Smokers

YotaOnRocks

YotaOnRocks

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Location
Madison
I want to get a smoker. I usually cook with charcoal but thinking of getting a propane smoker for the ease. Would usually just be cooking for 2-6 people. Any recommendations. I've never used a smoker before so I'm a complete noobie on the subject.
 
Heard great things about Traeger. Uncle has one and says it’s the GOAT.
 
Another vote for a Traeger if you want a fuel source smoke that's not gas. Gas however is dirt simple. Set and forget, smoke tray and some water. The Traeger smokers I have been around have been maintenance free and accurate. Down side pellets and having that supply and a bit messier to keep them over a small dose of wood chips and a bottle of gas. Smoking is about the layers for me. A more complex taste over traditional meat. Over done or the wrong stuff and it can be plum nasty. Just right and not dry....that's where it's at.
 
I started with a Weber Smokey Mountain. Charcoal smoker, very simple, requires some attention as you may need to adjust air inlets, add fuel or add smoke wood. Turned out some great food on this little smoker.

Moved on to a Traeger, Lil Tex Elite pellet smoker. Super easy as @obullfish said. You can also use it like a regular grill, you can bake on it, you can make pizza on it. Their customer support is top notch - best I’ve ever experienced from any company.

My last purchase was a Stumps Baby gravity feed smoker. It’s a charcoal smoker and you add smoke wood to the ash pan. I wish I had the time to use this smoker more often. It is dirt simple, holds temperature like nothing I’ve ever seen, extremely well insulated, can hold temps from 225F all the way up to 450F for hours and hours. Get a monitoring system like the ThermoWorks Smoke and it’s essentially set it and forget it. Only downside is the price, but you do get what you pay for.

I feel all 3 have their place. The Traeger has handled the bulk of my cooking duties just based on its versatility. However, when I have a long weekend and plan a smoke, I’m going with my Stumps. Over the July 4’th weekend I smoked 4, 9 lb pork butts and 2, 11 - 12 lb briskets that turned out awesome!

There are many out there. I’ve heard good things about Big Green Egg and Camp Chef, but I personally have not used them and cannot offer an opinion based on personal experience.
 
I have the cheapo upright charcoal water smoker from Walmart. It was like $40. It’s been great to get started and learn on. I added air holes to the pan. I can get a good 5 hour smoke at 225 without much attention, but it doesn’t really get much hotter than 225-260ish. It’s been a good start for trial and error. I may step up to a nicer smoker later.
 
@T-bone71 and I have a Pit Boss pellet smoker. So simple to use, easy to clean, food comes out perfect every time.
 
I love my PitBoss, I can count on 1 hand how many weekends have passed in the last year and a half that I haven't used it. I have the PitBoss 700FB. So worth the money, add pellets, set the smoker temp, put the food on and walk away and the food we'll...... Off the hook. It's literally that easy.....

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83oldyoda4x4 said:
I have heard good thing about REC TEC, never used one.
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X2. I recently picked up a pellet smoker. I wanted something small and portable, so settled on the Green Mountain Davy Crockett. I like it, but its small. It is primarily my grill. I have a Masterbuilt elec 40" with mailbox mod, that i use most of the time. Also have a UDS that i started on.

If I were buying a bigger pellet I would look at RecTec. They seem extremely heavyduty for the $$$. Most of the pellet cookers are similar, so you cant really go wrong.

UDS or WMS is a cheaper way to get started. They work well, just arent typically insulated well, so temps fluctuate some.

With all smokers, you have to be patient and learn them. Pickup a good thermometer like a Maverick or Thermoworks and learn how the cooker heats up and cooks.
 
So I didnt really know what a pellet grill was. Looks like that might be the way i go. I would really like something portable enough to take with us when we go camping with the camper.
 
I take mine everywhere I go camping, if there electricity at the campsite...... Great if it's primitive then I take a small generator to run it. The PitBoss can run on a invertor and battery bank, as it only draws something like 800 watts (i think is what I remember) to start and then its only running the fan inside and the auger intermittently to fee the pellets. The pellets are cheap $12 at Walmart for a 20lb bag and they come in different kinds of wood (Hickory, oak, apple, cherry, ect) or somewhere like Academy Sport for even more or different kinds of woods. And depending on weather and temp I can do to long smokes on 1 hopper full of pellets or multiple hot grill meals

