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I use a pit smoker. Specifically a Weber smokey mountain. Best bang for your $ and it lasts 30 years.I started thinking about this tonight and wanted to get some suggestions and techniques. Maybe even some recipes if you have them. I bought a charcoal smoker many years ago but could never commit to the time involved. Life always got in the way. Gave it away.
Then a few years ago I bought an electric smoker. Didn't need as much attention as it had a digital pad to set temp, time whatever you want. Also had Bluetooth so I could set it and forget it and go about my weekend honey Doo list. Could keep tract of it on my phone. Worked well but burned up the small woodchip box quickly and it needed refilling often.
Now I'm retired and bought a propane smoker. Unfortunately I haven't smoked anything all year. Am going to fire it up and see if I like it.
My question is for any of you that smoke meat, what is your preferred smoker type? Any tips for the type you use. Your favorite cuts. Favorite rubs. Recipe times and temps. Pretty much any and everything. The few times I used the electric smoker, things turned out good, but not WOW, if that makes sense.
The ceramic egg cookers (big green egg or kamado joe) are a touch better but significantly more expensive. An off brand ceramic cooker may be a good way to get into that style.
I am anti pellet smoker. They don't have a very long shelf life. The auger and ECU can give you issues. They don't give off good smoke. You have to run them a lot cooler (like 200°) and the smoke still isn't comparable to a Weber smokey mountain running at 275-300. You aren't winning any competitions using a pellet grill. They are a touch simpler to use in daily use. But anything more than 5 years of use and you are on borrowed time.
I would like an offset but they use up a lot more room. I have enough big grills and toys, I don't need a giant smoker eating up more room.
The Weber smokey mountain can also be used as a charcoal grill. I used mine last night to reverse sear a few Ribeyes at about 225° and finished them off with a cooking torch. They came out about as tender as steak can be made.
Smoking is therapeutic. Setting aside a day every month or so to long cook something is a nice little getaway from the world. Baby back ribs, pulled pork, and burnt ends are my favorites. Pork shoulder and brisket are long cooks. A chuck roast is a good cheap alternative to brisket if you don't want to make some giant slab of meat.
I am to the point where I make my own rubs for my little weekend cooks. But I have about 5 or 6 store bought rubs that I like a lot. When I do big cooks for groups of people I usually use store bought. My two go to rubs are "killer hogs the bbq rub" and "Weber KC BBQ." I pick those because you can buy them in bulk at any Walmart. The KC BBQ is a little sweeter and it's great with chicken. But just as important as the rubs are what you're spritzing the meat with, your glazes, and any specialty sauces. For example, with my pulled pork I like using a sauce that is foreign to my area called Carolina gold that I make from scratch. I'm sure you can Google a recipe for it. But that flavor profile is unique in this region. When people try it they are surprised by the new flavors and it's usually a big hit.
There are a lot of championship teams that make YouTube videos to go check out. Malcom Reed is a pretty good one to look at. He is really easy to follow and he is consistent.