Electric Vs. Wood

[ammjr]

charcoal & electric. The MES can make some great Q, trust me, but it definitely has a different taste than charcoal/wood. My personal preference is charcoal.

 

[chisoxjim]

+1 dude,

I am trying to sell my gasser right now to put that $$ towards a new 22" WSM to add to my 18.5" WSM, and 22" kettle.

Ive decided its only gonna be lump, wood, and Weber for the foreseeable future..

 

[smokeguy]

I've got an ECB and a MES and there is certainly a difference in flavor.

And work tending them.

I don't think you can beat wood/charcoal for the best flavors because there is just "something" that gets added that way. But that being said, the MES is the one I usually use. We prefer to have the smoke flavors "just enough" and the MES allows that easily, vs. the ECB sometimes I get too much smoke and end up burping smoke-rings for 2 days.

I can control that, but it's more user involved.

I've got a Weber charcoal grill and I use that probably 8 times out of 10 to my gas grill. Better flavor I think, and don't have to worry about over-smoked. Gas grill is quicker/easier though and still has a pretty good flavor.

 

[triplebq]

Just remember the charcoal is your heat source and the wood is thE flavoring . With an electric the " watt burner " is thE heat source but you still must use wood for flavoring . Just considerr our founder Tulsa Jeff has u-tube video on how to smoke ribs using a Brinkman Electric Smoker along with his stick burner..... HAVE FUN

 

[webesmokin]

I used to use a gas Brinkman that took a lot of tending at least every hour. I had some great results with it for many years. The igniter quit and I was ready for an update. Two years ago i bought a Cookshack Amerique. It makes excellent Q with very little tending. For the first time making bbq I tried a pork butt. I put it in at 10pm and it was done at noon the next day. I did not have to tend it once. I slept and it smoked. The pulled pork was excellent!

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Hondamandan. I have an Article you may want to read... if you go wood (which I hope) ,  this will help you in your Journey  ;http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/stickburning101

If you have any questions on Wood , PM me...(put pointer on my name and select PM).

Here's what my ribs look like:

bbq shots 001.JPG

• oldschoolbbq
• Nov 1, 2012

IMG_0009.JPG

• oldschoolbbq
• Sep 6, 2014

Have fun and . . .

 

[red dog]

Like others have said there are advantages and disadvantages to each. No doubt that a smoker like a lang will probably give the best tasting Q once you learn how to use it, bu t if you don't have a lot of experience there are others that will give you good results and won't seem so painful when you suffer the inevitable fails that we all go through. Smoking is fun but it aint easy! Unless your rolling in dough I would buy a used offset or electric on craigslist. Start small with small less expensive more forgiving meats. Trust me. It's a lot less painful to screw up a six dollar  chicken on a 50.00 smoker than a 75.00 brisket on a 700.00 smoker. By the way, I use a 40" MES electric.