What Type of Smoker Should I get for Butts and Brisket?

[kailor]

What Type of Smoker Should I get for Butts and Brisket? Thanks.

[Dennis S.]

Pellet. Too easy on long smokes.

[tdnick]

Big fan of my RecTeq 1250 and griddle. The Flagship wasn’t out when I bought mine but that’s what I would get now.

[fr8dog]

I have an offset stick burner. Excellent but takes practice and monitoring. An Egg which does a great job and is pretty close. A MES 40 that does an OK job. Need a smoke tube though. The chip tray sucks and doesn’t put out enough smoke. My Pit Boss pellet is super easy, but just doesn’t put out enough smoke. I throw in a smoke tube on that, also.

To choose one of the 4 I’d go with a kamado style. Very versatile. I’m just a backyard warrior, not a Compti-Q player.

[hawgsalot]

Camp chef pellet grill will also allow you to add chunks for additional smoke. Really nice smoker.

[WPS456]

Love both of my Big Green Eggs!
Edit: let me add that with the BGE, there’s a learning curve. It takes a few cooks to figure it out so start with a butt not a brisket. Also, the accessories can add up. A great accessory for low and slow is a Flame Boss 500, it’s a temperature regulator, which means you can set it and forget about it or even make adjustments from your phone. The pellet smokers are very easy to use too and would probably be cheaper but I like the flavor from everything better out of the BGE. The stick burner with smoke box on the side are great if you’ve got the time to babysit every low and slow for the entire cook. I’d love one but I don’t have the time to do that.

[Booster]

Someone rugged like the Marlboro man... Avoid Virginia Slims.

[blzngmarine]

I've really enjoyed my masterbuilt 560 gravity fed charcoal grill/smoker. They have newer bigger models now too.

[Transom]

Weber WSM. Best value on the market.

[rb]

Kind of like my Stumps. Make sure whichever you get its big enough to let air flow move around. That's a big part of temp control and even smoking

[Bill2e]

I have both a Big Green Egg and a Treager Timberline.

Both are excellent, but if I could only have one it would be the Big Green Egg

Hands down, better food and more versatile.

[Landar]

I have Masterbuilt 1050 gravity series now and really like it over the pellet grills I’ve had. If I had to get something else it would be a BGE or Weber Summit Kamado.

[Doorman1]

Kind of like my Stumps. Make sure whichever you get its big enough to let air flow move around. That's a big part of temp control and even smoking

Still saving to buy my stumps per your recommendation. The wife says I’m not going to spend that kind of money on a smoker, but once she eats some BBQ from it she will get over it.

[Mybigfish812]

Great info! Is it wrong to now crave brisket for breakfast

[rb]

Great info! Is it wrong to now crave brisket for breakfast

Wait,, you mean you have never had a Denver omelette with shredded brisket in it

[Bob G.]

I bought a used 18" Weber Smokey Mountain after I retired 2 years ago. I like cooking with charcoal. I added the Thermoworks Smoke X 4 channel thermometer and Billows temp control kit. Once set up, it's almost set and forget. I don't use water in the water pan, I foil it. Had a learning curve when I got it but learned a lot on a WSM forum.

[Bjxds]

I love my recteq

[GOTTA BIG SACK]

Komado style. I have a Komado Joe. Have a pellet grill also, it's easy but the food is not as good on it.

[charg295]

The Masterbuilt Gravity feed is a lot better than the pellet smokers. I had a Pit Boss pellet smoker and wasn't happy with the amount of smoke flavor. I have the 800 Masterbuilt and the temp stays were you set it and it cooks very even. You have a choice of what kind of charcoal you can use. You can even put chucks of wood in with the charcoal. I bought mine because of the recommendations of several co workers that do competitions with a big gravity feed and do very well.

[BigEasy]

Another vote for a Kamado style. I’d like to have a cooker like RB’s Stumps but they’re a little more than what I need. I’m not a fan of pellet grills because of the noise of the fan. The ones I’ve been around sound like a fighter jet spooling up on the flight line.

I’ve got an XL BGE and a Kamado Joe Jr. and they both turn out killer food. Like others have said you can get a controller and they pretty much become as set it and forget it as a pellet pooper.

Probably the best value in a Kamado is the KJ because it comes with most of the accessories you will need.