# Looking to Purchase a Charcoal Smoker



## bcaruthers (Feb 14, 2022)

Hello everyone!

I am currently looking to purchase a charcoal smoker and I am looking to get advice for the best bang for my buck. I have been looking at the 22" WSM and the Pit Barrel Cooker. I owned a Traeger in the past and wasn't very impressed with the smoke flavor, so I am shying away from the pellet smokers. I have never used a charcoal smoker, so I know there is going to be a huge learning curve compared to a pellet smoker. Thanks for any advice you can give!


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## FishAndBeer (Feb 14, 2022)

I started with a standard Weber kettle smoking, grilling it does it all. Best bang for your buck IMHO. However, it has limited space so you can only do 1 brisket, one pork butt and stuff at a time. That's plenty for me and my lady and 2 year old. However, I own both sized WSM and do love them both. They don't get used nearly as much TBH, but they work amazing and produce awesome BBQ


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## JCAP (Feb 14, 2022)

I think you would be happy with either the WSM or PBC as both are really great easy to learn cookers. Unless you're looking at the PBX, the WSM will give you much more space than the original PBC. And you can get a hanger for the WSM to turn it into a PBC like cooker. But I think there are some questions to ask yourself too. What's the budget? What do you plan on doing with the cooker- just smoking or do you want something that can easily grill too?


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## Colin1230 (Feb 14, 2022)

Just my opinion here, and I will admit to being a Weber fan boy. The best bang for your buck is the WSM. It produces fantastic bbq. Plus, there is a ton of support. Not only here but more especially TVWB.


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## bcaruthers (Feb 14, 2022)

JCAP said:


> I think you would be happy with either the WSM or PBC as both are really great easy to learn cookers. Unless you're looking at the PBX, the WSM will give you much more space than the original PBC. And you can get a hanger for the WSM to turn it into a PBC like cooker. But I think there are some questions to ask yourself too. What's the budget? What do you plan on doing with the cooker- just smoking or do you want something that can easily grill too?


My budget is around $500 to $600. I plan on just using it to smoke. One thing that I would like to have the capacity to smoke is a 15 to 20 lbs turkey that is spatchcocked. So, I have been trying to figure out if I really need a 22 WSM or if the 18.5 WSM will work. I will mainly be cooking for four adults. I am also open to other smokers. The WSM and PBX were just the two that I had done some research on.


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## negolien (Feb 14, 2022)

have you looked at the two brands of gravity feeds? Lot more versatile than the pellets. great smoke on em and you can grill hot as piss. Learning to use a raw charcoal or split is gonna be a really big learning curve. the Gravity feeds are still pretty much set it and forget its


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## bcaruthers (Feb 14, 2022)

negolien said:


> have you looked at the two brands of gravity feeds? Lot more versatile than the pellets. great smoke on em and you can grill hot as piss. Learning to use a raw charcoal or split is gonna be a really big learning curve. the Gravity feeds are still pretty much set it and forget its


I have not looked at the gravity fed smokers. It is something that I would be interested in learning more about. How easy are they to maintain?


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## Buckeye02 (Feb 15, 2022)

I have the WSM 22 and a 26" kettle. I use the kettle 99% of the time with the Slow N sear for smoking. And then the vortex for grilling. Out of everything I have to cook on the kettle is by far the most versatile. The WSM imo is a pain in the butt. Once you get the kettle dialed in it'll run pretty consistent for the cook. I could easily go without the WSM. But there's no way I'd ever be without the 26" kettle. The extra room compared to the 22" makes a big difference


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## SlowmotionQue (Feb 15, 2022)

22in WSM would be my recommendation for a few reasons.
1.Easy to learn.
2.Versatile. Can be used as a 22in Kettle if you like.
3.Easy to modify if wanted or needed. 
4. Capacity. Plenty wide enough for spatchcock turkeys and full packer briskets.  Tall enough for hanging ribs and other foods if want or need arises.
5. Plenty of support. 
6. Decent build quality. Easy to assemble.
Hard to go wrong with the 22.5 in WSM for the type cooking you mentioned that you’re interested in.


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## JCAP (Feb 15, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> My budget is around $500 to $600. I plan on just using it to smoke. One thing that I would like to have the capacity to smoke is a 15 to 20 lbs turkey that is spatchcocked. So, I have been trying to figure out if I really need a 22 WSM or if the 18.5 WSM will work. I will mainly be cooking for four adults. I am also open to other smokers. The WSM and PBX were just the two that I had done some research on.



Gotcha. So I had a 22in WSM and I bought it for the extra space just in case. Turns out I never used it and it ended up just collecting dust (I know, a sin). I ended up selling it. But it is a really great smoker and you'll likely love it. I have a severe case of gear acquisition syndrome, so I cycle through things sometimes! I also had the classic PBC and that was fantastic too. But if I could only have _one of those, _I would probably go WSM. The temp control is way better.


