My wife and I want to try our hand at smoking some meat. I've never tried smoking anything before but enjoy grilling. What's a good middle of the road smoker to start out with? Propane? Electric? Pellets? Wood chips? Etc.
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Pit Boss -
I'd get a lower end pit boss pellet smoker to begin with. Start with a porkbutt, they are very forgiving and hard to mess up.Comment
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Offset smokerComment
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There are many threads on here about smoking meat, charcoal/wood smokers, pellet smokers, ect.. Do some searching on here and you should be able to learn a good amount. To answer your question it really depends on what you are going for, there is a big difference between charcoal/wood and pellet smoker and both have their pros/cons. I have the Weber Smokey Mountain and it is very easy to maintain temperature and is reliable 100% of the time. I would recommend the biggest one they offer (22in). They are around $440 at home depot. Smoking meat is very very very addicting! Good luck and have fun with it.
T-Roy cooks on Youtube has taught me a lot over the years, look him up!Comment
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Academy over and under old country pit. Works excellent for the cost.Comment
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Pit bossComment
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Depends on what you want to do. If you are interested in the process get a offset firebox , kamado or bullet style smoker, if you are interested in just setting and forgetting, then get a pellet grill, electric or propane tower smoker.
Check out this website:
A pellet grill is great for beginners because it does most of the temperature work for you, but you will have an up hill battle if you switch to a "manual smoker". They normally require a power outlet, which can be a downside. Pellet grill will yield the same result almost every time, it's basically a wood pellet burning oven.
Pellet grills will also give you more free time, since you don't need to watch the Smoke box temp, and can just focus on the internal meat temp (some will watch that for you as well).
I suggest the Weber's smokey mountain, if you are intrested in the "smoking process", it's been around forever (1981) and remains one of the highest rated smokers.
Pros:
- Coming in at 39.1 lbs it won't break your back when you want to move it. (my offset box weighs more than 200lbs)
- It won't break the bank like a big heavy offset, pellet, or komado.
- You can get it delivered.
- Easy input and output air control.
- Use's any charcoal or wood you want (Komado's only use lump charcoal, pellets grills only use pellets)
Cons:
-Can be small if you are trying to smoke several briskets.
-Light weight means more thermal loss, so you'll need more fuel.
5/5 on amazon if you care about their reviews.
TLDR:
Pellet smoker if you want to smoke a brisket and golf at the same time.
Bullet/offset if you like the smoking process (drinking beer, watching tv and watching a thermometer every hour)
Edit: You can also smoke almost anything on a 165 dollar Weber kettle grill, that's where I am trying to get too.
Last edited by LOC4L; 10-09-2020, 01:03 PM.Comment
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OC PecosComment
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Pellet smoker of some sort is my advice. It will turn bad cooks into decent smokers. Set it and forget it.Comment
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The Pit Boss 820 Pro would be the way to go. Wait for Black Friday deals to roll out and you can get one for around $400Comment
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I’ve been using the charcoal snake method on a Weber for a while now and it’s great. But for Larger briskets it takes a lot of work and so I’m ready to upgrade. Debating on the Weber Smokey Mountain vs going full offset.Comment
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Weber Smokey Mountain is amazing. Holds temps all day, is light weight, and doesn't take up much real estate. It is easy to transport to the lease if I plan on doing any smoking, like brisket or pork butts.Comment
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