Looking for new smoker

[mikeg1218]

have a master built and it's getting a little long in the tooth. was looking for replacement at some point. love the unit EXCEPT for the having to add chips every forty five minutes or so. a reak pain in a long smoke. A-maz-n fixed that just fine but looking at the new master built units the design seems to preclude the use of the unit dumping the grease right where it would go.

new unit, pellet or biscuit. Cost of biscuits has pretty much ruled them out so looking for recommendations on a pellet smoker in say $500 range give or take a bit.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

I have a cabelas MES40 and have had great results out of it if you wanted to upgrade the electric route.

I don’t use a pellet smoker but seems like a lot of guys on here like the camp chef windwood and I think it would be close in that price range.

I also have a camp chef smoke vault and can say they make great products.

 

[old sarge]

Check out Smokin-it. Checkout Smoketronix if you like a window. Use the search feature to find postings.

Ok re-read original post. Pellet it is. I would look at Camp Chef or RecTec. No more and no less. Of the two I would consider RecTec as it has a shorter auger.

 

[Rectecin']

How large a grill are you looking for? My opinion probably isn't worth spit, since my first smoker ever won't arrive until Thursday. That said, Rec Tec has some in that price range. I was researching for a while, and the price for feature ratio in my mind couldn't be beat.... But since I have no real frame of reference (the only pellet grill I have soccer seen in person is a GMG Daniel Boone) I can't speak from true experience, just research on the internet. Trying to find independent sources of information ain't easy....

Here is a link to the rec tec trailblazer. It's a little more at 599.00, but right in that range.

http://www.rectecgrills.com/rec-tec-grills-trailblazer/

Good luck!

 

[ross77]

I’ve enjoyed my RecTec 680.

Here is a handy chart to compare their models.

http://www.rectecgrills.com/size-up-your-grill/

 

[rabbithutch]

Howdy, mikeg!

You've come to the right place to ask your question but be prepared for a wide diversity in answers. While you can learn about a lot of different smokers here and get more detailed information from follow-up questions,ultimately you will have to decide.

Before making a suggestion, I'll ask you questions you should consider. Your electric smoker with Amazn pellets is about as near set and forget as you can get, I think (especially if you add a PID). Almost anything else except maybe a smoker with an automatic pellet feeder (I have no experience of them) will require a bit more attention.

I started with an MES and still have it but haven't used it in a couple of years or more. Should probably sell it. After the MES, I found a steal on a Weber 22.5" grill. I learned to smoke on it my using the snake method of briquette layout. I can do briskets, pork butts, chickens, chicken wings, ... with almost no attention to the smoker using a snake coil of briquettes and wood blocks of my choice. A Craig's List Weber is a cheap way to explore controlling heat for smoking.

My next exploration came with the Old Country side burner you see as my avatar. It was a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. It requires only slightly more attention than my Weber because I'm still learning how to control heat from the firebox. Using wood is a bit more of a challenge because no 2 pieces are quite the same, but I like spending more time with the smoker and fiddling with the fire, the fire door inlets and the damper. Good thermos for displaying smoke chamber temps and meat temps make the process more predictable

I'm sure you'll get other, good advice. Mine is to ask yourself what you want to smoke, what you want to smoke that you can't smoke now, how easy is your access to a fuel supply (important to side burner and reverse flow smoking), how much attention you want to pay to a smoke in progress, and how much you want to protect your wallet, then, start kicking the tires on units available to you. If you can't visit a unit in person, ask sellers about them; and, by all means, ask folks here.

Good luck.

 

[Bimmernerd]

Hey Mikeg,

I’ve only been smoking meats for about 5 years, started with a wood / charcoal offset, like you got tired of babysitting the thing, so bought a Camp Chef PG24 off Amazon about 2-years ago. That thing as been reliable, produces good consistent smoke, and is easy to clean compared to others I looked at. Other things I like about it are it’s conservative on pellets, even though they are cheaper than biscuits, they aren’t free. Couple of drawbacks that I’ve noticed that I don’t consider deal breakers for the price point are; grease trap / run gets gummed up pretty bad, and requires frequent cleaning. Same might be for other pellet smokers, I don’t know - first one I’ve ever owned, just an observation. Second, doesn’t hold temperature as precisely or consistently as I’d like - but the swings aren’t wild, and the end result of whatever I’m cooking has always been excellent. One tip, cover the heat shield with aluminum foil, makes cleanup a lot easier. I’ve done everything on that thing from pork butts, briskets (up to 20lbs), ribs, steaks, chicken, salmon, ham, turkey and jerky. Everything I’ve cooked, comes out tasting great. BTW - I feel I can speak to the reliability of this unit because I smoke year around in a damp wooded area of Washington State, and use my smoker at least 2x a week sometimes more.

I’m getting ready to sell it though, not because of any performance issues, because I need a bigger smoker. There are times when I’m cooking for 15-20 people, and especially if I’m doing a whole bag of wings, or 5/6 racks of ribs, and I simply don’t have enough room without using the warming rack.

Anyway - like Rabbithutch said, you’re likely to receive a variety of responses and opinions, mine certainly isn’t the end all say all, nor am I a professional smoker. But thought I’d share my experience with the Camp Chef smoker because I think it’s a solid unit and around the price point you’re looking for.

Good luck on your search, and let us know what you end up with!