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## AA-Ron_W (Feb 15, 2022)

I own a Treager, MB Gravity, and an Akorn.  I first learned to smoke on a propane cylinder smoker.  IMO I get the best smoke flavor on a long smoke from the Treager, NOTE using an amazn tube which makes a world of difference.  I make an overnight Brisket on the treager that gets rave reviews, I've had offers to pay me to cater parties and events with it.  The MB Gravity works great, and I now will only eat steak if its cooked on that.  I know a lot of people love the smoke flavor from the Gravity grills but under inspection most have modified theirs. The akorn works well and can cover a wide range of cooks but since I got the MB I no longer have a need for the Akorn.  For the price you're looking at, I would reccomend looking at something with a controller (treager, masterbuilt, char-griller, rec-tec, etc.) because plenty of cooks require overnight and if you have a normal life you need your sleep.  Even if not overnight, smoking is generally about low and slow, so the time/effort savigns is huge for me.


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## negolien (Feb 15, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> I have not looked at the gravity fed smokers. It is something that I would be interested in learning more about. How easy are they to maintain?



They are the same as pellet as far as set it and forget it. Set the temp fill the hopper every 5 or 6 hours. Easier to maintain the rig though no vacuuming out your dust and stuff LOL. You can use lump or charcoal with splits up the middle if you want super smoke or just charcoal. Can go low as like 160 and as high as 700. Youn can even get one with a griddle if you're a black stone fan.


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## bcaruthers (Feb 15, 2022)

negolien said:


> They are the same as pellet as far as set it and forget it. Set the temp fill the hopper every 5 or 6 hours. Easier to maintain the rig though no vacuuming out your dust and stuff LOL. You can use lump or charcoal with splits up the middle if you want super smoke or just charcoal. Can go low as like 160 and as high as 700. Youn can even get one with a griddle if you're a black stone fan.



Is the 560 big enough for a 15 to 20 lbs turkey? I'm looking at the Masterbuilts right now and trying to figure out what size I would need. I'm still undecided about going with the Masterbuilt or a WSM. I do like the ease that the Masterbuilt would bring and not having to babysit a smoker all night would be awesome. My main concern is that it is mechanical and could break over time.


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## fxsales1959 (Feb 15, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> I am currently looking to purchase a charcoal smoker and I am looking to get advice for the best bang for my buck. I have been looking at the 22" WSM and the Pit Barrel Cooker. I owned a Traeger in the past and wasn't very impressed with the smoke flavor, so I am shying away from the pellet smokers. I have never used a charcoal smoker, so I know there is going to be a huge learning curve compared to a pellet smoker. Thanks for any advice you can give!


I'm going to have to agree with Negoloan here. I've owned or own a mess of them already.  charcoal and wood will give you the taste you want, but varies in work and babysitting. I thought my prayers were answered when i got my "egg" (kamado). I now have the MAsterbuilt 560 gravity and absolutely love it, and the results. So far only smoked on it, but relish the thoughts of some tomahawks reverse seared.
I just di dtwo points for burnt ends for super bowl. loaded the charcoal and wood and set it at 235. when all the wrapping and saucing were done  it was a sight to behold and taste. simple and good.  That's all from me.  IMHO


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## fxsales1959 (Feb 15, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> Is the 560 big enough for a 15 to 20 lbs turkey? I'm looking at the Masterbuilts right now and trying to figure out what size I would need. I'm still undecided about going with the Masterbuilt or a WSM. I do like the ease that the Masterbuilt would bring and not having to babysit a smoker all night would be awesome. My main concern is that it is mechanical and could break over time.


the bottom grate is 23" x 13"  (just measured. I would say you have to use that versus the higher grate due to height of turkey. I have no clue how big a 18lb turkey is.  it sounds big.  we ar only two so i usually only do a 12lb.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Feb 15, 2022)

Another thing to throw in the ring is charcoal consumption if that matters.  Can't speak for the 22" but the 18" WSM is extremely efficient.  Have heard the gravity feeds go through charcoal.  I don't have one so can't say but something to look into.


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## bcaruthers (Feb 15, 2022)

fxsales1959 said:


> the bottom grate is 23" x 13"  (just measured. I would say you have to use that versus the higher grate due to height of turkey. I have no clue how big a 18lb turkey is.  it sounds big.  we ar only two so i usually only do a 12lb.


Those burnt ends look amazing! Thanks for checking the size of the 560! BrianGSDTexoma brought up a good point about charcoal consumption, how is the 560 with that? I am still on the fence about going with a gravity feed or a WSM. You guys are starting to sway me toward the gravity feed side LOL. My biggest hesitation is the Masterbuilt being mechanical and there being issues with that.


