I want a smoker...

I've used a char-grill with side box, a brinkman and currently a weber smokey mountain. The Weber is a much higher quality product. Thicker gauge steel, nice thermometer, great adjustability, large side access door....My brinkman was great but it was flimsy and didn't have nearly as many features as the Webber. I still have the Char-gill but I only use it for grilling.

Couple of my favorite recipes besides brisket and pork shoulder are my variation on a "drunken sailors" recipe. Oysters on the half shell, sprinkled with salt and garlic, fill the shell with tequila and lime, smoke for 2-4 hours. And smoked mac n' cheese. Look up a good baked mac and cheese recipe and use a foil pan. Throw on the smoker and cook it till it's done. Amazing stuff.

After smoking meat on a weber kettle for the past 2 years and got pretty darn good at it. I am buying a Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5 hopefully on Thursday (please tax refund come!). It is the perfect size for the space I have and can with stand cold winter days due to the thickness of the steel. Already planning chicken and pork for the Super Bowl if it I get it.

I have an 18" weber smokey mountain. I almost went with the 22 but didnt...and Im glad I did because of fuel savings. I have even done 4 boston butts on it at the same time. The quality of the materials used to manufacture it justify the price over the brinkman, etc. I love it and have no dought it will last me a lifetime!

I also have a 18" WSM. I can't recommend it enough to people. It's so easy to use and holds a consistent temperature. I love making ribs and pulled pork on it. I've also used it a lot for beer can chicken and wings.

I made a 18 and a 22.5 UDS with Webber Parts I got 2 Webber grills off Craigslist for $30 and bought a extra webber grate and a bulkhead thermometer and it kicks ass and only cost me about $75 for both smokers.

My first smoker consisted of a charcoal water smoker like you buy at lowes or HD.....I put it on top of a propane burner with a metal pan with wood on the pan.....it smoldered the wood in the pan and provided steady controllable heat..........I have since made a smoker that is of simmular design only about the size of a referigerator.....pulled pork is my favorite

I've had 3 smokers since I started back in college. The first was the standard Brinkman charcoal. After a while, I started making pulled pork for a lot of different afternoon events for my fraternity which meant I had to smoke overnight. I always lost temperature when I did that, so I bought an electric one similar to the Brinkman. That was my least favorite by far. Only in the summer in the middle of the day would it get as hot as I needed when doing several pork butts.

Last year, my aunt told me she had a chamber one she got from work that she still hadn't taken out of the box. One of my favorite things in the world. I know a lot of purists swear by charcoal, but man oh man, being able to throw 50 lbs of pork in it and come back in 12 hours with no worries can't be beat. Maybe it's just me, but I can't taste the difference between pork my friend makes with his charcoal one and pork I make with my gas one.

turkeyjerky214 said:

I know a lot of purists swear by charcoal, but man oh man, being able to throw 50 lbs of pork in it and come back in 12 hours with no worries can't be beat. [/IMG]

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I routinely put 30+ lbs of pork in my lump charcoal powered Big Green Egg and come back 22 hours later to the finest pulled pork on the planet.

i love my 3 big green eggs (large, small & mini) and they completely changed my life when it comes to food. i cook pretty much everything on them. here is a link to my photobucket with tons of pictures. just overlook the pics of the kids and whatnot (not many of those really)

http://s756.photobucket.com/albums/xx201/deepsouth1970/

this was about 40 lbs of boston butt on the lbge. i have done as much as 50, but i don't have that picture uploaded to photobucket....

I love me some pork butt, and I love my weber smokey mountain, but I have NO IDEA what I would do with that much smoked meat. Maybe if I operated a restaurant or something...

My employer has a crap ton of smokers: 6+ Green Eggs, Obsidian Oven, Custom crap, etc.

The Green Eggs are awesome, but their capacity is lacking for the price you'll pay. I'd say the obsidian oven is a great balance of price/capacity/ease of use. I'll try to find a model number of something. We have a digital temp controller for it and it is a great 'set-it-and-forget-it' setup but it might be overkill unless you plan on cooking for lots of people.

Your best bang-for-your-buck is just a barrel smoker with a smoke box. You can make one or find one cheap, but again, probably overkill for a personal smoker.

My personal favorite is my little Webber. Pick up charcoal holders or baskets and add a water-filled drip pan and you have a little smoker. Fuel needs to be reloaded every hour or so which sucks but then again, I don't have two cooking vessels to maintain. A little practice on temp control and it gets the job done. I also picked up some of their rib holders and I can do 6 full racks of ribs at once which is pretty impressive for a little kettle.

weirdboy said:

I love me some pork butt, and I love my weber smokey mountain, but I have NO IDEA what I would do with that much smoked meat. Maybe if I operated a restaurant or something...

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i always give my parents some and freeze some. it freezes great. nothing like waking up and taking out a bag of pulled pork and having sandwiches for lunch without having to do anything else!

I have a Chargrill smoker and it works well for me. I have smoked pleanty of turkeys and ham and use it as a grill as well.

Since my original Large Brown Ovum (post #79) was destroyed in an unfortunate baby-sitter untangling the dog incident, I have recently procured the components for a pair of L.B.O.'s to replace it... A few upgrades are in the works... Will start a build post shortly....

weirdboy said:

I love me some pork butt, and I love my weber smokey mountain, but I have NO IDEA what I would do with that much smoked meat. Maybe if I operated a restaurant or something...

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I smoked over a 1,000 pounds one year for fund raisers.

I always smoke at least 2 butts at a time and Foodsaver a bunch in 1.5 lb. bags. Reheat in boiling water, cut the bag and pour in a bowl and you'll swear it just came off the smoker. :rockin:

EdWort said:

I always smoke at least 2 butts at a time and Foodsaver a bunch in 1.5 lb. bags. Reheat in boiling water, cut the bag and pour in a bowl and you'll swear it just came off the smoker. :rockin:

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<----DERP!!!

