Another new smoker thread...

[not on the rug]

Well... I've been entertaining the idea of adding a barrel-style smoker and last night I pulled the trigger on an Oklahoma Joe Bronco Pro.  It gets delivered on Friday.  

I went back and forth between the Bronco Pro, a 22" WSM, a Hunsaker, and a Gateway and decided that at $700, the Bronco Pro had everything I needed to get started.  The WSM needed about $400 in mods and add-ons and the Hunsaker and Gateway both needed another $100+ in add-ons to do what the Bronco can do.  

The Hunsaker and Gateway may be slightly nicer in build quality, but I'm not even sure I'll prefer the hanging-meat-in-a-barrel style of BBQ yet, so I went with the cheaper option to take it for a test drive.  

Here's a link to the product.  Set-up, break-in and test cook pics to follow.  

https://www.oklahomajoes.com/bronco-pro-drum-smoker-orange

[electric10162]

Nice! 

I'm in the same boat. Itching to take my new smoker for a spin.

[DBuck]

34 minutes ago, not on the rug said:

Well... I've been entertaining the idea of adding a barrel-style smoker and last night I pulled the trigger on an Oklahoma Joe Bronco Pro.  It gets delivered on Friday.  

I went back and forth between the Bronco Pro, a 22" WSM, a Hunsaker, and a Gateway and decided that at $700, the Bronco Pro had everything I needed to get started.  The WSM needed about $400 in mods and add-ons and the Hunsaker and Gateway both needed another $100+ in add-ons to do what the Bronco can do.  

The Hunsaker and Gateway may be slightly nicer in build quality, but I'm not even sure I'll prefer the hanging-meat-in-a-barrel style of BBQ yet, so I went with the cheaper option to take it for a test drive.  

Here's a link to the product.  Set-up, break-in and test cook pics to follow.  

https://www.oklahomajoes.com/bronco-pro-drum-smoker-orange

 Glad to see someone else sticking to charcoal smokers. I once considered a pellet grill, but decided against it. Good luck with the new toy.

[not on the rug]

52 minutes ago, DBuck said:

 Glad to see someone else sticking to charcoal smokers. I once considered a pellet grill, but decided against it. Good luck with the new toy.

Thank you. I considered a Recteq pellet smoker for a few minutes, but decided against it for a few reasons.  I like a little more "smoke" on my food than pellet grills typically put out.  I don't love the idea of dealing with pellets (buying, storing, etc) whereas charcoal and hardwood are easy to come by and the prices rarely fluctuate.  I'm not interested in using an App, wifi and electricity to smoke my food.  I just like the old-fashioned "soul" of wood and/or charcoal smoking.  Can't wait to get my hands on it.  

[Haskell_Hunter]

22 minutes ago, not on the rug said:

Thank you. I considered a Recteq pellet smoker for a few minutes, but decided against it for a few reasons.  I like a little more "smoke" on my food than pellet grills typically put out.  I don't love the idea of dealing with pellets (buying, storing, etc) whereas charcoal and hardwood are easy to come by and the prices rarely fluctuate.  I'm not interested in using an App, wifi and electricity to smoke my food.  I just like the old-fashioned "soul" of wood and/or charcoal smoking.  Can't wait to get my hands on it.  

I was you once.  Then I got old and lazy and got a pellet grill.   

I used to store hundreds of pounds of grain in my basement to brew with.  Now that stuff is being used to hold hundreds of pounds of pellets.  So I was lucky to have a storage system in place for that stuff.

I did charcoal for years and it's fantastic.  I was texting this AM with the guy I gave my WSM to about the amount of smoke, etc.  We will be doing a side-by-side comparison.

Good luck with the smoker, did you get it in hunter orange?

[Slayer1962]

Tragaer pellet smoker is awesome. keep it clean and forget about worrying about temperature. 

[not on the rug]

18 minutes ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

I was you once.  Then I got old and lazy and got a pellet grill.   

I used to store hundreds of pounds of grain in my basement to brew with.  Now that stuff is being used to hold hundreds of pounds of pellets.  So I was lucky to have a storage system in place for that stuff.

I did charcoal for years and it's fantastic.  I was texting this AM with the guy I gave my WSM to about the amount of smoke, etc.  We will be doing a side-by-side comparison.

Good luck with the smoker, did you get it in hunter orange?

Wait...there was a time when you weren't lazy?  Haha

I did get the hunter orange one.  I thought it looked a little nicer and more unique than the standard black that everything else comes in.  

I'd be curious to see the side-by-side WSM vs Recteq results.   I'd be even more curious to taste those results...

[Haskell_Hunter]

Just now, not on the rug said:

Wait...there was a time when you weren't lazy?  Haha

I did get the hunter orange one.  I thought it looked a little nicer and more unique than the standard black that everything else comes in.  

I'd be curious to see the side-by-side WSM vs Recteq results.   I'd be even more curious to taste those results...

