GURU on Chargriller Outlaw or similar ??? Has anyone here ....

The Guru on a Chargriller will help stabilize the temperature but will not preclude you from firetending time. If you do not want to tend the smoker your egg is the best solution and the chargriller would be one of the worst.

Q_Egg said:

..... used one with success on a griller/smoker of this type ??

All here have been most helpful on my previous Threads but there is a monstrous gap between well-liked products like Chargriller Outlaw (~$200.) and Lang or Klose equivalents at $1,100. to $1,300. +++. I think Outlaw can do my job with something like the GURU to reduce firetending time. I can live with a bit of excess lump/wood burning for the large cost difference.

Many ceramic cooker users seem impressed by the GURU, but I have not heard much from more traditional smoker users.

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There are a couple of threads regarding Guru use and the Bandera. With a Guru, 10 CFM fan, Spicewine basket (best money spent) and some foil for the side-door, I can get six to eight hours of 225* without having to touch anything.

Perhaps an Ole Hickory or Southern Yankee Commercial Smoker. They have them in most Q restaurants. Just go to your local chain restaurant and buy some BBQ. You'll never have to tend the fire there...

Tom,

I am sorry about being blunt but Mista is right. BBQ is all about tending the fire, picking the right spices and knowing how to cook low and slow. If you don't like tending the fire, the art of cooking low and slow may not be for you. Your only other alternative may be a pellet smoker like the cookshack FEC100.

doh!

I know i Enjoy waking up at 4 am to start a fire and crack open a fresh miller lite and getting pumped up about tending my pit all day sittin outside under the sun adjusting the smoker everynow and then and shovin logs in there to feed the fire that will produce some awesome bbq, and the feeling of knowing im plumb worn out had half drunk at 6pm when i pull that brisket off the pit and everyone is sittin around waiting to eat it .. makes it worth every minute i was outside fighting fire

If you're looking for painless "set and forget" cooking get something like the Cookshack - load the meat, fill the chipbox, set the thermostat and come back in a few hours...nothing wrong with that.

Putting a Guru on a backyard smoker is like putting fuel injection on a Chrysler "K" car -- it'll work but you'll still have a "K" car.

I meant to type this last night, but fell asleeep, then come in this moning and it seems alot of the guys said it...

You entered into an interactive hobby... You gotta particiapte beyond preparing the meat. the level of participation is where we draw our lines.

Stick burning is therapy to some.(im one of them)... We get to chop wood, and sling an ax and play with fire, get all smokey, get covered with soot... and drink... and no one yells at us.. (Except when you wake up from a battle nap on an all night cook and theres a soot pile on the white egyption cotten pillow case and the wife goes off on you. Not that that has happened to me or anything).. then theres the "do u want to come shopping?(on a saturday afternoon) question from the better half. We have the ultimate excuse to NOT have to do anything..."I can't, i got stuff in the pit" is one of my favorite lines on that saturday afternoon. I dont have to go shop, and i get rewarded for it in the form of beer and bbq.

My point below is(this is one mans opinion), theres a few forms of cookers.. each with different characteristics, no matter what you do, they will still have those same characteristics. Trying to change those characteristics drastically is like Chad says, turbo charging a K-car.

Maybe consider putting the combined funds of the guru and chargriller into a higher end pit.. Brinkman has some 500-1000 dollar models.

Here my view of the bridges...

* no or minimal input like the Pellet cookers, Cookshacks and Fast eddys.. Even your green egg is minimal. You pretty much set and forget. The FE needs some tending. (KC can elaborate on that. Im no expert there).

*Then theres the propane and electric models. I think one of the better ones is Great Outdoors smokers.. Alot to choose form at Home depot, lowes and costco. these use gas or electric for heat and a smoke box of woodchips or pellets for smoke.. they require very little work.

* - Some input like the WSM's and Kettles they can go for 8-12 hours with a little stir or fidlling every few hours, but dont need much refueling..

* - high end stick burners like the Klose, Langs, etc.. My BYC can go for 2-3 hours at a clip just using logs if I plan it like that.. or 4-6 hours if I use a basket.

* the backyard models like the bandera and chargrillers... the need tending every 45 minutes. once u get the hang of it you can stretch it to 60-90. If you really want extended burns in thos you NEED a charcoal basket..

Tom,

That "All night long" is the price we pay for good Que. BBQ is low and SLOW. No getting around the slow in BBQ. I was serious when I said you should look into a pellet smoker. They are pretty much load the hopper with wood pellets, set the thermostat and away you go. They can actually make some pretty good Que. Take a look at some of the following:

Traeger: http://www.traegerindustries.com/grill3.htm

Smith & Wesson: http://www.smithwessongrills.com/38spec.html

Robidoux: http://www.robidouxinc.com/product/productdetail.asp?pcid=3&pid=193

Not to pile on, but building and tending fire is what separates the purist from everyone else. The purist understands the skill and physical effort that goes into producing real bbq. An experienced purist excels at heat control and fuel consumption, and can produce fine product with even the most primitive gear. Tending fire for long cooks necessarily includes interrupted sleep. My pit is inside my screened cooking porch where I sleep in a hammick for long cooks. Aint nothing like a good sleeping bag and a hammick while tending a long cook in the middle of winter, accept that ragged old mattress at the duck camp.

queball said:

Not to pile on, but building and tending fire is what separates the purist from everyone else. The purist understands the skill and physical effort that goes into producing real bbq. An experienced purist excels at heat control and fuel consumption, and can produce fine product with even the most primitive gear. Tending fire for long cooks necessarily includes interrupted sleep. My pit is inside my screened cooking porch where I sleep in a hammick for long cooks. Aint nothing like a good sleeping bag and a hammick while tending a long cook in the middle of winter, accept that ragged old mattress at the duck camp.

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Well said, Que!

Yep, there's nothin' like an over night cook to take what ever trouble I thought I was havin' and totally replace it with smoke & fire and some good eats. I just wish I had more time to sit back and just tend those nice long sessions.

Like Pooh & others said layin' down smelling like smoke, covered with soot, full of fresh q, nothin better for my soul.

God Bless BBQ and the Brethren.

Thank you Brother Mista. Can I get an AMEN and a HALLALUGH my Brothers!