# Smoker Types



## 2manyfish

Looking to buy a new smoker— What is your opinion??? 

charcoal, pellet, gas, electric????

Any true flavor difference in the end product? Is it all about ease of use??


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## fog107

I like my weber smoky mountain im no pro but have found it quite easy to use and maintain temperatures


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## usedtobeayooper

I always prefer lump charcoal.... while in truth, I generally reach for my gas smoker first due to ease of use and near instantaneous temp control. With the right chips, marinade, seasoning, etc., gas is quite capable of producing some delicious goodness. 

Having said that.... I still prefer [lump] charcoal.


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## piscatorial warrior

I have owned Charcoal, Propane and Electric smokers. Here is what I have experienced:


A basic Charcoal smoker is the cheapest smoker you can buy. They require CONSTANT attention if you want to maintain a certain temp range. They are VERY subject to weather conditions. Unless you have all day to babysit one, it can be very hard to get consistent results with one.

Propane. Pros; Propane Smokers are nice. They are far more portable than electric as you can use them anywhere because you don't need an electric outlet to use one. You can also use them in any weather. A rainy day won't keep you from bringing Pulled Pork to the Superbowl Party.

Cons: Make sure you have enough Propane to finish your cook. Running out in the middle of a smoke sucks! Also, I have had a hard time keeping the temp low enough to smoke fish during warm days.

Electric: 2 of my smokers have been electric. I've worn them out and just bought another electric at Christmas.

Pros: Almost infinite Temp control no matter what the weather temps. Sometimes you need to use a sheet of plywood for a windbreak on windy days, but overall,IMHO, these are the best for the average guy smoking fish, Ribs, Jerky ,Turkey, and most everything else.

Cons: You are limited by the need for an electrical outlet to use your smoker, so they are not as portable as Propane.
. Smoking on a rainy day is not a good idea due to electric shock hazards. They don't perform well when using a long extension cord. A heavy-Duty ext cord of 15 feet or less works best.

I do not recommend a fixed-temp Electric Smoker like a Little Chief. Some people love them. I find the non-adjustable heat range a PIA.

I have no experience with Pellet Smokers such as a Bradley or the others. Too damn much money for me . I will put my smoked Meat or Fish up against any made in a pellet smoker.

Once you get your smoker,
go to this website. There is a TON of useful info about making flawless Pulled Pork.
https://sharemycook.com/Recipe/Details/e8e5bdfa-4b8e-475e-ac0e-c803a8cd0243

Best of luck to you!


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## Woodbutcher-1

Build a UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker)


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## usedtobeayooper

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> Build a UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker)


I dont have one anymore, but I'll second this suggestion. Many a great smoke on a drum. 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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## bobberbill

I have a propane Smoke Hollow.It does everything I've wanted to do really well. Sometimes I put a couple charcoal briquettes in the wood chip pan if the wood is moist.Seems to help with constant smoke. I have a Little Chief, too but I rarely use it. Temps don't get hot enough to cook. /*It smokes, but I've had to finish cooking on the grill. Went to a grad party this summer and they had a nice electric smoker, but it kept blowing fuses in the panel. PIA, but it was on a pretty long extension cord. A full propane tank will last a long time. I have a 30# tank that can be used if I do an overnight brisket. A GOOD wireless temp sensor is a must. Mine has 2 probes. One probe for the meat, and the second probe keeps track of the smoker temp. (Thermo Pro)


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## DEDGOOSE

The wsm mentioned draws rave reviews.
I cooked on a cheap offset burning apple splits pia made great q. Cook on one of them can cook on anything.

Surprised no one mentioned kamados. I have 2 akorns. They hold heat like crazy I've smoked at below zero temps and burn no fuel. You'd be shocked how long charcoal lasts. I wanted to see how long a fill up would last got 3 8hr cooks in and still charcoal. Plus there a grill, pizza oven. Very versatile


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## mark.n.chip

I bought a used Green Egg then a Cyber Q Cloud fan temperature controller. Haven't looked back. Set it up including alarms to your phone and go enjoy the outdoors. It maintians temperature and lets you know when your food has reached temp.


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## Firefighter

Doesn't get any easier and more versatile than a pellet. 

I've ran a Traeger for years. Can do pretty much anything with it. 

Pellets will cost about as much as propane. It does require electricity though.


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## tgafish

Weber Smoky Mountain is the gold standard for commercial setup charcoal BBQ. It is easy enough for beginners and still used by top notch national comp cookers. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into true BBQ. Basically a commercial made drum smoker. Electric smokers are great for jerky, sausages, cheeses, fish, etc but for the big 3 beef,pork,chicken charcoal/wood is king for flavor


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## Woodbutcher-1

This is my family of smokers. A 55 gal. a 30 gal. and a 15 gal. drum. My most favorite one is the 30 gallon one. Several modifications turned this smoker into
what i think the perfect grill/smoker. For direct grilling i place a riser under the charcoal basket.Made a 6" extension to mount a rotisserie and two 1/2" diameter rebar rods to hang the meat for smoking. Like the *Pit Barrel Cooker.














*


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## flint

I have grill dome, much like the green egg, I run lump in it. I also have the bbq guru temperature control set it and forget it, it will run all day on a load of lump and have plenty left over. I cook on 2 diffrent kcbs compation different teams, one I am the chicken man the other is my owne team and I do all for meets for myself. I have a new smoker on order hopefully get it late this summer.
















