The Great Conundrum

[acemakr]

I once thought that the plastic trash bag was just about the greatest invention ever - the whole point is buying something you have no intention of keeping; it's made to throw away.

From what I've read on this forum, and in my own experience, I'm starting to think that smokers, while not even approaching the greatness of the disposable plastic trash bag, are also an item in such demand that manufacturers can continue to sell even though their product performs marginally.

There are of course exceptions; one that comes to mind is the WSM, which as I understand, is pretty much good to go right out of the box. JAX757 just scored a carload of goodies knowing she/he faced some mods in order to get his Char-Griller Super Pro ready for seasoning, etc.

I'm all for free enterprise but how come it's acceptable for Lovers of Q to have to mod their gear to make it useful and efficient.

Perhaps Ron will have better luck with his newly acquired MES?

 

[fatback joe]

Get a Stumps.

http://www.stumpssmokersinc.com/

.......but yeah, I know what you mean. Most of the mass produced, readily availble smokers out there leave something to be desired......sometimes even after the mods.

 

[elde]

Actually, I've found the higher you are up the scale (from occasional weekend warrior up to full time fanatic), the less likely you are to get equipment ready to go out of the box. The higher you are on the scale, the smaller the market segment you represent and higher your standards and the greater your desire for a finely tuned if not outright bespoke solution.

Take my woodshop for example; My $199 jointer worked right out of the box - but it worked like crap. My $500 jointer took two days to set up and tune - but it's a precision instrument. Part of the price I pay for that precision is the time it takes to set up and maintain the equipment to my standards. I don't expect professional level (woodworking) equipment to just work out of the box, because there are too many variables, too many adjustments, and too much that depends on personal preferences to make that possible.

Which is long winded way of saying, if you want professional results from professional gear, be prepared to pay the price. If you want professional results from consumer gear, be prepared to pay the price.

You don't something for nothing.

 

[got14u]

That's why I wanna make my own this summer after the weather gets better. I like my MES and I like the cold smoker I made for sausage but I can't wait to make a vertical smoker I can keep for years.

 

[solaryellow]

Doesn't seem too different than any other good hobby worth pursuing. Stock equipment only lasts so long before one gets the itch to tune for performance.

 

[jamminjimi]

Well said!!!!

 

[fire it up]

Well you have to figure the big companies know that smoking is becoming bigger and bigger every day. They also know that they can get away with selling an average smoker that somewhat works because people will just pay it and then do their own mods saving the company millions a year on parts and material.
Like any other company around they have one goal, to make money.
They don't care about anything more than filling their pockets, but that's what all big business is about anyway so you can't really blame them I suppose.

 

[bbq engineer]

Another thing to take into consideration, smoking meat is effectively one giant experiment. I am constantly tweaking some element in pursuit of (never achievable) perfection. In order to really take control of your experiment you do need to alter some variables and this is where some of the mods come into play.

It is all part of the game.

 

[acemakr]

I like that.......... Thanks

Gary

 

[nickelmore]

I built my first vertical and started making mods before it was finished, then I decided to make a second one before the first one is done.

Just another day of tweaking, modding smoking,

Darn I need more time.