Opinions on smokers

[Reedus]

I'm currently in the market for a smoker and am intrigued by the pellet-style smokers. I've seen the demos at Costco by Traeger and they seem to be the popular brand. I like the convenience of the set it and forget it of the auger fed pellet grills. Looking for opinions from those who have them and pros and cons.

[accadacca]

You know what they say about smokers...

If the smoke, they p__e.

[phatch]

Traegers have their fans.
They're easy to use.
They don't take a lot of attention.
They hit and hold a temperature reasonably.

The pellet cost is higher than charcoal/wood alternatives.
It's not as versatile of a system in many ways.
You're at the mercy of the pellet manufacturer for binder agents, fillers and such.
You don't have as much control over smoke. You're always going to get the smoke level of pellet burning to hit the selected temperature.

The Weber Smoky Mountain is probably what most smokers would recommend to you. This is a simple vertical "bullet" style smoker, but is crafted with quality that is not readily apparent. If you compare them to the ECB (El Cheapo Brinkman), you'd think you could save money with the Brinkman. But the ECB does not burn as well or as cleanly, has lower capacity and so on.

With tricks like the Minion Method (google it), using sand in the water pan, there is a whole range of techniques that lets you use the WSM in different ways, hit and hold a temp overnight without hourly feeding and so on.

The WSM is charcoal fired and you add wood chunks for smoke flavor. Even many horizontal pit systems work this way as well. Most would advise you to use lump charcoal as it "tastes" better than briquet charcoal because it's not full of coal and binders. Lump costs more and used to be scarce, but is now pretty easy to find.

I recommend a large WSM. The regular sized version is good too and often Walmart online has a good buy on them. But I like the larger capacity for when I'm having a rib party, a big turkey and those sorts of things.

Also check www.utahbbq.org. Lots of advice and even some smokers for sale too.

[rockgremlin]

They can't be indoors, and must be within 25' of a designated entrance.