Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

I want to start smoking more things but don't know what kind of smoker to look at. I want to do both hot and cold smoking.

I was reading about this Bradley smoker in a charcuterie book and it looked interesting (minus that you have to buy their wood biscuits forever).

http://www.amazon.com/Bradley-Smoker-BT ... d_sbs_lg_1

Is this a good option or is there something better for less money? I have access to smoking wood so it would be nice to utilize it.

Quinton,
I don't know anything about those Bradley smokers. The big concerns I have are the price and fuel supply. I'd be really concerned about the quality for that price unless it's a basic charcoal smoker like the Weber. I'd also want something that fuel is readily available for. Can you buy those discs from other suppliers? Can you get different types of woods? You can find good quality lump charcoal or pellets locally or online from a number of sources.

Here's a good site with great buying advice for just about any type of smoker:
http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyers_guide/smokers/index.html

For price, it's hard to beat a Weber Smokey Mountain. Many people have those and get really great results. If you already own a Weber kettle charcoal grill there's a kit you can buy to turn it into a decent smoker. I went with a Green Mountain pellet smoker for price, ease of use and the fact that I could buy the grill and a wide variety of pellets locally. Several others in the club use home-built smokers, and others really like the ceramic "komodo" style setups such as Green Egg or Komodo Kamado.


On 06/26/12 10:00, quinton wrote:

I want to start smoking more things but don't know what kind of smoker to look at. I want to do both hot and cold smoking.

I was reading about this Bradley smoker in a charcuterie book and it looked interesting (minus that you have to buy their wood biscuits forever).

http://www.amazon.com/Bradley-Smoker-BTDS76P-Digital-4-Rack/dp/B000FJZ150/ref=pd_sbs_lg_1

Is this a good option or is there something better for less money? I have access to smoking wood so it would be nice to utilize it.

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I think you should get this one lol.

http://www.bbqpits.com/largestmobiles.htm

More economically, gas smokers are nice and very easy to use. Just make sure you get one big enough to do full racks of ribs on. 24 inches wide will work and they are fairly reasonable.

A 15 lb tank of propane gets me about 24-30 hours of smoke time on my 18 inch wide smoker from Lowes. I'd pass on the biscuit one and get the gas one below if I was in the market. You can use chips or chunks for smoke.

http://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-24-Inch ... gas+smoker

Don't forget the Turkey Cannon!

http://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-TKYC-Tu ... d_sim_lg_2

"CharBroil" makes several grills/smokers that are very affordable and well made.

Quinton, you're using a Brinkmann bullet now right?

I do have one, but was thinking of upgrading.

http://www.smokenator.com/

I bought one of these a few years ago to upgrade my Weber kettle into a make-shift smoker. It has served me very well, but I think much of that success was due to the remote probe thermometer I also purchased. It has a relatively small water pan and requires me to check in on it about once per hour or so. Despite the frequency with which I have to observe the smoker, I consider it a good value purchase and am really happy with it.

I second Randy's suggestion for the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). For that price point, it gets great reviews and is flexible as to fuel type (briquettes, hard wood lump) and smoking woods. I've never actually cooked on one, so I can't speak to how easy it is to control the temperature. But again, it gets good reviews from various "experts" - YMMV.

I'm still in the Honeymoon phase of my new grill, so I can't say enough good things about it. But, I will be candid, it was serious coin! Not for the beginners. Get your feet wet with something cheaper and then upgrade as you feel the desire, just like brewing equipment, baby!

thanks a lot for the input bbq'ers.