Both have tradeoffs.  The recteq is known for doing an excellent job of holding temperatures.  If the controller is indeed accurate, it didn't sway ±1°F last night.  I have another temperature probe I'm going to put in the grill to validate that it holds temp.  That's where the recteq beats the WSM hands down.

The WSM will give you more smoke.  If I want to have a completely black piece of meat come off the WSM, that's not hard to do.  The recteq is still grilling with wood, so you're going to get that flavor, it just won't be a black piece of meat.

Those two things above are probably the biggest differences between the two.

[Lunatic]

4 minutes ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

Both have tradeoffs.  The recteq is known for doing an excellent job of holding temperatures.  If the controller is indeed accurate, it didn't sway ±1°F last night.  I have another temperature probe I'm going to put in the grill to validate that it holds temp.  That's where the recteq beats the WSM hands down.

The WSM will give you more smoke.  If I want to have a completely black piece of meat come off the WSM, that's not hard to do.  The recteq is still grilling with wood, so you're going to get that flavor, it just won't be a black piece of meat.

Those two things above are probably the biggest differences between the two.

I will tell you where the pellet smoker really beats WSM. I can turn it on  at midnight, put a pork shoulder in, and go to sleep. The next morning, after my coffee, I check the temp on my cell phone and proceed on doing whatever else I like to do until the meat is perfectly cooked around 12 noon. Nothing in the world could make me watch the smoker for 12 hrs, or even for 6 hrs. 
This maybe the fun part for some people who actually like the process but that's not for me.

[Haskell_Hunter]

3 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

I will tell you where the pellet smoker really beats WSM. I can turn it on  at midnight, put a pork shoulder in, and go to sleep. The next morning, after my coffee, I check the temp on my cell phone and proceed on doing whatever else I like to do until the meat is perfectly cooked around 12 noon. Nothing in the world could make me watch the smoker for 12 hrs, or even for 6 hrs. 
This maybe the fun part for some people who actually like the process but that's not for me.

When I used to brew beer and using my WSM that was exactly it:  the process.  If you are a process person and want to be a control freak about that process, there are tools out there that let you do that.  I was one of those people, and now I have move on into elderly laziness.

[not on the rug]

1 minute ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

When I used to brew beer and using my WSM that was exactly it:  the process.  If you are a process person and want to be a control freak about that process, there are tools out there that let you do that.  I was one of those people, and now I have move on into elderly laziness.

I mean...most smokers (besides cheaper stick burners) are still basically set it and forget it.  I can even get 10-12hr burns in my Weber 26" kettle without doing anything at all or having to "babysit" it.  I think the idea of smoking being so labor intensive is kind of overblown.  That being said...charcoal will run a little more consistently than using just wood.  Wood stick burners do require a little more TLC

Edited July 14, 2021 by not on the rug

[Haskell_Hunter]

12 minutes ago, not on the rug said:

I mean...most smokers (besides cheaper stick burners) are still basically set it and forget it.  I can even get 10-12hr burns in my Weber 26" kettle without doing anything at all or having to "babysit" it.  I think the idea of smoking being so labor intensive is kind of overblown.  That being said...charcoal will run a little more consistently than using just wood.  Wood stick burners do require a little more TLC

Oh, no, you have to be kidding.  When you are using a vertical smoker there is a lot of temperature variability.  You will get a few hours holding at 235°F or 250°F, but it will swing if you don't watch it.  They are absolutely not set and forget.

[not on the rug]

2 minutes ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

Oh, no, you have to be kidding.  When you are using a vertical smoker there is a lot of temperature variability.  You will get a few hours holding at 235°F or 250°F, but it will swing if you don't watch it.  They are absolutely not set and forget.

With charcoal?  I run my ThermaPro when I'm smoking and I'm not seeing variations like that at all once I get it set.  I think that depends on the charcoal method you use.  I use more of a "snake" method so that the charcoal burns down the line, pretty evenly and consistently.  Are you using the "minion" method?  I can definitely see how that would cause temp spikes

[Lunatic]

51 minutes ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

When I used to brew beer and using my WSM that was exactly it:  the process.  If you are a process person and want to be a control freak about that process, there are tools out there that let you do that.  I was one of those people, and now I have move on into elderly laziness.

Nothing wrong with enjoying the process. It was exciting for me as well but only a couple of times. My personality would not allow it and I just quit smoking, like I quit watching baseball for the same reasons (too long without anything happening) , until I bought my pellet smoker. 
 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Lunatic

[Haskell_Hunter]

12 minutes ago, not on the rug said:

With charcoal?  I run my ThermaPro when I'm smoking and I'm not seeing variations like that at all once I get it set.  I think that depends on the charcoal method you use.  I use more of a "snake" method so that the charcoal burns down the line, pretty evenly and consistently.  Are you using the "minion" method?  I can definitely see how that would cause temp spikes

With a vertical smoker you won't be able to do a snake.  I've done that with the Weber kettle and it works pretty good once you get it going.  With the WSM we used the "dig a pit in the middle of the charcoal" method.  It works great and allows for a very long burn. But since you're burning a pile of fuel, you will always get an uneven burn rate.