# shopping for the Smoker



## baton (Mar 28, 2011)

Hi All,

I am an amateur about the whole smoker business but would like to get one. What features or functionality am I looking for in a Great smoker? Does anyone have outstanding the smoker to recommend and why?

Thanks in advance


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## mballi3011 (Mar 28, 2011)

First off welcome Baton to SMF. I personally like the gas units and I have 2 of them. I would recommend the Smoke Vault 24". You'll like it here cause there are alot of really good folks that would just love to help you with anything to do with smoking. Now we like having new folks here to give a new prospective on some of the ways we do things around here. Now if you are really new then I would suggest that you sign up fir the 5-day E-course it free and it will give you the basics on smoking and a few recipes too. Here's a link to it:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/list/127

then you will have a method to your newly found madness and believe me it will be a madness. Then when you start smoking things you will have to learn how to post the pictures / Qview 

here. So here's a link to a tutorial on how to post your Qview so we can see what your doing.

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf

Now the next thing you have to do is run out and get something to smoke. Then just smoke it and if you have any questions just post  them here and we will answer all your questions that you might have. Oh yea there's no stupid questions we were all there in the beginning and we just really like to help others enjoy the fabulous smoked foods that we do. So again

Welcome to Your New Addiction  

Go GATORS


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## Bearcarver (Mar 28, 2011)

baton said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I am an amateur about the whole smoker business but would like to get one. What features or functionality am I looking for in a Great smoker? Does anyone have outstanding the smoker to recommend and why?
> 
> Thanks in advance


Depends on if you want to be right next to it all the time, or if you have a lot of time to learn how to get charcoal & wood pieces to the right temp, and hold it there, and all that tricky stuff. There are guys here who can make those kind of things do everything except go get your morning paper for you. Those guys amaze me!

I however like to go out, plug my MES 40 in, push my digital buttons to 230˚, put the meat in, close the door, and let the smoker do the rest. Throw in an A-MAZE-N-SMOKER, and I'm good to go.

MES 40 is electric, with a glass door remote control, wheels, built in meat probe & smoker heat sensor.

It costs about $300 for the one that is black on the outside & SS inside, or $350 to $400 for the one that is All Stainless (inside & out).

I would definitely recommend the MES 40, unless you like to rough it, like so many of the great smoking people on this forum.

Bear


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## chainsaw (Mar 28, 2011)

Welcome aboard!

Please go to the roll call area to introduce yourself. There are many types of smokers, and many choices. The "best one" is usually dependent on your preferences.

Some of us like the electrics for ease of operation and minimum fuss. Some prefer the propane and/or the charcoal types. Some of us have more than one smoker.

Many make them from scratch, and some of those are truly works of art.

Lots of us started with the ECB or extremely cheap Brinkman. Does the job for less than 100 bucks. 

There are a ton of articles here for you to read before you make the plunge.

I'm sure you will get lots of comments. Good luck!


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## pineywoods (Mar 28, 2011)

I agree with Chainsaw it depends on whether you want electric, propane, charcoal or wood fired. All of these will produce some good Q it's just a matter of what type of fuel you feel comfortable with and want to use


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## beer-b-q (Mar 28, 2011)

Bearcarver said:


> Depends on if you want to be right next to it all the time, or if you have a lot of time to learn how to get charcoal & wood pieces to the right temp, and hold it there, and all that tricky stuff. There are guys here who can make those kind of things do everything except go get your morning paper for you. Those guys amaze me!
> 
> I however like to go out, plug my MES 40 in, push my digital buttons to 230˚, put the meat in, close the door, and let the smoker do the rest. Throw in an A-MAZE-N-SMOKER, and I'm good to go.
> 
> ...


I would have to agree with Bear on this one...



  

Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us.
 

This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.
 

For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out *Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse*.

Click Here it's *"FREE"* ... 5 Day eCourseE


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## jirodriguez (Mar 29, 2011)

For me it was a desire of wanting to return to the flavor you get with charcoal and/or wood. I started with a horizontal offset smoker, but quickly switched to a 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain and haven't looked back since.

Do some reading on the forum and decide what fuel type you want to use first, then start narrowing down to a specific smoker in your price range.


