Smoker Question

H

Hornin Hong Kong

1,000+ Posts
I'm going to be flying to the US (Florida) in 2 weeks (I live in Hong Kongas an expat) and am going to buy a smoker. My wife got me a cheap cylindrical smoker and though cheap and crappy it's been fun smoking. I want to get a real smoker now.

I am seriously considering a BGE because of the favorable reviews I've seen and because It's easy to get lump charcoal here but:

1) How does it fare for smoking? I have a webber propane grill for grilling that works fine. I'm only interesed in smoking with the BGE. I read above some views that a non-offset smoker is less than optimal. Any anecdotes about smoking with a BGE wudl be great.

2) With a BGE do you use pieces of wood or do you use wood chips to smoke? I have a source of oak from some Canadians that bring over a conatiner every year.

It's a hassle to ship something so heavy so I only want to do it once. You have to ship to LA and hten freight forward it.

I'm also considering a Klose pit as well but the footprint of the BGE would be better for my reasonably limited space if it would work.

Price variance betwen the two is the least important issue.

Regards,

HiHK.
 
I got the BGE a month ago and am hooked. I never cooked with charcoal before, and it been easy with the BGE. It works great as a smoker. You use a ceramic plate setter between the grill and the fire to create indirect heat. I just did a pork butt yesterday in the BGE and it was in there for about 13 hours. Came out perfectly.

I use about 4 wood chunks when I smoke, but I think chips would work just as well.

Highly recommend the BGE.
 
I'd go with a bge, that will probably be my next purchase.

One consideration is the amount of cooking surface area. Bge is limited whereas an offset has tons of space. not sure how much food you wil be smoking. I don't need all that space so a bge would be fine for me
 
I have two Big Green Eggs --- a medium and a large. The BGE is great for smoking. Once you stabilize the temperature, it is dialed in and you won't have to make many, if any, adjustments. I can do an overnight cook of brisket or pork butt without having to wake up to add charcoal or adjust the air. The downside is cooking space, but if you use a raised grid for $5-10 extra, you can do two briskets at a time or do two butts and a brisket. And with a rib rack, I can do 5-6 racks at a time (some guy on the BGE site had pictures of him rolling up ribs and doing about 20-25 racks at a time). It's not as much space as many offsets, but it can do enough, and the results are very good.

You can use either wood chips or wood chunks. I've done both, and neither have been a problem.

Someone mentioned an Extra Large. If you'ge going to spend that money, I'd do a large and a medium. The XL model just uses huge amounts of charcoal. The L/M combination is much more flexible.

And perhaps the biggest surprise/advantage of the BGE is pizza. We probably do pizza once a month. The ceramic is like a brick oven, and it just ends up outstanding.
 
A Klose is a wood eater and time consumer. You will have to check the pit and feed the pit more often. Don't get me wrong, I love David and his pits and my next trailer pit may come from him.

I really think a large or XL BGE would be the pit of choice. I know people who set their BGE up, put a brisket on, and they have to check it one or maybe two times during the 15 hour smoke time. Based on what I know of you (granted, not alot), I would think you would love the BGE.
 
I've watched David Close have to tend "Bling" every 60-90 minutes on a few cooks so we'll have to agree to disagree.

That said, I love his pits, but I think Hornin would be better served with a BGE.
 
Thanks for all the help - there was another good thread on OB that turned me on to what I eventually got.

I got the Komodo Kamado 23 inch Gen 2.
The Link

It's like a BGE but sort of turbo charged.

It weighs 581 pounds. It is designed to last 'generations'. To be honest though the kicker was that it's made in Bali by a dude and they dont make many so their customer service is awesome. Speaking to the owner on his cell is pretty cool. He understands intl shipping so it was hassle free (free shipping from indonesia to hong kong)

I let my wife pick the color and the owner, Dennis had 6 ready to go - she picked one with special tile made by a french artist in Bali and the pictures look great.

They are putting it on a ship on tuesday so I should have it in a week. When it arrives I will put some pictures up.

I also got a stoker from Rocks barbecue as well

https://www.rocksbarbque.com/

This allows me to control temps completely and to monitor temp curves on my PC and change the temperature of the barbecue via my mobile phobe. It will also twitter me if the temps get out of range and cant cope.

It logs temps so you can get cool temp graphs on your pc

Ordered some wood chnks from smokinlicious (cant really get wood here)
The Link

Got a wireless meat theremometer from Oregon Scientific for when I'm not using the Stoker
The Link

Finally - got a thermapen - Dennis raved about it - for searing.
The Link

Did I spend some money? yes, but this was in lieu of buying a Porsche which I couldn't talk myself into so I SAVED money.

The KK is so good looking the wife couldnt say no.
 
Anybody who's selling smokers with a "Food Porn" link on his home page has got to be cool. Good luck with your smoking and let us know how it goes.

PS: now get the Porsche!
hookem.gif
 
Those KK's are sweet cookers, but MAN, talk about the BBQ you'd expect to see on the patio of the "Queer Eye For A Straight Guy" cast members!

biggrin.gif
 
It's too bad they don't have a Disco Komodo Kamado with disco ball mirrors all over it. Sweet thang that is for sure (the grill too).
 
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