Smoker recommendations

[CLdrinker]

I think we are going to go with the pit boss.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

I’ve been under the assumption all these pellet smoker grills require an electrical source?
How does this tailgate Traeger operate??

They run on a battery (at least some do). I've been looking at this one for the truck for when we are out in the snow or at the lake....

 

[TPC]

I had a pit barrel but now have this offset. Pit barrel is a good product but like the offset it is a definite upgrade. View attachment 1324665

Yep rated to have the most even heat & perfect stratified smoke and well built. Bad Ass smoker.
I have several other cheaper brands.
If I ran a bar and live smoker grill, Fat Stack would be my choice in the smoke house.

BTW:
Bought the outdoor Ninja Smoker that was half priced on Amazon. Cheap just for laughs. The joke was on me.
Fussy pain in the ass to use is why it was half price w/ free delivery.
I've been tempted to toss it in the trash bin.
Only good for maybe a 45/60 minute tri tip cook, nothing longer.

 

[wallnutz]

You guys with off set wood smokers, where are you sourcing the different kinds of wood? Are you just using charcoal and putting a few wood chips I, or using actual wood?

 

[Foscheck]

You guys with off set wood smokers, where are you sourcing the different kinds of wood? Are you just using charcoal and putting a few wood chips I, or using actual wood?

I buy at The Wood Shed in Anaheim. Good selection and they specialize in cooking woods.

 

[FishSniper]

You guys with off set wood smokers, where are you sourcing the different kinds of wood? Are you just using charcoal and putting a few wood chips I, or using actual wood?

I’ve bought at the woodshed in orange, a place in menifee and a place up in chatsworth. Chatsworth place has triple split white oak which has worked well. Woodshed has good selection but is on the higher end price wise. The place in menifee has a good selection including pecan and cherry and prices are little better. I will probably be going to the menifee place and get some cherry next weekend.

 

[TeamGreene]

Is there anybody on here that doesn't use a pellet smoker? We have a Treager at the river house that was a gift but at home still perfer wood or wood and charcoal.

Yes! I have an Old country Pecos offset. No tin can outdoor oven here. Start it up with charcoal and then throw the oak in, nothing like smoking with real wood. I also use a Weber kettle which I have outfitted with a cast iron grate from Mallory.

 

[TeamGreene]

I have a guy local that I get my oak from.

 

[Xring01]

I let this thread run a bit, before I chimed in…

The absolute best value, with more gold medals in competitions is the Weber Smokey Mountain.
I highly highly recommend it. For lots of reasons. The best freaking reason is it doesn’t need electricity, and nothing can break like pellet smokers. The second reason is damn good food. Far superior to Pellet Poopers. At your price point… buy a used 22” WSM on CL or FB Mkplc for $250, use it for 5-8 years, and you can still sell it for $250…

Saying all of that…
When I moved, I sold a massive Offset, a small offset, 22” Weber Smokey Mountain, Weber Ranch Kettle… but I brought with me my Weber Summit Kamado, and a Weber Smoke fire Pellet Pooper…

Right now… I have Weber Smoke fire, sitting idle, while I have 2 racks of ribs on the Summit Kamado… Yes the Smoke Fire is easier, but nothing beats the Summit Kamado…. Not even my offsets….

But they are very expensive.

Start with the WSM, if you want the mac daddy, then upgrade to the Summit kamado. BTW… I picked up a WSM 18” in Tahoe about 3 weeks ago, why, it was $75… its was a smoking deal, couldn’t say no…

These pictures where taken 1 minute ago

 

[Jed-O]

Pit Boss. About $300. Doesn't take up much space. Works with propane, simple and easy to use, and you can see through the door

 

[spectra bash]

If you really want a smoker I prefer the green mountain. It has held up better than my Traeger did. I only do ribs on it now. The smoker flavor gets old fast. I cook all my beef on this

https://www.amazon.com/Weber-Origin...MIouq39PTtgwMVQwOtBh1e7ga0EAQYBCABEgL5DfD_BwE

You can do direct or indirect heat on a charcoal grill and the flavor is much better. Tri tip, chicken wings, whole chicken, steaks, burgers and dogs, carne asada, potatoes and veggies, it’s all best on a charcoal grill. Pile the charcoal and wood chips on one side and you can sear and bake no problem. It’s the only way!

