Which Electric should I get on a budget?

[jfoust]

I have a GOSM at the house, but we've been talking about getting a small electric for out at the lake. I'm staying away from a stick-burner so I don't have to babysit a fire when I could be out skiing or fishing. I would like another GOSM, but the nearest place to gas up a tank is about 45 mins away from the lake house, and knowing my luck, I always seem to run out of gas in the middle of a smoke.

I mostly would be doing butts, ribs, fatties, and ABT's for 4-6 adults and a few young'uns, so I don't need a ton of capacity.

Home Depot has the red Brinkmann for $70 - was thinking about getting that. Looks like the next step would be a MES from Amazon but it's $187 - over 2x as much. If I was going to do that, I would maybe just get another gasser, or maybe consider a stick burner...

Thoughts?

 

[chainsaw]

I have the MES 30" and very happy as many will testify here. Works good and excellent customer support. Lots of tutorials on here too. ECB is okay, not as easy to use. Lighter weight (I heard about them sailing across the yard) but on the DDD (Guy Fieri show) I saw a diner owner smoking meat in one evrey day so must be reliable. ECB has no insulation which might be a problem in winter. My MES was touch & go below 30 degrees but the new one has a bigger element (and more money)
Good luck you will get more comments, real popular topic.

 

[mythmaster]

I have a 30" MES also, and I love it! You can find one on sale for < $150. Someone here even got one on Craigslist for $50. My only complaint is that I can't fit a full slab of spares in it, but since I'm usually cooking for 4 or less people it's not a problem to half one. It has 4 racks so I could probably do 2 slabs at once, but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[dribron]

I belive that Cabela's has the 30" black MES for 149.99. At least with that you would have some controle. The red ECB you are talkjing about has no controle on the element... The only way to turn it on or off is to plug it in or out. So it's 1500watt full bore untill you unplug it. Because of that, it's a littel tricky to controle temp. For about twice that you could have a nice littel smoker in the MES...

 

[jfoust]

Thanks dribon - just looked at Cabelas and the Digital MES is on sale for $149.99, but there aren't any Cabelas in GA, so it would be another $30 to ship it to me... The total comes up to $178 and change with shipping, which is still $10 cheaper than amazon.

 

[mythmaster]

Mine was about $225 shipped. Go for it! You will be happy.

 

[bgaviator]

Walmart has the 30 inch with digital controls for $180 I believe....and you can have it shipped to your local store for free and pick it up there.

 

[dribron]

I Cabela's in GA.. Didnt know that.... Sorry about that, but sounds like walli-world might be a pretty good option.

 

[ecto1]

Walmart will price match in store

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Masterbuil...ehouse/7811422

 

[shtrdave]

I know you said budget, but in the long run it is a great buy. Look at the Cookshack line of smokers.

http://www.cookshack.com/residential-barbecue-smokers

 

[marty catka]

I have the 30" MES and am very happy with it.  From what I have heard the electric Brinkman is designed to run at a flat 250 with no temp control at all.  Happy smokes!

 

[bgcorn]

I have the 30" MES and love it!!! WalMart has them on sale for $166.00.