Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Yeah that’s for sure what happens! My 2 boys are eating more and more these days so the extra space is being used now. Once they leave the house…I guess I’ll have to have buddies over more often! These damn first world problems gaha

 

This.

Can't say enough about my Pit Boss. I got the 800 pro series 4 years ago and it's worked like a champ since I brought it home. The only thing I'd replace it with is a newer model with more features than my older model.

The Traegers are nice, but you're paying a lot of extra money to feed their marketing machine.

 

Thanks for the input guys, I’m going to keep looking around to see what I need vs what I want. I do like the ease of set it and forget it, I rarely have time to sit and watch anything which makes the learning curve that much more steep. I’m going to look more into the pit boss I think.

 

I have one kid off at college and the other stopped eating meat and my wife could take it or leave it so I'm virtually on my own when it comes to smoking.

 

I did appreciate that the Traeger guy at Costco asked me questions about how many people I usually cooked for and what I usually cooked. Then steered me away from the wifi enabled smokers, which I didn't want anyway, because if you're smoking something, you just turn it on and leave it alone. For the most part, anyway.

Exactly what I wanted and precisely what a pellet smoker will give you.

 

They are good smokers, I have a Pit Boss that has been amazing, but to be honest with you I bought a Char-broil electric smoker and use it way more than the Pit Boss… it just plain works. It’s easy to use and has never let me down… I’ve had dozens of cookouts that I’ve used it for and the meat that comes out of it have always been a hit. I’m not smoking for a completion , just a bunch of family that likes to throw down every weekend!

 

I don’t have much advice with little to no experience using an electric machine, but I will say get the biggest option your budget allows. It’s the ‘same’ fire for one brisket as three, so don’t limit yourself.

I say ‘same’ loosely. You will burn marginally more fuel heating a larger chamber, but WHEN (not if) you cook for a group, you’ll be pleased with the roominess.

And if it matters, all of the best pit masters I know have a Pit Boss on the side for hot-n-fast chicken quarters.

 

When I started I bought an 18” Cuisinart upright, basically a cheaper Weber WSM on Prime Day for $120. It has never let me down. Got a 26” Weber kettle that I also use for larger cuts. Both are good.

I don’t have anything against pellet poopers but I’ve heard the smoke flavor isn’t as intense. I’ve never tasted anything from one to compare though.

 

There is also the aspect of cooking with fire that... meh, fuck the explanation. Buy what you want. Stick burners FTMFW.

 

I picked up a Pitt Boss for the supposed convenience, but I still swear by my WSM for both the ease and the flavor. My Pitt Boss actually took a crap on me because of some swollen pellets. Had to pull the auger and motor completely out to clean it. Not a huge deal, but obviously that's not an issue with a stick burner.

 

^ Sooo much this. Something about cooking with fire. I have a Traeger, a Bradley, a gas grill and an offset barrel. The Traeger and gas grill rarely get touched. The Bradley gets used for cheeses and other cold smokes (i.e. cold smoked, sous vides and pan seared ribeyes are the shit). Other than that, the offset sees 90% of my cooks/smokes. There is something awesome about tending the smoke/fuel/fire and tweaking shit throughout the cook.

Traegers are easy, but are technically a "pellet grill". Do they put off smoke? Sure. They are pretty basic though and don't allow for a lot of customizable options (i.e. wood types, heavy sears etc). Ymmv.

 

Speaking of Cuisinart, my griddle is great. I love that thing, but I do wish I had gotten the slightly larger one.

 

The only other recommendation I have is a meat thermometer. Get an analog one, sputnick style.



Get one that goes above 200....

That's my "these darn pellet poopers ain't real!" old man opinion - those new confangled bluetooth shenanigans thermometers are just bells and whistles, with batteries and electronics, that do NOTHING for your cook. Spend 5-10$ and get an analog, ignore them instant read electronic shenanigans.



Another "smoker's hint" that I do: the smoke does a lot of heavy lifting into the stall. Once you're in the stall, the smoke does next to nothing - it's the low and slow temperature that does it all. I often start a butt smoking after work, around 5-6, then once it's in the stall (usually around 10, 11PM) I bring it inside into the oven and cook it overnight. Sometimes I'll finish it out on the smoker in the morning, or just wrap it and throw it in the cooler to rest before I shred it. Pellet poopers will be easier for that, but might be more expensive to run than the oven. I have a natural gas oven.

Vegan wife club!



(even aside from that she's not a fan of smoke...)

Engineer hat on: This is a huge benefit of pellet poopers. If you put in a single rack of ribs, verses 3 briskets, that heat sink is WAY different, and you will need more fuel to get the briskets cooked to get them into the stall, after which you will probably need LESS since you have a strong heat sink taking up more room. This is stuff you'd have to learn with a stick burner, where as an electric/pooper just....does.

My advice then would be 3 grills, or 2.5. Get a smoker/pooper, and then get a side by side gas and charcoal grill Then you can do it all!

 

Thermo pop FTW!

 

This smoker, whatever i end up with will be an addition to my Blackstone, which will be it for outdoor cooking for the foreseeable future...

 

You forgot the deep fryer, the pizza oven, campfire cooker, ice machine... The rabbit hole runs deep.

 

Umm wut is it,?

 

Think of them as vegetarian corn dogs.