Wise words.

 

[Sharky]

To follow up on Xring01's post and my earlier post about a Weber. . . .

Here is my plain old 22" Weber with an S&S insert. Picture taken about 5 minutes ago. Pork shoulder. Been smoking since this morning at 7AM and still holding 230 degrees all day long. Plain old Kingsford (none of that match light crap) Just plain old Kingsford and Pecan wood chips.

S&S insert also has a water tray. Its hard to see it but it adds moisture and helps maintain an even temperature all day long.

 

[SpeedyWho]

I have a Yoder Pellet grill, Offset Stick burner that I built myself, and a 22" Weber Smokey Mountain. For the money the Weber is awesome and has better smoke than the pellet and easier than the offset. Pellet grills are easy bake ovens for men, they're boring and too easy. I'd rather tend a fire.

 

[SpeedyWho]

For nightly dinners the standard Weber kettle is really tough to beat.

 

[Xring01]

View attachment 1325027 View attachment 1325028
For nightly dinners the standard Weber kettle is really tough to beat.

Ohhh hell yeah…

I have been thinking of buying the 26” one.. but I have a 24” Summit Kamado…
I need a 12 step program to get me thru my bbq/smoker addiction.

I still regret selling the 36“ Weber Ranch Kettle. That was stupid, talk about real estate…
You could feed a tribe on that thing.

 

[Gramps]

View attachment 1325018
I have a Yoder Pellet grill, Offset Stick burner that I built myself, and a 22" Weber Smokey Mountain. For the money the Weber is awesome and has better smoke than the pellet and easier than the offset. Pellet grills are easy bake ovens for men, they're boring and too easy. I'd rather tend a fire.

what type of wood and where do you get it for the offset?

 

[Sharky]

Nice thing about a 22" Weber. . . .watch Craiglist. Or next-door. People are either giving them away or selling them for dirt cheap. They don't understand what they already have. They all want a Traeger.

If you can score an original red one (made in the USA and porcelain coated by Ingersol Rand) , it will last a life time.

Helped a friend of mine just score a free one that was on Next-door.

 

[SpeedyWho]

what type of wood and where do you get it for the offset

Berry Brothers fire wood in PHX usually has a good selection of pecan and oak. We have a lot of pecan in AZ and I prefer it to oak. Thats the only two I use.

 

[Justfishing]

I love my Camp chef woodwind CL 36. It's a little more than your budget but worth it. No hassle ash removal pot. You can cook over the open flame of the fire pot or slow smoke. Also has a propane side sear grill you can use to just bbq something quick or sear.

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Camp chef has a version that has a tray you can add chunks of wood above the firepot. Jeremy Yoder has reviewed it on his youtube channel. He says it produces the best smoke flavor short of a stick burner. To me pellet grills are for convenience. They impart a mild smoke flavor but nothing exceptional.

I have a pitboss and a charggriller gavity feed charcoal smoker. I can mix chunks of wood and have gotten some good flavor. The app is worthless but hold a good temp once mannyally set. I pair it with a wireless thermometer to monitor temps.

 

[DesertFam]

View attachment 1325018
I have a Yoder Pellet grill, Offset Stick burner that I built myself, and a 22" Weber Smokey Mountain. For the money the Weber is awesome and has better smoke than the pellet and easier than the offset. Pellet grills are easy bake ovens for men, they're boring and too easy. I'd rather tend a fire.

Nice Yoder! I have a 640 as well just never did the comp cart!

 

[Marine Industries West]

Alot of good info here. Couple things to consider,
- Ease of use
- Fuel consumption
- Your typical cook size

From my experience, your offset stick burners are great for big cooks, but require attention for long duration cooks. Results are great, but they are fairly high maintenance to operate.