I love you Ed...

Now I know what to do next time... Planning a Memorial Day Hootenanny... This is on my pre-party planning list...

If money was no object, I'd definitely have a green egg. Like I said, though, mine was free. Also, the Busch and Bass Pro Shop logo on it definitely ups the coolness factor.

I vote for the WSM. I have several smokers of different types but the WSM is still my go to. Using the minion method you can do an overnight smoke with minimal hassle. You can't go wrong.

Check out some additional forums for all kinds of advice

http://virtualweberbullet.com/


http://www.amazingribs.com/

If money were no object, I'd look at a Stumps or similar type setup. I have been extremely pleased with my setup.

grouperdude said:

I prefer charcoal smokers. Better flavor in my opinion. Green eggs are great but any can be found for under $50.

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Weber makes a vertical smoker

That's the WSM. It's around $200ish. There are cheaper but I think the quality of the Weber makes it worth it

The WSM has been awesome. A total breeze. Minion method, and start closing vents as soon as you get anywhere near 175.... Better too low than too high heat. Then minor tweaks and you're in happyland.

I'll chime in and also say the WSM is great. Set & forget; that sucker maintains temps very well.

My new smoker! Seasoning it up today for a Sunday of pork ribs

Chuginator said:

I'll chime in and also say the WSM is great. Set & forget; that sucker maintains temps very well.

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Couldn't agree more!

For what it's worth I got my WSM from a guy on craigslist that had one brand new in the box and just wanted to get rid of it since he already had a different smoker. So I think I paid maybe $100 for it.

Keep your eyes peeled!

007stout said:

My new smoker! Seasoning it up today for a Sunday of pork ribs

View attachment 49264

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Hey that looks like a nice one. Tell us about it.

EdWort said:

I always smoke at least 2 butts at a time and Foodsaver a bunch in 1.5 lb. bags. Reheat in boiling water, cut the bag and pour in a bowl and you'll swear it just came off the smoker. :rockin:

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Reeeehhheeeeeeaaaaallly. Hmmm, I'll be smokin more often. I always held off waiting for family gatherings or parties because I never knew what to do with all the leftovers.

Thanks for the tip!

Diver165 said:

Reeeehhheeeeeeaaaaallly. Hmmm, I'll be smokin more often. I always held off waiting for family gatherings or parties because I never knew what to do with all the leftovers.

Thanks for the tip!

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Go for it, you'll wonder why you waited. I do the same (boiling, vac bag) and it tastes amazing! Sooo quick and easy

Hmm, I never knew you could boil those foodsaver bags. I've always reheated in the stove at 250º. How long do you typically boil?

007stout said:

My new smoker! Seasoning it up today for a Sunday of pork ribs

View attachment 49264

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What is the make/model of that smoker, and cost if you don't mind? Cheers!!!

Big Green Eggs are awesome. Weber Smokey Mountains are great for much less money.
And I know I'm in a very small minority here, but I absolutely love my MAK wood pellet grill.

The advantages of a wood pellet grill are:
You can walk away and not worry about the temperature. (I've even started smoking a butt at night to have it ready by noon the next day.)
You can cook at one temperature for a while, then smoke at another temperature, or vice versa.
You can smoke, BBQ, and grill with only one piece of equipment.
You can cold smoke with it (although only just).

The downside is, it is expensive, I'll grant you, and because it has moving parts, might break before a BGE. But I couldn't be happier with mine.

Cromwell said:

Big Green Eggs are awesome. Weber Smokey Mountains are great for much less money.
And I know I'm in a very small minority here, but I absolutely love my MAK wood pellet grill.

The advantages of a wood pellet grill are:
You can walk away and not worry about the temperature. (I've even started smoking a butt at night to have it ready by noon the next day.)
You can cook at one temperature for a while, then smoke at another temperature, or vice versa.
You can smoke, BBQ, and grill with only one piece of equipment.
You can cold smoke with it (although only just).

The downside is, it is expensive, I'll grant you, and because it has moving parts, might break before a BGE. But I couldn't be happier with mine.

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I leave the WSM chugging away overnight, all the time.

Well, L.B.O. v2.0 is operational... Smoked a turkey breast last Sunday to season it and make sure it was going to function similar to v1.0...

Going to try to get a chicken on it this weekend and start on the 2nd L.B.O. as well...

Cromwell said:

The advantages of a wood pellet grill are:
You can walk away and not worry about the temperature. (I've even started smoking a butt at night to have it ready by noon the next day.)
You can cook at one temperature for a while, then smoke at another temperature, or vice versa.
You can smoke, BBQ, and grill with only one piece of equipment.
You can cold smoke with it (although only just).

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able to do all this on a bge as well.

Cromwell said:

Big Green Eggs are awesome. Weber Smokey Mountains are great for much less money.
And I know I'm in a very small minority here, but I absolutely love my MAK wood pellet grill.

The advantages of a wood pellet grill are:
You can walk away and not worry about the temperature. (I've even started smoking a butt at night to have it ready by noon the next day.)
You can cook at one temperature for a while, then smoke at another temperature, or vice versa.
You can smoke, BBQ, and grill with only one piece of equipment.
You can cold smoke with it (although only just).

The downside is, it is expensive, I'll grant you, and because it has moving parts, might break before a BGE. But I couldn't be happier with mine.

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deepsouth said:

able to do all this on a bge as well.

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As well as many other smokers of the vertical design, if they have the fuel capacity. Especially if you add a temperature controller which a pellet pooper has amongst other things. Cheers!!!

cheers.