What wins - smoker wise?

[deguerre]

Sarge, I agree with Chris; no need to appologize.

The set-it-and-forget-it fans have their points. I'm sure we all feel that
we might make better decisions with a few more hours of sleep.

The stick burner fans have their points too.

I have a stick burner and really enjoy it. One of the things I enjoy is
a well smoked piece of meat, and from what I've seen/tasted, you can
get a little more smoke flavor in the meat with a stick burner, if you
so desire it to be so.

I actually enjoy the fire management, even if it means staying up all
night. To me, personally, this is part of the enjoyment of it all. I dont
think the pellet poopers should be "outlawed" nor do I feel that they have
some advantage, other than perhaps they've slept longer.

As far as fuel consumption goes, while I probably wouldn't mind having
a nice Stumps, I wouldn't trade my Lang for a Stumps for the reason
of saving fuel.

Best of luck; smoke on brother.

Confess. You just enjoy the extra drinking time.

 

[Alexa RnQ]

the answer is jambo pits and fe100s just look at the top 25

now maybe its also the cook

Revisiting this topic, since the OP we cooked in a little shootout in August with many of the top 25, and yes, there were no fewer than eight rigs there that cost at least four times what our entire camp did.

Nobody told our WSMs that was supposed to make a difference.

So, are those cookers really a silver bullet, or is it just that as a cooker gains more experience and gets better they tend to buy shinier toys?

 

[JD McGee]

the answer is jambo pits and fe100s just look at the top 25

now maybe its also the cook

I would love to have a Jambo and an FEC100 for catering...one to cook on (FEC100) and one for show (Jambo)...but...WSM's are my weapon of choice for comps. They got us to The Jack this year! Then again...maybe it was the cook...:twisted:

 

[Candy Sue]

Yes, but even if you have an FEC100 and a Jambo and WSMs, the cooker doesn't mean anything if the cook is having a bad year.

I know this personally!

 

[SmokinCW]

The discussion is helpful for those thinking of buying a pit, especially for those who may want to jump into the world of comps. I would like to see more info on the equipment used by winning teams.

 

[BBQchef33]

I see a pellet pooper more of an oven with the ability to put smoke in the meat. They will be more consistent with the heat without the jumps and slumps in temps as teh stick burners so should be able to control your product a little more. It just gives you another option of a way to go.

im going ot go offtopic jsut for a second to share somethign i have been meaning to post.

We use 2 cookers at contests.. A spicewine and an FEC100. We start all the meats in the spicewine. Big meats go in at around 8PM. They stay there until we are ready to crash(around 2Am). We then move them to the FE where the will stay until done. At around 7 ribs go in the spicewine chicken at at 9 and the shuttle to the FE later also.

so we use the Spice to lay the smoke down, and then the (so we thought) consistantr temps of the FE to finish, which allows us to tend to other things. I wills say, the FE allows you to pay more attention to the little details while its babysitting for u.

Now the discovery..

We used the stoker to monitor temps overnight.. (no blower, just pit temps). We load the Spice with a big load of lump and logs, lock it in and let it coast. We set the FE to its target temp and let it coast.

The stokerlog is displayed on the TV screen in the trailer with the graph showing the 2 pits behaviors. each pit has its own line on the graph.

Over the course of 6-8 hours, the spicewine, running on a large lump load and logs will maintain a rock solid straight line with nearly ZERO fluctuations... as fuel load declines, a slight downward slope forms and its fixed with a damper adjustment or a shake of the firegrate.

Now the good part... The fast eddie kicked my ass the first time I saw this, and it HAS BEEN Consistant over many several cooks. (and Mike lake saw it and nearly cracked up laughing).. The graphed line representing the fast eddie looked like the teeth on a sawsall blade.. with CONSISTANT temp fluctuations spaced evenly apart with approximatly a 15 degree swing. 250, 240, 255, 250, 240, 255

So here I am staring at 2 unattended cookers, one rock solid and one with 15 degree swing temps.. and realizing that meat dont care what temps you cook it at within temp ranges. All that changes based on temps, is time its finished. I'm not saying 225 and 350 gives same results, but what this does do is make me question the importance of consistent temperature in your final product.

Nothing more than a discovered anomaly im sharing.. found it interesting the way the FE behavied.. does it change anything.. nope..


Ok.. back on topic.
:becky:



BTW, we are heading to the Royal with 2 WSMS and an FE... Leaving the spicewine home to cut 900lbs off towing weight. If I can find a stickburner thats under 400 lbs, I'd bring that.

its the cook, not the cooker.

 

[rescue_ranger]

one of my favorit grills is the Char-Broil outlaw with the side box, for the WV pickin in the Panhandel I used 2 of my outlaws and 2 Char-Grill Smoking Pros with the side box I love the way these cook and with a few modifications rubber wheels, better therm's and a fan kit they are killer, but like the others have said you can have a $20,000 dollar rig or a few hundred in backyard modified rigs ethier on will burn your meat to a hockey puck just as good it is all in the cook
RR

 

[QansasjayhawQ]

This kind of reminds me of the discussion about which computer is better. Really, as everyone has said, it's the tool that you know how to use the best that produces the best results. And that tool is most likely the one you've used the most while developing your skills.

That being said . . . there are advantages with certain styles of smokers and fuel used, etc. Having used a smoker that I had to stay awake with and feed every hour on the hour vs. a smoker that will run with consistent temps for well over eight hours . . . I like being able to sleep at least a couple of hours in a row.

Which one will win? There's no way to tell, but I do know that you will do your best with the one you know how to use the best.

 

[TN_BBQ]

anybody see the final episode of Pitmasters on TV?

How many think the whole hogs those folks were cooking on those homemade cinderblock pits were worth eating (I sure do)?

So...I'd say a good cook can make good BBQ on almost anything.

 

[Bigmista]

The best smoker is the one that the winning cook is comfortable with.