IGX

I personally have a gas grill but a charcoal smoker, so I'm not anti-gas. Southern Pride is also a major brand for BBQ joints that uses pellets of some kind, and is used by some high-end places.

That said, there are BBQ competitors who do everything on a Weber Smokey Mountain cooker (also called a bullet)' which is what I have. Inexpensive and extremely reliable temperature control. You can buy aftermarket thermostats to lock temperature in and even manage over the web. I don't know what advantage a gas unit could bring, since BBQ is a multi-hour deal and saving 15 min for charcoal to get going isn't really useful.

WSM is pretty much perfect unless you are cooking for large crowds and want to have only one cooker running (which has disadvantages but saves space).

A Big Green Egg can do a similar job, albeit with about 40% capacity, but also can also run very hot for steaks and other grilling.

I don't have a pellet smoker, but a smoker and grill with the side fire box. If I had to do it again I'd go Big Green Egg. It really is the best out there.

Pellets are ok. Burn hot and fast. They work but...

UDS

Ugly Drum Smoker

Eastern Cackalacky Style BBQ only

Spells, I have the WSM and I love it! But what after market device is there that controls the temp the unit is running? IME< using charcoal is a trickier way to do it, having to often open/close vents, change the water, add more charcoal, etc.

Yes I Have Balls wrote:Spells, I have the WSM and I love it! But what after market device is there that controls the temp the unit is running? IME< using charcoal is a trickier way to do it, having to often open/close vents, change the water, add more charcoal, etc.

I have the BBQ Guru, because it was the first to market. There's also a company putting out something called the Stoker. They all work on a similar concept. Close all bottom vents except one which has a fan attached. A thermometer goes on the grates. Both connect to a computer, you input what you want the temp to be and the fan maintains that temperature. Amazing for overnight cooks. Some will also monitor food temp and ramp temperature, but that's not such a big deal to me. Others have built in wifi and web server so you can monitor/change temperature from a PC or smartphone.

Mine doesn't do I web stuff, but just being able to dial in is great.

A good buddy has that WSM and loves it. Great temp control, even in Minnesota winters. Another of my buddies is in Chicago like Spells and he competes smoking pork butts now and then and does well with his WSM.

Shaf, when I lived in TX, HEB used to see the barrel smokers dirt cheap, you might want to cut your smoking chops on one of those as they're like 1/20th the cost of those pellet ones, I think. In TX, maintaining your temp is far less of a challenge than it is up here. When in Rome.......

Yes I Have Balls wrote:Spells, I have the WSM and I love it! But what after market device is there that controls the temp the unit is running? IME< using charcoal is a trickier way to do it, having to often open/close vents, change the water, add more charcoal, etc.

Tread very carefully here, my friend. That way lies madness, obsession and an empty wallet.

On reflection I agree that the WSM is hard to beat.

But if you want to build your own for cheap and make really good BBQ:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showt ... hp?t=23436

Basic Weber kettle will do most things: grill, roast, low and slow, can add smoke chips etc

I wanted to make a UDS but really unless you need to cook a fuckload of meat all the time and can be arsed to fuck around with it all the time, why bother really.

Because it makes me feel like an un-Enslerized Max Rockatansky is why.

And damn, if I am in for 10+hrs I am making a fuckload of que. I think it freezes pretty well...

Agree with Aussie Luke.
I have 2 grills, a Weber Gas and a Weber Kettle Grill. I smoke brisket and ribs on it. Just add hickory chunks from Wal-Mart. Bought it for $90 ten years ago, still going strong, but I'm getting a new one with an ash catcher, the wife doesn't like the ashes on the new deck.

I leave it uncovered all winter and it has 2 rust spots on it. The cleaning handle rusted off 4 years ago. Other than that, the Weber is indestructible.

My worry about the Big Green Egg, is it's ceramic. If you accidentally tipped it over, it would smash. Plus the cooking capacity is small.

I have never heard anyone regret buying a WSM.

I don't think I have ever heard of anyone knocking over a BGE by accident. They are damn heavy.

I've got a weber baby q gasser and an old weber kettle I bought used for $20. It was knackered then and it still is but it still cooks beautifully. Also have a weber smokey Joe which is cool and cute as fuck. Used to use it nearly every day for steaks and sausages etc (before we had kids)

Have messed around with putting a couple of bricks in the big weber to keep all the direct heat away from the meat for real low and slow cooks. Worked pretty well but I'm always happy with the old standard indirect weber roast.

If you buy a weber kettle and get bored of it you can use the parts with an old drum to make a UDS. The lid should fit a standard drum I believe.

I had a Bradley smoker but it broke after two weeks and the company didn't honor their warranty.

Don't buy anything yet! Harvard engineers have invented a new and improved smoker. It's designed to produce perfect results every time, and it's guaranteed to match all of the Williams & Sonoma gear you already own.

Pinky wrote:Don't buy anything yet! Harvard engineers have invented a new and improved smoker. It's designed to produce perfect results every time, and it's guaranteed to match all of the Williams & Sonoma gear you already own.

Ugh. They built a kamado smoker with a thermostat, and are testing it next to a pre-existing kamado smoker with what appears to be a pre-existing thermostat. They didn't invent anything.

I don't know what you're talking about. They invented something new for MIT engineers to laugh about.

Pinky wrote:I don't know what you're talking about. They invented something new for MIT engineers to laugh about.

hey! Nice prediction Pinko! I did laugh my ass off!

Big Green Egg is the gold standard of charcoal barbecues. I had one, but managed to smash it, and now this brand is not available in Australia anymore. The replacement - Chinese Camado - is bigger, even built more solidly BUT does not have the same aerodynamics. Coals take long time to heat up, while in The Egg it was literally 15 minutes.

The Gold Standard in BBQ is a sweaty 400lb black dude in front of a wood fired pit on which cooks a whole pig.