Advise on a new smoker

[jbvj]

Need some advise on a smoker. I had been using charcoal on a UDS/bullet for the last few years. I wanted to upgrade and got a pellet grill for Christmas and sold off all my charcoal stuff.

I had nothing but issues w/. it and the dealer swapped it out. I was hesitant to use the new one and sold it. Now I have nothing.

Should I look into a better charcoal (insulated) or go back to a WSM, or even a better pellet? Not sure if I liked the taste off the pellet grill. Maybe it was the pooper I had, but it was easy to control.

I can get back into a bullet for under $500 or pay and get a $1500 cabinet. A better pellet grill is in the $1300 range. Any advantages to spending the extra cash?

 

[themule69]

Lets start with how much room do you need? Do you want hands on or set it and forget it? What do you want to use for fuel? What price range do you want to be in?

Happy smoken.

David

 

[BandCollector]

There are a lot of issues to deal with here as the mule69 stated above. 

If I were you I would do a search in each forum category and see what others have contributed pros and cons.  If you are not in a hurry that would be the ticket.

Good luck,  John

 

[jbvj]

...

 

[gary s]

Just remember, whatever smoker you have, you can make great BBQ. I have an ECB sitting out there with my RF and I can turn out just as good Q on it as the RF   It's the one doing the smoking not the smoker who turns out great BBQ

Gary

 

[jbvj]

I'm totally overthinking it... I want to upgrade from a bullet to something better. Definitely not going to try another pellet smoker. I am looking at a custom smoker for around $1200 that uses charcoal. I don't have the extra cash until our tax return comes in. I'm not going to rush into anything just yet.

 

[gary s]

Keep us posted, Custom smokers are great do a lot of research and decide on exactly what you want

Gary

 

[kolky]

I have a Primo Oval XL (similar to a Big Green Egg) and a 18.5" Weber bullet.  The Primo is an excellent all around grill / smoker and holds a temp great but the problem I have with it for smoking is that it is very difficult to add additional smoke wood if you want to because you have to remove the heat deflector plates to do it.  You are also somewhat limited on the capacity.  The Weber provides a great smoke flavor but the problem I had with it is that it is small and it can be difficult to control temps if it is windy or cold or if you remove the lid.

Those things led me to look into something new.  I looked at the pellet grills for a while but read that it could be difficult to get a good smoke flavor with them.  I also looked at the stick burners but didn't want to spend that much time managing a fire.  In the end I decided an insulated cabinet smoker was the best choice for me,  I ordered a Humphrey's Battle Box last month and it should be in tomorrow.  It was helpful that we had a local dealer in town so I could go check them out and compare them side by side with other smokers including Backwoods and some others.

Looking forward to getting it home and trying it out.

 

[gary s]

Keep us posted and plenty of pictures

gary

 

[jbvj]

Kolky, that is a nice smoker. I see they have 1 a little smaller that might work for me. I'll be getting in touch w/. the closest dealer to me tomorrow.

 

[kolky]

The Weeble they make is pretty interesting.  They did not have one at the store when I went there but it is almost the same size as the Battle Box but it is significantly lighter.  I would have liked to have taken a look at it.  The Battle Box is a tank and weighs around 300 lbs.

 

[stabone]

The Humphrey's Battle Box is really nice, as long as you aren't planning on cooking a lot of food. Looks to be an excellent rib machine. For the price, you might not be able to beat it; plus it comes in a bunch of colors. You could also look into the Backwoods Chubby G2 for around the same price....and it's WAY lighter. I do know that there are a few big-name teams around here that are using the Humphrey's smoker. My guess though, is that they are using the gravity fed version...which is way more expensive. 

 

[gary s]

Definitely Have a lot of colors

Gary