Greetings

[bbq4beginnersuk]

Hi Folks
I'm Dave and I am based on Teesside up in North East England.
Been a keen indoor cook for several years. I have always enjoyed eating smoked / BBQ type food so started looking at it a bit more seriously last year and started off with a Weber smokey Joe last year (I have since added a mini smokey mountain conversion to it) and now also have a Weber 22".

I am looking to get an offset smoker next year so am beginning some research into the most suitable one I can get. I am liking the traeger pellet ones I have seen, the most so far.
Cheers!

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to the forum Dave!

Glad to have you aboard!

Al

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi Dave , Welcome to our "Family" and "Addiction"

Plenty of good folk on here, ask any questions you can think of, and you will get your answers.

Please take time to look at the UK Smokers Forum,

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/3161/uk-smokers

And introduce your self on the UK Roll Call
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/229926/roll-call

We have had our 3rd UK Smokes weekend, where members attend and cooked over the weekend, planing has are already in place for 2017. Please use the link below to view the website.

http://www.uk-smf.co.uk

Smokin Monkey [emoji]133660013031[/emoji]

 

[wade]

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum. Your Weber 22" is a good all-round smoker/BBQ - which one to you have? The bottom air vents vary with the different models and so there is a difference in the ease of temperature control. At competitions most of the BBQ teams will have at least one Weber 22".

Can I ask why you are looking at getting an offset? Unless you are looking to buy a larger one and cook for a crowd, the smaller ones are usually more style than substance. The wood fueled ones take a lot more tending to ensure an even cooking temperature over long smoking periods and you have to work with the temperature gradient that is inherent along the cooking chamber in most of them. As you go up in price and size though they become easier to use but are then designed more for feeding the 5000...

Pellet grills (including the Traeger) are not actually offset smokers. The box you see on the side is actually for storing the electronics and the pellet fuel before it is fed into the combustion chamber by an auger. Pellet grills are very controllable and use an onboard computer to manage the pellet burn and temperature. You therefore will need a local power supply when using it. Several of us here have pellet smokers as part of our BBQ hardware and we like them. More of us here have the GMG brand but Traeger are a good make too. Pellet smokers are very easy to control and are usually switch-on-and-forget. Because they burn the pellets so efficiently, some people say that they give less of a smoke flavour. I have a GMG Davy Crockett though and I find the smoke flavour it gives is fine.

If you are looking for something that will give you great flavoured meat in reasonable quantities with very little management then I would suggest that you also look at the bullet smokers. A 22" Weber Smoky Mountain (WSM) or a ProQ Frontier will be worth considering. These are what most of the competition teams use for smoking.

Dont forget to invest in a good dual probe digital thermometer too as you will need this to help you manage the temperature in the cooking chamber and in the meat. Do not rely on any built-in lid thermometers that come with the smoker/BBQ

Next time you cook please take some photos and post them if you can. We love photos here 

 

 

[bbq4beginnersuk]

Hi Wade
Thanks very much for taking the time to write such a long message.
The Weber I have is the 22" one touch premium plus. I also have picked up a stacker for it which gives me extra space and can do a couple of beer can chickens etc etc, picture below. I have upgraded it with a craycort cast iron grill and also a heavy gauge steel griddle which I absolutely love.

I was thinking of an offset (or as you rightly say) not an offset as such, a pellet smoker. For several reasons, I like the idea of set it and forget it and also I may sometimes want to have say a brisket on a low and slow but I may want to use my Weber for direct grilling earlier on, I may want to be doing some grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast, or I may want to do a pizza , or maybe some wings etc etc etc.....
I won't be getting a big one (not initially anyway - long term I may do some cooks at local events, I am aware that is a different ball game and I need to do hygiene courses etc - that is for the future) but the new Traeger looks fantastic and has a wifi addition which sounds great! I have already done a LOT and continue to do, research into the kit out there and how it works.

I have made a mini smokey mountain and have put a pic below. It needs a bit of tweaking and have ordered some stove rope to cut down on a couple of smoke leaks it has, but overall I am pleased with the little fella.

I have a few thermometers already and yeah, I am aware the built in thermometers aren't reliable.

IMG_1226.JPG

• bbq4beginnersuk
• Sep 26, 2016

IMG_1468.JPG

• bbq4beginnersuk
• Sep 26, 2016

IMG_1548.JPG

• bbq4beginnersuk
• Sep 26, 2016

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum. Your Weber 22" is a good all-round smoker/BBQ - which one to you have? The bottom air vents vary with the different models and so there is a difference in the ease of temperature control. At competitions most of the BBQ teams will have at least one Weber 22".

Can I ask why you are looking at getting an offset? Unless you are looking to buy a larger one and cook for a crowd, the smaller ones are usually more style than substance. The wood fueled ones take a lot more tending to ensure an even cooking temperature over long smoking periods and you have to work with the temperature gradient that is inherent along the cooking chamber in most of them. As you go up in price and size though they become easier to use but are then designed more for feeding the 5000...

