Thinking about buying a smoker. Need advice.

I am about ready to buy a new grill/smoker. I have an old offset Charbroil smoker/grill combo that I have been using for about 10 years, but she is about shot. I was thinking about getting a Big Green Egg and a dedicated vertical smoker. I am looking at the Masterbuilt smokers, but I am not sure whether I want propane of electric. I have never used electric, but it sure does seem like it would be handy. Come to think of it, I have never used propane either. Always a charcoal and wood chip man up to this point. But I have to admit watching the temp on charcoal is a labor of love.......

What say you? Electric or Gas? Why?
Any other good brands out there beside Masterbuilt.
What would you get?

The best, by far!

Products for Home Use | Cookshack

Attachment 169588Attachment 169589Attachment 169590 Have had this one 8-10 yrs. never been a problem/works great . Has place to put chips and it is electric .

I have been smoking with charcoal and wood for 30 years.....but just recently got a Masterbuilt electric and I love it.

I'm a charcoal man all the way. For straight smoke, I think electric would be good, and easy. But for cooking, give me charcoal. I have used a Green Egg for the past several years, and after about a year into it, I got rid of my nice LP grill. Simply no comparison of grilled meat between gas/electric heat and a real fire.

For the Green Egg and other similar ceramic cookers, you can get a digital temperature regulator that will regulate the temperature by managing the airflow. So you can set it for 225F and go to bed without having to worry about checking on anything. Honestly, though, as long as you use good lump charcoal and don't have airflow blockages, I've found that the Egg stays very steady for very long periods of time without dropping or rising due to wind/rain, etc.

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Originally Posted by blugrasmaniac

I'm a charcoal man all the way. For straight smoke, I think electric would be good, and easy. But for cooking, give me charcoal. I have used a Green Egg for the past several years, and after about a year into it, I got rid of my nice LP grill. Simply no comparison of grilled meat between gas/electric heat and a real fire.

For the Green Egg and other similar ceramic cookers, you can get a digital temperature regulator that will regulate the temperature by managing the airflow. So you can set it for 225F and go to bed without having to worry about checking on anything. Honestly, though, as long as you use good lump charcoal and don't have airflow blockages, I've found that the Egg stays very steady for very long periods of time without dropping or rising due to wind/rain, etc.

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Good review!!!

You might want to check out the Primo Smokers, American made, Oval shaped, more capacity. I've used one for a couple of years and really like it. Best price I found was at Blue Angel Hot Tubs and Grills in Pensacola.

Masterbuilt electric is the best I have seen. Got one that will be put to use the minute my contractor finishes my new house!

Just curious which Masterbuilt smoker you guys are talking about....bout to but me a new one, and I would like to research a proven smoker

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Originally Posted by "G"

I have been smoking with charcoal and wood for 30 years.....but just recently got a Masterbuilt electric and I love it.

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I bought the 30 inch one without a door glass

Black or stainless?

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Originally Posted by "G"

I bought the 30 inch one without a door glass

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stainless , see pictures in first post .

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Originally Posted by hawgdog

Black or stainless?

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Black powder coat. Attachment 169620

Nice... Thanks

They are on sale at Amazon.com the other day it was free shipping too

Ok... I read some reviews about the temp being 30-40 degress off and slow recover time after opening door.... Notice any of these issues?

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Originally Posted by eagle 1

stainless , see pictures in first post .

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Curtis....your pictures don't work

Attachment 169624

That's a analog....digital is the only way to go .... Digital thermostatically controlled Masterbuilt electric smoker.......Amazon.com reg. $299.00....on sale for $174.00 free shipping to your door. Amazon.com : Masterbuilt 20070910 30-Inch Electric Digital Smokehouse Smoker, Black : Patio, Lawn & Garden

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Originally Posted by hawgdog

Ok... I read some reviews about the temp being 30-40 degress off and slow recover time after opening door.... Notice any of these issues?

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Have had no problems......temp is right on.....only takes a few minutes to recover

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Originally Posted by "G"

Have had no problems......temp is right on.....only takes a few minutes to recover

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Thanks for the info

If you are going electric, I would highly recommend the 40" Masterbuilt instead of the 30". I myself have the 40" version as well as couple of buddies of mine. They are large enough to do decent size cooks unlike the 30" - another buddy has he 30" model and he can't fit a whole slab of ribs or packer brisket on 1 shelf. Last week I had relatives in from CO and I was able to do a pan of beans on top shelf, 3lbs of sausage and a chub of bologna on the 2nd shelf, a lg package of boneless/skinless chicken breasts from Sam's on the 3rd shelf and a lg package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs on the bottom shelf. As long as you keep the door closed, it will maintain temps pretty well. But if you are doing things like ribs that need more tending to, I'd recommend something more like a gravity fed smoker like a Stumps Smoker. This uses charcoal for the heat source and chunks of wood for the smoke.

Attachment 169632Attachment 169633Attachment 169634

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Originally Posted by "G"

Curtis....your pictures don't work

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toon, i guess the 40 is good if your gonna cook for a bunch of folks on a regular basis, but the 30 is plenty for me. can do 5 or 6 slabs or 4 shoulders on my 30 with no problem and that will feed all i want at my house at one time...

I agree James. Useing the 3.....2.......1 rib cooking method I only have to open the door three times

I had the 40" Masterbuilt for several years. I've cooked everything from sausages to packer briskets with no complaints.

Just be sure to buy the Masterbuilt with insulated sides and top and not the plain sheet metal one, it won't keep the heat on cold days, the one G pictured is perfect, I got the same one just has BPS stamped on it

the one's with wheels come in handy.

All this fuss about Masterbuilt electric is making me interested. Who wants to send me a food sample?!? :biggrin

Masterbuilt.......Attachment 169662

just my :twocents, 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:Rofl).

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 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

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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

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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

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Originally Posted by bfish

just my :twocents, 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:Rofl).

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.

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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

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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

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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....

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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

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

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Originally Posted by windstone

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....

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The main drip pan is inside and is front accessable....the one on the rear is in case the one inside over flows....the one on the back is easy to get to and has not been a problem to me....like James said/....I have never had anything overflow into mine.