Smokers

[garmp]

I have a Brinkmann 2 door charcoal smoker, which I dearly love. And it does an excellent job, but!!! I'd like to smoke for 10-14 hours and don't want to feed charcoal every hour and a half. Nothing can beat the charcoal flavor, IMHO. What would be the next best thing? A wood smoker is out of the question for cost and size. Electric smokers don't seem to have the flavor, unless I'm missing something or there's a trick to it. Propane smokers have potential, but can they produce the taste, wood chips and all? Then there's the puck smokers. They seem very expensive and the supplies (pucks, etc) not even cheap. ANd I've not heard if the flavor or taste is even close to that of a charcoal/wood smoker. At least with the charcoal smoker I can cut on Oak tree and have all sorts of wood to smoke with.
Any opinions/advice out there?

[kmbelt]

109rfan wrote:
I just bought a masterbuilt electric 30 inch smoker and it'll produce good smoke. Down side is have to feed a small amount of chips hourly. Like previous poster said pellet grills are true set it and forget it

I have one of these too. it really isnt' a downside to have to load it ever hour or so as it only takes a minute to do. The meat only soaks in the smoke the first 3-4hrs normally.

I do a boston butt. start at 5pm in smoker already making smoke. Add chips at 6,7,8 and maybe 9. then go to bed for the night. The thermostat keeps the temp at 225 all night form me and by 8-12am it is up to my temp.

[mowin]

Masterbuilt has a dual fuel two door smoker. Uses propane or charcoal. U can start with charcoal, then finish with gas..

[mayo30]

I have started using a tube style pellet smoker and find it likes me.I do like cold smoking cheese etc. and hot smoking over propane or charcoal.12 " tube lasts 5 hours,don't use cheap pellets or charcoal at any time.

[mikensallyt]

dang over the years I've used so many different grills. I'm still a weber fan though. Something portable with char coal and wood would be perfect for me, as long as it can sit in one of my bays. Any suggestions? tks in advance/Mikey

[dons2346]

I have a Traegar at home which is to big to be portable. I talked my friend into a Green Mountain Davey Crockett. That thing is really nice and does put out some good smoked meat. We have had ribs, brisket, pork butt, and salmon.

[SCVJeff]

I must be doing something wrong. I'm looking at the same Brinkman 2 door water smoker and do Ribs and Briskit often. I easily get 6 hours out of a load of Mequite wood charcoal between 180 -190 degrees for 6 hours before I need to think about adding anything

[fla-gypsy]

I've been using a LP smoker for years and it performs very well. Adding wood for the smoke is easy. The smoker is very good at being able to hold the temperature accurately.

[109rfan]

I just bought a masterbuilt electric 30 inch smoker and it'll produce good smoke. Down side is have to feed a small amount of chips hourly. Like previous poster said pellet grills are true set it and forget it

[mgirardo]

Get an offset smoker with a decent size firebox. My firebox is about 20 inches long. I put in my lit charcoal at the end furthest away from the cooking area. Then I fill the rest of the firebox with unlit charcoal. The lit charcoal will light the unlit coals. As the lit coals move closer to the cooking area, I just move them further away from the cooking area and add more unlit coal. I only light coals once at the beginning.

Just make sure the charcoal you are using does not have any added chemicals to make igniting the coals easier. Those chemicals will make their way into your meat.

-Michael

[GoPackGo]

Many years ago I started smoking with the Brinkman charcoal water smoker and loved it. But I also got tired of feeding charcoal, so I bought the electric version. Worked great.

When I started full timing 2 years ago I gave it away (didn't think I had the room) and bought a small Weber Q propane grill. It's wonderful but you just don't get the taste. So I bought a small Weber charcoal grill. Works great but I can't smoke on it. Then I saw that a few people in the CG where I overwintered had pellet grills, so I went and talked to them. They loved them. One guy said it even improved his marriage.

So bought the Green Mountain Grills Davey Crockett pellet grill. It's legs fold up to make a handle (and decrease the overall size). It runs on 110v or 12v and they even include alligator clips so you can clip onto a free standing battery ! The temp can be adjusted in 5 degree increments, has a digital readout, and there is even a WiFi model you can control using your phone. They also include a meat probe that's linked to the digital readout so you can monitor the temp of whatever you're cooking. This baby is seriously cool. Yup, I really like the thing.

Temp can be adjusted from about 180 to about 500 degrees and the best part is that, once set, it holds the temp really well. And anything cooked over wood tastes great.

The negatives:

- You need electricity to make them work. They need it to run the augur, fan, and heat control system.

- It's difficult to get sear marks on a steak because you cook over indirect heat.

- I don't think that I get the real deep smoky flavor that I got from my water smoker. But I am just getting used to it - there are probably some things I can do to get a smokier taste. And I might just put a pan of water on the grill too.

The people I talked to use them a couple times every week. I think it's because they are so versatile. You can cook low and slow, or start out at a low smoke temp and then increase the temp to finish cooking, or just set it at 350 and basically cook over a wood fire. But the best thing is you can truly set it and forget it. You could smoke a pork butt for hours and monitor internal temp via your phone - adjust the cooking temp up or down, or set to the lowest temp when done, in case you're driving home from an errand and are running late.

I carry three kinds of wood - hickory, mesquite, and a mix - in 3 each, 5 gallon containers with good screw down lids that have gaskets (to keep the moisture at bay).

You might call around to your area BBQ stores and see if they ever have a cooking demo so you can taste food that's cooked over a pellet grill.

I also suggest that you check out pelletheads.com

Yes, I am carrying 3 grills now. But the pellet grill is easily my favorite. I am a convert.

Tim

[eieioh]

Go to amazingribs.com. That's all you need to know.