Smoker suggestions?

It sounds like an important thing to ask yourself might be how much do you enjoy the process, compared to just the results? A lot of posts suggest "buy once cry once," and no one is suggesting a traditional side smoker or anything that uses actual coals and/or wood. So I'm going to assume that the buy once, cry once suggestions are mostly in reference to the ease of the actual cook and being involved as little as possible. I'm pretty much in that camp myself because the thought of trying to maintain a steady temp from a fire I built myself seems pretty intimidating, let alone for several hours.

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Originally Posted by Ah Pook

Does Proud Souls, on Federal, sell RecTec?

Harbor Freight sells welding blankets.

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cyberweld ,or other outlet, for a thermofelt welding blanket. Don't bother with those fiberglass style ones. Use either thermofelt or canvas

I've been able to prop pieces of plywood around my smoker to keep heat in during the colder months (also use less water). Check out what Rondog built a few years ago. This is nice because it allows for better space management and portability. Not as cheap and easy as a welding blanket, but looks better and more useful. This is the cabinet I was talking about building earlier in the thread.

https://www.ar-15.co/threads/47204-l...l=1#post435430
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...g/DSC_0181.jpg

I am very happy with my Green Mountain Grills pellet smoker. I just got into last summer so I have nothing to compare it to. It got good reviews and I shopped for a couple months. I'm no smoking expert but I get rave reviews on my brisket. It's fun and it makes me feel a little manly.

Buy once cry once?.LOUDLY

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That said, stick burners produce amazing results when run properly. Smoke management with our thin air ( harder at even higher elevations ) is critical. Irving makes a great point regarding goals. If process is your thing, then the art of fire control is a deeeeeep rabbit hole. Newer technology has made results oriented cooking nearly foolproof.

I love my stick burner and can produce competition worthy results?.but it ain?t easy. There is likely a professional grade Southern Pride or Yoder in my future because sometimes easy is good.

That's pretty much what I figured. I can't yet decide if the one I end up building will be just a copy of my propane burner but a little larger with thicker steel, or something like a direct heat Chud Box copy. The propane element is easy enough that I could realistically build one that is convertible easy enough. I'll have to explore the convertible idea more...

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Originally Posted by 00tec

Dude definitely knows his stuff. I took several pointers off one of his latest brisket cooks. It was the best I've made so far.

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For me it was the opposite. He's a huge fan of Aaron Franklin and seems to focus most of his energy trying to reproduce their end result. Not a bad goal, but what he's advocating and doing is what many of the other BBQ guys are doing. You'll see a number of 'monkey see monkey do' channels repeating the same things around the same times, including the use of Wagyu tallow lately. A lot of fad following, IMO.

Another thing I've noticed with my Camp Chef Woodwind compared to my older Traeger is temp control. The Traeger would be + or - 20-25 degrees and the Camp Chef is usually + or - 2 degrees.

The Sidekick offers so much flexibility that it's nuts. Comes with the griddle and the other accessories, like BG mentioned, are really slick. Smashburgers without the indoor mess? Grilled veggies on the side? Breakfast anyone?

The direct heating using the Slide and Grill option is also a slick touch. The pellet bin is also much larger than my old Traeger. No more worry about overnight cooks.

I recently found Chuds BBQ channel on YouTube and like him so far.

EDIT: I feel like smoking is pretty much the same thing all the way around though. Get meat, put on seasoning, cook at 225 for a while, make a cool sauce while you wait.

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Originally Posted by To Bear Arms

I completely agree with this statement about stale ass/bitter smoke at 165. Also almost any of them is better then the traegers.

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Ya, I can’t remember a time when I had meat done early. ;)

I’m probably more about the output than process. I like gear, but those who know me know I like to eat!

ETA: What is the ‘;smoker box’ for the recteq? Is that for smoking fish? You can cook fish on the main grill area on a plank or grill, right?

What are the advantages of the recteq over the Traeger and Yoder? The PID controllers? Seems like the recteq are a bit cheaper also?

Are there advantages to smoking sausages? I’ve got system now where I boil my brats in beer for a 10 minutes with green peppers and onions sliced thin. Pull the brats and let the peppers and onions boil down. I grill the brats at high heat slathering them BBQ sauce that carmalizes. Don’t need to worry about internal temp since I boiled them. Then cover with the green peppers and onions, which should almost be jellified. Little mustard and damn if that ain’t good eating.

I'm going to have to try that, it sounds great.