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## civilsmoker (Feb 15, 2022)

TGRIMMOSU#1 said:


> I have the WSM 22 and a 26" kettle. I use the kettle 99% of the time with the Slow N sear for smoking. And then the vortex for grilling. Out of everything I have to cook on the kettle is by far the most versatile. The WSM imo is a pain in the butt. Once you get the kettle dialed in it'll run pretty consistent for the cook. I could easily go without the WSM. But there's no way I'd ever be without the 26" kettle. The extra room compared to the 22" makes a big difference


This or a gravity feed one.  The 26" will always work if you do your part, with a Slow N sear and vortex you have a mean cooking machine!


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Feb 15, 2022)

TGRIMMOSU#1 said:


> Slow N sear for smoking





civilsmoker said:


> This or a gravity feed one. The 26" will always work if you do your part, with a Slow N sear and vortex you have a mean cooking machine!


Took a look at that thing.  Pretty cool.  That looks like a good option.  I think I need another toy!


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## negolien (Feb 15, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> Is the 560 big enough for a 15 to 20 lbs turkey? I'm looking at the Masterbuilts right now and trying to figure out what size I would need. I'm still undecided about going with the Masterbuilt or a WSM. I do like the ease that the Masterbuilt would bring and not having to babysit a smoker all night would be awesome. My main concern is that it is mechanical and could break over time.



Yeah there pretty big the 1050  is just that 1050 sqin. the 560 is half that. I got two full sized racks for the middle and top of my 560. It came with two half racks. As for life span. Like you said it's mechanical so it will not last as long as say a weber charcoal. Question become can you keep  the weber at 250 for 12 hours for a butt or a brisket as easily.  The fan on the gravity are basically computer fans lol. The Masterbuilt CS is pretty top notch if u contact em thru facbook.


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## bcaruthers (Feb 15, 2022)

Ok so I finally pulled the trigger and after much debate, I ended up going with the Masterbuilt 800. Thank you all for your responses! If you guys have any tips on the 800 it would be much appreciated.


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## fxsales1959 (Feb 15, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> Those burnt ends look amazing! Thanks for checking the size of the 560! BrianGSDTexoma brought up a good point about charcoal consumption, how is the 560 with that? I am still on the fence about going with a gravity feed or a WSM. You guys are starting to sway me toward the gravity feed side LOL. My biggest hesitation is the Masterbuilt being mechanical and there being issues with that.


I'm not  a log keeper,  but I put about 1/2 bag of  8#B&B briqs (becuase i screwed up and didn't buy lump. long story) and part of a bag of walmart lump, but the results rocked and made it through a 7 hour smoke. so about 8 lbs i'd guess.  @ $6 a bag for WM lump, not too bad in my opinion. not a kamado for sure... but much better smoke profile.


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## SlowmotionQue (Feb 15, 2022)

negolien said:


> They are the same as pellet as far as set it and forget it. Set the temp fill the hopper every 5 or 6 hours. Easier to maintain the rig though no vacuuming out your dust and stuff LOL. You can use lump or charcoal with splits up the middle if you want super smoke or just charcoal. Can go low as like 160 and as high as 700. Youn can even get one with a griddle if you're a black stone fan.




Feeding a hopper every 5-6hrs would seem like a chore over the course of an overnight cook.


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## SlowmotionQue (Feb 16, 2022)

Like anything mechanical, things can go wrong with it. A quick  perusal of the masterbuilt gravity series 800 Facebook group and other social media areas regarding these smokers may give some perspective on reliability. Good luck with it


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## RCAlan (Feb 16, 2022)

I can’t speak for Masterbuilt, but I can easily get 10-12 hours of cook time using charcoal briquettes and hardwood chunks in my CG 980 GF…. FYI. So far, not one problem or issue.. Knock on wood..  lol

__________________

Char-Griller 980 GF… Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... In SoCal and Always... Semper Fi


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## fxsales1959 (Feb 16, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> Ok so I finally pulled the trigger and after much debate, I ended up going with the Masterbuilt 800. Thank you all for your responses! If you guys have any tips on the 800 it would be much appreciated.


I hope you like it as much as I like my 560. Can't vouch for longevity as I've only done two long cooks, but temps were spot on and I didn't mind charcoal consumption.


