In the market for a new smoker. Any recommendations?

[schlotz]

It will come down to personal preference. Yes stick burners provide more smoke flavor over pellet smokers but IMO there comes a point where too much smoke can completely mask the natural flavor of the protein being cooked. This is why I settled with a pellet smoker. I still get great smoke that adds to the flavor of the meat while not hiding it. At the end there is no right or wrong regarding how much smoke, only what you want to enjoy at the dinner table.

If I were in the market today, I'd mostly likely lean towards Recteq but the latest Weber Searwood might also be worth looking at. Like others have mentioned, I too would steer well clear of Traeger. Do your home work, prioritize what features are most important to you then bounce those against what ever unit you are considering. If there is an ACE Hardware near you, many of them carry a range of products you can go see and touch.

Good luck with your choice. Let us know what you finally decide on.

 

[jcam222]

I've had my Weber Smokefire Ex6 2nd Gen in action for 3 cooks now. Very impressed with the quality and quantity of smoke. I did ribs this weekend at 225 that had smoke rings all the way to the bone. Nice good smelling blue smoke running Lumberjack cherry pellets. The guy I bought it from said it out out more Smoke than the new Searwood he bought but wife made him pick one lol. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Smokefire if you can find a nice used one.

 

[sandyut]

I love my Rec Teq. Good smoke, easy easy easy. They have great CS and mine has lasted a decade with zero issues.

 

[forktender]

That is important to me. For the past 5 years I have been using charcoal and wood chunks. Would hate to lose that flavor.

I just bought a new R.T Beast 1000, I love it for what it is, a pellet "grill".
I've never been happy with the smoke flavor of pellet grills, I use them for convenience, and ease of use. When I want really smoke house flavor, I either use my offset or drum smoker. I will sometimes use my drum for one basket of wood coals, then transfer over to the pellet grill on long smokes, kinda a pain in the ass, but it works great.

I wonder if you can add a mailbox mod to a pellet grill????? And use chips and chunks for flavor/fuel???