Ready to upgrade

lkissell said:

As Ron L mentions, people will recommend what they own.

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Ron L is always brilliant when he copies off my paper...:boxing:

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I actually Don’t Own any of the Ones I Listed.......

Meadowcreek makes a good cabinet smoker

Just trying to help - I read the pellet grills have maintenance involved, how often does stuff break? I also read that on a 14 hour cook it can use 30lbs of pellets - is that true.
I have had my WSM for like 10 years, this year I added a Digi Q unit and I can set it and walk away - really. Sleep all night and it's automatically controlled
I thought about doing what you are thinking of and couldn't justify it once I did some reading, spend 200 bucks on the Temp controller. Yoder and Tex Rec have insulated covers that go over their pellet grills (I am sure others do as well). You can get one for the WSM for like 100 bucks, so 300 vs 3000 - just saying

I looked long and hard at pellet smokers before I decided on the Assassin......I came with one millimeter of ordering a Yoder pellet smoker.

DISCLAIMER HERE: I'm not slagging on pellet smokers at all, but what swayed my decision was moving parts......gives me the heebie jeebies on long run reliability.

They wear out and can fail. I chose the Assassin because it has no moving parts. I wanted bullet-proof reliability. If the supplied IQ120 controller quits, I can get another one, but I have no worries about my cooker quitting.

For $4K I got both a LSG PeeWee and an Assassin 48 Grill/Smoker. Far more versatile (and fun) with two units than one.

SmittyJonz said:

Or get a Humphrey’s from what’s his face in New Jersey and order a RecTec

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It's Mr. Whatshisface to you....

but yes that's my Battle Box for sale in NJ... PM me if you are interested!

Smoking Piney said:

swayed my decision was moving parts......

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Same here - seems like too many fail point possibilities.

I can't speak towards any of the options you are leaning towards, but in our cold Minnesota winters, I have the LGS large IVS and it works like a charm. I preheat with a weed burner to save on some startup charcoal and once up to temp, it will hold rock steady for as long as I want in zero degre temperatures. And they have three sizes to pick from. The build quality is impeccable and produces high quality food with little to no input. Just my two cents, thanks!

For your budget you could get a really nice used Cookshack FEC-100 or FEC-120. Small footprint and huge capacity, plus you can always find quality pellets. I've had mine for five years and while I have a spare auger pin, draft fan, and ignitor on hand "just in case", the originals are still going strong and I have had ZERO problems or issues. Oh, and it's also insulated so no problems cooking in cold weather.

https://www.charcoalstore.com/colle...fec100-iq5-font-smoker-b-br-stainless-steel-p

I vote cabinet and avoid the rabbit pellets. I am a fan of the Backwoods and would really like the G2 Fatboy. I have had my WSM for 10 years and love it, but if I could get the FB it would be for sale in a heartbeat. Just my .02 Pesos

Would you consider upgrading the wsm with a few mods like the insulated blanket and an automatic temp controller or are you set on a new type of smoker? That bbq guru shotgun looks like it might be good but that's just from their advertisement.

Bholt2 said:

Is there a reason poeple like the insulated box smoker over the gravity fed? I was assuming the gravity fed would be less work. Which I know some people like the “work”, but having two kids and a wife...I’m looking for something that takes a bit of time to get running, maybe a check in or two during the cook, and then an easy cleanup. So was expecting lots of comments about gravity smokers.

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I've heard theories that people prefer gravity fed over cabinets because you don't have to reload during cooks, I don't buy into that theory.
With my cabinet I could run for two days straight before reloading fuel. With my cabinet I load the wood chunks in the basket with the charcoal and never have to load wood chunks during a cook. Guys with the gravity feeds are placing wood chunks in the ash tray every so often(running the risk of spiking temps depending on how long the door is open) or they will load them in the chute. The one thing that concerns me with a gravity feed is the bridging of fuel in the chute and typically the bottom rack running much hotter than the rest of the racks. I've read where bridging can be problematic for some and no problem for others, I just didn't want to take the chance.
As far as work, once my cooker is to temp I walk away and don't return until my remote thermometer tells me the meat is done.

I just came full circle back to a 22 WSM after owning a Hunsaker, Rec Tec, LSG IVC and Shirley FAB the last few years. WSM is rock solid. All of them made excellent food. Including the pellet, however, it was my least favorite.