Smokers, charcoal, gas electric

[Chief Grey Bear]

1 hour ago, Gavin said:

Have a big offset stick burner, but next one will be a St. Louis drum smoker. The cook quick and win allot of completions. My friend Mark makes them in Washington MO.

Bullet smokers have won a ton of comps too. Championship comps. Hard to beat. 

[MOPanfisher]

Not worried about moving it around, it will be more or less permanantly placed.  The gas one was always a pain in that I always seemed to have to make a propane run to use it.  of course if I were better about keeping at least one of my bottles full it would help.  and if I run out of kilowatts I probably have bigger issues than my smoker.  my specific issue with the smaller smokers is that most don't have room to put full sticks of summer sausage in them.  I use long casings then cut them.in half after smoking to vacuum seal them.

[Terrierman]

Call me a troglodyte, but the best meats I've cooked or eaten were cooked with wood.  Wood includes charcoal of course. 

[Chief Grey Bear]

Agreed Rick. 

To smoke, to properly smoke, you need two key elements; wood, or some type of wood product, and fire or hight heat source. 

Ive been grilling/smoking 30+ years and learned some from my dad and my own trial and errors. I love it! It's my favorite way to prepare meals!

I have used a number of different smokers over the years. I can tell you without a doubt vertical smokers are far superior to any horizontal smoker. The main reason why is also the most obvious. Smoke and heat rise. 

Electric smokers are very expensive dehydraters. The concept is exactly the same. Gas smokers, like gas grills are easy to use and can produce somewhat palletable food, but really what did you do but turn it on? Nothing really. It's like a Ronco, set it and forget it. Thanks, but no thanks. 

Give me a stick burner or charcoal smoker or give me death! 

Some of you here shouldn't take that last comment too literal!

[Flysmallie]

Well I say I can take an electric or gas or even my darn Weber grill and make better than most. There is more to it than smoke. 

I currently use a gas vertical, but have used just about everything else except a pellet. But I will say no matter where the heat source originated I still use a bunch of wood. 

[Chief Grey Bear]

Gas is for girls.

[MOPanfisher]

Chief, you do realize that your requirements for wood product and high heat source covers nearly all smokers, including gas.  I have used moly hickory sawdust in my old gas one along with a few bigger chunks of hickory.  a sided benefit of living in the country in MO.  I have even considered a Big Green Egg tyoe, but the price is a deal breaker to me.  if I can only smoke one item in my smoker I want it wide enough to smoke my summer sausage logs in.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Oh sure.

You can put sawdust in pan on a hot plate and call it smoking too. In fact that is a really good way to cold smoke cheese and bacon. 

And I've toyed with the thought of getting a pellet smoker some day. But part of the fun and accomplishment of smoking is being the Pitmaster and attending to the fire. 

[MOPanfisher]

No doubt the old stick smoker I had was the most "fun", but also required you to pretty much commit your day to it, getting it adjusted for draft etc.  but for large pieces of meat it was awesome.  Flysmallie, agree that a good pitas term will make delicious eats out of an old refrigerator and a hot plate.  actually had a friend do that.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Well you either commit a day to fishing if you want to eat fish or you drop by Mrs. Paul's and get some fish sticks. LOL