hello,new to smoking and need some opinions

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crusher

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2008
1
10
great state of virginia
hello,
my name is warren and I am 33, from rocky mount virginia. I am currently using my gas grill as my smoker. I have made some pork tenderloin and a bacon wrapped pork loin that had an injection and a rub. It was out of this world! I am in the market for a full blown smoker but am faced with to many decisions so I have thrown myself at your mercy to guide me in the right direction. I am torn between the brinkman smoke n pit, and the char griller with sfb. Then my mind wanders and I look on ebay and see the The Great Outdoors propane smoker and really think that its the ticket. Please let me have your input on what you think would be the best.
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welcome warren..........

hey, make sure you sign up for Jeff's FREE 5-day ecourse........lots of great tips and ideas in it

i am using a ecb gourmet, with mods, that i have been using for YEARS......nice cheap easy entry smoker.........not that big of a learning curve.........just got a horz. smoker with a sfb, which i am still struggling with...........a much larger learning curve, plus i still need to make mods on......

as to propane, i can't offer a opinion on. I am strickly a charcoal/wood guy

but others will be along later to help, i am sure. This site has alot of GREAT folks in it, willing to help any and all.......

also, Q-View is almost a must...............
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once again, welcome
 
I am also new to smoking I have a gosm (great outdoors propane smoker) with no mods. I have done two smokes on it and they have turned out pretty good. its not hard to maintain temp. pretty easy to operate starting out. Hope this helps!
 
Hi crusher and welcome to the smf. Hmmmmmm bacon wrapped pork loin
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All the smokers you mentioned will turn out good q. It all comes down to how you want to cook.

Like WD I can't offer any advice on any particular model/brand of propane smoker never having used one. Charcoal and wood here too.

If you have time to babysit, or just like to tinker with stuff then look at a charcoal. They are more work but with time and practise things will get easier.
I have the chargriller and love it. I started off with an ecb then got the cgsp which i really like. I use mine for grilling a lot, as well as a smoker. It has a decent amount of room. The grates are of a reasonable thickness cast iron. The smoker can be used without any mods but is definitely easier (less frustrating) with.

Not sure if i've helped any but that was my tuppence worth.
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Enjoy the site, look around, a lot of good info here, read peoples post about the kind of smokers that interest you, ask q's ......whatever you end up with someone here will be able to help you get going.

Once again .... welcome and enjoy.
 
Welcome to the forum. Lots of good people around here. As for smokers all I can really tell you about is my GOSM widebody propane which I really like very easy to use I soak some chips, fill the water pan and turn it up set the temp where I want it and thats about it. If a long smoke I may have to add more chips or refill the water pan but thats about it.
 
I have a brinkman vert smoker that I bought from Home Depot for $70 and it smoked and kept heat well. the only thing I did was drill some extra holes in the charcoal pan.
I am still a rookie at this stuff, but if your lookin for something to enter the world of real smoking in, I like my ecb

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Welcome to the SMF, best snokin' site on Mother Earth. take your time and read around the forums, it should help you decide on which smoker is for you. Don't fret too much... most of us trade up/switch to something else along the smokey trail.
 
I have a gas and wood smokers, I think they all will do a great job as soon as you learn their personality's. Every smoker is different, I feel it is about how much time you want to spend taking care of it. A wood or charcoal smoker takes a lot more tending, which I love. Having a beer and talking to friends while using it but you have to watch it a lot more, adding wood and or charcoal, adjusting air intake for temp changes. etc. But for me that is the hobby. When I am not smoking I think about the next smoke. I bought a propane for home and when I don't have all that much time to watch it, It holds temp much better because the gas burner is consistent and you just have to add wood every hour or so to supply the tbs but a offset side firebox will always be my favorite. Hope this helps.
Oh yeah try pulled pork for the first time after buying which ever type you choose. and don't forget to season the smoker before first use.
 
welcome crusher great place to be these guys are good they got me smoken up a storm and all on low sodium since my ole ticker had a hickup last year so imagine what you can do with unlimited resources
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also don't worry too much about the price, get the one you really want. it is better than having a piece of metal in the yard that you really didn't want, were not about much of a price difference here
 
but don't buy summin, that is TOO hard to learn........you will get frustrated, and that smoker will sit there till it rusts.....i think we have lost a few members because of that........their first smoke was a disaster, and they gave up.......we ALL have had em........only way to REALLY learn the smoker, you, and the meat............

sorry for speachafying
 
Welcome to the forum. I have gosm big block and love it. This forum is the best. Enjoy it.
Andy.
 
Welcome Crusher, I have a Brinkman Horiz. with sfb and had many good smokes and also made deer jerky on it, an MES 40" having a little problem with temp, and a Brinkman vert. charcoal smoker which I never had a problem with. Think of a fairly nice size smoker cuz u will be smoking for more than 1 or 2 people once u get the hang of it and people start trying out the smokes u did
 
Hi all, I'm a new member to this forum but not to smoking. I'm currently using a large, Big Green Egg. I'v tried alot of other smokers but, the bge was the best $ that i have spent. I've had it for over 2 yrs. My b-b-q is pretty damn good. I've been making my own marinades, rubs, and sauces. Just doing that has taken the quality of what comes out of my egg to another level. I'm an addicted scuba and free diver so that takes "fresh seafood" including abalone, up a notch. There are a lot of really good smokers, grills, etc. on the market, in my opinion you can't go wrong with any of gthem, just some are better than others. ken
 
Hey crusher, I live up the road just outside of Roanoke, I would recommend that you come up here to Sportsman warehouse and Gander Mountain just opened on Tuesday. I think Sportsman has a little better selection.
 
Welcome Warren;
I have a GOSM wide body and luv it. I have done quite a few smokes now and still learning everytime I use it. Richee told me to use sand instead of water, I tried that last time smoking 3 butts and man that made a difference. It held the temp constant and the only time I had to open the smoker was to add wood. The chip box that came with my unit was small and could only use chips in it, I replaced it with an 8 X 8 alum pan and now I use chunks and they of course smoker longer.. Hope this helps out a little, I thought about getting a Charbroiler myself but when I got used to the GOSM I said no way.. I know people have there opions about different stuff but the thing I like about the GOSM is set it and forget it... lol
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