New guy. Need help choosing new vice

Jump in head first and look at the products being built by Tuscaloosa Q, you'll be hooked and never have to upgrade!

Ron_L said:

I'm a little confused by this. I don't want to restart the UDS/WSM/PBC debate, but there is no more or less fire tending with the WSM, UDS or PBC. All three are designed to be easy to use and maintain temp. The UDS and WSM just give you more flexibility in choosing a cook temp, but once set, there is no fire tending.

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Not looking to start any of that again either so I will try to explain myself here.

What I was attempting to get across was that the PBC (at least in my view) is designed to be even more set and forget than a WSM or UDS. The PBC you light the charcoal, set it in the cooker, throw the meat in, put the lid on and your off and cooking. No temp gauges or tuning dials to mess with. Everything comes preset.

With a WSM and UDS on the other hand, as you pointed out, they are more flexible because they have temp gauges and tuning dials. You can dial in pretty much any temp one desires to cook at. IMHO there can be a learning curve to this. I think most folks will agree that getting a WSM or UDS up to temp and ready for meat takes some time and (very basic) know-how.

That leads me back to originally saying that the WSM and UDS are better for learning fire management and temp control than the PBC and the PBC is a good pit for learning to sit back and relax and learn to trust the pit to do its thing. Especially after some folks become so obsessed with keeping an exact temp (not saying its a bad thing at all) that they go bat sh*t crazy with temp controllers and probes that they turn their UDS or WSM into some mutant R2D2.

It also helps you learn the sight method of cooking BBQ. We all know that good BBQ is done when its done on its own time and that we can't strictly go by "time at a certain temp" when we are cooking up our favorite snacks. The PBC helps you learn this because you don't really know what exact temp its running at and thus you have to be on top of knowing what to look for in a done rack of ribs (pull back/bend test) or pork butt (bone wiggle). Can you learn that on a WSM or UDS too? Absolutely. I just personally feel that a PBC is a more forceful tool to learn it on, on account of the lack of temp gauges. Not saying it makes it better or worse. Just different.

Just my humble (and hopefully not offensive to anyone) $.02

I started on a Weber Kettle. Started just as a griller and then began doing indirect on it and really sparked my interest in smoking. So glad it happened! Good luck and welcome.

RClark115 said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The idea of making a UDS is really intriguing to me. I found a small cheap nameless vertical on Craigslist I may pick up this weekend to tinker with in the interim. Thanks again, and I know I will be back asking questions throughout the build. The hardest part is finding the drum, as they're not readily available as it appears right now.

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If a UDS is on your list...Here is an ad for drums for sale near you...$20 to get the project going...

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/grd/4128998003.html

RClark115 said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The idea of making a UDS is really intriguing to me. I found a small cheap nameless vertical on Craigslist I may pick up this weekend to tinker with in the interim. Thanks again, and I know I will be back asking questions throughout the build. The hardest part is finding the drum, as they're not readily available as it appears right now.

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If it's a Brinkman sealed at bottom follow this guys mods:
http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm

If it's open bottom I'd pass. Air intake control = Temp Control

Rclark115,

Welcome to the family. I started off with a cookshack a few years ago as charcoal was a little intimidating. When I finally took the plunge I started with a weber otg and still think it was the best choice. Only regret was I bought new and not on craigslist.

If you do go the otg route definitely get a performer. On craigslist they are between $100 - $150

Good luck

I've never made or owned one, so I will defer to the UDS pros...there are many, many, many threads on the prep work required...Good Luck...

A good hot burn out or two and scrub job and you'll be good.