Smoking Game Meat! Looking for a first smoker

+3 (or 4?) on the Smoke Vault. Got mine at WSS for $188 on sale.

I researched a lot before making the purchase and I have no regrets. I am sure the Bradley's a great and easy, but they are $600 and you have to buy those pucks. Too rich for me.

Propane is cheap and I have a whole tree's worth of applewood that I use for smoking. Should last me many years. Not hard to keep the propane temperature dialed in unless it is one of those days when the temperature outside changes a lot.

Believe me, I'm not a propane grill guy. Charcoal all the way. But for smoking it is easy, cheap, and I sure can't taste any propane in the finished product.

If I was rich, I'd probably get a Traeger. Maybe some day...

I looked at little chief and when I saw that there is no temp control I skipped over it. I'm sure they work great for low and slow but propane just gives you more options.
 
I built a UDS

Ignore the propane tank, charcoal all the way

ouYaIyi.jpg

K2zqcbC.jpg
 
Charcoal smokers are alright if you have the experience/ skill to keep the temp even. But propane and electric are probably the way to go in terms of fuel. Bradleys work well but those pucks are stupid expensive compared to chips or pellets.

Like Ironsighter I dream of traeger
 
Traeger is nice...... but I have a charcoal verticals cabinet smoker and I swear by it.....

The trick with charcoal is to plan an all day event and not worry too much about opening and closing it...... actually, I think that's why I like it......
 
Nice Superbrad.

I started doing bbq on a weber kettle with charcoal, amazing how well they hold their temperature.

Have used a variety of home made and purchased charcoal smokers since then. Old housemate had a bradley, almost like cheating. Hunting partner uses a propane masterbuilt and it works well.
 
FGR said:
+1 on the propane smoker. I use the smoke vault and even without a thermostat control it is very easy to keep a steady temp. The only drawback is when it comes to making jerky, the propane puts off water vapour and the meat will only get so dry. I put it in for 1.5 hrs to get the smoke and temp right then finish in the oven.
Click to expand...

Your smoker needs more air flow to get the moisture out. I have both top and bottom 4" dampers on my homemade propane fridge smoker and the jerky can be made dry enough it's crispy and snaps like a twig.


Look on Kijiji for an old steel fridge with enameled steel interior, a burner and valve off an old BBQ side burner, and some racks from scrapped ovens. Very cheap, tons of space, and you can use it all winter long, unlike many smokers out there.
 
I`m addicted to my Traeger Pro 22 ,I love that thing It`s pretty hard to screw things up with that unit (unless you run the hopper dry), comes with two temp. probes....just plug and play.

Costco has great deals on pellets ,as does peavey Mart ,so I loaded up on a few hundred pounds worth !!!!!!

Paul T
 
Big green egg all the way buddy. IV done 14 hr smokes, Ans they turned out great.
I also have a cheap propane smoker from Crappy tire, but once you figure out how the use the egg, you wont use anything else
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom