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OT: What Kind of Smoker?

Carolina4

Carolina4

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Oct 9, 2006
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For all you guys that do a lot of smoking (meats not the other stuff), I was wondering if any of you could recommend a decent smoker for a beginner?

I’d be smoking ribs, shoulders, Chicken Wings, Whole Chickens, Turkeys, and brisket.

I prefer wood to electric or propane. I anticipate purchasing something really good in a year or two so looking for a good deal between $ and performance now...want to practice some before breaking the bank.

Any input would be awesome!
 
Carolina4 said:
For all you guys that do a lot of smoking (meats not the other stuff), I was wondering if any of you could recommend a decent smoker for a beginner?

I’d be smoking ribs, shoulders, Chicken Wings, Whole Chickens, Turkeys, and brisket.

I prefer wood to electric or propane. I anticipate purchasing something really good in a year or two so looking for a good deal between $ and performance now...want to practice some before breaking the bank.

Any input would be awesome!
Click to expand...

The Best Guide For a Beginner Smoker

Of course that link is a "just in case" so to speak, just in case you were being somewhat underhanded in regards to the "other stuff"!! =;-p
 
This is a great beginner smoker. Ive had mine for about 5 years. Its been fabulous. Great smoker to cut your teeth on.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/kingsford-sierra-charcoal-smoker#repChildCatid=230273

Im about to retire mine and build a bigger off set smoker from scratch. Do not use anything other than wood. Ever. Traeger, Green Egg, ect are all fake smoking. Make a wood fire and cooking meat low and slow for a long time, thats BBQ. Everything else is an outdoor oven.
 
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gamecockengineer2011 said:
This is a great beginner smoker. Ive had mine for about 5 years. Its been fabulous. Great smoker to cut your teeth on.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/kingsford-sierra-charcoal-smoker#repChildCatid=230273

Im about to retire mine and build a bigger off set smoker from scratch. Do not use anything other than wood. Ever. Traeger, Green Egg, ect are all fake smoking. Make a wood fire and cooking meat low and slow for a long time, thats BBQ. Everything else is an outdoor oven.
Click to expand...

This was similar to the one I had previously. Side box. How difficult is it to keep a low, consistent temp? I like the look of that a lot. And the price is nice too. Did it rust at all?
 
Carolina4 said:
For all you guys that do a lot of smoking (meats not the other stuff), I was wondering if any of you could recommend a decent smoker for a beginner?

I’d be smoking ribs, shoulders, Chicken Wings, Whole Chickens, Turkeys, and brisket.

I prefer wood to electric or propane. I anticipate purchasing something really good in a year or two so looking for a good deal between $ and performance now...want to practice some before breaking the bank.

Any input would be awesome!
Click to expand...

For Boston butts any smoker will do it’s a forgiving pc of meat and easy to maintain 225 degrees. Chicken needs above 275 for bite through skin Start with Weber Smokey mountain and soon you will want a pellet smoker I promise
 
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I got a Weber Smoky Mountain Smoker for my birthday in 2006. A week later I was diagnosed with a breathing problem that has grounded me on and off ever since. I need to get back to the smoker. I used it one time and made some great ribs. But my lungs and smoke don't mix all that well. It's pretty labor intensive, and I need to make sure I'm up to it.

I continued to grill on and off on my Weber Genesis propane grill over the years. It basically fell apart from old age. I replaced it with a Weber Summit grill that has a large smoker box with a separate burner. I've been getting the hang of regular grilling with it (12 jumbo hot dogs in 8 minutes!), but I'm about ready to throttle it back and try indirect cooking with smoke from the box. Probably some ribs.
 
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Carolina4 said:
This was similar to the one I had previously. Side box. How difficult is it to keep a low, consistent temp? I like the look of that a lot. And the price is nice too. Did it rust at all?
Click to expand...
Its pretty good. I run split oak logs that have dried at least 6 months. I can usually go up to 45 minutes without having to feed the fire before temps start to drop. I usually cook between 250 and 275. If the firebox was insulated or the material wasnt so thin, I could probably go longer.

Its def rusted up, particularly the fire box and the sheet metal has warped over time. Its been a good learner smoker for me and now I know exactly what I want in my next one.
 
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Carolina4 said:
For all you guys that do a lot of smoking (meats not the other stuff), I was wondering if any of you could recommend a decent smoker for a beginner?

I’d be smoking ribs, shoulders, Chicken Wings, Whole Chickens, Turkeys, and brisket.

I prefer wood to electric or propane. I anticipate purchasing something really good in a year or two so looking for a good deal between $ and performance now...want to practice some before breaking the bank.

