Which kind of smoker should I buy?

Hi everybody. I was hoping one of you bbq masters could help me. I want to get my brother a smoker for christmas, but I haven't been able to find any information or comparisons between the different types of smokers. Can anyone tell me some of the advantages/disadvantages of the different types. Do they all give you the same end product? I've seen electric bullet smokers, charcoal bullet smokers, horizontal smokers, water smokers and probably others. I'm just a bit confused by all the choices of styles not to mention brands. My brother has a gas grill right now, but he loves to cook, especially BBQ, and I think he would be up for a new challenge. Which type and/or brand of smoker would you suggest? Thanks!

Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) bullet smoker.

Can be found for $179. Makes great smoked foods, holds low and slow temps for hours, a desired trait for low and slow cooking.

Also has the best owners manual in the world, the Virtual Weber Bullet web site.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/index.html

Regards,
-egkor

I agree that the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) has a huge following and with good reason. The bullet style is very economical when it comes to space saving along with fantastic results. It may be more welcome as well as compared to a fairly large displacement horizontal smoker. Regardless of the type, you would look for a smoker that has a good fit around all openings- the only smoke escaping should be from around the dampers only. Anything more will result in a undesireable loss of heat and smoke resulting in longer than necessary cook times as well as an increase in the amount of fuel required.

Read the "Deep Fried Turkey" thread, I have a 7-in-1 unit that is just great. I go intop some detail about it there. It would be perfect for your gift!

It's good to give us a price range to work with because we could spend a lot of your money on this subject. My Mr. Smokey however costs around $60 and smokes very good meat.

I does have a few drawbacks. The temperature is more difficult to regulate than some others because it has no dampers. Smoke billows from every gap instead, but then it has to.

Hope you find a smoker that matches your budget and taste!

I'm in agreement about the Weber bullet, it's a fail safe smoker IMHO and is made really well and seals FAR better than less expensive smokers. I had a Brinkman charcoal smoker before the Weber and the difference is like night and day in regard to my ability to control the smokiness of my meat as well as a constant temperature which the Brinkman would fluctuate wildly at times.

Hey thanks everyone! Upon your advice, I think I'll go with the weber smokey mountain, although the 7 in 1 unit looks really neat too. I know my brother is going to love this new food adventure. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to help me with this issue. Happy Holidays!

Hehehe, yeah and he'll thank you for the mornings he has to get up at 4:00 AM to get the smoker started Seriously, that's a heck of a gift. Can I be your brother?

If I only had a brother that would buy me a Klose Pit for Christmas .

He's from Houston- maybe he IS your brother!

chagan wrote:

He's from Houston- maybe he IS your brother!

LOL

For a little different opinion for our Guest

Depending on the type of person that your brother is I might suggest a horizontal "barrel" smoker instead of the bullet. The bullet is nice if your brother would want something simple and basic - I however chose a barrel smoker when I got started and I can say that if I went with a bullet I probably would not be cooking at the level that I can cooking now. THe barrel smoker is a more "true" smoker since it relys on the cook to master his craft. Barrel smokers are rather inexpensive also, I purchased mine from Lowes for $100 and it worked great. it was the Chargriller Pro with the offset fire box.

I am partial to the traditional “barrel” smokers like other have described. Here is the link to the brand that I have. http://www.thebrinkmanncorp.com/products.asp

Then again, the 7 in 1 rig Grand Scale has described………Hmmm