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## smokeamotive (Mar 29, 2011)

Welcome to SMF and your new addiction. Lots of great folks here and great info too. That said, all the above is good info. Its all about what your comfortable with. As stated above, many have more than one smoker. I have and ECB, an MES 40 and a SFB stick bruner with a vertical chamber on the end to smoke sausages. Once you get started it's hard to stop. Theres just soooo much good stuff to try. have fun and enjoy.


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## SmokinAl (Mar 29, 2011)

Welcome to SMF. There is no easy answer to your question. If you want easy, go with the MES like Bear said. If you want that charcoal wood flavor, I would go with a WSM. The one thing I wouldn't do is make a quick decision, check out the different smokers & see the advantages & dis-advantages of each one. If there was THE perfect smoker, we would all have them. That's why a lot of guys have more than 1 smoker.


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## fpnmf (Mar 29, 2011)

Welcome!!

 Do some reading here.

The WIKIs and the search tool can provide a few tons of info that will help you decide which way to go!!

  Good luck!!

I started out with and still enjoy my MES.

  Craig


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## alblancher (Mar 29, 2011)

There is something about tending a fire, smelling the smoke, the smoke ring, the taste of food from a stick burner that can not be duplicated with electric or gas.  Also the size of your smoker is limited with generally available gas or electric.  They do make commercial smokers that burn gas and watts that get quite large but they are generally out of most people's hobby price range.  Decide how you are going to use your smoker, base your decision on that.

All the smokers that you will look at can do great food if used by someone that knows how to use the smoker.

Good Luck on your search

Al


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## fife (Mar 29, 2011)

I am new to the smokeing hobbie also and I got the Masterbuilt Electric 40 from Sam's. I have smoked chicken, pork tenderloin, sausage, ribs, and have all turned out very good. All you do is put the meat in it set the temp and time put some wood in the loader and that is it about every 1-1.5 hours put some more wood in it. I love mine. Just my 2 cent worth.


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## callahan4life (Mar 30, 2011)

to SMF! I'm glad you joined us. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  You will find this a great place for increasing your BBQ knowledge 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





, from a bunch of great people. Have fun and Happy Smoking.   
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I like my Lang 36 Patio. You check them out at http://pigroast.com.


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## baton (Mar 30, 2011)

Oh Boy! What did I get myself into! :)

Thank you all for suggestions and a lot of information. There is a lot to grasp and research.

I work from home and able to spare a little time to learn how to get charcoal & wood pieces to the right temp. (Thanks Bear)

For now i will definitely start with 5-day E-course.

Thank you all again and will post more once i have questions.... or pictures :)


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## richoso1 (Mar 30, 2011)

Hello, and welcome to the SMF. I see you've already gotten some good feedback on your questions. It's all good my friend.


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## meateater (Mar 31, 2011)

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.


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## tyotrain (Mar 31, 2011)

Welcome to SMF its nice to have ya..


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## baton (Apr 20, 2011)

Thank you all for help and useful information. After doing some research I’ve decided to go with inexpensive wood and charcoal smoker grill. One of the candidates I like is The Smokin' Pro Charcoal Smoker Grill and it is displayed here: http://www.grillsdirect.com/charcoal-grills/grills-with-carts/chargrillersmokinpropackage.cfm

  

Unfortunately reviews on the above site are not convincing and I think that they were created by robot. 

Does anyone own this smoker? I appreciate any information about it you have.

  

Thank you in advance.

Max


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## lookwow (Apr 20, 2011)

I think you will find a lot of people have either the MES, WSM, UDS, GOSM, SV24. They are some of the better smokers out there.


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## baton (Apr 20, 2011)

What I am hoping to find is combination of wood and charcoal smoker.  By looking at your suggestions Weber Smokey Mountain might work but I think it is only charcoal, is that right?


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## thestealth (Apr 20, 2011)

> What I am hoping to find is combination of wood and charcoal smoker.  By looking at your suggestions Weber Smokey Mountain might work but I think it is only charcoal, is that right?


You can use charcoal and wood in the WSM. :-)


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## thestealth (Apr 20, 2011)

edit:  Double post.

Well, While I've already taken up space with my double post...

My first smoker is similar to the one you had in your link.  I recently picked up a WSM 22".  I've only had the chance to use it a couple of times, but as far as first impressions go, there is not one thing about my offset smoker that I like better than my WSM.  So far, it has been superior in every way.  :-)


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## SmokinAl (Apr 20, 2011)

The WSM is a charcoal/wood smoker. The fire is started with charcoal & put onto a bed of unlit charcoal & wood chunks. It produces very flavorful BBQ.