Any input would be awesome!
Click to expand...


if u will b practicin then u'll be able 2 get a good smoker 4 $200+ -, after that its all bells & whistles........grandpa use 2 dig a hole n the back yard....(n fact we did off bull st n early 80's)

which reminds me, uknow any type of smokin' is a drug:)

 
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Just bought a Rec Tec pellet grill to replace my Kamoda Grill and propane smoker. Very impressed but it seems like a bit of cheating. Starts by itself and keeps a constant temp, that you dial in on the controller. Pellet grills don't get the same smoke as a smoker, unless you cook at a really low temp. Still have my Weber propane and pig cooker.
 
BDAZED said:
Masterbuilt electric all day, thank me later. Easy as setting a temp and refilling wood occasionally, best brisket I’ve ever put in my mouth. $200 tops. Damn a green egg or any other “high dollar smoker”, I’ll out cook you any day.
Click to expand...

I’ve just always heard you can’t quite get the smoke like you can from a fire. I considered electric route to allow me to have constant temps and to get my recipes down. But my power is way too unreliable here and I don’t want to go buy a generator to keep it going if it goes out.
 
For a beginner, a pellett smoker makes a lot of sense. It's user friendly and produces consistent results. A Big Green Egg is a good choice, too. It too is user friendly and can cook low and slow and at high heat. I like the BGE's versatility.

Someone suggested that pellett smokers and BGEs are fake smokers. Some prefer offset smokers. They also tend to sleep less.

Be honest about your needs and preferences. If you don't want to tend the fire, you may not use an offset as much as a pellett smoker or a BGE.

I chose a BGE for ease operation and flexibility. And for those who say it's fake smoke, I and a lot of others have smoked some good brisket, chicken, pork, and ribs on a BGE.

SC 95
 
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rogue cock said:
I've got an Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn that I've been very happy with. Easy to control heat and smoke flow.
Click to expand...

Had never heard of Oklahoma Joes until last week when I saw one in Walmart. Looked nice. I guess I’m so new to this I don’t know the difference between some of these different brands / smokers. But looking forward to figuring all that out.

I’ll be attending Myron Mixon’s cooking school soon so pretty sure he’d crush me for using BGE or Pellet. I’m not opposed to going that route and using both, but definitely want to learn the true bbq way so I understand the cooking process better.
 
SC 95 said:
For a beginner, a pellett smoker makes a lot of sense. It's user friendly and produces consistent results. A Big Green Egg is a good choice, too. It too is user friendly and can cook low and slow and at high heat. I like the BGE's versatility.

Someone suggested that pellett smokers and BGEs are fake smokers. Some prefer offset smokers. They also tend to sleep less.

Be honest about your needs and preferences. If you don't want to tend the fire, you may not use an offset as much as a pellett smoker or a BGE.

I chose a BGE for ease operation and flexibility. And for those who say it's fake smoke, I and a lot of others have smoked some good brisket, chicken, pork, and ribs on a BGE.

SC 95
Click to expand...
The only limitation I found for a BGE or similar smoker is the amount of meat you can smoke at a time. Great for smaller gatherings. Not good for larger.
 
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I finally settled on a Masterbuilt propane smoker after many years of other kinds of fuel. I ignore the snide remarks from one son who has a Green Egg and happily get results just as good with far less bother. You can get as much or as little smoke as you want without dealing with a ton of weight I can't handle any more. The double walled smoking chamber is a plus for insulation and maintaining a constant temperature in cold weather. Most of my smoking is at 200 degrees. The only thing I've found that is better is the ambiance of smoking fresh caught native salmon over an alder coal bed alongside the Chilikat River in Alaska.

I only wish the new larger Masterbuilt was available when mine was bought. It also allows useful disposal of all the cherry scraps that accumulate from the shop along with pecan, apple and a few other fruit woods. Smoked mullet is a delicacy that few know about.
 
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bought a rec tec 3 yrs ago and love it. I can't say anything about any of the others since I,ve never cooked on any of them. I like the pellet grills because of the ease to use it. One thing I will say a bout a pellet grill though, if you like a harsh heavy smoke flavor, it's hard to get out of a pellet grill. If you like a subtle smoke flavor, it's the way to go.
 
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Carolina4 said:
Had never heard of Oklahoma Joes until last week when I saw one in Walmart. Looked nice. I guess I’m so new to this I don’t know the difference between some of these different brands / smokers. But looking forward to figuring all that out.

I’ll be attending Myron Mixon’s cooking school soon so pretty sure he’d crush me for using BGE or Pellet. I’m not opposed to going that route and using both, but definitely want to learn the true bbq way so I understand the cooking process better.
Click to expand...