Pellet grills (including the Traeger) are not actually offset smokers. The box you see on the side is actually for storing the electronics and the pellet fuel before it is fed into the combustion chamber by an auger. Pellet grills are very controllable and use an onboard computer to manage the pellet burn and temperature. You therefore will need a local power supply when using it. Several of us here have pellet smokers as part of our BBQ hardware and we like them. More of us here have the GMG brand but Traeger are a good make too. Pellet smokers are very easy to control and are usually switch-on-and-forget. Because they burn the pellets so efficiently, some people say that they give less of a smoke flavour. I have a GMG Davy Crockett though and I find the smoke flavour it gives is fine.

If you are looking for something that will give you great flavoured meat in reasonable quantities with very little management then I would suggest that you also look at the bullet smokers. A 22" Weber Smoky Mountain (WSM) or a ProQ Frontier will be worth considering. These are what most of the competition teams use for smoking.

Dont forget to invest in a good dual probe digital thermometer too as you will need this to help you manage the temperature in the cooking chamber and in the meat. Do not rely on any built-in lid thermometers that come with the smoker/BBQ

Next time you cook please take some photos and post them if you can. We love photos here Thumbs Up  

 

[smokin monkey]

Dave, it looks like you will fit into the "Family" just fine!

You already seem to have the "Addiction" with your collection of pits.

I to have a GMG and yes, they are easy to use set and go.

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

Like the Mini, yes I to have one of them.

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

In the picture you can also see a Large Kamado (Pit Boss) I also have the small version as well.

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

Several Animal Smokers.

Pig

image.png

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

Monkey

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

Bull

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

OK I know I have a problem!!!!

That's why I am always in the "Dog House"

On the bench at the moment is two Stumps Clone, one large the one in the picture, and one "Table Top"

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

Picture by all5n, here is his full build. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/235586/my-stump-gravity-feed-clone-build

image.jpeg

• smokin monkey
• Sep 26, 2016

 

[wade]

Hi Wade
Thanks very much for taking the time to write such a long message.
The Weber I have is the 22" one touch premium plus. I also have picked up a stacker for it which gives me extra space and can do a couple of beer can chickens etc etc, picture below. I have upgraded it with a craycort cast iron grill and also a heavy gauge steel griddle which I absolutely love.

I was thinking of an offset (or as you rightly say) not an offset as such, a pellet smoker. For several reasons, I like the idea of set it and forget it and also I may sometimes want to have say a brisket on a low and slow but I may want to use my Weber for direct grilling earlier on, I may want to be doing some grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast, or I may want to do a pizza , or maybe some wings etc etc etc.....
I won't be getting a big one (not initially anyway - long term I may do some cooks at local events, I am aware that is a different ball game and I need to do hygiene courses etc - that is for the future) but the new Traeger looks fantastic and has a wifi addition which sounds great! I have already done a LOT and continue to do, research into the kit out there and how it works.

I have made a mini smokey mountain and have put a pic below. It needs a bit of tweaking and have ordered some stove rope to cut down on a couple of smoke leaks it has, but overall I am pleased with the little fella.

I have a few thermometers already and yeah, I am aware the built in thermometers aren't reliable.
 

It sounds like you are well on your way 

. Don't mind Steve's animal pits. We only keep him on out of kindness and the RSPCA have been informed - LOL

Good looking mods on your current smokers. It is great to see someone who likes to adapt and improve.

I think that a pellet smoker will be a good addition to your kit and you should get on with it fine. Having a variety that you can choose from for an event is always good.

Have you thought about cold smoking too?

 

[bbq4beginnersuk]

Thanks Wade
Yes I like to make things as good as I can get them.
I am addicted to You Tube videos. I have learnt a LOT from them.
I have even started my own channel to help beginners to pass on some tips I have picked up since I started and to give a UK slant on things as most videos seem to be American.
I may look into cold smoking at some point, I have a lot to learn on the hot stuff for now ! :grilling_smilie:

It sounds like you are well on your way Thumbs Up . Don't mind Steve's animal pits. We only keep him on out of kindness and the RSPCA have been informed - LOL

Good looking mods on your current smokers. It is great to see someone who likes to adapt and improve.

I think that a pellet smoker will be a good addition to your kit and you should get on with it fine. Having a variety that you can choose from for an event is always good.

Have you thought about cold smoking too?

 

[wade]

I have even started my own channel to help beginners to pass on some tips I have picked up since I started and to give a UK slant on things as most videos seem to be American.
 

I just look a look at your channel. The ribs video is a good start there and I enjoyed it 

. You may want to lower the volume of your background music down a tad though as I could not hear your voice in places.

Wade

 

[bbq4beginnersuk]

Thanks Wade, yep, you're right, I'm still getting the hang of videos, the next one will be better - promise! :biggrin:

I just look a look at your channel. The ribs video is a good start there and I enjoyed it Thumbs Up . You may want to lower the volume of your background music down a tad though as I could not hear your voice in places.

Wade

 

[smokin monkey]

It sounds like you are well on your way Thumbs Up . Don't mind Steve's animal pits. We only keep him on out of kindness and the RSPCA have been informed - LOL

As you can see Dave we like a bit of Bannter and Micky taking, but nothing that gets too personal or offensive.

I just look a look at your channel. The ribs video is a good start there and I enjoyed it Thumbs Up . You may want to lower the volume of your background music down a tad though as I could not hear your voice in places.

Wade

I agree with Wade, found it hard to hear to commentary at times. Good videos and I have subscribed to your channel, so looking forward to future episodes!