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I have a Masterbuilt Gravity Feed offset smoker that uses a thermostat and fan to regulate the temperature. It’s comparable in price to a pellet smoker, while giving you the stick burner smoke without the cost of a ceramic smoker.
I’ve loved it, but may consider graduating to a large ceramic for the durability next time. this has been great for learning to smoke and I’m getting great results.
I’ve loved it, but may consider graduating to a large ceramic for the durability next time. this has been great for learning to smoke and I’m getting great results.
I've got a Recteq pellet grill (RT700) and it's a beast. I've had it about a year now and done a dozen or so cooks on it. I've only had 2 sour experiences, neither the fault of the smoker. One time was my own fault for not cleaning the fire pot frequently enough and so I had some irratic temps mid cook. The other I had a breaker trip during an overnight cook. Both I rectified and finished the cooks thankfully. The Reqteq's are built very solid compared to many of the box store pellet smokers, not to mention the RT700 coming with a rear hopper instead of a side hopper that they say holds 40lbs. (Not QUITE 40 in my experience but close.) The only negative part of it for me is that you have to order online and have it shipped freight, or drive to Georgia where they're headquartered to get one. They don't sell in retail stores.
The old traegers built in Oregon are good, the new traegers are owned by a chinese company now. When Traeger's patent expired a couple years back they sold to a chinese company.
Traeger, GMG , Rectec , weber fire . ect They are all thin walled cookers. My old traeger in the winter I used a welding blanket to hold the heat. If your not doing long cooks in the winter you will be fine though. Green mountain grills have a lot of tech. My current Pellet pooper is a Yoder ys 640 and it great for long cooks with the 1/4 steel cooker , it will grill but you cannot get them hot like a charcoal or propane for searing. I usually sear on a cast iron pan.
What type of cooking? Burger, steaks or Brisket.
Traeger, GMG , Rectec , weber fire . ect They are all thin walled cookers. My old traeger in the winter I used a welding blanket to hold the heat. If your not doing long cooks in the winter you will be fine though. Green mountain grills have a lot of tech. My current Pellet pooper is a Yoder ys 640 and it great for long cooks with the 1/4 steel cooker , it will grill but you cannot get them hot like a charcoal or propane for searing. I usually sear on a cast iron pan.
What type of cooking? Burger, steaks or Brisket.
I have a PG500 made by Cookshack in good old Ponca City, OK. It uses older tech temperature control, which isn't as precise as the more electronically complex units have, (less bells and whistles) but it does a solid job of it, once you get a handle on the settings needed for your cooks. Had it for 5 years now, and it has been bulletproof.
Not cheap, but made by Okies, and when you call support, the person on the other end says "howdy". Totally happy with it. The Yoder as discussed by @Coolfogg is a fine cooker as well, and made in Kansas (if memory serves). Almost pulled the trigger on that one.
I view with much skeptisism any manufacturer claims of a pellet grill doing a good job of searing. Like @Coolfogg , I sear in cast iron when needed. One thing that is unique to the Cookshack are the multiple cooking zones, which I use for sides (e.g. baking potatoes on the high shelf while smoking steaks low). And since it is built like a tank totally of SS, I have zero rust - and I live on salt water.
Not cheap, but made by Okies, and when you call support, the person on the other end says "howdy". Totally happy with it. The Yoder as discussed by @Coolfogg is a fine cooker as well, and made in Kansas (if memory serves). Almost pulled the trigger on that one.
I view with much skeptisism any manufacturer claims of a pellet grill doing a good job of searing. Like @Coolfogg , I sear in cast iron when needed. One thing that is unique to the Cookshack are the multiple cooking zones, which I use for sides (e.g. baking potatoes on the high shelf while smoking steaks low). And since it is built like a tank totally of SS, I have zero rust - and I live on salt water.
I'm typically just a burger, chicken, veggie griller. I would like the capability of smoking the occasional brisket or chicken though. I"ve used one of the smoke boxes on my propane unit, but it's a bit random on the temp at times.