Tell Myron we gone kick Georgia’s azz in football this year and we kick Georgia azz in bbq every weekend
 
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sandlapper59 said:
I finally settled on a Masterbuilt propane smoker after many years of other kinds of fuel. I ignore the snide remarks from one son who has a Green Egg and happily get results just as good with far less bother. You can get as much or as little smoke as you want without dealing with a ton of weight I can't handle any more. The double walled smoking chamber is a plus for insulation and maintaining a constant temperature in cold weather. Most of my smoking is at 200 degrees. The only thing I've found that is better is the ambiance of smoking fresh caught native salmon over an alder coal bed alongside the Chilikat River in Alaska.

I only wish the new larger Masterbuilt was available when mine was bought. It also allows useful disposal of all the cherry scraps that accumulate from the shop along with pecan, apple and a few other fruit woods. Smoked mullet is a delicacy that few know about.
Click to expand...

Come on man. MULLET????
 
Have a little Traeger Bronson ($450) and it is a great starter smoker. Have smoked brisket, pork butt, wings and whole chickens with it and everything tastes great with a light smoky flavor. Secret to great smoking anyway I feel is how you handle the meat prior to ever putting it in the smoker anyway (brine, type of rub, meat trim etc). With pellet grills you have more wood choices too, as they make pellets in hickory, oak, cherry, alder, mesquite etc. To change flavor it's as easy as switching out pellets in the hopper. Have filled up pellet hopper, set digital thermostat to desired temperature, placed pork butts in smoker at 4 a.m. and then gone back to bed. Try doing that with a wood offset smoker! One thing I do recommend though regardless of what smoker you decide on is a quality digital wireless thermometer like the Thermpen Smoke to monitor meat temperature.
 
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Man, I am so torn about what to get. Been reading / researching all day. No idea what I’ll do. I wish I could just every kind and use whichever I’d like to use that particular day.

Many Traeger folks saying they don’t get a lot of smoke with the pellets. Almost al recommend using another brand of pellet other than traeger. Seems very convenient. I’d probably smoke more on something like a Traeger or a BGE. But the traditional way I feel makes the best BBQ. Ahhhh decisions!
 
Carolina 4 wrote, "definitely want to learn the true bbq way."

My grandfather was hog farmer in eastern NC. We celebrated every family event by cooking a pig. Sometimes my grandfather would dig a pit and barbecue a whole pig over wood coals.

In many ways, that's the "true barbecue way" to me.

SC 95
 
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For those that use electric or pellet smokers, do you get bark or your meats?
 
SC 95 said:
Carolina 4 wrote, "definitely want to learn the true bbq way."

My grandfather was hog farmer in eastern NC. We celebrated every family event by cooking a pig. Sometimes my grandfather would dig a pit and barbecue a whole pig over wood coals.

In many ways, that's the "true barbecue way" to me.

SC 95
Click to expand...

No doubt that’s the true way.
 
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I don't get the "fake smoking" comment. I mean, who cares? Unless you're a purist, convenience, consistency and ease of maintenance is what most people want. That's said, I think the BGE is a rip-off. There are many Komado grills out there that are just as versatile and much cheaper. I have a Vision Grill. It's high quality ceramic and much cheaper. You can grill, smoke and bake.

I used to own a Weber Smokey Mountain. It was a PITA to deal with. You have to monitor it much more closely, it's not nearly as consistent, and maintenance is much more. Perhaps it's more pure, but again, I look for those other things above.

Why not have a grill that you can grill, bake and smoke on that is easy to maintain, provides a consistent temperature and cook, and is affordable? Seems like a no-brainer to me...
 
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Big. Green. Egg. More money up front, but not much to worry about wearing out, except the gasket. As previously stated, very versatile. I’m a big “Egg Head” myself, so much so I launched my own website to showcase what an Egg can do. My BGE website
 
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The best smoker I have ever made and used on thousands of pounds of fish, pork, beef and wild game is an older upright freezer. Have to gut the plastic lining but then built 4 levels of wooden dowel racks. Then cut hole at bottom of door about size of orange and the same at the top back of freezer. Then cut piece of flat metal that can be attached to be easily slid over the holes to act as dampers to allow heat to escape to manage temps or regulate oxygen for wood chips to burn. Next is to take a small round propane burner from a side burner from old gas grill. Drill hole large enough for gas line on one side at bottom and mount regulator on exterior side wall where you want propane tank. With the burner at very bottom interior I place a large deep rectangle cast iron skillet or large Dutch oven. I will then place my green wood typically Alder is my favorite or Pecan/Peach for pork, if not green make sure wood is soaked thoroughly to prevent ignition. I just put that burner on low and it slowly smolders the wood to create great smoke. You can regulate the temp both with dampers and regulate the gas temp. I drilled a hole at top just big enough to insert a meat thermometer so it's easily seen.

