Help me pick a smoker

C

chuychanga

500+ Posts
I'm getting myself a smoker for Father's Day. My budget is around $200-$250. I'm a novice. I'd probably never cook more than a brisket and a rack of ribs on it. Maybe a turkey. But I'd never be cooking a huge spread for a lot of people.

Here's what I'm looking at. Tell me what you'd get and why:

Weber Smokey Mountain
Sounds easy to use. I already have another grill, so grilling on the smoker is a non-factor to me.

Char-Griller Smokin' Outlaw
Cheaper, but I'm not sure cheap is the best option here. What makes the other smokers better than this one?

New Braunfels Hondo Deluxe
I'm assuming this is better than the Char-Griller, but I'm only basing that on price. Is it?

What are the advantages of on offest over the WSM. Is it hard to get the temp right on an offset and keep it there?

The ones at Academy have the advantage of me being able to see them in person and picking it up the same day. I hear so much about the WSM, but I can't find them in Austin. I'd have to order it, but based on what I've read I'm willing to do that based on the collective Hornfans expertise and recommendation.

Thanks.
 
For $200-$250 your choice is a low end sidebox model or a WSM, and being in your shoes I chose the WSM. Order it from Amazon, free delivery, no tax.

As you've read elsewhere, it's the easiest damn thing to keep a constant temperature. It's very portable, small footprint, and comes with a cover.

You indicated you are a novice and dont need much cooking space - it's a no-brainer. Get the WSM and you'll be very happy with it.
 
Stretch your budget a little bit & get a Bandera (also @ Academy). You will thank me later.

You can grill & smoke for as little as 6 or smoke for up to 60.

The only slight hiccup is the firewood rack on the ash pan side - it's a bit low & needs longer legs.

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I agree with Rox... the New Braunfels Bandera is the way to go for the money. $249 at Academy. Vertical chamber promotes even smoking and it holds a fair amount of meat. (almost 1,000 sq. inches of cooking surface). WSM seems good, but you want more capacity than a bullet smoker... right?
 
Yeah, the Bandera is in the mix too.

Have you had to do any modifications to it? I've been reading all afternoon from the SmokeRing forums and there are a lot of threads detailing simple and cheap mods to the Chargriller to make it better. I was pretty much sold on the idea of a WSM, but now the idea of cooking more and for bigger groups is starting to win out.

Why is the Char Griller so cheap? I don't want to buy a piece of crap, but at the same time, I'd like to start small and upgrade to a high quality grill once I cut my teeth for a while.

If I buy a WSM or the Bandera, it leaves me no cash to buy accesories right away. Thermometer, chimney, etc...

I'm making my decision by tomorrow morning and smoking something on Saturday regardless!

By the way, Ace Hardware will order a WSM for $249 and charge no shipping either. They get a truck from Weber every Thursday. A Wednesday order will get it on the truck the next day.
 
Well, he said $ two - fitty on the Bandera, so that is right in your price range. I just called Academy on Brodie Lane & they confirmed that figure (add tax).
Yes, you will need longer legs on the firebox wood support due to the ash buildup. & If you want, tap a hole in a corner on the base of the smokebox & insert something for a drain nut (the smoker will need to be angled or run off level for this operation).

PS: This is THE chimney starter you want. Sure, you can drill holes higher up in the walls of your current or el cheapo starter (that is a great benefit if the product you put in there gets too tightly packed & air doesn't flow), however it's that PLUS the 2nd handle that make this one the better choice.
83627aab-6d25-4780-9e4e-044c6a736908_300.jpg

$ 13.00 + tax @ Big Orange Box.

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WSM won out. I ordered it this morning.

I didn't want to get rid the grill I already have and there's just not enough room on my porch for two big rigs. Thanks for all the advice everyone. Father's Day Cookout photos to follow...

Now for you WSM'ers:
What kind of thermometer set-up do you use? I'm thinking about getting a Polder dual probe, one for the meat and one for the cooking surface.
 
Good choice!

Dual-probe is the way to go. I had a wireless one for a while, but it broke after being rained on. It never worked well anyway. I'll probably get a non-wireless one again soon. For now, I have a regular thermometer at the top vent and just use a regular meat thermometer.
 
I use an off the shelf thermometer stuck through the top vent. I'm not too worried about being too precise on each rack. My tip for you is ignore the cooking instructions provided in the owners manual and check out the virtual weber bullet page on the interweb.

Also - if you wrap the drip pan in extra wide heavy duty foil on each cook your clean up is a breeze.

A full ring of unlit coals plus about 15 lit briquets will give you 12+ hours smoking at a steady 325 - 350 temp. And a good night sleep.

Happy smoking.
 
Congrats!

I purchased a WSM a few weeks ago when Amazon was running their $179 special. I'm a novice smoker but have been really pleased with the results so far. I smoked a pork butt (overnight) and a couple of whole chickens and they tasted great. It's really easy to use and pretty hard to screw up.

I second the recommendation of the Virtual Weber site - it's a great resource and is one of the reasons I chose the WSM.

As for temperature control, I mounted a thermometer on the lid (per the Virtual web site) and purchased an instant read thermometer. I purchased the mounted thermometer from this site:

Tel-Tru

and this instant read thermometer:

CDN Digital Thermometer

I tried a cheaper mounted thermometer from Academy but it was not accurate at all so I returned it and bought the Tel-Tru. It was more expensive but it's much better quality.

I also replaced the Weber water pan with the larger Brinkmann charcoal pan (also sold at Academy). The larger capacity means you don't have to worry about replenishing the water supply during longer smokes (or so says the Virtual Weber site).

Happy smoking!
 
Thanks guys!

Been to the Virtual Weber site quite a bit and am definitely using their method for set-up, Minion method, etc... Going to augment their cooking instructions with a mixture of advice and techniques from various threads here.

Going balls to the wall right out of the gate on Saturday. First cook will be a brisket followed by some ribs.
 
I had the same thought as you, Mea. 225 - 250 for 12+ w/ a full ring of briquets is what I get. Unless maybe he's using a lot less water in the pan than I am (I fill mine to @ the start but have yet to add more during a smoke).

I can get it up to 350 but that involves keeping the vents on full & leaving the door off, but I've only run this way for a 10-15 minutes at a time when I'm trying to raise the temp.
 
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