Best small smoker for personal use?

[Martinjmpr]

With my impending retirement, I've thought about trying my hand at smoking meats. Thing is, it's just the wife and I and the occasional visits from children/grandchildren so I definitely don't need a large volume smoker, since our fridge and freezer can only hold so much.

Is there such thing as a "tabletop" kind of smoker? One that could be used to smoke small volumes of meat? Like say we get a few chicken breasts or strips of steak or a couple of pounds of pork and just want to smoke that and then freeze it for later use?

I suspect there are a lot of people here who smoke their own meats so I figured this'd be the best place to ask.

Thanks!

[Linkless]

I bought a Green Mountain Grill Davy Crockett to see if I like pellets grills/smoker and had excellent results so I bought a full sized. They ahve a new series called the Trek and one in the compact size. The compact one can run off of 12VDC as well so you can essentially use it anywhere.

[CS1983]

I think a Davy Crockett like mentioned above would be a fine intro so long as it works (they can be buggy based on the research I did when considering one). But I also think you’ll find that you will eventually get something larger.

Personally, I use a Kamado Joe Classic 3 with a FireBoard and associated blow fan for temp control. But I won’t recommend it based on your requirements and due to the initial cost.

There’s a lot of ways to skin a cat in this space. I’m not into zen BBQing like some friends are, so I try to automate as much as possible.

[eddiememphis]

Davy Crockett.

Bought it five years ago and never had a problem.

Great intro to pellet smoking and if you are a camper, it runs on 12 volts- perfect if you have an RV.

It will run a low enough temp, I have smoked cheese on it but crank it up and it will sear steaks.

Regardless of what you buy, use good pellets. Treager, Camp Chef and the other brands at Lowes suck. Do some research. The BBQ store on Arapahoe sold me Lumberjack brand and it makes all the difference.

Someone had a Davy Crockett for sale on here last month.

[eddiememphis]

https://www.ar-15.co/threads/193130-Green-Mountain-Grill-Smoker

[ray1970]

I don?t have any specific recommendations but I have seen quite a few smokers that are roughly the size of any other smaller grill.

You don?t have to fill the thing full of meat even if it?s a little bigger than you need. My grill will probably do fifteen burgers but I?ve probably done two to four the majority of times I use it.

[mb504]

Do you know what you want as a heat source?
Pellets, electric, propane, diesel?

[whitewalrus]

They, do make table top smokers that are designed for tailgating. If you have the room, you probably want something bigger than what you think. Your idea of smoking some meats and freezing them for later is a great idea. For example a whole brisket or turkey.

If you are willing to wait till the end of the summer, there are often good deals to be had on the brands carried by the big box stores.

[buffalobo]

Grilla Chimp

https://www.grillagrills.com/product/4000094

We enjoy ours. Realistically too small for full brisket so I split them. Kinda tight for full size turkey too(spatchcock and do half at a time). Perfect for turkey breast or spatchcocked chicken. Not too large if just grilling couple burgers.

They are currently having good sale too.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[3beansalad]

Recteq 340.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

[BPTactical]

I have this one: https://www.grillagrills.com/product/4000096

It is a perfect size for the Mrs and I- heavy build from formed steel instead of sheet metal, pellet with a good controller which is big to me as I can’t babysit it all day- it holds consistent temps throughout the smoke. Another nice thing and it was one of the biggest factors is it has a pretty small footprint, about 2’ x 3’ so it doesn’t take nearly as much space as a typical smoker. The door opens in a radial fashion so you don’t lose much heat when you check it like a conventional would when you lift the entire lid.
It has a 2 function controller- a “Pro” setting and a PID setting. The pro setting rolls the smoke really well but you get more temperature variations than the PID.
It has done well even in cold temps.

[ChadAmberg]

Hey I'm selling a Davey Crockett! https://ar-15.co/threads/193130-Green-Mountain-Grill-Smoker