You can cook at the same time like 12 butts, or 8 large turkeys, 15 salmon, etc. It's very easy to use, easy access by full door upright freezer. It may not look as cool as a $2500 - $5000 smoker but I have friends with expensive smokers come to me to smoke their food because of how nice a job it does.

Oh, I also put a hanging rack mounted to top and I can hang linked venison summer sausage or halepeno chedder sausages. We have cut up entire deer into jerky and smoked them. It turns out amazing and it's so easy once you have it built.

Sorry for long message, but I take my smoking serious and this does a great job. I wish I could add personal pics, I would show some racks of finished product.
 
jonesz21 said:
Come on man. MULLET????
Click to expand...

I'm gonna do you a big favor. Mullet is a very strong fish that was considered trash by me and others for many years until I was taught how to deal with it. The very thing that makes it taste so strong is the very thing that makes it a great snack or appetizer when smoked. Just take a few fillets and brine them and place skin up on the grill. Smoke for about 1 1/2 hours or so until you can easily prick through the skin with a toothpick. Most of the foul oils that cause you to turn up your nose at my suggestion drips into the pan and disappears. Turn the little buggers skin down on a plate, or paper sack if you can't wait, and pick off the flesh at room temperature. Marvelous eatin'.

The second revelation is that you need to fillet the skin off while cleaning. Roll in some House Autry seafood breader, fry in your usual fashion and it tastes as mild as flounder. The strong tasting stuff lies just under the skin and is gone when the skin is discarded. Some people go through their whole life and die without learning valuable stuff like this. Don't be one of them. My good deed of the day and there is no charge.
 
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sandlapper59 said:
I'm gonna do you a big favor. Mullet is a very strong fish that was considered trash by me and others for many years until I was taught how to deal with it. The very thing that makes it taste so strong is the very thing that makes it a great snack or appetizer when smoked. Just take a few fillets and brine them and place skin up on the grill. Smoke for about 1 1/2 hours or so until you can easily prick through the skin with a toothpick. Most of the foul oils that cause you to turn up your nose at my suggestion drips into the pan and disappears. Turn the little buggers skin down on a plate, or paper sack if you can't wait, and pick off the flesh at room temperature. Marvelous eatin'.

The second revelation is that you need to fillet the skin off while cleaning. Roll in some House Autry seafood breader, fry in your usual fashion and it tastes as mild as flounder. The strong tasting stuff lies just under the skin and is gone when the skin is discarded. Some people go through their whole life and die without learning valuable stuff like this. Don't be one of them. My good deed of the day and there is no charge.
Click to expand...

Man I am 48 years old and I’m not buying you can turn mullet into crab meat!

I am just kidding. Sounds like I need to give it a shot. If you live anywhere near Laurens maybe I can come by and try that smoked mullet. If not I am going to cherry grove next month and i am sure I can get a fresh mullet to fry down there.
 
BGE is for status and that's it. Most kamado grills do the same and much more. You can be a BGE purist and pay $$$ for accesories and coal, but it doesn't mean squat. BGE owners will preach to justify their investments, but it matters not. Take real grilling/smoking knowledge combined with convenience, consistency, and budget and any kamado girl is the way to go.
 
jonesz21 said:
Man I am 48 years old and I’m not buying you can turn mullet into crab meat!

I am just kidding. Sounds like I need to give it a shot. If you live anywhere near Laurens maybe I can come by and try that smoked mullet. If not I am going to cherry grove next month and i am sure I can get a fresh mullet to fry down there.
Click to expand...

I'm only 87 years old which might explain some sharp opinions on several subjects. Can't remember all my opinions so have to ask forgiveness if I get some backwards now and again. Can't turn nothing into bluecrab. I will be in Cherry Grove Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll smoke some for the crowd of mostly Clemson fans in my wife's family. On the other hand, why would I do that? On the other hand, it might civilize a few of them.

Will visit oldest son in Maine before that but all they got up there is lobstah, which sho nuff ain't bluecrab.
 
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Carolina4 said:
Man, I am so torn about what to get. Been reading / researching all day. No idea what I’ll do. I wish I could just every kind and use whichever I’d like to use that particular day.

Many Traeger folks saying they don’t get a lot of smoke with the pellets. Almost al recommend using another brand of pellet other than traeger. Seems very convenient. I’d probably smoke more on something like a Traeger or a BGE. But the traditional way I feel makes the best BBQ. Ahhhh decisions!
Click to expand...

Traditional way is great but you have to man the ship to keep temp consistent. If you plan on cooking brisket low and slow that might mean 12 hrs of devotion. 8 -10 on butts. That’s the way I do it with an offset but a pellet grill seems the way to go for me
 
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