let the smoker debate begin

[jsmorrow2s]

i have been a part of this forum for over a year. i have learned to cook on my weber kettle. i have bought and learned to cook on my pbc. it is time once again to grow as a cook. i have used different rubs and techniques on both cooking devices and my gathering have grown as well as people are wanting to enjoy my cooking more and more. the fiance has also taken a liking to cook outside herself from time to time and we both are having the itch to compete and have more people over more often.

the main purpose of this cooker would be to compete and WIN and to simply please the people we cook for

so heres where the smoker debate begins.

i have a decent sized budget, or will have once my career switch happens in the next couple of weeks to months. the cookers i have looked at are

1) SF 24x55 cabinet golf cart model with warming oven and an extra rack in both and thinking about adding in a water port on the back side to make it a water smoker as well

2) lsg insulated cabinet smoker fully loaded with a bbq guru

i have poured over statistics for both cookers and understand they are two completely different beast. both have excellent craftsmanship so thats a tie.

SF
pros: stick burner, lots of cooking area, warming oven to do other cooks and to keep meat warm, can cold smoke, lots of options, can easily cook at different temps

cons: more time consuming, long wait for build time, difficulty finding quality fruit wood around here

LSG IC

pros: set it and forget it, naturally a water cooker, lots of cooking area, charcoal is easy to come by, easier to move around

cons: not a stick burner, can lose temps and hard to regain them due to weather or low on coals ect., meat will tend to drip on other meat discoloring the bark.

so brethren whats your take??? what am i missing? i am looking at these cookers solely. i dont want a uds, wsm or pellet cooker.

 

[Jason TQ]

Begin? Don't you mean "Continue"?? :grin:

 

[Bludawg]

Burning sticks is the Holy Grail all things great are worth the wait time & effort.

 

[cheez59]

I'm not sure what you mean by the LSG losing temp because of weather or running out of coals. The LSG has the largest firebox in it's class in the industry. 20 pounds plus in the mini and 40 pounds plus in the standard. No way you run out of fire on ANY cook or in ANY weather unless you just don't put enough fuel in to begin with.

I've never experienced bark discoloration from meat dripping on other meat but I suppose it is possible if you stack meats directly over one another with nothing in between.

 

[jsmorrow2s]

Do you have any issues cooking a 300-325? I like to cook hot and fast, which is why I like the presence of water.

 

[KevinJ]

Since you're up in Il do you cook in the winter? If so do you use the PBC? If it's yes and yes and you have the room get the Stick Burner you can use oak. If no and you want to cook in the winter get the insulated cabinet, since its insulated it won't care about the weather and with a properly filled basket it will run for as looooong as you need it to.

No right answer really it comes down to what you want.

 

[jsmorrow2s]

As for the lsg, will it fit a whole shoulder?

And I cook up until it hits 40. The temp plus the stupid winds we get where I'm at (I live literally in an open field) kills the temps in the pbc and weber.

 

[DownHomeQue]

Burning Sticks = Best BBQ Shirley is Great! also if you want to burn sticks and have a water cooker insulated.. Myron Mixon Smokers do this but they are Very expensive.. so

 

[BillN]

They are both great cookers and you will be happy with either... If you get into comps maybe a trailer model SF with room for a LSG Insulated.

 

[cheez59]

Do you have any issues cooking a 300-325? I like to cook hot and fast, which is why I like the presence of water.

No issues whatsoever cooking that hot or even hotter. I've run my LSG at 375-400 for several hours just to see if it would do it. I have only run water in mine a couple times and did not like it. Too much mess for me.

 

[cheez59]

As for the lsg, will it fit a whole shoulder?

And I cook up until it hits 40. The temp plus the stupid winds we get where I'm at (I live literally in an open field) kills the temps in the pbc and weber.

How big is a whole shoulder? The racks in my mini are 17" x 22". In the standard they are 24" x 27".

 

[DBBQ]

I just got my LSG last week and used it once. As cheez stated, no way you run out of coals. Mine ran for much longer than I expected.

 

[Fwismoker]

Let me ask you this... How would you like a cooker that runs on wood splits, burns clean, grills, rotisseries, smokes indirect and even has option to grill direct, cook indirect and even rotisserie at the same time?

...also turns out world class quality food


Oh also cook 15-20 ears of corn at the same time...or baked potatoes etc...

Not a ton of capacity but as an example could rotisserie 5 racks of ribs while cooking 3-4 pork butts and still do a bunch of corn, taters etc..

 

[dwfisk]

Both are great cookers and you will be happy with either. Personally I'd go with a Shirley but I'd be real proud to cook on a LSG if I had one.

 

[m-fine]

The only way I would give up my stick burner is if I had a new better one to replace it.

 

[cheez59]

My take on the stick burner vs an insulated cabinet is simple. Stick burners produce better product but only ever so slightly better. If staying up all night tending a fire or spending lots of hours babysitting a fire is worth the marginal difference in food quality to you then by all means the stick burner is for you. You must also take into account the cost of fuel. If you have to buy your wood for the stick burner then it will cost exponentially more to run.

If you are a busy person and or like sleep but still want quality BBQ, the insulated cabinet is your best bet. I've had dozens of people tell me that my Q is the best they ever had in just the couple months that I've had it. The more I cook on it the better the food gets too.

 

[Springram]

All of the cookers discussed above are outstanding...each in their own way. You just have decide how you want to cook. There is not a wrong answer as long as it meets your cooking lifestyle.

I am huge fan of LSG as a proud owner of his vertical offset. However, i was able to look and inspect Myron Mixon's cookers being used at the Memphis in May BBQ World Championship. Oh, wow! Incredible machines. Myron, by the way, was super nice personally. He also won the Grand Championship....again.

 

[bbqlearner]

Agree completely with no right or wrong answer. Depends on your need and I would argue each household need at least 1 stickburner and 1 stable cooker to allow sleep. If you already have the "sleeper" cooker, then go with stickburner.

As you can guess, I like my sleep time :-D

 

[medic92]

I have a natural bias for stick burners. I like the challenge of turning out good food with real effort rather than just carrying something out to a cooker and coming back when it's done.

I don't live too far from you and I run mine year round. I actually lived in Chatham for several years when I worked for the state.

 

[dummy que]

get a LANG cook on mine in the dead of winter use a surplus blanket for ins. (5.00$) halve cooked at 5deg. no prob.