Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Smokers. What do you like?

Over the years I have had charcoal, electric and propane. Looking for a new one. Because of taste, I am inclined to go back to charcoal. I cook a lot of pork ribs and shoulders mostly. A Brisket every now and then. Trying to stay under $500.00. Looking at the 22" Weber.

I like smoking with a Bourbon in one hand and a good cigar in the other, so I do not mind babysitting the process with friends keeping me company.

What say you outdoor cooks?

Not sure where you are located but I would try to find a demo Big Green Egg. It will be more that $500 but it should be the last grill/smoker you will have to buy.

I think I owned my cookshack electric for 20+ years. I have mine in an "outhouse" off the deck. Really reliable and consistent, especially for low/slow use, like pulled pork. I also like that I just use chunks of wood from logs, no charcoal, pellets, or pucks, just wood slices. My wife bought me a bigger new electric smoker many years ago, and it is still in the box. I like my old cookshack so much, I don't want to change. She ribs me about it all the time.

https://www.bbqguys.com/smokin-tex/1400-pro-series-electric-bbq-smoker?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping-campaign&utm_term=1530808&product_id=1530808&merchant_id=3173333&creative=174802986478&target=&placement=&device=c&campaign=743375279&adgroup=37820636774&source=google-adwords&medium=shopping-campaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwrCB-MH72QIVRbXACh1DEgcGEAQYAyABEgKCPPD_BwE&s_kwcid=AL!5468!3!174802986478!!!g!277649576146!&ef_id=WrFQ0wAABTjx2UaZ:20180320182003:s

http://www.cookshack.com/

Have a BGE and a Yoder YS640 pellet and much prefer the BGE.

Demo's can be bought if you sign up for them in advanced. But the local Dealer does not have their BGE cook off until August. My BIL has one and swears by it. I can see it's merits.

Have any problem with the heating elements not lasting?

I have the WSM 22. Very easy to use and I get good results every time. just adjust your vents properly and you are off and running. You don't have to babysit the fire all day. For your price point I would highly recommend it.

My parents have the BGE and like it but every time I have their food something just seems off about it. Don't really know what it is. They will stipulate that my BBQ on the cheaper cooker is much better.

Just mt .02

Could be the charcoal they are using. I really like Rockwood in my BGE

I have a double door Cajun Injector. It's electric. I like it a lot despite the control panel quitting after three years.

For just smoking I prefer it to anything else I have used. You can set the smoke time and it turns itself off whet the time runs out. You can set the temperature and it will hold that temperature exactly, 20 below outside or 90 degrees makes no difference to it.. It has a temperature probe so without opening to doors you can check the meat temp. Very low input work involved.

If the control panel dies again I think I will just rewire it to be a simpler design and keep using it. Truth be told, an old refrigerator and an electric stove burner can be made to work every bit as well and be completely trustworthy. I used an old refrigerator for a lot of years, but it was a kid killer latch from the outside fridge. I kept a padlock on it so it couldn't be opened when it was not in use, but the township got pissy about keeping a kid killer in my back yard. I may do another refrigerator, but it will be electric heat and thermostat controlled.

built from the ground up by a buddy............

nearly all recycled used parts.........

use fruit wood for fuel...........HD smoker !

he is just finishing one up right now for sale.............

I never replaced my heating element in the 20+ years. The element is really heavy, and the wood burner sits on top of it, so it is protected from grease etc. the wood Berger looks like a small bird house and the element slides in the bottom. The roof hinges and you toss on wood. I cover the bird house with foil, so clean up is a snap. Typically I use an ounce or two of wood. The smoke smolders and really just sits in the oven. The end result is minimal air through the smoker, so meat stays moist.

I made my choice and picked up a 22" WSM .

Everyone, thank you very much for your valuable input.

I think the Weber will suit my needs and style better. Stayed under $500.00 for the smoker and a few accessories.



I told my wife that it will outlast me, so you better pay attention on how to smoke correctly in a OCD kind of way.

I have had a Big green egg for 30 years and I still love it.

Benson & Hedges, king size !

I use a K24 Pitboss kamado. Costco sells it for $599 but in June they usually put it on sale for $399.99. Comes with a cover, the nest, ceramic smoking stone, two grates and cleaning tool. The ceramic kamado's are great.

I, too, have the 22” WSM and love it. The one thing I did was buy another charcoal ring and bolted it to the other one. It always seemed like I needed to add more fuel on the long smokes (15 to 18 hrs) in the middle of the night. Dave

Just happened by accident. I tried a fuel grate from a 22" Kettle I had. It fit the fuel ring exactly. A tight fit. Perpendicular to the bottom grate.

That is what she said after our rumble.

Congrats on your new WSM! Thought I would share a few modifications I made to mine to make things easier for me and may possibly interest you.

- First thing I did was wire tie the charcoal ring to the charcoal grate. This really make charcoal ash clean up less cumbersome and I never did come up with a good reason they need to be separate.

- Found some side handles off an old smoker that had been set curb side for clean up week and added them to the midsection. Makes handling the midsection much easier and also safer if it is warm or hot. Also handy for hanging a remote thermometer from.

- From CajunBandit.com I ordered a replacement stainless steel door to seal iy up tighter for better airflow and also ordered a probe port grommet to guide a cabled thermometer probe through. Also from the dollar store found magnets that were the same diameter as the probe port, this seals it up well when not using it

- Also added locking casters to legs, so much easier to move and a heck of a back saver.

I'm with you. I have three pallets (90) 20 lb. bags of Rockwood in my shop right now. Every couple of years my buddies and I do a group buy so hopefully by the end of next week they'll come and pick it up and I'll be down to one pallet. I have trimmed my BGE's down from five to three and still have my Mini, Small and Large that is in the stainless steel table. They are my favorites to use, but there are some situations, like catering, that they don't work well for because of their lack of real estate/volume. My team mate and I have purchased three Fast Eddy's pellet cookers that are made by Cookshack. Two FEC100's and one FEC120. If we have a big catering job we can do 320 lbs. of smoked meat if needed. Their controller is Very good since you can put more smoke on the meat than most other pellet smokers, but to be honest, nothing beats lump charcoal and hardwood!