Not sure where to start kamado cooker, pellet smoker, or something else?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Hmm, not one mention of a Weber Smokey Mountain ($450 for 22.5"). Interesting.

Small learning curve on the WSM.

Thank you for mentioning the WSM. I didn't realize it was so popular and so effective. I think I am going to go down this path although I need to do some more research. Seems I can pick up a fairly new 18" locally in the $150-200 range although I think I really might want a 22". Either way that leaves a lot of extra budget for meat, wood, and charcoal. Enough that I can mess up a bunch of times as I learn to use it. Also this allows me to get into the party and determine what my needs truly are. It would suck to go big and find out its not what I really wanted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC in GB
Thank you for mentioning the WSM. I didn't realize it was so popular and so effective. I think I am going to go down this path although I need to do some more research. Seems I can pick up a fairly new 18" locally in the $150-200 range although I think I really might want a 22". Either way that leaves a lot of extra budget for meat, wood, and charcoal. Enough that I can mess up a bunch of times as I learn to use it. Also this allows me to get into the party and determine what my needs truly are. It would suck to go big and find out its not what I really wanted.

Go with the 22, I have had one for close to 8 years & it still puts out great Q. If you want true set & forget , get a BBQ Guru pit controller to go with it. A whole lot cheaper than the other choices & some great flavor!!!
Al
 
  • Like
Reactions: sandyut
Thank you for mentioning the WSM. I didn't realize it was so popular and so effective. I think I am going to go down this path although I need to do some more research. Seems I can pick up a fairly new 18" locally in the $150-200 range although I think I really might want a 22". Either way that leaves a lot of extra budget for meat, wood, and charcoal. Enough that I can mess up a bunch of times as I learn to use it. Also this allows me to get into the party and determine what my needs truly are. It would suck to go big and find out its not what I really wanted.

I started out small and cheap to get a feel of what works and what doesn't. It was well worth the investment to learn what I liked and disliked about doing long BBQ cooks.

After using this equipment I determined that the two biggest issues I had were maintaining temperature, especially in winter and useable cooking range of the unit.

My final choice was a Stump's Baby (Sarina). The Stump's smokers are fully insulated cabinets with gravity feed of the fuel so it does not need to be as closely tended. I can get Sarina going steady and knock off for a 2 hour nap without issues.

The cabinet is mounted on wheels.

I added a home brew PID controller for under $100 including adapter flange.

The Stump's products are seemingly out of your price range but are worth a look if you are planning an upgrade in the future.

JC :emoji_cat:
 
Welcome aboard. As you've seen there are a ton of different smokers out there. I would normally plug the WSM - why because I'm a Weberohlic. But seeing as your looking for something that can grill as well as smoke(if I read your original post correctly). Then I would suggest a 26" Weber kettle to start. There is a ton of room and you can easily do smokes up to 6hrs without allot of babysitting. I think I also saw your budget was around 2K. For about 1K you can get the 22"WSM and the 26" kettle and have the best of both worlds. I have both and use the 26" kettle more then I use my WSM.

Chris
 
Thanks everyone for the input. This baby came home with me today. I couldn't pass it up 18" wsm 2 bags of wood chunks for $125. It is nearly new used 3 times per the prior owner. I'm now in the game. Time to get some charcoal and season this baby.
 

Attachments

  • 20191022_181728.jpg
    20191022_181728.jpg
    119.8 KB · Views: 11
Thanks everyone for the input. This baby came home with me today. I couldn't pass it up 18" wsm 2 bags of wood chunks for $125. It is nearly new used 3 times per the prior owner. I'm now in the game. Time to get some charcoal and season this baby.
WOW , great deal. I’d say you saved over $200.
 
Congrats! Great score on the 18!

Recommended charcoal: Royal Oak Lump or their Ridge Briquettes. Home Depot Embers and Walmart Expert Grill are both RO Ridge in store branded bags. Some still use KBB, but it is a weak performer in a smoker, and I've tested it head to head. Flames out faster due to 25% less density than Ridge. There are other good charcoals out there, but they are pricier than anything mentioned above.

Next big "stock up" sale will be right before Thanksgiving. If buying non-sale, Expert Grill is least expensive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC in GB
My taste buds haven't chosen a clear winner, but here have been my thoughts along the journey so far...

I'd be concerned about how much pellets would be consumed for a long cook for pulled pork in the winter. Concern about pellet smoker in the rain (I don't have a covered area for cooking). I have yet to find good smoke flavor from pellets, but perhaps the cook wasn't good. I sometimes wonder if there's a smoke placebo with pellet cooks (if it smokes, then there must be flavor on the meat). They seem to be more into seasoning, rubs, sauce.

Propane smokers make me wonder how often I'll have to replenish the smoking wood, and the temperature swing from rain, clouds, sun to dark, daytime temp changes.

Kamado does it all, and can go for long cooks without concern.

Electric (e.g. Cookshack quality) might also be a good way to go. But I've read the smoke flavor profile isn't near to real wood burning.

Water smokers (WSM) taste fantastic, but not set-forget.
 
My taste buds haven't chosen a clear winner, but here have been my thoughts along the journey so far...

I'd be concerned about how much pellets would be consumed for a long cook for pulled pork in the winter. Concern about pellet smoker in the rain (I don't have a covered area for cooking). I have yet to find good smoke flavor from pellets, but perhaps the cook wasn't good. I sometimes wonder if there's a smoke placebo with pellet cooks (if it smokes, then there must be flavor on the meat). They seem to be more into seasoning, rubs, sauce.

Propane smokers make me wonder how often I'll have to replenish the smoking wood, and the temperature swing from rain, clouds, sun to dark, daytime temp changes.

Kamado does it all, and can go for long cooks without concern.

Electric (e.g. Cookshack quality) might also be a good way to go. But I've read the smoke flavor profile isn't near to real wood burning.

Water smokers (WSM) taste fantastic, but not set-forget.


I am loving the WSM although I skip the water. But I am still on the look out for a good used K Joe. I would like to have both for capacity purposes. The 18" WSM runs out of real estate a little too quickly sometimes.
 
WSM, is fairly set & forget. Get the temp dialed in (don't make changes to it more often than 15 minutes after the last change), and it will run, nice and stable, for hours without any more input. I haven't done a pork butt yet to see how long mine will run, but, I did do a nice chuck roast, which took about 9 hours, without me needing to do anything.

One thing I would recommend, if you haven't gotten it yet, is some sort of wireless thermometer. It will allow you to keep an eye on your temps without having to go outside with an instant read thermometer. Adding a PartyQ, or a BBQ Guru will make things even more set it and forget it, if that's possible

. You did get a heck of a deal on that smoker. If you have questions on using it feel free to ask. There are a lot of us here that use one size or another of the WSM. It's also used a lot in BBQ competitions, all for the same reason. It's a very solid performer, with a heck of a warranty (and good CS, from what I hear), and is virtually bulletproof.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nomad_archer
Thanks everyone for the input. This baby came home with me today. I couldn't pass it up 18" wsm 2 bags of wood chunks for $125. It is nearly new used 3 times per the prior owner. I'm now in the game. Time to get some charcoal and season this baby.
Nice score!! Consider a BBQ Guru controller. I think they are worth every penny and wish I had one from the start.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nomad_archer
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky