What is your favorite smoker?

[emptynesterMom]

Im looking for advice on what smoker to purchase. I will be smoking both turkeys and chickens. Thanks for the help.

 

[bugkiller]

Bradley all the way. I have the electric with digital timer and auto feeder for the wood pucks. I have done any thing from jerky, pulled pork to fish/ turkey, heck even banana's. You will pay a bit more but you turn it on and forget about it for the day. And they back there product. Mine was a year old and the auto feed stoped working. I called them and no questions asked they sent me a new one. Recievd it in 3 days no cost even for shipping after a year old. They did not even ask for proof of purchase.

 

[ChickiKat]

We have a New Braunfels, it is manually feed and everything, but really a good smoker. Makes for a great day in they yard.

 

[jerryb]

I have tried several smokers and have made my own before. they all work fine, but some are less hassle than others. So I would ask how involved do you want this to be?

If you want set it and forget it then the top choices are bradley, little (or big) cheif, and cabelas has a nice one that i don't recall the name of.

if you want fairly easy and capable of doing low-and-slow BBQ plus some grilling then look at traeger smoker grills. I have one of these that i find very versitile and easy to use. load with pellets, set you food and temps and check now and then till done. I do smoked fish often, plus I do a lot of pork butts, ribs and even roast turkeys and smoked whole chickens. there are a little higher in cost but very versatile. the only thing I use my gas grill for now is steaks and brats. I also have a backwoods smoker, these are really nice for making BBQ and they smoke well. On mine I had to experiment a little to find how many charcoal briquettes to use to get the right temps, but it works great.

if you want old fashioned, stoke with wood smoker then you can build something as nice as you can buy. you can also buy a variety of metal smokers either wood, electric or propane if you do not mind monitoring the temps.

the biggest factor in my experience is to get something insulated so that you have less trouble maintaining the temperature you want. the smokers sold at wal-mart will do a nice job but you have to monitor the temperature as they are very prone to the temps falling off depending on the wind and such. If you could make a little enclosure to put one into to keep the wind off it would probably work pretty well. My neighbor uses one of these and the only issue he has complained about is the wind changing the temps.

Cheers
Jerry

 

[emptynesterMom]

Thank you all for the tips!

 

[RoosterGeek]

My friend's family had a Big Green Egg growing up and oh my word! They are amazing. The super thick terra cotta walls keep a nice even temperature. I looked into them recently and they are a bit pricey. It's definitely a good investment though. They still have their Big Green Egg 15 years later and it's working fine.

 

[SmokinChick]

Also, consider electric, propane or charcoal/wood. All are abit different and the costs can vary greatly. I have a propane vertical box style from Walmart/BassPro. Love it and the price was right. Also have a UDS (ugly drum smoker) homemade. Wonderful smoker. Most important is controlling your temperatures. Please get a good remote thermometer. They have one that has two probes. One for the meat and the other for the smoker temp. They have a range of over 200 feet. I set it and go to bed, wake up and take the meat off when its done. No guess work.
PS as with chicken coops same for smokers. Get the bigger one!
Good luck

 

[Leghorn_Eddie]

Do check into the Weber, I hear they make a very good smoker. I love my charcoal Weber BBQ

 

[Blue Ridge Hillbilly]

If you go to any competition BBQ cooking events you will not see any of the smokers listed above. If you want a smoker that does not cost you an arm and a leg and one that you can compete with then look no further than a Webber Smokey Mountain Smoker. Buy the 22" smoker. You will probably be able to find one on the internet for around $350 or so. It comes with two cooking grates and has a water container between the heat and the meat which is for slow indirect cooking. Fire it up with good charcoal and throw in some wild cherry blocks of wood if you are going to cook chicken. Close all the vents on the bottom up but one and cook the chicken at about 300 degrees for about 2-3 hours depending on the outside conditions. If you really want incredible chicken you can use a good spicy rub on the chicken such as the cook shack spicy chicken rub. Also, spray the chicken with apple juice about every 30 minutes or so and fill the water pan with apple juice/water mixture. Make sure you start off with the best chicken that you can obtain. I assure you that if you go this route you will not be dissapointed.

 

[tigercreek]

Quote:
LISTEN to this person!! Weber Smokey Mountain even if you can afford a Big Green Egg. ........stan