What Smoker to buy?

[EZM]

I am interested in buying a mid range smoker - say $400-$600 and wanted to get everyone's opinion on brands, fuel types, size, performance, etc..

I don't really want to buy something I need to constantly watch and tweak if at all possible, I don't mind checking on something every few hours, but still want to be able to set it up in the morning, go run a few errands, come back and check, kind of thing.

I've had excellent results with Weber and Napoleon BBQ's and would not hesitate to use these brands again. I am a little more cautious when test piloting a new brand.

Thank you all in advance for your input.

[Ken07AOVette]

I hear wonderful things about the big green egg. I have a Bradley electronic 4 rack and it does everything I want

[BobNewton]

Slightly below your price point at approx $300. The master built sportsman elite serves me very well. Electric. Good temp control, set and forget.

My favourite part over experiences I've seen and heard over the Bradley is the ability to make and maintain heat in cold weather.

When I first bought mine. I went to season it at -30 below, outside on the deck. It hit max temp 275? In about 15 minutes. Held it for hours. And rebounded quick anytime I did open the door.

I've heard different stories about the Bradley. Unfamiliar with most other brands and heat sources.

[1shotwade]

Originally Posted by BobNewton

Slightly below your price point at approx $300. The master built sportsman elite serves me very well. Electric. Good temp control, set and forget.

My favourite part over experiences I've seen and heard over the Bradley is the ability to make and maintain heat in cold weather.

When I first bought mine. I went to season it at -30 below, outside on the deck. It hit max temp 275? In about 15 minutes. Held it for hours. And rebounded quick anytime I did open the door.

I've heard different stories about the Bradley. Unfamiliar with most other brands and heat sources.

^^^^ is bang on^^^^^!! masterbuilt all the way!!!

[HighlandHeart]

Big green egg is a great charcoal BBQ, not so great of a smoker.

[Kurt505]

I've got the master built elite 40 and love it.

[amosfella]

You should have a look at smokingmeatforums. Bradleys are rather expensive to run IMHO.

In reality, smokers aren't that expensive or hard to make. An old fridge would work well...

I got one made out of an old style bread rising oven....

[Rumtan]

https://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-2...NWSEFM7FBNPWTK


This is what I use with fantastic results

[jaylow?]

I prefer a propane smoker myself

[scesfiremedic]

Have a look at the Green Mountain Grills Davy Crockett. I love mine!

[Opa]

If you are half handy, build your own. There are plans by the thousands on the interweb. I had one that I made from a 15 cu.ft. stainless steel milk cooler. I put a control vent in the top, PID controller for time, constant temp, or variable temp & time intervals, depending what I was smoking. It had electric heat. I built a small shelter 5 ft. from the smoker that I could move my heat source to from inside, piped into the unit for "cold smoking" dried meats & cheeses. Worked like a commercial unit!!!! Great results. Total cost - less than $300.00(including beer for my electrician friend and myself). We realized that it was too big for YD & I, so it ended up with friends.

We now have a Bradley electronic 6 rack smoker with the cold smoke box. It has not seemed to be that pricey to run, if you keep your eyes peeled for deals on the pucks.(last batch under $40/120pucks) It gets used year round, as I have a pipeline blanket that YD customized to fit for the winter months.

[covey ridge]

Duplicate

[covey ridge]

I have a Big Green Egg that I can leave if I am doing Low and Slow. It's also good for hot as hell and fast.

I have a Bradley Electric that is also good for low and slow and no problem leaving. When you figure out how much smoke you like it is great. It can be set and left.

The best beef that I have eaten has been started on the Bradley and finished on my egg.

The Bradley is in your price range.

[covey ridge]

[QUOTE=amosfella;3477573]You should have a look at smokingmeatforums. Bradleys are rather expensive to run IMHO.
QUOTE]

Yes a bit more expensive, but they can be loaded with enough to leave for hours.