I also debate one of the dedicated smoker units that's not a grill, like Cookshack used to make in Ponca. Maybe it's having used these in the past and the ease of use, but I feel like I might tend to use one of these more to smoke stuff, and storage of them is fairly easy.
So I guess I"m on the fence of buying a moderately priced gas grill again, and supplementing it with a smoker vs. a big investment on a grill that does it all. It's just my wife and I at home now, too, so I'm not generally making large volumes.
I also debate one of the dedicated smoker units that's not a grill, like Cookshack used to make in Ponca. Maybe it's having used these in the past and the ease of use, but I feel like I might tend to use one of these more to smoke stuff, and storage of them is fairly easy.
So I guess I"m on the fence of buying a moderately priced gas grill again, and supplementing it with a smoker vs. a big investment on a grill that does it all. It's just my wife and I at home now, too, so I'm not generally making large volumes.
Think UDS or WSM for a smoker. Maintains heat and easy to dial in temp. supplement it with a Digi Q and then you have great temp control. and buy a cheaper gas grill .
UDS Complete Parts Kits for Ugly Drum Smoker | BBQ Smoker Parts for UDS | UDS Parts
DigiQ DX3 BBQ Temperature Control Black 6 ft probes (bbqguru.com)
weber smokey mountain - Google Search
I think I have (2) 22 and a 18 in the shed I would sell the 18.
You can do what you want on a traeger, gmg or the like for sure though. You just have to plan on the sears. Pellet poopers are great when you set it a temp and stabilize it. Drastic temp changes are hard. Like say set a 550 -600 to sear then you will turn it down to 350 and it takes a while to get back down to temp. You cannot turn the heat down like a gas grill. That pot is burning and the pellets just get dropped into the fire pot at a slower rate.
I would probably push someone to a GMG or rectec for a 1k +/- price range.
Fast eddy makes a hell of a cooker. I have a FEC100 from comp days. I was going to suggest the PG, but I thought price was a issue (2300). You can sear on a PG at 650-700, at least that is what he insinuated while drunk at a comp.
But then you have to wait to put the meat back on after it cools a bit. Which can take some time to stabilize back down.
For people that want to smoke with a good cooker, you do not have to break the bank. A UDS you can build for a couple hundred dollars or a Weber smoky mountain for 300-400.
BGE or Komodo is not a back choice either. Not pellet , you would use lump charcoal but they are exceptional at holding heat and with a digi q they run awesome.
edit: I am not a dealer, I just have owned and cooked on a lot of different cookers over the years from competition BBQ.
UDS Complete Parts Kits for Ugly Drum Smoker | BBQ Smoker Parts for UDS | UDS Parts
DigiQ DX3 BBQ Temperature Control Black 6 ft probes (bbqguru.com)
weber smokey mountain - Google Search
I think I have (2) 22 and a 18 in the shed I would sell the 18.
You can do what you want on a traeger, gmg or the like for sure though. You just have to plan on the sears. Pellet poopers are great when you set it a temp and stabilize it. Drastic temp changes are hard. Like say set a 550 -600 to sear then you will turn it down to 350 and it takes a while to get back down to temp. You cannot turn the heat down like a gas grill. That pot is burning and the pellets just get dropped into the fire pot at a slower rate.
I would probably push someone to a GMG or rectec for a 1k +/- price range.
Fast eddy makes a hell of a cooker. I have a FEC100 from comp days. I was going to suggest the PG, but I thought price was a issue (2300). You can sear on a PG at 650-700, at least that is what he insinuated while drunk at a comp.
But then you have to wait to put the meat back on after it cools a bit. Which can take some time to stabilize back down.
For people that want to smoke with a good cooker, you do not have to break the bank. A UDS you can build for a couple hundred dollars or a Weber smoky mountain for 300-400.
BGE or Komodo is not a back choice either. Not pellet , you would use lump charcoal but they are exceptional at holding heat and with a digi q they run awesome.
edit: I am not a dealer, I just have owned and cooked on a lot of different cookers over the years from competition BBQ.
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