New useless guy checking in from southwest Colorado. I've been lurking around here for a while and thanks to all who run the site and contribute as there's a whole lot that can be learned. I grill quite a bit (at least 3 times per week year 'round in sunshine, rain, sleet, snow and dark of night) but I finally quit curiously eyeing those electric smokers in the big box stores and got one this summer. Started heating and eating some tolerable protein right away but started to get even more curious about what I could do if I had a more capable smoker. Seriously considered a pellet cooker as the set & forget aspect is very appealing but it occurred to me that, living in bear country, I have to keep a constant eye on the pit throughout the cook anyway so why not go for the whole experience and get a wood (log) fired pit? There are also no worries about obtaining mail order fuel, reliability of electronics & moving parts, etc. with the stick burner. To that end, I took a bit of a step from a 40" electric cabinet to a Yoder Durango 24 a number of weeks ago. My selection of this model, by the way, is purely coincidental to my location.
I really wish I had done this a long time ago as I've been missing out on some really good eats and I've learned something else; there are a lot of BBQ joints that I used to think were pretty okay but now realize that some of these can prepare some fairly marginal stuff and charge quite a bit for BBQ that can't hold a candle to what even an obtuse, talentless backyard schmoe like me can do with little more than a cooker, a grocery store and, of course, the internet!
I really wish I had done this a long time ago as I've been missing out on some really good eats and I've learned something else; there are a lot of BBQ joints that I used to think were pretty okay but now realize that some of these can prepare some fairly marginal stuff and charge quite a bit for BBQ that can't hold a candle to what even an obtuse, talentless backyard schmoe like me can do with little more than a cooker, a grocery store and, of course, the internet!