smokers First Smoker

I have been doing all my smoking on a charcoal grill.  It has been limited smoking.  I am looking to get into doing it a lot more and I was thinking electric would be the easiest way to maintain a constant temp.  
 
I was looking at a masterbuilt 4 shelf.  I am looking to spend 2-3 bills on a smoker.  
 
Any thoughts?
 
For the money I would recommend a 22 1/2" Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). It's $400.
It's little brother is the 18 1/2" for $300.
I have the larger one now and while it holds more than plenty of meat, I'm buying the smaller one too.
The WSM is very easy to use and will maintain a constant temp with very little adjustment.
I've not been impressed with any of the electrics I've seen or used. They work fairly well but IMO the food just doesn't taste the same.
 
Poo poo electric.

If you want constant temps get a vertical smoker like WSM (mentioned) or BGE ceramic. Stick with real wood and charcoal. On the right vertical smoker you can get a 10 hour smoke without even touching the thing. Minion method.

An electric smoker is an oven. The only difference is since it's outdoors so you can add chips. You want baked chicken or real BBQ?
 
I have a Bradley that cost about $250. It does okay, but it's difficult to get it to the perfect temperature because it just has a slide adjuster with no markings and you just have to guess. If you get one, spend the extra money and get one with a digital temp setting.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
For the money I would recommend a 22 1/2" Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). It's $400.  I use this for meat, check out my food blog for last nights pork :)
 
​I love my electric smoker for those lazy rainy days but mainly for perfect smoked pods every time! Mine was also a free gift.
 
 
So electric is best for doing pods?  I don't plan on smoking large items and I don't really eat ribs or brisket.  Thinking walleye, chicken breasts, turkey breasts, home made sausages.  
 
I like the thought of a charcoal one (WSM), but the one forum I visited they only used charcoal, no wood.  Do you have to add coals as you go?  Do you just use the damper to regulate temp?  Not really wanting to check it every 5 minutes for 10 hours...that is too much like work.
 
I got the same one KingDenniz has the Masterbuilt 30in electric for pods and such. Got it for $199. I ruined the first meal, but luckily JHP helped me with some oven chicken wings to salvage the night. It is really well built. 
 
Chewi said:
I got the same one KingDenniz has the Masterbuilt 30in electric for pods and such. Got it for $199. I ruined the first meal, but luckily JHP helped me with some oven chicken wings to salvage the night. It is really well built. 
How did those wings turn out?
 
HillBilly Jeff said:
 
 
So electric is best for doing pods?  I don't plan on smoking large items and I don't really eat ribs or brisket.  Thinking walleye, chicken breasts, turkey breasts, home made sausages.  
 
I like the thought of a charcoal one (WSM), but the one forum I visited they only used charcoal, no wood.  Do you have to add coals as you go?  Do you just use the damper to regulate temp?  Not really wanting to check it every 5 minutes for 10 hours...that is too much like work.
 
If you're only doing fish and chicken, you're not really going to need to smoke anything longer than 3 hours..which would make the purchase of a 22 1/2" WSM a bit overkill.  The WSM's sweet spot is for Pulled Pork/Ribs or anything else you're smoking for longer than 4 hours, because to this day there's not a better smoker for your money that can maintain heat, prolong fuel life and impart amazing smoke flavour into your meat like a Weber Smokey Mountain.  
 
If I were you, I'd wait for a sale on the 18.5" WSM and buy it for under $300 (They do go on sale).  Even though they're smaller than the 22 1/2" you can still easily fit 5 racks of ribs, 4-5 BIG pork butts, 10lbs of sausage etc in them (Speaking from personal experience).
 
The monitoring/temperature regulation is a breeze.  There's a bit of a learning curve as you get to know what works and what doesn't, but I made ribs the other day and adjusted the dampers ONCE over a 5 hour cook, and kept a perfect 235-250 degree pit temp for the life of the cook. 
 
Scoville DeVille said:
235°-250°? Isn't that a bit warm? I try to stay at 225° +/- 5°. Especially for pork.
 
I've found it doesn't really make a difference.  When I first started I was paranoid about keeping it at 225 like you say, but one time in particular I let a fire get away from me and cooked my meat at an average of about 270-280 degrees.....and it still came out fantastic.  It made me relax a little when the pit temp rises and falls here and there, as long as you're within that 225-250 range.
 
Seriously? Cool. I was just visiting the outlaws this weekend, smoking pork ribs, my smoker got away from me and got up to about 285°. I was freakin out for the last 4 hours of cook time but they came out awesome. Glad to hear you say it's happened to you also. Now maybe i will chilax a little. I have always been that guy that stares at the smoker for hours on end keeping it exactly at 225°. :rofl:
 
Scoville DeVille said:
Seriously? Cool. I was just visiting the outlaws this weekend, smoking pork ribs, my smoker got away from me and got up to about 285°. I was freakin out for the last 4 hours of cook time but they came out awesome. Glad to hear you say it's happened to you also. Now maybe i will chilax a little. I have always been that guy that stares at the smoker for hours on end keeping it exactly at 225°. :rofl:
 
I'm the same way.  No matter how many times I cook on the WSM, there's always that brief surge of panic when I look at my Maverick and see I'm rolling along at 300 degrees :rofl:
 
Pork Butt is impossible to ruin.  Pork ribs are a little more difficult...but still, pretty foolproof.  If there's one piece of advice I could give it'd be to get YOUR smoker dialed in to where you know it performs best and trust it.  Its hard to follow what anyone else says on the Internet, considering every smoker and every piece of meat is different.  
 
True. True.

And don't forget about the wood itself, weather, temperature, humidity, alcohol consumption, all very important factors when smoking meats. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
 
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