New smoker reccomendations

[Cj7851]

I posted this the other day but wasn't getting much traction realized I probably should have put it on this thread.

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 strongly leaning towards an 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. I don't mind a challenge at all I quite enjoy learning and mastering something new. I just want to be able to still put out good food for events. Also I can make due with my MES while I learn.

2. Wood chips and pellets are readily available. 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 about 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.) I fairly regularly cook for 20-30.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Blues1]

A stick burner definitely has a learning curve. Once learned though, puts out great tasting food. Easiest and most simple is a pellet grill. Get one with a PID controller and it's pretty much set and forget. There are many out there within pretty much every budget.

 

[Winterrider]

Have been an electric and propane guy. Just new to the pellet scene and find it quite nice, no babysitting. Stick from what I understand , needs a lot of attention. Puts out fabulous food though.

 

[old sarge]

I have gotten chunks from this company for my electric smoker. They also sell splits and such. Good quality. I liked my old off-set but it did take baby sitting and as I got older I did not enjoy the regular feeding of wood. Went electric and thoroughly enjoy the food it produces. Smokin-it offers so rather large electric smokers that might meet your needs. For stick burners, Yoder and Lang come to mind as does Oklahoma Joes. Good luck!
https://fruitawoodchunks.com/shop?olsPage=t/wood-for-smoking

 

[highlife4me]

When my neighbors fire up there pellet grills nobody hardly notices, but when I fire up my Shirley reverse flow all the neighbors show up to see what I've got going in there. A reverse flow puts out amazing food. Yes there is a bit of a learning curve but its not rocket science. Our ancestors have been cooking with wood for thousands of years and a quality reverse flow cooker just simplifies the process.

Wood is a lot easier for me to obtain than what I thought it would be. A local tree removal service supplies me with all the hickory, oak and cherry I need.

As far as brands of cookers the only thing I would recommend is to get a heavy quality built smoker that is at least a 1/4" thick, 3/8" is even better. Smokers made with thin steel will vary in temperature too much to produce a quality product consistently.

 

[smokngun]

My first recommendation would be to find a local source for your wood, stick burners go through quite a bit of wood. Mine averages 1 split every 30 to 50 min. As far as brands my top 3 would be Shirley Fab, Lang, and Meadow Creek, but there are literally 100's of brands out there.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

Second Old Sarge in that you should check out Smokin-It. They have some large smokers. I have the #3 and could put 4 butts in easily. Have done 8 racks of ribs in it.