EDIT - Went with the GMG Daniel Boone for starters. Thanks so much for all the input.

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Greetings!

I know many of you are smokers. Where should I start? What's a good smoker? Any suggestions? Tips?

You know the kind of information like, "If I had known when I got started, I would have...."

That kind of thing. Seems like a great summer to start smoking some delicious flesh of beast.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Veeper,

Kind of depends on what you want to smoke in my opinion.

If you're just wanting to do some butts or briskets or ribs...that type of stuff, you can't go wrong with an Egg type smoker/grill. If, however, you're looking at jerkies, fish, sausages, etc..., then look seriously at the Masterbuilt smokers.

I have this one and it is awesome.

We tried many things over 47 years but nothing compares to a Big Green Egg. My kids gave me a large Big Green Egg for a retirement gift 6 years ago and I have cooked on it 2-3 times a week ever since. We cook as small as for the two of us, and as many as 30 when the family is all here. We almost always cook low and slow, except for burgers, steaks, and fish.

One of the biggest things I learned from the BGE is that the bottom will never rust out like all my previous smokers, and that I can snuff the fire when done thus get multiple cooks from the same load of charcoal. We often use water soaked fruitwood or alder chips to produce smoke, but the charcoal will provide a lot of smoke alone.

I learned that I needed a Digi-Q for temp control and consistent results, and there is no substitute for good quality lump charcoal. I also learned that professionally tested recipes followed faithfully produce the best results. Make note how you did it when you get something you really like so you can replicate it. Two books that I swear by are Adam Perry Lang's Serious Barbecue, and The Big Green Egg Cookbook.

The BGE is expensive and you can get other brand komodo smokers that cost less and work just as well.

My only regret is that I have only one BGE, which doesn't have enough cooking space for large cooks. A multi layer grill rack helps.

I use a 1500 watt heat gun from Harbor Freight to light my BGE. Works like a champ.

I have a large BGE and today am going to try to make these.
I have the BBQ Guru wifi which makes it easier to control and track everything you cook.

http://www.vindulge.com/2017/0...ds-recipe-and-video/

Take a look at pellet smokers too. Very easy to use for a beginner and they can cook almost anything. I have a Green Mountain Daniel Boone, but theres a bunch if others out there like Traeger, Yoder or Rec Tec. You just set the temp anywhere you want between 150 and 500, it does the rest. No need to mess with vent settings or charcoal, and easy clean up.

I’ve been using a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker for about 15 years and have been really happy with it. It’s pretty easy to maintain a consistent temperature. A couple years ago someone on this forum posted about making an automatic temperature controller (Heatermeter) - I ended up building that from parts and I have to say that thing has been fantastic.


A couple of things I wish I would have known about when I started:
Bring your smoker up to temp using a pile of unlit charcoal and put 3 or 4 hot briquettes on top (this avoids a runaway temperature in the beginning).

Mesquite is not a good choice for long smokes, it will sour the meat. (I may get some push back on this)


Prior to the WSM, I had a charcoal and an electric Brinkman smoker – I was never really happy with those. Too hard to keep a consistent temp and not enough flavor from the electric. They were less expensive, but really didn’t perform very well.


My BIL has a Little Chief Smoker and that works pretty good for cold smoking (he smokes cheese and fish).


The Big Green Egg (and the ceramic knockoffs) gets good reviews as well, but it’s considerably more expensive. My buddy has one and I may get one in the future.


If I were to purchase something specific for smoking meats today, I’d would not hesitate to go with the WMS again.

I'm fairly new to the smoker game, but have been more than pleased with my Green Mountain Grill (Daniel Boone). It's about as simple as it gets....fill the hopper with whatever flavor pellets you choose, push the button to select your desired temperature, use the included meat thermometer to monitor temp, and go. Mine is not wifi enabled, but you can get it as an option and monitor temps, etc. from your phone if you wanted.

I've done everything from ribs, jalapeno poppers, salmon, tri-tip, turkey, to pizza and no complaints yet.

I had one of the barrel style from Lowe's with the fire box off to the side. It worked ok but didn't seal making it hard to maintain moisture. If there was much of a breeze then holding a temperature was a challenge as well. A couple years ago I went with electric and never looked back. Found the digital temperature readout to be off by about 10 degrees but great other than that. I load up two pork shoulders at bedtime and am the popular guy at work the next day. Set it and forget it.

BGE's are expense, but it will the last grill/smoker you will purchase. I have the medium, it's perfect for two people, in fact, oversize for two but well worth the investment. Nothing but natural charcoal goes in mine, the juices from what I'm cooking make all the smoke I need.

As already stated, look at pellet smokers, the Trager is the most popular but there are lots on the market.

Depends on what you want to do. If youre a set and forget it guy go with a pellet smoker. If you want the most smoke possible then get the real deal not pellet smoker.

A pellet smoker is great if your not that serious but want to be able to make smoked meats at home. It is in between a real smoker and an oven.

