New smoker reccomendations.

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Cj7851

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jun 22, 2019
100
116
Wheeling, WV
So right now I have an mes 30 and have had great success. I am looking to do a major upgrade. One of my main issues is cooking space I do quite a bit of hosting for church events and such. Also just looking to take things to the next level. I am leaning towards a offset stick smoker. However, I have a few concerns/questions.

1. I imagine the learning curve is pretty steep especially going from electric. I guess what I'm worried about is will this thing take me a year to get down or should most people be able to get it after a handful of test runs. (Edit- I don't mind a challenge at all I quite enjoy learning and mastering something new. Just want to be able to still put out good food for events)

2. Wood chips and pellets are readily available l. Where do you all get your wood? Right now my primary woods are hickory, apple, and cherry but I also like to play around with others.

3. What is your opinion on reverse flow smokers?


4. What smokers do you recommend? As I said will need something fairly large probably no less than double the cook space of my mes 30. Which theoretically I could do 3 Boston butts on (prbly really only handle 2 without taking an absurd amount of time.)

Thanks in advance.
 
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I went from a MES 40 to the louisiana grills vertical smoker at Costco. I really like it. It is much bigger then the mes 40 . It us a pellet smoker so you get that ease of use like your mes 30.
 
I looked at stick burners but ended up going with an insulated cabinet smoker from Lone Star Grillz.
Smaller foot print, you said your space was limited. Less of a learning curve with close to the same flavor profile. They come in several sizes.
Narrowed it down to these 3 and went with LSG
 
I looked at stick burners but ended up going with an insulated cabinet smoker from Lone Star Grillz.
Smaller foot print, you said your space was limited. Less of a learning curve with close to the same flavor profile. They come in several sizes.
Narrowed it down to these 3 and went with LSG

After reading that I guess it wasn't real clear. I was meaning cookingn space.
 
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After reading that I guess it wasn't real clear. I was meaning cookingn space.

Not a problem. In the large LSG from their website (which is what I ordered)
Capacity:
  • Brisket-16
  • Spare Ribs-30
  • Pork Butt-24
  • Whole Chicken-24
  • capacity is estimated and includes use of all available cooking space in the cooking chamber
 
I know it sounds crazy but I get my wood at Walmart. They sell wood chunks of Hickory, Mesquite, Apple, Cherry, Maple and Pecan. $5 to $8 a bag.
 
Have you looked into the 22" WSM. You can easily fit 6 butts(probably 8) on it, and finding fuel isn't a problem.

Chris
 
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