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## Woodbutcher-1

Smoked some Buck Board Bacon today in my 30 gal. drum.mighty fine.


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## sweet lou

I have a Chargriller Kamado egg type. You can smoke, grill, bake pizza.
Go to the kamadoguru.com site lot of info. While on the site go to kamado cooking and look at articles by John Seltzer. I have a gas weber but mostly use my egg.


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## junkman

Woodbutcher-1 said:


> View attachment 483491
> This is my family of smokers. A 55 gal. a 30 gal. and a 15 gal. drum. My most favorite one is the 30 gallon one. Several modifications turned this smoker into
> what i think the perfect grill/smoker. For direct grilling i place a riser under the charcoal basket.Made a 6" extension to mount a rotisserie and two 1/2" diameter rebar rods to hang the meat for smoking. Like the *Pit Barrel Cooker.
> View attachment 483487
> View attachment 483489
> *


You Sir are an artist.


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## Woodbutcher-1

Just smoked some Buck Board Bacon on Wednesday.1-22 Good stuff.


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## Jiw275

Do you cure the meat before smoking?


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## Woodbutcher-1

Jiw275 said:


> Do you cure the meat before smoking?


Yes i do. Made from bone in pork shoulder @ $0.99 / lb.


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## grapestomper

I did these in an older weber charcoal smoker last night.
I don't use charcoal anymore. I put my turkey fryer burner under it and put wood pieces in the charcoal basket. Works great and way easier to regulate temperature.


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## 2manyfish

All— Thank you for the responses. A ton of great information. I don’t believe I’m a set it and forget it griller  I like to be interactive and don’t mind hanging around to monitor things. Sounds like the Weber is a great option. We have not purchased anything yet as we are watching the budget closely right now. I hope to revisit in the future. Thanks again!!


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## Trophy Specialist

I've had all kinds of smokers and would never want anything other than the electric, Master Built I now have. Set the temp and time, put wood chips in and that's it.


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## No Mas

After our Home Depot debacle, we finally got our Masterbuilt 560 Gravity Series Smoker/Grill delivered last night. 

Hopefully this thing won't be a pain putting it together, but once it is, it will be time to do the initial burn. Then comes the grilling, smoking, BBQ and hopefully first time doing a good sear on a steak or two. 

I just saw Masterbuilt finally came out with their rotisserie so that will be the second purchase.


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## DEDGOOSE

Just had to post found it to funny not to. But before y'all get defensive I'm looking at pellet pooper for trailer but I'd need one that's like1500 bucks


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## No Mas

Besides it being hotter than you know what, the assembly wasn't too bad on this thing. Took about three hours doing it by myself with a few breaks added in. 

After the initial burn on Saturday, seasoning it and re-seasoning it Sunday morning, loaded it later on Sunday afternoon







with chicken leg quarters, breast, shrimp skewers and hot dogs. Turned out pretty damn good... Pretty impressed so far with this, but time will tell after I attempt smoking some shoulders, brisket, fish, and reverse searing steaks and such.


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## No Mas

The first smoke after a few BBQ’s. Pork Belly Burnt Ends. Really liking the simplicity of this grill. 

250 for 3 hours on a baking tray, then wrapped in a tin pan covered with Sweet Baby Ray’s, butter and honey. After an hour pulled and left uncovered for about a half hour.

Delicious!!


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## Big Skip

Them burnt ends look good af

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## kroppe

Great photos of smoked meat on this thread.

Just got a Pit Boss 4 Pro Series electric vertical smoker at Lowe's. A rack of ribs smoked in apple pellets is cooking now, for the test run. They look and smell great. Glad I decided to do this, it's a nice change of pace.


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## No Mas

Smoked Queso from last week. 2 hrs at 225


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## kroppe

No Mas said:


> View attachment 555491
> Smoked Queso from last week. 2 hrs at 225
> View attachment 555489



Looks great! How do you use the queso? As a sauce? What is in the bottom photo?


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## No Mas

For some reason the photo were not uploaded properly. The bottom photo is all the meat, cheese and fixin’s before the smoke. 

We just dipped nacho chips into the Queso.


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## brushbuster

Getting ready to build a smoke house soon. This will be a pine board and batten shed cement slab with block lower sidewalls. fire source will be propane 2 burner stove. cast iron pan for hardwood cookies for smoke. Poles for hanging sausage, and a wire mesh shelf for ribs and meat. Will be using 2 prong thermometer for inside temp and internal meat temp. Pretty simple to make and I have most supplies on hand.


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## kroppe

brushbuster said:


> Getting ready to build a smoke house soon. This will be a pine board and batten shed cement slab with block lower sidewalls. fire source will be propane 2 burner stove. cast iron pan for hardwood cookies for smoke. Poles for hanging sausage, and a wire mesh shelf for ribs and meat. Will be using 2 prong thermometer for inside temp and internal meat temp. Pretty simple to make and I have most supplies on hand.


Pics!


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## DEDGOOSE

Forgive me BBQ God's past and present for I have sinned not once but twice and I GULP maybe liked it


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## perchjerker

Yeah, I have a few smokers. All powered by wood of some type. Some are easy to use others take a little more skill


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## 2manyfish

Christmas morning brought a new 18”
Weber Smokey Mountain from the family. Thanks for all the advice guys, looking forward to testing it out!! 

Any newbie advice is always appreciated!


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