What's your "Go-To"?

[Evilsports]

In hopes of clarifying the roles of different cooking methods ie UDS, Komodo, Offset, etc., would you guys mind answering a couple questions?


-What stove do you find yourself gravitating towards when you want cook something substantial (briskets, shoulders, ribs)?

-What are your other options (if any)?

-Why do you use this particular unit, as opposed to another?

-If you could add one unit to your BBQ "stable", what would it be and why?


Thanks in advance for helping us new suckers narrow things down.
Kevin.

[Bludawg]

If I have time to dedicate to a cook my Stick burner if not he UDS or the Weber OTS.

Official I want list
ABS Allstar
PK Grill

[Ron_L]

Honestly, I enjoy cooking on a variety of cookers. That's why I have so many

If you make me choose, it goes like this...

Every day grilling (burgers, chops, sausages, chicken pieces, etc) - Memphis Pro or Weber Kettle
Steaks and pizzas - Big Green Egg
Briskets, Butts and Ribs - FEC-100 with Backwoods Party a close second
Roasts, whole chicken, turkeys, etc. - Big Green Egg

[jmoney7269]

Definitely my uds. Uses so little fuel and makes damn tasty food. Dont even need to add any wood. Nice clean BBQ flavor

[flyingbassman5]

Originally Posted by Evilsports

-What stove do you find yourself gravitating towards when you want cook something substantial (briskets, shoulders, ribs)?

In my current arsenal? The Pit Barrel hands down. Its so easy to use and turns out an awesome pork butt for pulled pork. Haven't done a brisket on it yet but the time is coming to make that step. The UDS and the Coleman are my two rib cookers. The one that gets used depends on how many racks I am cooking. The Coleman can fit one and a half racks on one of two grates if the racks are cut in half. The UDS takes em whole with 3 able to fit on each grate for a total of 6 at one time. Not a huge fan of PBC ribs for some reason, though I've only done them on it once.

Originally Posted by Evilsports

-What are your other options (if any)?

Other options are in the signature; OTG 22.5" weber kettle and a OTS 18.5" Budweiser edition Weber kettle.

Originally Posted by Evilsports

-Why do you use this particular unit, as opposed to another?

PBC? Ease of use, and good fuel mileage

Originally Posted by Evilsports

-If you could add one unit to your BBQ "stable", what would it be and why?

Without a doubt, a trailer mounted Lang 60 Deluxe or a Meadow Creek TS120. Really, some type of quality RF that is large enough to cook for a ~100 person party, is competition worthy and ready, tow-able by a smaller size pickup, and still small enough to be fired up on the weekends to cook 3 or 4 slabs of spares while me and the guys watch the Sunday Sprint Cup race.

[cowgirl]

I definitely use one of my drums for most cooks, briskets, pork butts & ribs. For larger amounts I use my horizontal wood burner or cinderblock pit.

Like Ron L, I have a variety of cookers and love them all.

[HankB]

What Ron said.

For grilling, the most used would be my SS Performer. For smoking it would be my mini-WSM. Anything that doesn't fit in the mini goes either into the 18 WSM or 22 WSM. Specifically, briskets in the mini, butts and ribs in the 18 WSM and if I have more or bigger, in the 22.

Other alternatives I have include a 26.75 kettle, 18 kettle, other 22 kettles, a couple gassers and a lodge Sportsman's grill. They're all fun to use!

Not sure what I would add. I already have an extensive collection. I might go with some kind of Kamado since I don't have anything like that. Or maybe a stick burner. Someone listed a New Braunfels smoker recently for $30 and I tried to get that. For $30 it would have been something interesting to try.

[jimbloomfield]

We use our MAK pellet grill the most. Big reason is ease of use. When time permits (aka I think ahead) the drum will be used providing plans are to cook under 325 degrees. Or use both.

[FireNorm]

I 'grill' steak with my Weber,
I 'bbq' ribs with my Weber,
I 'smoke' fatties , chicken, ribs, and burgers, with my Weber:

[Texas Turtle]

I am tending more and more toward the WSM for most cooks, unless I need more capacity. With the IQUE110, it's pretty much set it and forget it so I can do other things like mow the yard (big yard) without worrying about temp spikes. If I have time to invest, I really enjoy cooking on the offset. That feels like old style hands-on BBQ to me.

[Teamfour]

Backwoods for everything except chicken - UDS for chicken. I do fire up the offset every once in a while just to keep in practice.

[aawa]

I use my kettle for spatchcocked chicken, ribs, and general grilling. My mini's see a lot of action if it is pork butt and chicken wings. Now that my UDS is built, I will use that for ribs, brisket, and if I need to cook large amounts of food. I still plan on using my mini's when i'm just cooking normal amounts of meat and will still use my kettle for spatchcocked chicken.

[J-Rod]

Lately my go to has been my horizontal 55gal drum grill/smoker. After a few recent mods this thing has become a Q machine, and its especially great for indirect cooking and reverse searing since the coals are right there on one side ready for a grate to be slid over them. A close second would be my UDS with grill option, that thing is an awesome cooker, especially in ****ty weather! Third is my wee little travel pal, the mini WSM. I take it with me when I go on dirt bike trips and to family functions to make tasty appetizers etc. I also own an Akorn, and while its a great cooker, I just don't find myself bonding with it like I have the cookers I've built myself and its gathering dust. There's just something special about cooking in old drums that you've built yourself!

[Wampus]

Depends on what I'm cooking and how much.

I love the BGE and BSK for grilling anything or hot smoking poultry.
This weekend I'll be using the UDS because I need to cook 8 butts. I may even put the BGE to use as well to have a sort of "side by side" experiment.
The performer and OTS are great for portability.
The stick burner hasn't been used much for a long time. I just don't have time to babysit it much anymore. Too many other things going on in my life right now.
The ECB has been neglected lately too. Perhaps I'll put it to use with the UDS this weekend?

[Drunk Monkey]

I use my Vision Kamado for almost everything. It is so easy to start up and temp control is a snap.

If I need more space (Fajitas) I use my Weber 22 OTG. I also have the rotisserie for the Weber.

If I could add something it would probably be a 48" Lang. I have no experience with a stick burner but it looks fun.