Who here owns a smoker?

Pellet smokers are easy...set and forget. But it does not taste the same to me...not even close.


Plugging in a cooker to cook outside just seems silly to me...
 
Weather should be gorgeous, no game this saturday...need something to smoke. May just do a brisket. I have it perfected, but not much of a challenge anymore. I'll post some photos if I throw one on tomorrow night.
 
Going to try to smoke a Prime Rib. Pretty pricey chunk of meat so hoping I don't fuck it up.

Any worthwhile suggestions out there?
 
packerzrule said:
Going to try to smoke a Prime Rib. Pretty pricey chunk of meat so hoping I don't fuck it up.

Any worthwhile suggestions out there?
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Good luck, never even tried one. Let me know.
 
Well lets dust this one off and get to smoking
 
Bayou Tiger said:
Pellet smokers are easy...set and forget. But it does not taste the same to me...not even close.


Plugging in a cooker to cook outside just seems silly to me...
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I thought the same damn thing!
But I've been "curious" the past couple of winters since I didn't want to go out and freeze my arse off in the snow to fire off my off set stick burner, so I did it. Pulled the trigger on the pellet. Of course I had to take the cruel language from my teenage boys when I brought it home,
but all in all this thing aint that bad. Of course it will collect dust the next six months but what the hell
 
Orlando_Eagles said:
So I asked for a smoker thinking a good electric one or maybe an offset charcoal/wood burner.

The Mrs got a relatively small Weber charcoal smoker. I’ve used it a few times....and it’s aight.

But I’m already ready to upgrade.
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Don't let me tell you how soon you should tire of a woman but maybe at least get her something nice to wear when she's looking for that second husband? :noidea:
 
Mcnabb7542 said:
I thought the same damn thing!
But I've been "curious" the past couple of winters since I didn't want to go out and freeze my arse off in the snow to fire off my off set stick burner, so I did it. Pulled the trigger on the pellet. Of course I had to take the cruel language from my teenage boys when I brought it home,
but all in all this thing aint that bad. Of course it will collect dust the next six months but what the hell
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I am in the same boat as you. We smoke with an offset vertical smoker and use one chimney of charcoal to start the hardwood and bring the smoker to temp ... normally we over temp it to get rid of the charcoal and let the temp come back down for cooking ... but the winter becomes hard to smoke outside in freezing temps, rain and snow.

I would love to have a pellet smoker but my fears are that the meat would be just okay enough that my old tired ass would start using it as my go to smoker. In my heart a BBQ is about an all day event, not a sandwich. Our neighbor came over one Saturday morning about six o'clock as me and my brother were splitting apple and setting up the smoker. We were obviously hung over ... one sip of coffee, one sip of beer one pull of the medicinal pipe ... He shook his head and chuckled, "People don't understand how much love goes into pulled pork".
 
DragonFromTo said:
Don't let me tell you how soon you should tire of a woman but maybe at least get her something nice to wear when she's looking for that second husband? :noidea:
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Ah yes. Took me a second this early on a Sunday....but I see what you did there.

No, this is actually the upgrade. She just needed to learn that I’ll handle the smoker purchases going forward. Not using the insignificant one she bought for over a year set that record straight ha.
 
Just did my foil "Texas Crutch" wrap on last nights brisket, so should be pulling it in about 2 hours. Usually let it rest for the remainder of the day and enjoy it at dinner. Can't wait, looks delicious.
 
batchaps4me said:
I am in the same boat as you. We smoke with an offset vertical smoker and use one chimney of charcoal to start the hardwood and bring the smoker to temp ... normally we over temp it to get rid of the charcoal and let the temp come back down for cooking ... but the winter becomes hard to smoke outside in freezing temps, rain and snow.

I would love to have a pellet smoker but my fears are that the meat would be just okay enough that my old tired ass would start using it as my go to smoker. In my heart a BBQ is about an all day event, not a sandwich. Our neighbor came over one Saturday morning about six o'clock as me and my brother were splitting apple and setting up the smoker. We were obviously hung over ... one sip of coffee, one sip of beer one pull of the medicinal pipe ... He shook his head and chuckled, "People don't understand how much love goes into pulled pork".
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Oh I hear you and I am sticking to my guns during spring and summer time.
I already brought in a load of apple wood so I will make sure to burn it all this summer in the stick burner.

I have a couple buddies that cook all the time on their pellets but when I send the text the smoker has been rolling all day and the bar is open they are the first two here.
 
I want one. I just have a Weber grill that I've had for about 20 years.

I also have a gas grill that I use for quick stuff like brats and dogs, but I prefer the regular charcoal Weber for everything else. I did a pork butt a few years ago over indirect heat and applewood chunks and it turned out great. Want an actual smoker, though.
 
PackJason said:
I want one. I just have a Weber grill that I've had for about 20 years.

I also have a gas grill that I use for quick stuff like brats and dogs, but I prefer the regular charcoal Weber for everything else. I did a pork butt a few years ago over indirect heat and applewood chunks and it turned out great. Want an actual smoker, though.
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You know Home Depot sells a charcoal/ smoker ( wood box comes attached)
I've had mine for six years now and I use it only for smoking. They sell them for around $200 the only down side is there aren't really insulated but you can fix that easily.
 
fordman84 said:
Just did my foil "Texas Crutch" wrap on last nights brisket, so should be pulling it in about 2 hours. Usually let it rest for the remainder of the day and enjoy it at dinner. Can't wait, looks delicious.
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After chatting with you, I bought something like this the other day. I started out cheap cause I'm not sure how committed I am to this. I like cooking so there is that.

1618163036559.pngI tested it out trying different easy things. I did chicken and then salmon the next night just to get used to it.