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## SmokingUPnorth (Feb 16, 2022)

I’ve had the Weber kettle 22” for years and do most of my smoking on that. Like some have said, kinda limited on space. I use to have the WSM 22” for about 6 months. I sold it bc I thought it was a lot more work to use that over the kettle, as far as setup and cleanup and what not. Not a lot of work just was more than I wanted to do when the kettle was so much easier. So once I sold that I purchased the 26” kettle and that sucker is big. I’ll never need anything bigger. Easy to clean, control temp it does it all. I still use my 22” a lot for cortex wings and stuff like hot dogs but can’t go wrong with either


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## Smoke-Chem BBQ (Feb 16, 2022)

SlowmotionQue said:


> Feeding a hopper every 5-6hrs would seem like a chore over the course of an overnight cook.


I find there is usually something to be done with the meat every few hours anyway...spray, mop, turn, wrap, whatever.   I rarely get more than 3  hours sleep at a time on an overnight cook.


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## SlowmotionQue (Feb 16, 2022)

Smoke-Chem BBQ said:


> I find there is usually something to be done with the meat every few hours anyway...spray, mop, turn, wrap, whatever.   I rarely get more than 3  hours sleep at a time on an overnight cook.



Wow.   3hrs of sleep.   Good to see that everyone has a different way of doing things.  Glad to see that whatever works, works. 

I sleep all night on an overnight cook. Be it on my Rec Tec RT 590, or my 22 in WSM with FireBoard 2 Drive controller.   Both of these cookers will hold within approximately 5 degrees or so of set point.

The WSM will run in excess of 15 hrs on a single fuel load of lump charcoal.  And that's conservative with the stock fire ring in it.  It will run any type charcoal put into it, from B&B Charlogs, to Kamado Joe Big Block, all the way down to Kingsford Match Light were I inclined to use that.

As I no longer spray, never did mop, nor turn, and rarely wrap, and have diminished desire to do any of the aforementioned in the middle of the night in these suburbs  having found over the years that they are minimally beneficial to my final results, sleeping all night during an overnight cook,  that’s easy for me.

Of course though, all of this said, A WSM with a controller,  or a Rec Tec and smoke tube would cost
him more than the retail of the smoker he ultimately chose.   A $500-$600.00 budget would be tough.  I spent more, but I sleep like a baby while getting the smoke flavor that I want and that my Rec Tec cannot quite consistently  match, even with a smoke tube.

But I only state the aforementioned and include the graph and example below,  to show that one can indeed sleep all night on an overnight cook using a charcoal smoker, and never have to open it until the food is ready to come off. I put this brisket on the WSM, let it run all night at 225°F, and finally jacked up my set point to 250°F  at around 11:00AM the next morning, never opening the lid nor the fuel door.  The graph never dips,  until ready to remove the brisket from the smoker, then wrap it and let it rest. No moppin', no spritzin', no turnin',  no wrappin' and still get a good result.  This one was wrapped only at the end of the cook,   and allowed to rest in butcher paper, inside the cooler when it came off.

This brisket was put on the smoker at approximately 10:00 PM.   I took it off at 12:24PM the next day.   I can't imagine having to get up at 3:00AM-4:00AM to have to go outside, lift a bag of charcoal, potentially with nearby wildlife, or even some knucklehead prowling looking for something to break into,  and refill a fuel hopper.


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## AA-Ron_W (Feb 16, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> Ok so I finally pulled the trigger and after much debate, I ended up going with the Masterbuilt 800. Thank you all for your responses! If you guys have any tips on the 800 it would be much appreciated.


Hickory log/stick in the hopper surrounded by charcoal, then another one in the ash pan when you smoke.  My Homedepot had a bag of hickory logs for $20 so this should last me close to 20 cooks.  I know others also close off the back vent with foil to reduce air flow.  I reccomend this but haven't mastered it yet myself so can't give specifics.


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## AA-Ron_W (Feb 16, 2022)

fxsales1959 said:


> I hope you like it as much as I like my 560. Can't vouch for longevity as I've only done two long cooks, but temps were spot on and I didn't mind charcoal consumption.



This is worth mentioning again, my 560 holds a much closer temp range then my Treager.  Their algorythm with the fan seems to be much more intelligent.


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## 912smoker (Feb 16, 2022)

Congrats on the 800 ! I have the 1050 and it turns out some great Q.
Get a bottle of electrical contact cleaner and spray the switches between uses. Spray and work them manually for 30 secs or so and you should have no switch problems. 

Keith


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## bcaruthers (Feb 22, 2022)

The MBGS 800 got delivered today, along with the LSS Mods. Got everything put together tonight. I will do the burn off and season in the morning. I got three racks of St Louis ribs to try out in the afternoon.


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## fxsales1959 (Feb 22, 2022)

bcaruthers said:


> The MBGS 800 got delivered today, along with the LSS Mods. Got everything put together tonight. I will do the burn off and season in the morning. I got three racks of St Louis ribs to try out in the afternoon.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ribs is a great first choice. depending on how you do them, it doesn't need to be baby sat (is that a word?)


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