Smoker help needed

[theFlyingHog]

Been smoking for 10-12 years and love what I turn out. I've always used cheaper offset smokers burning charcoal with whatever wood chunks I feel like. I mostly smoke pork butts and brisket and I get about the biggest pieces of meat I can find(2-10lb butts, 15lb brisket). Some of these smokes go for 18hrs plus and I'm sick of losing sleep to add more charcoal.

Is there anything I can get that I can get dialed in and leave for 8 hours? ($500 or less) Keeping in mind that I love lots of smoke, I don't know how pellet smokers and electrics are for that

[jkstock04]

Been smoking for 10-12 years and love what I turn out. I've always used cheaper offset smokers burning charcoal with whatever wood chunks I feel like. I mostly smoke pork butts and brisket and I get about the biggest pieces of meat I can find(2-10lb butts, 15lb brisket). Some of these smokes go for 18hrs plus and I'm sick of losing sleep to add more charcoal.

Is there anything I can get that I can get dialed in and leave for 8 hours? ($500 or less) Keeping in mind that I love lots of smoke, I don't know how pellet smokers and electrics are for that

I hear ya. I'm in the Same boat. These cheap smokers work just fine but need to be tended to constantly it seems. I want something built solid...I can shut down and be done with it for a few hours. Mother in law got me this thing for birthday few years ago...just a Lowes special and it irritates me every time i use it.

They actually have kits for these cheap smokers that seal up all the edges and what not making them more air tight (I haven't gone this route yet). If you have smoke escaping anywhere other than the chimney then you have a problem. My POS smoker just billows smoke from any and all directions...it's a joke it even has a chimney. You lose smoke, and in my mind more importantly you lose heat quickly.

My opinion is meat can only take so much smoke on l...after 3 hours you are just wasting wood if you continue to try and smoke something. But still get having to add charcoal or whatever every 20-30 minutes to try and maintain a temp is a complete joke...especially if like you said you got something that is gonna take 10-18 hours.

[PorkRinds]

My advice?  Save up the extra dough and get a good ceramic grill/smoker.  Some here have Big green eggs, I have a primo, which is the American made version of a big green egg.  For a grand or so you could get a BGE, and ceramic grills are money in the bank!  I can set my primo up for smoking and get 20+ hours without opening the lid.   I think it could go for a full 24 on a full load of coals at smoking temps. That's not stretching it either, I just haven't ever gone longer than that. Plus you can rig them up to grill, smoke, cold(ish) smoke, bake, make pizza, etc.  My wife was skeptical but now she will agree it's the best $ we've ever spent on something to cook with.  I use mine 2-3 times a week during the winter, and almost every day in the summer.  It also saves money on lump charcoal because once you shut the vents, the fire dies and you can re-use the leftover charcoal next time you cook.  I'm telling you, it raised my smoking/grilling game instantly.  Others will chime in, but I had to share my experience.  Pharmacisthog convinced me to take the plunge, and I'm forever indebted to him.  It's a game changer.

[PharmacistHog]

You can find knockoff ceramic cookers now for about half the price. The quality may not be AS good as some of the name brand stuff but I caught a Vision at sam's last february for 200 bucks and it cooks as good as my big green egg. It was only a medium but they have a large version now at sams that I bet you can catch in jsnuary on clearance for 400-500 bucks and it would be totally worth it.

[majestic]

http://www.rectecgrills.com/rec-tec-mini-portable-wood-pellet-grill-rt-300/

I don't know how long the small I linked will go on a load of pellets.  I have the large one and it would probably smoke for 30 hours on a load of pellets.  I can set the temperature to whatever I want and go about my day. It has a heavy-smoke setting if that's what you want.  I love mine.

[PorkRinds]

http://www.rectecgrills.com/rec-tec-mini-portable-wood-pellet-grill-rt-300/

I don't know how long the small I linked will go on a load of pellets.  I have the large one and it would probably smoke for 30 hours on a load of pellets.  I can set the temperature to whatever I want and go about my day. It has a heavy-smoke setting if that's what you want.  I love mine.

That's cheating.

[jkstock04]

Big green eggs look like grills to me. How do you smoke indirectly on them like you do a real smoker? Do you just throw some wood in the bottom of them and shut her down and it's the same thing as an indirect firebox?

[PharmacistHog]

Big green eggs look like grills to me. How do you smoke indirectly on them like you do a real smoker? Do you just throw some wood in the bottom of them and shut her down and it's the same thing as an indirect firebox?

No theres a heat deflector that sits down in the egg over the fire then the grid sits above that. Its basically just a round or oval ceramic plate that sits down and the smoke and heat rises around it.

[majestic]

That's cheating.

No, that's progress.

[jkstock04]

No theres a heat deflector that sits down in the egg over the fire then the grid sits above that. Its basically just a round or oval ceramic plate that sits down and the smoke and heat rises around it.

Cool. Only problem I see with this set up is what if you want to smoke a lot of stuff at one time? You have 20+ people coming over and wanna do 5 racks of ribs and a couple pork butts?

[ImHogginIt]

I hear ya. I'm in the Same boat. These cheap smokers work just fine but need to be tended to constantly it seems. I want something built solid...I can shut down and be done with it for a few hours. Mother in law got me this thing for birthday few years ago...just a Lowes special and it irritates me every time i use it.

They actually have kits for these cheap smokers that seal up all the edges and what not making them more air tight (I haven't gone this route yet). If you have smoke escaping anywhere other than the chimney then you have a problem. My POS smoker just billows smoke from any and all directions...it's a joke it even has a chimney. You lose smoke, and in my mind more importantly you lose heat quickly.

My opinion is meat can only take so much smoke on l...after 3 hours you are just wasting wood if you continue to try and smoke something. But still get having to add charcoal or whatever every 20-30 minutes to try and maintain a temp is a complete joke...especially if like you said you got something that is gonna take 10-18 hours.

I love my Weber Smokey Mountain. Depending on outside temp and wind I can maintain 250 degrees without much monitoring for 5-7 hrs without adding coals. That is long enough to smoke most things except pork butts. I usually pull butts off after that 5-7 hr time and finish them in the oven.

[PharmacistHog]

Cool. Only problem I see with this set up is what if you want to smoke a lot of stuff at one time? You have 20+ people coming over and wanna do 5 racks of ribs and a couple pork butts?

Yeah if you cook for LOTS of people then you are limited. They make aftermarket accessories where you do do multiple layers. A large egg with an adjustable rig can cook several racks and a couple butts at once. An Xlarge can cook a lot with two grids. But if your big thing is volume, probably need to look at a pellet smoker or a cabinet type smoker. The ceramic cookers selling pount is the versatility. It does everything well whether you are grilling or smoking or baking or even cooking pizza at super high temps. If you are simply looking for a volume cooking dedicated smoker there are better options.

[Tim Harris]

I love my Weber Smokey Mountain. Depending on outside temp and wind I can maintain 250 degrees without much monitoring for 5-7 hrs without adding coals. That is long enough to smoke most things except pork butts. I usually pull butts off after that 5-7 hr time and finish them in the oven.

Exact same setup I have.  It works for all my smoking needs.