Smokers - charcoal vs electric?

[Michele_Wilson]

Yes! I grew up eating at Corkys!!

[twkltoz]

Have you seen the video of the guy who used an old 4 draw filling cabinet as a smoker. Coals in the bottom drawer, and the bottom of the others are converted with a heavy mesh. Looks like it worked really well.

[Shill123]

Amazingribs is my go to site as well. Love the explanations behind the science.

[kentatas]

I am an avid bbqer and have cooked on electric, pellet fed, charcoal, and wood.

Wood fed smokers/stickburners - These put out the best flavor bbq hands out. However they take a lot of work because you have to feed a wood split ever 30mins-1hour depending on how efficient they are. If you want to put out the best bbq you can, you also have to maintain a proper wood pile. This takes a lot of work splitting the wood and takes up quite a bit of room.

Electric smokers - These are great for conveniences, however I feel the smoke flavor is lacking, or you get a dirty tasting smoke flavor. Also most electric smokers don’t get above 250 degrees so cooking “Hot and Fast” isn’t an option.

Pellet Fed smokers - These are great convenient smokers but the smoker flavor is light compared to other smokers. Very much a set it and forget it. But they do tend to cost more money per cooking space than other smokers.

Charcoal smokers - These can range from ones that you have to tend too regularly to set it and forget it. I cook on charcoal smokers mainly now a days. You get a great smoke flavor, and you can dial it into a temperature and it will go for hours with no issues. I highly recommend these for anybody that is new to smoking/bbq. The cost of the smokers are very affordable as well. Charcoal is cheap and you only need wood chunks which you can buy at any hardware store.

The charcoal smokers these are the ones that I recommend to people getting started.

Weber Smokey Mountain - These range in 3 sizes from 14.5in, 18.5in, and 22.5inches. Most homes can use a 14.5in to 18.5in without any issue for space. Once you learn how to use it, these cookers will maintain temperature for hours on end. You can also get a temperature controller (computer/fan) that will maintain your tempreatures for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Weber-2820-Smokey-Mountain-Cooker/dp/B00004U9VA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495044873&sr=8-2&keywords=weber+smokey+mountain

Pit Barrel Cooker - This a great made in the USA product. It comes in a 18.5in size and makes use of its space by having you hang the meat on hooks to cook.
https://www.amazon.com/Pit-Barrel-Cooker-Co-Package/dp/B00BQMDZYY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495044873&sr=8-4&keywords=weber+smokey+mountain

Then there are a couple home made solutions that are easy diy projects and don’t cost a lot.

Mini “WSM” - This utilizes a weber smokey joe grill, and a 32qt tamale pot. It will cost you about $60ish to make and takes an hour or two to make. It performs better than any of the sub $200 bullet smokers on the market. You can customize it also and can find differnt plans on how to make it.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/miniwsm.html

Ugly Drum Smoker - These are DIY but you can buy kits for them, and you just have to find a 55gallon drum. You can spend as little as $100 or as much as $400+ depending on different options you want. They run great and will hold temperature for 12+ hours no problem at all. You can find different plans for it by googling UDS. There is also some prefabbed parts you can use to make building it easier (just provide your own drum)
https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/big-poppa-s-engineered-drum-smoker-kit

When I first got into the hobby I built myself a Mini WSM because I didn’t want to sink a lot of money into a hobby until I knew I loved it. I still have my Mini WSM and use it when I go to the beach, camping, or road trips to friends houses.

My main cooker is a UDS (ugly drum smoker) I built it with a 55gallon drum i sourced locally from craigslist and used nuts bolts, and some pipes to make. I have been in several bbq competitions with it and have placed 10th in brisket in a field of 46, and 6th in ribs. It puts out some great bbq and hold temperatures really well.

I have also owned or used the WSM and the Pit Barrel Cooker and they are both great cookers that I would recommend without any reservations.

Your analysis looks awesome. As I know that the price can say something about the quality and use. Using electric smoker can help you save time while charcoal smoker can give nice taste, but wood can best flavor. It depends on your choice when you can choose smoker that fits your needs.

[Rian]

@logullo Thanks for the tip on the slow n sear. I’d never heard of it but once I saw your post I did some research and ultimately ordered one last weekend. Yesterday I gave it a try on some brisket. That little device is brilliant, couldn’t believe how well it worked. Thanks again!

[Ernest]

I got of those SnS thingamajig. Been with ABC from the start.
I can’t use a kettle grill without it.

[KBG]

I HIGHLY recommend a Traeger. It is an electric smoker and grill that uses wood pellets. We cook almost all of our meat in it. The flavor of the meat whether we smoked it or grilled it is incredible. It makes meat taste the way it is meant to taste, cooked over fire. Our ancestors enjoyed this but with modern technology we moved to the more convenient option of indoor ovens and unfortunately lost much of the flavor. It was a real eye opening experience switching from the oven to the Traeger and enjoying the flavor that had been missing all my life. It is convenient and easy enough to use that I choose it over our oven most of the time. It’s really handy too that it can both smoke and grill. It can actually even bake. We’ve done bread and pie in it and regularly do veggies along with the meat. Last week we smoked some beef ribs for about 8 hours I think and they were incredible. Seasoned only with salt, pepper, and garlic. No sauce was wanted.

[Dmes10]

Charcoal - Kamado Joe

[logullo]

@Rian Glad you like it! It really takes the Weber to the next level… and it’s great to have a smoker you can really just walk away from and let it go for a few hours without worrying about it.

Big hat tip for your bravery in trying brisket as your first smoke! Looks good