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YotaOnRocks said:
So I didnt really know what a pellet grill was. Looks like that might be the way i go. I would really like something portable enough to take with us when we go camping with the camper.
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Traeger makes a model called the Tailgater. The legs fold up to make it really compact. It’s about the size of the Lil Tex Elite, maybe a bit smaller, but with foldable legs. If you want to go smaller they make a PTG (Portable Tabletop Grill). I’ve got one of these too. It’s great for me and the wife when we’re away from home. I haven’t smoked on it, just grilled stuff.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
With all smokers, you have to be patient and learn them. Pickup a good thermometer like a Maverick or Thermoworks and learn how the cooker heats up and cooks.
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^^^This is very important. You gotta give it time and have patience. I have/had a total of 4 smokers and they all had their own quirks that you had to learn. Once you got the hang of them, they all turned out great food. Shoot, the 2 Traegers I have behave completely differently. They’re different models so I would expect some difference, but I was surprised how different they were. Eh, it’s fun to learn a new smoker. Enjoy the process.
 
I use a MasterBuilt propane smoker (Masterbuilt - Master it.). It's my first, easy to use, holds temp pretty good and cooks some damn good meats. I ended up cutting a square piece of plywood and putting four small casters on the bottom so I can roll it around easily. We took it to the beach a couple months ago and cooked a couple whole chickens and pork shoulder...I think it's very portable. I also ended up getting rid of the little wood chip holder that comes with it and use a cast iron skillet in its place.
 
T-bone71 said:
I take mine everywhere I go camping, if there electricity at the campsite...... Great if it's primitive then I take a small generator to run it. The PitBoss can run on a invertor and battery bank, as it only draws something like 800 watts (i think is what I remember) to start and then its only running the fan inside and the auger intermittently to fee the pellets. The pellets are cheap $12 at Walmart for a 20lb bag and they come in different kinds of wood (Hickory, oak, apple, cherry, ect) or somewhere like Academy Sport for even more or different kinds of woods. And depending on weather and temp I can do to long smokes on 1 hopper full of pellets or multiple hot grill meals

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Sorry for reviving, though I was passing by and remembered we were just talking about pellet grills at work. A coworker has a Traeger (from this list) and said he would never go back to a gas grill. Which seemed strange to me as I can imagine that it might be tricky to keep pellets dry in a camper. How are you dealing with it?
 
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zenrider said:
Sorry for reviving, though I was passing by and remembered er were just talking about pellet grills at work. A coworker has a Traeger and said he would never go back to a gas grill. Which seemed strange to me as I can imagine that it might be tricky to keep pellets dry in a camper. How are you dealing with it?
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The pellets are hardier than you might think, I'm going on 3 years plus on mine and love it. I take mine to every camp/wheeling trip, it does live in my garage when not in my trailer going to a ride. I cook out of my garage, (like I am this morning) and keep my pellets in the bag and in a bucket (in case the bag rips or tears) I have also seen where people buy the bags of pellets and put them in buckets w/sealed lids. I haven't seen a need for that yet, maybe I use them fast enough that they don't have time to soak up moisture. I go thru a 40lb bag of pellets once every month or 2 since I'm grilling/smoking all the time. Once you master the pellet grill (yes there is a learnng curve to them) it is superior to anything else (IMO).

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zenrider said:
Sorry for reviving, though I was passing by and remembered er were just talking about pellet grills at work. A coworker has a Traeger and said he would never go back to a gas grill. Which seemed strange to me as I can imagine that it might be tricky to keep pellets dry in a camper. How are you dealing with it?
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When we go camping I store my pellets in a bucket with a lid. No issues to date. I love my pellet smoker and wish I had gotten one years ago.
 
Are you smoking or cooking? I switched from a charcoal brinkman to an electric little chief. Cost about $100 bucks on amazon and it does great smoking. Constant 165 degrees and smokes salmon like a dream. Will add a smoked flavor to sauages etc. Wont do large pork or chicken.
 
I have to 2nd and 3rd on the pit boss, was skeptical about getting one at first but now I absolutely love it. IMO can’t go wrong with a pellet smoker.
 
My best friend bought a Pit Boss Austin XL 3 yrs. ago and he uses it every week or more. He's been telling me to get one for years.A few days ago he called me and said he had a surprise for me. He pulled up in the driveway w this smoker.I was blown away and told him I'd pay for it, he said it was a gift. He found it at walmart and he talked to the manager about the price for the smoker that was on display, outside. He got the $500 smoker for $200. He also brought 2 butts in a cooler of ice, 2 bags of rub, his homemade sauce and a 40 lb. bag of comp. pellets. I sprayed the inside w grill oil and burned it off tonight.The butts will be smoked thursday or friday....
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The old smoker in the back is worn down.20210112_183531.jpg
 
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