Hi guys, my name is Steve and im just barely trying to get into the whole smoke scene. What kind of smoker would you guys reccomend, electric or propane and why? Im planning on buying one here in the next week or so, but havent really gotten much feedback on the type that would be best for me. I will be smoking alot of trout, ribs, brisket, turkey etc, and would like to some day try cheese and nuts of different types. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
BTW, this is a awesome forum you guys have going on here. Lots of info in here
Hi Steve and welcome to the forum.
I would say OBS to start with, there low cost and very good quality. My first real smoker (ele smoker) was an OBS and I love it!
Only down fall is you have to use there pucks, but this is also a good point cause you can't mess up like you can with wood chuncks with bark on them (nasty flavor) mater built smokers are ok but I have 2 friends that have them and they would rather have a Bradley. Main reason is cold smoking in the Bradley is so easy where you can't do it in the others.
Let us know what you decide on
THanks for the info. Ive been eying and drooling over the bradley now for quite a while. Thats one thing that ive noticed is the pucks are pretty expensive, but if each puck lasts 20 mins, it might not really be that expensive after all. I guess I should clarify, im not completely new to smoking, I have had a old propane smoker (brinkman) I think, but its worn out , and the only thing ive ever smoked in it was fish and turkey every once in a while. Im ready to take the leap into some of the more tasty meats (briskey, ribs etc) Never cooked anything like that in a smoker so its all kind of new. I have looked at all the brands out there for a while, and im pretty happy with how the Bradleys work even though they are a bit more expensive. I would rather spend a little more now to have a better quality smoker.
The pucks average about 33 cents or so a puck. At 3 pucks an hour that is about a $1 per hour of smoke.
Thanks for the great info!
Welcome Steve...to a really great and informative forum, there is so much good information on this forum and a group of very knowledgeable people that are more then willing to answer any and all questions..and what ever Bradley Smoker you choose enjoy it...
Hi stevo and welcome to the forum.
About the most smoke I'd ever put on a big hunk of meat is 4 hours. The rest is just cook time. So, the pucks aren't really all that expensive.
Good luck with your choice. The OBS is a good cooker. I have one.
Im also looking forward to getting one. I figure if the pucks get to expensive or I have wood Id rather use. I would order a smoke daddy and install. With both you have the best of both worlds. Least thats what I figure. Is there a reason for not doing this?
welcome to the forum and a obs is a great unit, and will handle most anything you throw at it ... at or under 45 lbs of meat, i generally do 15 to 20 max
Well I took your advice and ended up with the OBS. Got it for a pretty good deal at Sportsmans Warehouse. They had it on sale for 279.99, only had the floor model left, was able to talk them into a 10% discount for floor model, plus I had a 20.00 off coupon. Ended up pretty good. Took it home last night for a short test drive, didnt have much time left in the day , so I threw in a couple bricks of cheese. After a hour and a half, it still looked like cheese, but smelled like a mixture of Marlboro and Camel ashtray ;D, but I heard thats normal. Vacum sealed it and its in the fridge for the wait. The first test is this weekend, got about 20 lbs of ribs to do for moms day!
I ended up getting 3 of the 48 packs of bisquetts, got an apple, Mesquite and the Jim Beam. Which of those flavors would you reccomend on the ribs?
Did you season that new toy before you smoked that cheese?
I would use 3 hr Jim Beam.
My first choice for ribs is Hickory and Oak would be second, Jim Beam is Oak.
If you like a lighter smoke go with the Apple.