If you want the real deal find something with good insulation like a komado or BGE. If you want to tinker and buy a cheap smoky joe and stoke it all day long.

As far as a meat choice, id go with a pulled pork as its very forgiving.

I did a lot of research and went with a traeger, the lesser smokers GMG and Pit Boss my friends had and they hated them cause they werent as well built as a traeger. Im not a serious smoker and the traeger fit the bill. I do enjoy going to bbq comps and getting real smoked meats from.my buddys 3000 smoker. Nothing beats the amount of smoke from the real deal.

Just get a big green egg and a BBQ Guru DigiQ temp controller and be done with it. I would put my brisket up against any barbecue joint in the country including Franklin's in Austin. Once you have a BGE, you'll never need anything else. I have finally gotten the brisket down to a science and my family and friends are routinely blown away by how good it tastes. We use it also for steaks, pork, chicken, ribs, paella, and even pizzas. I have the large size egg and built a custom ironwood table that houses it. I know I'm probably biased, but my father and brother-in-law have Traeger grills, and I much prefer my green egg!

There is no one real answer or one only solution.
However, a Big Green Egg can solve a lot.
It depends on what and how much you need to smoke.
I have two BGE's (a large and a small) and it does nicely for my family however if I really wanted to smoke a lot of stuff I would get an offset wood smoker. The small BGE I don't smoke with.
I don't need to smoke that much (qty) of meat so the BGE is great.
Also great for short/grille cooks too like steaks or hamburgers.

HOWEVER the best TIP is to control your temperature.
Thermapen is the best cooking device in history.
Additionally, BGE's and large smokers the temp can be controlled the best ~ far better than gas or charcoal grilles.

www.firecraft.com

If you already have a good grill and do not want to spend big money on a ceramic cooker, you can smoke well with a Weber Smokey Mountain. These look like R2D2 in shape and are good smokers for the money. Check the link to see what is out there in the market.

I have a ceramic grill/smoker, a Primo Oval XL. It was not cheap but it offers the greatest versatility for grilling, smoking, or outdoor baking. The big Green Egg, Kammado Joe, and other ceramics are also quite good and highly versatile but ceramic rigs are expensive.

The new rage is electronic controlled pellet/grill smokers like Trager. They are very user friendly and work well. Take your time and shop around to find what suits your needs. I made the decision to go ceramic for myself and I have been highly satisfied.

Best of luck with your search!

Mike

I've come to prefer the size, simplicity, and end result of dorm-fridge sized electric smokers. The ones with digital control handle precise temp and time requirements with unbelievable ease, have a fairly large capacity in a small foot print (easily fitting six whole pork shoulders, or about six racks of ribs, etc), the door locks shut, and they just have a box in the bottom for the wood chips of your choice. I hit the wood chips with a torch immediately before putting them in to kick them off, and the results are outstanding, and it's never been easier, and I'm not sure there's any difference in flavor over any other method or device. This I picked up from a few friends who are working chefs.

I like Eggs for their high heat ability, namely for steaks and pizza, and can cook on most any setup, but I don't think I'll ever bother with smoking in any other method anymore, as the little electric box smokers are perfect, to me. Mine is a commercial unit, stainless, that I bought used from a restaurant supply place for about half what the Egg or a Traeger runs.

quote:

Originally posted by JWF:
I use a 1500 watt heat gun from Harbor Freight to light my BGE. Works like a champ.

I use the same thing to light my large BGE, I light it in 3-4 places and its rolling in no time.

I have smoked lots of meats on it, never thought I would like a grill as much. Only complaint is I wish I had 2, a large and small (for cooking for 2)

As a couple guys have mentioned, I too have a Green Mountain pellet smoker and love it. Very easy to use and easy to achieve consistent results.

I have the Jim Bowie version without wifi, lots of room to cook; I've smoked a twenty pound bird.

My favorite feature is the simple digital temp control. Price was right. Well under $700.

Hardwood pellets are readily available in my area.

What's your ideal total budget for the cooker and related equipment? Are you mostly interested in hot BBQ ie ribs/brisket/pulled pork etc or also jerky/fish/bacon/sausage? How many people will you usually be cooking for? Are you a no-fuss set and forget kinda guy, or do you like stoking a fire and adding some split hardwood every 45 minutes? The more you can narrow that stuff down, the better answers we can give.

If you live near St.Louis I will sell you a large BGE for a great price. Once I bought my Pellet smoker the BGE doesn't get used enough to keep it.

If you are considering a BGE, I would look hard at the Kamado Joe brand. The ceramic kamado grills are probably the best all-in-one solution out there. You can grill, smoke, and bake at temperatures from 200 degrees to 900 degrees. They are pricey, though.

If you are just looking for a simple smoker and don't want a lot of fuss, it's hard to beat the electric smokers. They pretty much do all of the work for you and are cheaper than a kamado.