Pellet type are pretty easy to operate as long as they are functioning properly. They have a few moving parts, fans, augers, control panels, there's a fair amount that can cause issues. My experience on pellet styles that I have personally owned were with smaller Treagers and I had nothing but problems with them. Also was not impressed with the light duty construction. I know when you get into the larger units they are built better, and may be more reliable. Just keep your auger and fire box clean between cooks. If you go this route, try to find a unit with a dump on the hopper box. That way if you change flavors of pellets or need to empty the hopper for cleaning it's really easy to empty.

Smoke boxes are nice and I still have one in my rotation. Small amount of fuel consumption for great results. I have an electric Smoke Hollow, it's an old dog, but still works great. These units are pretty much set it and walk away. Easy to operate and has produced repeated awesome results. The new ones have come along way and there's all kinds of them out there. They usually have insulated walls which make heat control much more efficient. I know there's some larger units out there, but most of these smoke boxes are smaller which will have somewhat limited cooking capacity. You'll be splitting racks of ribs in half type thing and you're not gonna fit a whole brisket in one unless it's cut up. And you won't have any searing capacity. These units are pretty easy to operate at lower temperatures.

Another hybrid between a pellet style and the side draft stick burners is the Masterbuilt. They feature a side draft gravity fed hopper. The hopper can burn wood chuck, lump charcoal, or even briquet charcoal, or a mixture. The gravity fed hopped uses a single fan for temperature control, no auger. They have large cooking capacity. So it uses the same fuel as a true side draft stick burner with the convenience of the pellet style that doesn't need constant maintenance while cooking. It does use a fair amount of fuel to operate so I only use it for bigger cooks like ribs, briskets.

My daily go-to is the Weber Performer which is a kettle with a gas starter. Low fuel consumption, perfect for low to medium volume cooks. Simple operation with a variety of different fuel options. Not as simple as a properly functioning pellet grill, but I just prefer the taste of charcoal compared to pellets. Lots of different accessories available. It can be used as a daily BBQ or a smoker.

Good luck and happy smoking

 

[Markus]

If you can score an original red one (made in the USA and porcelain coated by Ingersol Rand) , it will last a life time.

My parents had one of those. It did not last a lifetime, but it lasted for 20+ years, 200m from the sea.

 

[jailbird141]

Green Mountain Grills for the win.

 

[badgas]

Green Mountain Grills for the win.

I have a GMG Daniel Boone and it's pretty versatile. Slow smoke works great or heat that sucker up for burgers and searing etc. Has a cool Pizza attachment as well. It's also 12V if you wanted to use it camping or tailgating.

 

[jailbird141]

I have the Daniel Boone as well. Use it for everything. I have a pizza stone I use when I do pizzas. What is the attachment?

 

[81Sprint]

I had a stick burner Pitts and Spitts offset for the longest, but I got lazy and bought a pellet grille. Ended up with a Pit Boss Austin XL, and it has worked great for about 6 years now. I looked at the Traegars, they are nice but didn't feel as heavy duty as the Pit Boss, and seemed a little overpriced. My Patio is nothing but BBQ's- Weber Kettle, Smoker, Blackstone etc. My Brother in law bought a RecTeq recently and I like that one as well, seems very high quality. Pellet grilles will not give you the smoke flavor of a stick or Weber but they are super easy to use.

Another recommendation is a set of Meater Wifi temp probes, these things really take the guess work out of smoking/bbq'n.

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Remove the guesswork from cooking with MEATER, the smartest cooking thermometer for your BBQ and Kitchen.

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[River Runnin]

Have the Recteq 700 and Bullseye! — it just doesn’t get any better!

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

I have the Daniel Boone as well. Use it for everything. I have a pizza stone I use when I do pizzas. What is the attachment?

The GMG branded pizza attachment they sell is not just a stone. You remove one grate and a tapered attachment hooks up to the top of the smoker box....then the pizza stone....then a stainless dome/hood.

 

[TPC]

 

[fishfyter]

All this input is good, but if its possible, buy something American made.

 

[Spot]

All this input is good, but if it’s possible, buy something American made.

Yoder and Pitts and Spitts. Both solid, premium brands.

 

[530RL]

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