Buying a Smoker

[flatscapt]

Hi all. Im new to the forum and new to smoking. You'all have some great info here. Im looking at buying my first smoker. I have zero'd in on the Brinkmann vertical smoker (the heavy duty one). Whatcha you'all think? I dont want to buy some POS, but I can't spend a fortune. Any recommendations for a beginner? Thanks.

 

[richoso1]

Take you time in reseaerching smokers, it will pay off in the long term. But don't worry too much, almost everyone either upgrades and/or just adds another somewhere down the line. Good luck my friend.

 

[peculiarmike]

As a beginner you can hardly go wrong with the ol' ECB, it will surprise you. But you will be upgrading later. The more you smoke, the more toys you want.

 

[ba_loko]

Welcome in! That smoker you've zeroed in on will work just fine. It's just a matter of learning the smoker and controlling the temps. Keep us updated on what you decide.

 

[promise'cajunbiker]

if you wanna go real cheap, put together a whitetrashcan smoker. you can put one together fast won't cost you anything. down side is it won't be charcoal. i opted to build one myself but i got lucky

 

[kew_el_steve]

Figure out what you want to use to make heat: electric, sticks, charcoal, gas. Then go from there. You can make plenty of thin-blue smoke with any of the four. It's not the smoker, it's what you do with it.

 

[richtee]

COULD be charcoal... You forgot to consider us habitual modders LOL!

 

[homebrew & bbq]

Welcome to SMF! I can't help you much with the smoker selection since I'm pretty new to Q. Just thought I'd say "Hello" and encourage you to introduce yourself over in "Roll Call" when you have a chance. That's where most folks look to welcome new members. Glad to have you with us.

 

[flatscapt]

Thanks for all the welcoming responses. Sounds like it is not so much the choice of smoker as it is getting in the game and smoking some meat. I am aware of the pro and cons in using charcoal v. propane v. electric, as a newbie do you think it is a mistake in going w/ a charcoal smoker. I heard you get more of an authentic taste if you use charcol (thats why im leaning towards the charcoal). Any truth to this?

 

[fatback joe]

Charcoal/wood always gets my vote when looking for a cooker for general use.

 

[rockyb]

If you start out with a $60.00 electric smoker, you can use any wood you desire. After a few smoked items, you will know if you want to spend more and expand to something more involved.