Smoker Opinions and Options

HankB said:

I have Bear Paws and seldom use them. I have some Raichlen gloves that I use a lot.

Amazon.com : Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Insulated Food Gloves (Pair) - SR8037 : Outdoor Cooking Gloves : Patio, Lawn & Garden

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I use the Steve Raichlen gloves too for taking hot meat off the grill.

eddiek2000 said:

Thanks for all of the good info guys. I pulled the trigger on a 22.5" WSM. Another q though, What is everyone using to pick up their meat when in the smoker? Gloves, Bear Paws, etc...

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I think that was a good choice. They are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and produce great Q. I have both the 18.5" and the 22.5" WSMs, and definitely prefer the 22.5". Much easier to fit ribs and briskets on.

Ag76 said:

I use the Steve Raichlen gloves too for taking hot meat off the grill.

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I use the gloves too, but also WITH the paws to lift pork butts off my WSM. The claws dip between the grates and under the butts to give me a better lift with LESS chance of "butt drop".:mrgreen:

Now, as far as the paws go for their intended purpose.....haven't used them more than twice when I had more than 5 butts worth of bbq to shred fast.

Usually my hands, but im a mechanic by trade my mits are built into my hands, i have a pair of insulated food gloves for pulling meat apart though. Bear claws would work exept if you had foiled products on there you would tear through it and have jusces everywhere

you guys are really making me want that WSM 22.5! I'm just not sure if i will be able to tend to it. i mean i am a complete noob when it comes to smoking… i do like to do things the right way first time around, so I'm worried if i do go with a gas and never learn to burn the sticks then ill be lacking in my skills down the line. i am super glad i found this forum though and registered.. i can tell i will learn a lot!

Smokebloke said:

you guys are really making me want that WSM 22.5! I'm just not sure if i will be able to tend to it. i mean i am a complete noob when it comes to smoking… i do like to do things the right way first time around, so I'm worried if i do go with a gas and never learn to burn the sticks then ill be lacking in my skills down the line. i am super glad i found this forum though and registered.. i can tell i will learn a lot!

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Go with the WSM. You wont regret it after you taste the food from it. Once you get the hang of it you will never look at gas again

Smokebloke said:

you guys are really making me want that WSM 22.5! I'm just not sure if i will be able to tend to it. i mean i am a complete noob when it comes to smoking… i do like to do things the right way first time around, so I'm worried if i do go with a gas and never learn to burn the sticks then ill be lacking in my skills down the line. i am super glad i found this forum though and registered.. i can tell i will learn a lot!

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Just get it! There's nothing that the Brethren can't talk you through. The WSM makes it easy. I wasted way too much time worrying about getting it right when I should have been cooking! All the info you'll ever need is here. There are a ton of videos on YouTube as well.

Just follow Ron's advice here...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=948954&postcount=10

And use the Roadmap to read up a bit on what you're cooking...*

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7818

Get a Maverick 733 and start cooking! Ive got less than 10 cooks experience on my WSM and on my last few, my tools of choice were The WSM, my Lazyboy, a 6 pack, my iPad opened to this forum and my Maverick remote! :grin:

eddiek2000 said:

I am jonsing to get this thing. Planning on a break in smoke on Weds and smoke some beer can chicken on Thursday and maybe some ribs next weekend. It's gonna be fun!!

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The number one skill is patience IMO. When you get your new WSM it'll be VERY hard to wait till she's ready for you to put the food on, but you MUST wait till the white smoke settles and you have a thin blue smoke that barely visible.

Only reason I'm harping on it right now before you even have your new toy is that you said you were making chicken. And brother if there's one thing you'll learn is that chicken and other birds take smoke VERY easily. If you lay the white smoke to your bird you won't be as happy as you'd have been if you put it on after the smoker had settled in.

If you get a stickburner, get this... http://www.nodoz.com/index.shtml :-D

I have purchased and given away numerous cheap smokers. When I buy cheap, I am never happy with how the cooker works. I finally learned my lesson and now just bite the bullet and purchase quality. It is cheaper to buy a good cooker than 2 or 3 cheap ones. (But now I have 6 cookers and love each and every one).

I know it is above your stated price range, but you should consider a Cookshack electric smoker. They are outstanding quality. Best feature is the insulation, giving you a more constant cooking temperature and a cooker that you can still use in the dead of winter.

I just looked at a Masterbuilt yesterday, and laughed out loud. The quality of that thing was a small fraction of my 20 year old Cookshack (only replaced a thermostat in all that time).

30 day money back guarantee. If you do not like it for ANY reason, send it back for a full refund.

But be careful. You will be so successful at creating quality Q that the next thing you know you are going to be buying another cooker to compete with.... :grin:

eddiek2000 said:

Great advice. Exactly what my plan is. I just need to modify my WSM, when it arrives, to have holes for the probes.

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Eddie,

If you are buying new, they should have the rubber boot to allow you to push through multiple probes. It has a single hole at the top that someone here taught me to just push my pit temp probe into. Below that is a slotted line that I push my meat temp probe and my Pitmaster IQ120 probes through if I am using them.

I bought the latch you referenced, but have not been able to figure out how to put it together. It does not come with instructions, and I am not very mechanically inclined.

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AG76, look at page 6 and 9 of the attached PDF. If you need any more help, let me know...

Sorry, didn't spend much time online yesterday.. Oh well, spare parts...

eddiek2000 said:

The minion method has you put wood throughout the charcoal (3 pieces or so). Doesn't it start white smoking again when a new piece starts burning? Or is the white smoke just related to getting up to temp and wood burning?

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Funny thing about that. It does juuuust a bit. But, since the air and fire are controlled the wood chunks get heated so they ignite fairly clean.

Your heaviest smoke SHOULD be at the start as it settles in. I say "should" because after you do this stuff for a while you learn to never say never.:mrgreen:

In the end it's about keeping your food from long periods of dirty smoke. A little here and there won't show up too much in taste or presentation, but we strive for perfection....always. And that's what makes it interesting.

I skimmed through this thread and haven't seen anything about kamados -- if I missed a post, I apologise. One thing to consider, eddiek2000, is whether you want to smoke meat in winter. If you get bit by the smoke bug hard enough and are on the tough side, you'll want to choose a smoker that will server you well in the dead of winter. I have a kamado, I live in Ontario, Canada, and I can smoke anything any time of the year. You don't have to put out as much cash as Big Green Egg or Primo, some of my US brothers have been finding Vision kamados at Costco less that $500 and one found one for $3XX and something. I love my charcoal-fired Vision kamado, it's fantastic and very close to set it and forget it. Short learning curve, too. First time I used it I won a Throwdown. The cheaper Vision kamados my US brothers bought didn't come with the lava smoking stone but I think they are available now to order from Vision. You can McGyver your own, too, there's a thread for it, just think twice about any mods that could void your warranty. If I didn't have a kamado I would build a UDS, probably still will in the future. We have a brother in Alaska that gets great charcoal efficiency on his UDS at -40'F. I started off with a COS and hated it, it took way too much time fiddling. Like you, I don't have time for that and would smoke very little if I had to fiddle and babysit for a significant amounts of time. I've never used a WSM so I can't weigh in on that, but I do know someone that bought a kamado and sold their WSM shortly after.