Hi all,
Short term lurker, hopefully long time contributor. My bbq/grilling background is in direct-flame cooking and anything that spins. Argentine Parillo/South African Braai, Rodizio, foukou, santa maria, souvlaki, shish, mangal, you get it. That being said, I absolutely love brisket (both "fresh" and corned for pastrami) off a good old fashioned american smoker. When ever I do a brisket, I always throw in a chicken, sometimes a duck, but the only time it gets turned on is for brisket.
My journey to this question started about 20 years ago. I started with vertical electric (HORRIBLE, was in college), moved to WSM knock-off (ok result, still in college), stick burner (HATE, hand-out very end of college), MES30 (after college but after a 9 year smoking break -- it produced the best brisket I have ever made, it wobbled, no one spoke during dinner, it was great, so was the brisket!) and right now a pit boss 820 (which I picked up for ~$300 - the most expensive of the bunch). I got good results from the pellet and without doubt I used it much more often then any of the other grill due to its ease.
Please believe me when I tell you to believe the next line without question. The new smoker I need needs to be a cabinet (it is a design/space thing), tall and narrow but can be deep. So this is where the journey begins. I want the best of all the smokers I have used. My requirements:
1) Set and forget (pellet won for me as MES needed the AMNPS and getting just the right openings, draft...., I truly want set and forget)
2) Budget is $1500 (I know I mainly do brisket, but I have been upgrading grills as I have been able to afford better and I always end up using them more)
3) Prior experience with cooker type is a plus (so pellet, electric even WSM are in play)
4) Only use is smoking smoking and mainly briskets (I have MANY grills, this is a pure smoker)
5) I would like to be able to smoke to full packers without cutting
The two options I think I have (I am open to suggestions) are
1) The Pellet Pro Vertical Smoker
2) Smokin-it 3.5D-wifi
Other options like Humphreys I am wary about because I have not used or tasted food from a cooker like this and with an optional digiQ it out of my price range. Two assumptions: Smokin-it will be better than my MES30 and pellet pro will be better than the pit boss after I have gained experience on which ever.
I can find nothing on the pellet pro vertical!! My only concern with the smokin-it was the bark on the my brisket and when I do throw on birds, crisping skin at the end. The new smokin-it seem to go 325 so no issue with poultry and from reading I think opening the door a few times on the smokin-it will give me a good bark.
I am tending towards Smokin-it.
So many of the posts I read on here were guys like me whose first post came after lurking for answers on purchases. Yeah, I am one of those.
Thanks,
Lu
Short term lurker, hopefully long time contributor. My bbq/grilling background is in direct-flame cooking and anything that spins. Argentine Parillo/South African Braai, Rodizio, foukou, santa maria, souvlaki, shish, mangal, you get it. That being said, I absolutely love brisket (both "fresh" and corned for pastrami) off a good old fashioned american smoker. When ever I do a brisket, I always throw in a chicken, sometimes a duck, but the only time it gets turned on is for brisket.
My journey to this question started about 20 years ago. I started with vertical electric (HORRIBLE, was in college), moved to WSM knock-off (ok result, still in college), stick burner (HATE, hand-out very end of college), MES30 (after college but after a 9 year smoking break -- it produced the best brisket I have ever made, it wobbled, no one spoke during dinner, it was great, so was the brisket!) and right now a pit boss 820 (which I picked up for ~$300 - the most expensive of the bunch). I got good results from the pellet and without doubt I used it much more often then any of the other grill due to its ease.
Please believe me when I tell you to believe the next line without question. The new smoker I need needs to be a cabinet (it is a design/space thing), tall and narrow but can be deep. So this is where the journey begins. I want the best of all the smokers I have used. My requirements:
1) Set and forget (pellet won for me as MES needed the AMNPS and getting just the right openings, draft...., I truly want set and forget)
2) Budget is $1500 (I know I mainly do brisket, but I have been upgrading grills as I have been able to afford better and I always end up using them more)
3) Prior experience with cooker type is a plus (so pellet, electric even WSM are in play)
4) Only use is smoking smoking and mainly briskets (I have MANY grills, this is a pure smoker)
5) I would like to be able to smoke to full packers without cutting
The two options I think I have (I am open to suggestions) are
1) The Pellet Pro Vertical Smoker
2) Smokin-it 3.5D-wifi
Other options like Humphreys I am wary about because I have not used or tasted food from a cooker like this and with an optional digiQ it out of my price range. Two assumptions: Smokin-it will be better than my MES30 and pellet pro will be better than the pit boss after I have gained experience on which ever.
I can find nothing on the pellet pro vertical!! My only concern with the smokin-it was the bark on the my brisket and when I do throw on birds, crisping skin at the end. The new smokin-it seem to go 325 so no issue with poultry and from reading I think opening the door a few times on the smokin-it will give me a good bark.
I am tending towards Smokin-it.
So many of the posts I read on here were guys like me whose first post came after lurking for answers on purchases. Yeah, I am one of those.
Thanks,
Lu