Thread: Thinking about buying a smoker. Need advice.

I like wood and charcoal too.....used it for years but themostaticly controlled electric.....insulated box is nice.....perfect temp control and can smoke in winter time ....no stoking the fire etc trying to keep heat up....just set it and forget it.....sure is nice.....a cup of wood chips is all you need and the taste is just as good.

Still not sure about those electric/gas smokers. I grill/smoke at least once a week, and have done so for over 30 years. I have wore out so many units that I finally decided to have one custom built. 1/4" heavy steel, no screws or bolts in the entire system. Ann has a hard time lifting the lid. The heavy steel will hold in the heat and I can hold it to +/- 15°F for several hours. I love seeing the heavy smoke pour out of mine. Interesting concept about the smoker you guys are talking about though.

Randy, have some counter-weights added to the lids -- that will help Ann raise them up easier.

I have one of the electric smokers but to be honest I don't use it very often. With the help of a buddy, I actually built a smoker similar to a Stump but with a larger cooking chamber. My wife and I compete at BBQ Competitions in the state - until we sold our travel trailer a couple of years ago when we got a lake place. I use a computer controlled device called a Stoker that maintains the temp in my smoker +/- 2 degrees while using charcoal for heat and wood for smoke - the Stoker has a fan that puffs air across the burning charcoal to maintain the temp. I'm sort of a techno geek so I then have my Stoker connected to a wireless router that I connect to with my laptop. Using a free program from the Weber Bullet site (called StokerLog), I can graph out all of the temp probes (pit temp and meat temps) so I can see how everything is doing. My smoker will run about 9 hours on a load of charcoal. So at competitions, I'd put the big meats (briskets and butts) in at midnight then I go into the travel trailer to sleep. I kept the laptop on the TV shelf in the bedroom -- if I woke up and saw the pit temp was still running at my target temp, I'd just roll back over and go back to sleep. I never understood why those stick-burner guys worked so hard at it -- tending to their smoker and adding more wood every hour.

Does the rear access drip pan cause any problemshttp://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20070910-30-Inch-Electric-Smokehouse/dp/B00104WRCY/ref=pd_tcs_subst_lg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EBSKW5XCH8RQ V02G6FS

Originally Posted by majflyboy

Does the rear access drip pan cause any problemshttp://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20070910-30-Inch-Electric-Smokehouse/dp/B00104WRCY/ref=pd_tcs_subst_lg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EBSKW5XCH8RQ V02G6FS

This one is $45.00 more but has front access to the drip pan. Would it be worth it?Amazon.com : Masterbuilt 20070213 GEN II Electric Digital Smokehouse, 30-Inch, Black Finish : Smokers : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Originally Posted by bfish

just my , from charcoal/wood guy.

Go with a Weber Smoky Mountain. Great flavor, easy to use, and they hold value. If you need to speed up the process, you can always pop the meat into an indoor gas or electric oven to finish off the cook (which are much more efficient than an outdoor propane/electric oven sold as a smoker).

A ceramic such as Primo, egg, or other kamado style ceramic work great and I would like one too, however it is hard to justify their initial cost.

I agree with this 100%. Also, if you need the convenience of temp controll that is offered with electric and gas smokers just get you one of these for the WSM:

http://store.thebbqguru.com/weborderentry/New%20PartyQ

Originally Posted by majflyboy

This one is $45.00 more but has front access to the drip pan. Would it be worth it?Amazon.com : Masterbuilt 20070213 GEN II Electric Digital Smokehouse, 30-Inch, Black Finish : Smokers : Patio, Lawn & Garden

i got the rear access but have not put enough meat on it yet at one time to overflow and out the back... the back access does not get in the way for me at all....

Originally Posted by majflyboy

Does the rear access drip pan cause any problemshttp://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20070910-30-Inch-Electric-Smokehouse/dp/B00104WRCY/ref=pd_tcs_subst_lg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EBSKW5XCH8RQ V02G6FS

Just ordered this one. Thanks Windstone for the PM's.