mountain is a great sturdy pellet smoker. Has added wifi features if you like that stuff.

If you serious about BBQ. Think about joining the Iowa BBQ Society. http://www.iabbq.org
They even have a BBQ Judging class coming up this March. Heres a link to the sign up pdf. http://www.iabbq.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017BBQ-JUDGES-CLASS-APP-1.pdf

I’d be glad to answer any questions you may have.

[CRIA1576]

#1561671

Re-visiting this thread… I want to get a smoker this fall for smoking deer hindquarters. IMO, this is the best way to prepare venison for the masses, even those that “dont eat deer meat”. Moreover, I just hate grinding so much into bologna and sausage when the meat can stand on its own. Dried/smoked deer is nearly identical to dried beef, and absolutely delicious.

My BIL uses a Bradley smoker with the self-feeding fuel biscuits. A lot of guys in this thread recommended pellet grills. Focusing on smoking venison first and the occassional pork butt second, what is the forum’s recommendation for a guy with a $300 budget that doesn’t want to babysit the smoker?

[maxx]

#1561670

Quote by: frmboybuck

I started with a gas smoker, then went to charcoal, then I bought a Yoder pellet smoker. Best money I ever spent. They aren’t cheap, but they aren’t cheaply made either

Yup just got a Yoder YS640. So far so good. They are so easy to use I feel like anyone could be good at it.

With that there is still some tweaking and a little bit of a learning curve. What I am finding is I am so used to over smoked meat which is find but with the Yoder to get more flavor like I like I bought a smoke tube that I have going at the same time.

[rericsson]

#1561665

WOW

Lots of replies. Hope you have a big notebook. I own a cook shack. It is electric. Cabelas used to carry, but now they have gone to Bradley’s cuz they are cheaper.

My cookshack has insulation all the way around. Anotherwords I can smoke when it is minus 10 degrees and it will hold the temp at what I set on the dial.
However, it has three racks and will do plenty of meat, chicken or whatever you want to smoke.

I will be getting a Traeger in the fuutre. Why? They are idiot proof. You load the pellets in the hopper, Turn the dial to your desired temp and it holds true to the temp. All the pellets are easily purchased nationwide. With the traeger there is no flame to burn your food IT IS INDIRECT HEAT. You can not burn it. I suppose it could dry out.
00 to 800
So, you need to look at cost, what type you want. and how much you want to spend. Oh, if you get the traeger it will run about 800.00 dollars if you get the elite series that has the probe. The probe is inserted into your meat- pork loin, boston butt or whatever your cooking You then can gauge when the food is done.
So, good luck and hope you enjoy the smoker you choose

NOte: Pit Boss is a knock off of the traeger and will be about 200.00 dollars cheaper. Traeger is good, but the marketing is why they are on the mapl Like I mentioned the Pit Boss is identical without the price tag hike. robert

[CRIA1576]

#1561661

Thank you for the replies guys, I appreciate it!

[IA 9249 AY]

#1561655

I have a green mountain pellet grill I like, but to use it as just a grill there are some things I think charcoal does better. As a smoker it is tough to beat.

If you are willing to increase your budget wal-mart has the Pit Boss K22 Kamado grill for $471. To smoke you would need to add a heat diffuser but you would have a unit that can grill, smoke, or whatever in the worst weather. I am thinking hard on one. This is basically a big green egg copy for half the price. A heat diffuser could be a pizza pan or a ceramic plate made for the grill. They have one assembled at Sears in CR if you want to look at it.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pit-Boss-Kamado-22-Ceramic-Charcoal-Grill/46716275

[quailslayer]

#1561653

I have multiple grilles and smokers heavy wall construction from a simple Weber to thick wall two chamber smoker and the Pit Barrel is by far the best and most user friendly hands down!!! I use them all but cant go wrong with the pit barrel!

[Jefro]

#1561629

Quote by: CRIA1576

Re-visiting this thread… I want to get a smoker this fall for smoking deer hindquarters. IMO, this is the best way to prepare venison for the masses, even those that “dont eat deer meat”. Moreover, I just hate grinding so much into bologna and sausage when the meat can stand on its own. Dried/smoked deer is nearly identical to dried beef, and absolutely delicious.

My BIL uses a Bradley smoker with the self-feeding fuel biscuits. A lot of guys in this thread recommended pellet grills. Focusing on smoking venison first and the occassional pork butt second, what is the forum’s recommendation for a guy with a $300 budget that doesn’t want to babysit the smoker?

I’ll save you $300. Come over to my place and smoke it on my Trager XL. 836 square inches of smoking room.

[Mr.Seaguar]

#1561626

I’m gonna buy a traeger but if I was closer to Jefro I would take him up on that.

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