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## coloradosmoker (Nov 11, 2011)

[h1]I saw your post back in April about shopping for a new smoker if you have[/h1]
not got one yet I would agree with some of the other guys to get a Mes-40

the best place I saw to buy it after looking before I bought mine was

Sams Club they have the Mes-40 for $299.86 model-number--20070211

the only difference between the others that cost &400---$500 or more is

the one at Sams has only the front door with window chrome & sides & back 

are black the others are chrome all around other than that it works the same

it has back wheels inside light meat prob digital temp. control remote control

when the front window get brown that you can't see in to good just take some

Liquid Dishwashing soap & a scrubbie  & was the inside window it takes

  about 5--10 min. & comes out as clear as it was as I bought it you can see the shelfs

  real clear--------I like the Mes-40 because because you plug it in set the digital

temp & time Add your woodchips  with the wood chip loader located on side of smoker 

   then for get it just keep checking your temp. & meat -----Ken----Colorado-----Smoker


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## baton (Nov 12, 2011)

Got one 2 days ago. WSM 18,5. Trying it out today.


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## SmokinAl (Nov 12, 2011)

baton said:


> Got one 2 days ago. WSM 18,5. Trying it out today.




Good choice, you won't be disappointed!


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## baton (Nov 12, 2011)

i have some concern and maybe you can help. I started at 275F and temperature dropped to 250F. All my vents are open and i am unable to see rise of the temperature. also there is no smoke any more. do i add more charcole in the middle of the cooking to increase the temp? is smoke has to be throughout the entire cooking or only in the beginning? Should I add wood chips?

Sorry for a newbie questions J


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## baton (Nov 12, 2011)

one mistake i made i just realized as i am using wood chips instead of chunks. they don't last long :)

Also I added approximately 100 charcoals but maybe it is not enough.


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## raymo76 (Nov 12, 2011)

baton said:


> one mistake i made i just realized as i am using wood chips instead of chunks. they don't last long :)
> 
> Also I added approximately 100 charcoals but maybe it is not enough.




Are you using Kingsford briquettes? Search for Minion Method, I believe that is a very tried and tested method for maintaining heat, especially in the WSM.


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## SmokinAl (Nov 12, 2011)

What Ray said. The minnion method is the way to keep consistent temps.


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## JckDanls 07 (Nov 12, 2011)

baton said:


> [SIZE=10pt]i have some concern and maybe you can help. I started at 275F and temperature dropped to 250F. All my vents are open and i am unable to see rise of the temperature. also there is no smoke any more. do i add more charcole in the middle of the cooking to increase the temp? is smoke has to be throughout the entire cooking or only in the beginning?[/SIZE]
> Should I add wood chips?
> 
> Sorry for a newbie questions J



How long did it stay at 275` ?  we all try to keep it down around 225`give or take 10-15`. Also leave your exhuast vent wide open and control your heat with your intake vents. as you see In Al's picture the minion method, when it gets to 215 during pre-heat close your intake vents down to try and keep it at 225. Myself I would use chunks like Al has as well..  hope this helps and good luck


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## oldschoolbbq (Nov 12, 2011)

,Baton. Hope you enjoy your newest Obsession. Keeping up with the Jones' is not the preface here;our goal is to make friends and help others when trouble arises.

You'll enjoy the Weber and when you start smoking, show us , we like to drool LOL.

Have fun and...


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## frosty (Nov 13, 2011)

Baton,

Welcome to SMF!!

You can already see there is lots of good help should you ever need it! Some of the best informed people around.

Friendly people, lots of info. Enjoy and good luck!


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## roller (Nov 13, 2011)

Welcome and thanks for joining us here at SMF !


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## baton (Nov 13, 2011)

Thank you all for a big help and helpful comments.

well i got my first adventure and despite all the things that i would like to change next time when I will be cooking I am very pleased with the result.

My temperature was steady at 250F which WSM guys recommending. Cooked for 4 hours. I could not get the temperature higher in the end to get that crisp skin but it came out very juicy. It was a bit windy which I did not count on so that was a big disadvantage.







thighs were the best


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## oldschoolbbq (Nov 14, 2011)

Good looking Bird. Congrats on the first.

Have fun and...


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## michael ark (Nov 14, 2011)




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