Friday night I put on a whole brisket, 13lbs at 10:30pm after watching some youtube video's. Started the grill at 9:00pm. The hardest part was getting the right amount of wood to keep the temps down to 250 but got it leveled off and seemed to pull it off. I had to close every vent and then ended up stuffing aluminum foil into cracks around the lid. But I finally got it there. I took the brisket off and wrapped it in foil at 3:30am and put it back on until 9:00am. And then put it in a cooler until folks showed up. We cut into it at 1:30pm yesterday. That's a long cook.

Had a few over yesterday for the UFC fights and they slaughtered it so I must have pulled it off. I have about 3 pounds left over, but am pretty sure they'll be gone in a day or two. Turns out brisket, swiss, sarachi bbq on a fresh kieser roll is damn good. I didn't like the bark...i thought it softened out too much while wrapped in the foil. I'm going to order butcher block paper to see if that helps me there.

I used frontier hardwood charcoal...it's what sams had. I already have a bunch cut up 4 inch thick hickory limbs i use for cooking in the fire pit, so i cut up one into about 1 inch wafers and added one of those every time i added wood to the hopper.

I also have apple, maple and cherry on the property I may test out in the future. The family loved it...but it's new. And it's a load of work. I know I'll be smoking some this year, but we'll see if I upgrade to an actual smoker. Today I'm cleaning up the mess. Ugh.
 
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Mcnabb7542 said:
Oh I hear you and I am sticking to my guns during spring and summer time.
I already brought in a load of apple wood so I will make sure to burn it all this summer in the stick burner.

I have a couple buddies that cook all the time on their pellets but when I send the text the smoker has been rolling all day and the bar is open they are the first two here.
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For me, it is more about the fall. My "tailgating" happens in the back yard. We have blues/bluegrass playing while we are firing up the smoker and that goes until the last hour of the pregame shows. Then we watch the games out side until at least dark. BBQ is an event for us and I would hate to settle on that.
 
dikowt dowg said:
The hardest part was getting the right amount of wood to keep the temps down to 250 but got it leveled off and seemed to pull it off. I had to close every vent and then ended up stuffing aluminum foil into cracks around the lid. But I finally got it there. I took the brisket off and wrapped it in foil at 3:30am and put it back on until 9:00am. And then put it in a cooler until folks showed up. We cut into it at 1:30pm yesterday. That's a long cook.
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First, how did the brisket turn out? Figuring out the correct amount of fuel is always the hardest part of getting a new smoker. It took us a while to know how much wood to load and still be able to maintain temps without adjusting the lower air vent. We never adjust that now and control the temp/smoke with the exhaust vent only. Best of luck!
 
batchaps4me said:
First, how did the brisket turn out? Figuring out the correct amount of fuel is always the hardest part of getting a new smoker. It took us a while to know how much wood to load and still be able to maintain temps without adjusting the lower air vent. We never adjust that now and control the temp/smoke with the exhaust vent only. Best of luck!
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Everyone liked it. We almost went through the whole 13 pounds. It was pull-a-part tender. I'm a bit hard on myself here though. I wanted it to be saltier than I had it. I'll probably use a lot more salt and pepper next time. I thought it was a tad heavy in smoke and the bark wasn't crisp which it was before I wrapped it in foil. The bark being soft disappointed me the most I think. It seems many are using butcher block paper instead of foil so I may give that a try next time.

I would warn everyone though....this is like making peking duck. One must be committed. You can't whip a brisket together in a couple of hours.

edit....and you're right on the money with the exhaust vent. Once I got the grill cooled down to the 250 range, if I used the regular vent..even just a little crack, it would heat up too much, very quickly. The key was plugging every crack with foil and keeping the vents closed and then I could make minor adjustments by cracking the smokestack lid.
 
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PackJason said:
I want one. I just have a Weber grill that I've had for about 20 years.

I also have a gas grill that I use for quick stuff like brats and dogs, but I prefer the regular charcoal Weber for everything else. I did a pork butt a few years ago over indirect heat and applewood chunks and it turned out great. Want an actual smoker, though.
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I got a Green Mountain after two different guys with Traegers talked me into going that route. I've had it for over four years and love it. I'd like to go with a real smoker (not pellet) but I can't imagine myself ever trying to manage a fire over night.
 
dikowt dowg said:
Everyone liked it. We almost went through the whole 13 pounds. It was pull-a-part tender. I'm a bit hard on myself here though. I wanted it to be saltier than I had it. I'll probably use a lot more salt and pepper next time. I thought it was a tad heavy in smoke and the bark wasn't crisp which it was before I wrapped it in foil. The bark being soft disappointed me the most I think. It seems many are using butcher block paper instead of foil so I may give that a try next time.

I would warn everyone though....this is like making peking duck. One must be committed. You can't whip a brisket together in a couple of hours.
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Congrats, I cannot do brisket at all. The thing that bothers me with BBQing is that two of the three women here claim that rubs upset their stomachs so I rarely get to inject/rub as I see fit. On the bright side we get to highlight the taste of the meat and smoke.
dikowt dowg said:
edit....and you're right on the money with the exhaust vent. Once I got the grill cooled down to the 250 range, if I used the regular vent..even just a little crack, it would heat up too much, very quickly. The key was plugging every crack with foil and keeping the vents closed and then I could make minor adjustments by cracking the smokestack lid.
Click to expand...
It is all a balancing act. For lighter smoke you can use less fuel and more airflow on the inlet ... there is a sweet spot that is dependent on the cook's method and is hard to find at times on new smokers. I always start with chicken on a new smoker and throw a lot of that cheap stuff away until I can find it.
 
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