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Smoking Food Thread

PhDeac said:
I’m making peace with the strong possibility that we are going to be staying at home through the end of the year. On the plus side, this means 7 days a week to be around all day to smoke.

I need recommendations for a small smoker that can fit nicely on an outdoor patio. Thanks. I already have a grill so not a BGE or anything like that. Just a smoker. Electric, gas, or whatever. Preferably not too expensive.
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I was looking for the same thing and got a Weber Smokey Mountain. It’s great.
 
PhDeac said:
I’m making peace with the strong possibility that we are going to be staying at home through the end of the year. On the plus side, this means 7 days a week to be around all day to smoke.

I need recommendations for a small smoker that can fit nicely on an outdoor patio. Thanks. I already have a grill so not a BGE or anything like that. Just a smoker. Electric, gas, or whatever. Preferably not too expensive.
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Weber Smokey mountain and don’t worry about the cost. About $300, unless you can find one at a yard sale. But you probably won’t because no one would ever give them up. Like you probably already know with grills, you get what you pay for.
 
06deacon said:
Weber Smokey mountain and don’t worry about the cost. About $300, unless you can find one at a yard sale. But you probably won’t because no one would ever give them up. Like you probably already know with grills, you get what you pay for.
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When I got my BGE I gave my WSM to a coworker.

He ended up surprising me with a case of steaks but I just needed the space on my patio.

We donated our gas grill to the high school baseball team for their concession stand.
 
06deacon said:
Weber Smokey mountain and don’t worry about the cost. About $300, unless you can find one at a yard sale. But you probably won’t because no one would ever give them up. Like you probably already know with grills, you get what you pay for.
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Depending on how many people you are cooking for, the 14.5" is plenty of space. And it's around $200 and uses a less charcoal too.
 
Yesterday was pork shoulder. Today will be carne asada on the BGE. Obviously not smoking that, but it’s pretty cool to be able to do both with excellent outcomes on the same tool.
 
BeachBumDeac said:
Depending on how many people you are cooking for, the 14.5" is plenty of space. And it's around $200 and uses a less charcoal too.
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I have the 18.5” version and it does have a lot of capacity. Certainly more than I need to cook a meal for my family. But it is nice that I can fit two pork shoulders side by side on the top rack for easy access. It also kinda depends on what you want to make. Could a full brisket or turkey fit on the 14.5 for example.

But either size get the WSM if you’re sticking with the gas grill instead of an all in one like BGE.
 
Ph, IIRC you have fairly young children. If so I'd think twice before getting WSM or equivalent.

I'm a fan of BGE's and other kamados. I started with a full-size Akorn, which you should be able to get for around $325. It served me well for 5 years until I moved it without the latch secured (gave it away). I currently have a Vision Classic B, a Primo Oval Junior, and a BGE Mini-Max. I use the BGE the most, mainly for burgers, steak and fish. The Primo gets the least use as it's an in-between size.

Whatever you decide to go with, see if you can use a TipTopTemp with it. https://tiptoptemp.com/ I know it will work on BGE's, Primo's, WSM's and even a Weber kettle smoker. I have one for my BGE or Primo and another on my Vision, but had to use a duct pipe reducer to get it to fit on the Vision. The device really works. If you're on Facebook, there's a group that has a lot of information on how to use it on various smokers.

I'm doing baby back ribs on the Vision today
 
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Yesterday was a good day. Cooked two 5-6 lb pork butts on my 14.5” WSM. It went a solid 9 hours in good temperature range without needing much babying. Added about 15 more lit coals to get to the 11 hour mark.

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Have a Weber Spirit 3 burner but am looking to add on something so I can do some smoking. Considering a kamodo, but not sure I want to pay BGE prices right now. The WSM intrigues me, but I'm also considering a classic Weber kettle and just going from there so I could also do things like use my Baking Steel on it for pizza. Perhaps add on something like the Slow N Sear. Thoughts?
 
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BarcaDeac said:
Have a Weber Spirit 3 burner but am looking to add on something so I can do some smoking. Considering a kamodo, but not sure I want to pay BGE prices right now. The WSM intrigues me, but I'm also considering a classic Weber kettle and just going from there so I could also do things like use my Baking Steel on it for pizza. Perhaps add on something like the Slow N Sear. Thoughts?
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Is there a reason you can't do the baking steel on the gas grill for pizza? If you have a choice for direct grilling, it's always going to be easier and faster to use a gas grill. No starting charcoal, waiting for them to be lit, etc.

A weber kettle is an awesome charcoal grill and a decent smoker. If you are going to keep the spirit for direct grilling, then you might as well get a dedicated smoker.e The WSM is great if you don't want to pay BGE prices. But obviously not in the same category in price and quality.
 
BarcaDeac said:
Have a Weber Spirit 3 burner but am looking to add on something so I can do some smoking. Considering a kamodo, but not sure I want to pay BGE prices right now. The WSM intrigues me, but I'm also considering a classic Weber kettle and just going from there so I could also do things like use my Baking Steel on it for pizza. Perhaps add on something like the Slow N Sear. Thoughts?
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I use my Spirit to smoke. I just make a "pan" out of heavy duty foil for chips on one side, use only that burner, and it will hold 225-275º depending on how much gas you give it. Only issue is having to add more chips every couple of hours.
 
The boards and some additional sources pointed me towards CookShack when I was looking for a smoker. Went with the SM025 and it's been awesome. Some boxes it checked for me - great build quality, can't-fuck-it-up simplicity with the electric/digital setup, uses wood chunks instead of bags of pellets so it's easier to switch up wood each smoke versus other electric smokers, and of course really good results. Obviously it's hard to beat the versatility of a BGE, and I certainly respect the charcoal-only folks, but the CookShack has been perfect for me.
 
Does anybody have a recommendation for finding whole turkey breasts? The only ones I can find are the Butterball Turkey Breast Roasts which are pieces of turkey breast wrapped in netting.
 
DeaconCav06 said:
Does anybody have a recommendation for finding whole turkey breasts? The only ones I can find are the Butterball Turkey Breast Roasts which are pieces of turkey breast wrapped in netting.
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If you can find a butcher that can order Kelly Bronze they have a skin-on boneless breast that's pretty amazing.
 
Someone gave me a Masterbuilt and I’ve started using it, so I’m a total noob to smoking. Do people even consider electric smokers real smoking? I did some wings a couple of days ago after I seasoned it and I thought they were good. I’ve got an 8 lb pork shoulder in there right now along with 2 racks of ribs I added at lunch time. I read of few pages of this thread and didn’t see any discussion of electric smokers. I’m sure it’s in here somewhere. I look forward to following along more closely now.
 
Arsene Wenger said:
Someone gave me a Masterbuilt and I’ve started using it, so I’m a total noob to smoking. Do people even consider electric smokers real smoking? I did some wings a couple of days ago after I seasoned it and I thought they were good. I’ve got an 8 lb pork shoulder in there right now along with 2 racks of ribs I added at lunch time. I read of few pages of this thread and didn’t see any discussion of electric smokers. I’m sure it’s in here somewhere. I look forward to following along more closely now.
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I have a Masterbuilt gas smoker and love it. I've read that for the electric ones, toss in a piece of lump charcoal with the wood to get better flavor.
 
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