Shopping for a New Smoker

[mars]

Greetings

My fifteen year-old Brinkmann offset smoker finally rusted through in two places.  I banked the holes with ashes to get through an unusually icy Tennessee winter.  As I searched for a review of the Masterbuilt verticals to verify a friend's happy ravings about his, I found SMF. 
 

My wife and I have perfected our homemade rub, sauce and wood blend over the past several years and manage to please friends, family and ourselves with what we produce. 

I find myself regularly needing more cooking space and am wondering if I would be happier with a vertical smoker or if a larger offset is the answer. 

Thank you for accepting me as a new member.  I am looking forward to learning and hope to contribute as well. 

Mars

 

[pineywoods]

Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. As for what smoker to get it's a matter of what you like and what works best for you. Have fun and good luck deciding which is the right one

 

[jirodriguez]

Welcome to the forum!

I highly suggest you take a look at the Weber Smokey Mountain smokers (WSM). Use the search bar at the top of the page and look up some of the posts by folks that have them (including me!

).

I have the 22.5" WSM and it has been a champ work horse for over 4 years with no problems. I use it year round in sub freezing weather and have had 90+ lbs. of meat on it at one time. There are many other great smokers as well and a lot will come down to budget and preference of fuel type.

Best of luck and feel free to ask questions!

 

[wade]

The WSM is a great workhorse and the 22.5" is a good size. If you are looking for more capacity you may want to consider getting two - maybe a WSM and a standard Weber 22.5". This allows you to cook different things together at different temperatures. When I only had one smoker I was frustrated having to juggle things when cooking for a group but now I have several and at least 2 of them are usually in use together.

 

[noboundaries]

Welcome Mars to SMF!  I'll be the 3rd person here to 2nd the 1st rate WSM.  I started smoking with my 22.5" Weber Kettle and moved up to the 22.5" WSM.  They both get used year round.  This is a good time of the year to check craigslist for Webers being sold, both Kettles and WSMs.  I just checked my local listings and there were three basically new 18.5" WSMs with an asking price of $30-$80 below new.  A bunch of 22.5" Kettles at half price or less.  Nice thing is they require little to no modifications. You can modify but it really isn't necessary and the price to do so is minimal unless you add a blower like I did. Weber makes great products.   

 

[welshrarebit]

^^^^^ Yeah that ^^^^^

Weber is the way to go! You can even build yourself a mini-WSM for everyday cooks and get a 22.5 WSM when you are cooking for a crowd!

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a cloudy and cool day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary

 

[drewed]

Only problem I have with the WSM is it is a top loader.  I find front loaders to easier.

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...

Spend some time reading the reviews and you will get a lot of good info,
Happy smoken.
David

 

[joe black]

Welcom from SC. I'm probably going to upset a few of my friends, but I think you should stick with the offset. You seem to have a good feel for how it works. I just sold a WSM 22.5 and am replacing it with a new Bell offset stick burner. The WSM does a good job of cooking, I just found after a few years that I got tired of taking it apart to load the charcoal, then putting it together to cook, then taking it apart to clean, and finally putting it back together to cover for the next time. At 70 years old, with a bad back, it just didn't work for me any more. I'm sure all of the WSMers will be replying, but I'm a big boy. I can take it. Seriously, take a look at the Bell smoker. Craig Bell is great to work with and will build you anything that you want. [email protected].

 

[timberjet]

Welcome, your price range will determine what you can get but I concur that if you want a great smoker for the money that works right out of the box and has a lot of space the WSM is your friend. That said I built a UDS a few years back and it is my go to for lots of meat. Everything else gets smoked on the Weber Performer. Now that would not be the case if I had not loaned my WSM to dear old dad 3 years ago. Permanently.