[sharpstick]

EZM, I would recommend a pellet style smoker if you want to set it and forget it while running errands, sleeping or whatever you want. I had an offset charcoal smoker which I loved but you couldn't leave it for long, always adjusting vents, adding charcoal and/or wood chunks for smoking etc. I went to a pellet grill and have been so happy with it. (RecTec Grills)
it is as simple as turning on your oven, turn the power on, set temp and go inside to prep your food. It shows the actual temp as well as your set temp so when it gets up to your desired temp, throw your food on and walk away. No adjusting, Has a 40lb hopper so you can cook for many hours (at least 24) before needing to add more pellets.
temps from 180-500+ so you can cold smoke, low and slow, hot smoke poultry and still get a crisp skin and even crank it up and do pizzas on it so it is very versatile.

Anyways, good luck in your hunt, research the many smoking forums and happy cooking.

SS

[Kristopher10]

I have a Bradley Original. Does everything I need it to but it does take some getting used to before you can "set and forget". Mind you when I'm running the smoker I'm also usually hanging out in the yard or garage drinking beer so I don't mind checking on the temp more often than I really need to. Plus, it smells good when I walk by it.

[Xbolt7mm]

The pellet grill (i said grill) and the electric smokers are completely different tools, the electrics get a lot more smoke than the pellet grills do unless you install a downdraft in the grills. And they lightly smoke through out the cook, you can turn the smoke off on the electrics and still cook. Too much smoke can compound on itself and cause bitterness. the pellet grill will make jerky but half as much and about half as easy as a bradley or a master due to hot spots. I think the pellet grills make a darn good brisket,chicken, ribs, pulled pork,etc and if you do your research and get one that gets hotter than 550 f. It will even sear a steak. Lots of them wont sear a steak Traiger comes to mind. Lots will tell you they will but thats garbage, if they dont get hotter than 550, they wont sear a steak! The master and the bradley will do just as good a job as the pellet grills on brisket,chicken,pulled pork and ribs, a better job and much more product on jerky but will not sear a steak. The Bradley costs a bit more for the pucks but gives complete freedom once its set but does have issues with enough heat when its cold out, mine is in a insulated shed and I installed a fan and an extra heat element to fix that. The master is a nice machine, has decent heat but you have to hang around and refill the wood chip bowl. Electric is the way to go, as they say, taste the meat not the heat, I can tell if a propane smoker was used on meat, you can taste it. That being said you can use a propane one camping without electricity, thats a plus. All of them have wifi now but one is better than the others for the wifi. Most will link to your wifi and then you can watch it on your smart phone but will limited distance, around 300 yards. GMG pellet grills hook to your wifi then link to a server so you can control it from anywhere in the world from your phone. BTW it gets to 550 plus as well. Im too lazy for a green egg or an offset smoker, you have to watch them much more than the previously mentioned ones. I do a long smoke/cook on brisket and I dont want to watch it all night because one spike in temp or a temp drop and your 100 dollar brisket will be sacrificed to the meat gods,,,like i said I dont want the smoker to run my life for 18 hours. I have one off set smoker, sold my green egg, gave away my traiger, have a 6 rack stainless Bradley on steroids and all three sizes of the green mountain grills. The place in arizona will get a bradley as well since they just opened shop there. Lots to think about and each has their own hi points and low points, I hope this helps.

[covey ridge]

I once had a power outage when I was doing a cook with my Bradley. Only lasted for a few minutes. Lucky I was aware of the outage, because when disconnected from its power, the Bradley has to be reset. I'll take the risk leaving a butt roast for a while but would not leave a $100.00 brisket. Out in the country I wake up many mornings to see my clock blinking and I know that my power was out for a while. I trust more in the fire I can build than electricity. That is a moot point because an Egg is out of the OPs price range.

[silver]

Another vote for Master Built.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by covey ridge

I once had a power outage when I was doing a cook with my Bradley. Only lasted for a few minutes. Lucky I was aware of the outage, because when disconnected from its power, the Bradley has to be reset. I'll take the risk leaving a butt roast for a while but would not leave a $100.00 brisket. Out in the country I wake up many mornings to see my clock blinking and I know that my power was out for a while. I trust more in the fire I can build than electricity. That is a moot point because an Egg is out of the OPs price range.

