New from VA

[SMKNwife]

Hello,

Found this forum and looks to be chalk full of info! I am not the Smoker in the family, my husband is. I wanted to buy him a nicer smoker. Wanted to get some points of view from owners of Both Traeger Pro 780 (or Ironwood 650, if worth more $) and BGE - Medium or Large. Wanted it primarily for smoking. So if you have an opinion, I will put up a post on another thread! Hubby has been smoking for years, always with propane. We are on our 3rd smoker (never invested too much money in them, until we stopped moving every 3 yrs and bought a house).

 

[sawhorseray]

Welcome to SMF from Gilbert, AZ! I'm not a pellet guy so I don't have an opinion regarding those. I have a friend with a BGE and he can do just about everything on it, bigger is just about always better. You'll get more opinions as folks wake up later on. RAY

 

[phatbac]

Hello and welcome to the forum from Monroe, NC!
If he likes set and forget both are good for that. I think the BGE will give better flavor since you can use real wood in it and not just pellets. pellets give good flavor but i don't like them as much as real wood. I tend to only use pellets for cold smoking.
Another smoker to consider for set and forget and more budget friendly is the WSM 22. with a Bbq guru. most just load the charcoal and some wood chunks set your temp and let it go 10-12 hours or until the meat is done. WSM 22 runs about 420ish and BBQ guru/cyber q/digi q runs into 250-275 range. something to consider...

Happy Smoking,
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!
I'm with Aaron on this one.
The WSM 22.5 with a BBQ Guru controller is about as easy as it gets, and you get that charcoal wood flavor you won't get with a pellet grill.
Al

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota. Pull up a stump and set a spell.

 

[motocrash]

Welcome from Winchester,Va.
I agree with Aaron and Al on the WSM.With a bbq guru/any such controller, you will still be in budget and have a great setup that is newbie friendly.
Where are you located in Va?

Sic Semper Tyrannis

 

[JC in GB]

Welcome from Wisconsin.

Not sure what your budget is but you also may want to consider looking into a Rec Tec Bull.

I recently saw one at a BBQ competition and it is a very nice unit. Solidly built and pretty much set and forget.

I run a Stump's Baby gravity feed smoker which I love but I was suitably impressed with the Rec Tec rig.

My $0.02

JC

 

[Mastercaster]

Welcome from Texas!