Brisket is 4.60 a lb. That 20 lb. one must be off an elephant.

[Bigdad013]

Originally Posted by gtr

Brisket is 4.60 a lb. That 20 lb. one must be off an elephant.

I want to know where you bought your Brisket, bought one a month ago and it was in the 18.00/lb range

[gtr]

Originally Posted by Bigdad013

I want to know where you bought your Brisket, bought one a month ago and it was in the 18.00/lb range

Have been between 4.50 and 5.00 a lb. for the last year. If your paying 180.00 for a brisket you must be a repeat customer. Southwestern Manitoba.

[tbiddy]

I got a full packer brisket at the butcher in Wainwright for around $4.50/lb if I remember correctly.

For the original question. I was running a vertical propane smoker. It was cheap but worked pretty good. Going to step up my smoking game this spring and get a Weber Smokey Mountain cooker.

Looking to take one of these classes too.

http://bbqclass.ca/home/products-page/

[bat119]

I have a Bradley with a double burner for use in the winter months, if I had to do it all over I would go with the Masterbuilt 40" 1200 watt burner. I wouldn't go for the glass front sounds hard to keep clear and I like the idea of buying bags of chips rather than pucks.

Paying $4.50 Lb. in Regina $7.50 in Lloyd after fat removal you can double that price.

[javlin101]

Weber Smokey Mountain Charcoal for 2 years and love it. I dial it in and it holds pretty steady. I wish the GF would let me buy a charcoal grill but she said not until the Weber natural gas one dies. It's 9 years old and still going strong, dam!!

[Rumtan]

Originally Posted by bat119

I have a Bradley with a double burner for use in the winter months, if I had to do it all over I would go with the Masterbuilt 40" 1200 watt burner. I wouldn't go for the glass front sounds hard to keep clear and I like the idea of buying bags of chips rather than pucks.

Paying $4.50 Lb. in Regina $7.50 in Lloyd after fat removal you can double that price.

I have discovered that I can use from chips to shuffle board puck sized chunks of wood that i cut myself in the Masterbuilt smoker.......just cut em on my chop saw and your good to go.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by Bigdad013

I want to know where you bought your Brisket, bought one a month ago and it was in the 18.00/lb range

Wow- Diamond 7 meats LLoydminster is $6.50/lb, for some reason they think they are special, Meatco Wainwright is $4.50

[covey ridge]

Originally Posted by gtr

Brisket is 4.60 a lb. That 20 lb. one must be off an elephant.

Just quoting an amount off a previous post by xbolts7mm, where he said

'one spike in temp or a temp drop and your 100 dollar brisket will be sacrificed to the meat gods,,,'

He seems to like to bragg about the size of his meat.

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by covey ridge

Just quoting an amount off a previous post by xbolts7mm, where he said

'one spike in temp or a temp drop and your 100 dollar brisket will be sacrificed to the meat gods,,,'

He seems to like to bragg about the size of his meat.

Nice one, i certainly can't find brisket for anywhere near that price. A hundred dollar brisket is certainly no where near 20 lbs were i can find them. I have trouble finding them cheaper than 8 bux. If i could find them anywhere under 5 bux that others say they buy them for i would eat brisket every weekend. I have seen a complete brisket flat, tip and cap not trimmed in the 18lb range but never asked what it cost. Im not sure why but a butcher told me that st patricks day ish is the best time to buy briskets in calgary as there is lots of stock and they go on sale. Must be an irish thing i guess.

[NickyLongDraw]

I picked up a Bradley 6 rack digital this December. My roommate and I harvested a moose, two whitetails and a ton? of ducks and geese this season.

What we quickly learnt when smoking our sausage and jerky this winter is that the electric smoker is not powerful or insulated enough for our Canadian winters. We had to build an insulated box with a smoke ventilation chimney to keep the heat in for the smoker to sit in. We also had to be very careful when opening the door as it could take an hour for the smoker to return to temperature.

I really look forward to using the smoker in the summer, but be warned if you are considering purchasing an electric one.