To each his own.
I have a Traeger electric pellet smoker . I bought it used for seventy bucks . I like the convenience but don’t like the smoke flavor compared to my barrel smoker or weber . I have modified the Traeger with a water pan in the bottom and a small pan for burning oak wood chunks for the smoke flavor .
I’ve used practically every type of smoker there is. As folks from chowhound know I worked at a bbq pit in Georgia during grad school. Worked with several award winning bbq teams in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Including teams winning best in the world in several categories, over several years. And helped put on huge bbq (BBQ-NYC) events in NYC in the early 2000’s before the big money sponsors got involved in bbq events. Some former teammates went on to open or run the pit at bbq places such as Hill Country, R.U.B, Dasiy May, Wildwood, Fatty Cue, etc.
For electric I really like my Bradley. I got one before they had the problems with the digital version figured out so I got the Auber PID, and added a convection fan, and an extra heating element. I like the way I can set it to smoke one or several types of wood, for a certain amount of time, at a certain temp. then change the temp., etc. all controlled and automated. I cold smoke fish and cheese in cooler weather, and hot smoke in warmer weather.
The wood chip pucks can be gotten very inexpensively if you catch a sale. Like 120 for under $30. They have no binders or other ingredients in them. Yes, not as cheap as using wood chips or chunks, but still negligible compared to the cost of the meat you are smoking. I say the digital Bradley is a solid way to go.
Are there other options, yes. I’d do some intensive research, figure out your budget, etc. Also do you want fully automated? Or more hands on? Personally my days of being up all night feeding a smoker are long gone. I really dig set it and forget it.
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I’m with you on set it and forget it. However, the digital Bradley is a little more than I was looking to spend right now, and I’m willing to do a little manual work if it saves me some cash in the wake of our first home purchase. Masterbuilt is my top contender right now - it seems like it delivers good bang for the buck, and allows for some inexpensive modifications to improve an already decent product.
I understand. Although if you keep a watch at Amazon there are sometimes very good sales. Right now the Digital Bradley is $295
If you’re planning on ordering the smoker from Amazon I would keep an eye on their warehouse deals section, from time to time they’ll have unused open box smokers or smokers that have damaged packaging available for a good discount. I got my Bradley smoker for about 20% off that way.
I actually noticed this smaller model right after I looked at the link to the larger (more expensive) one - the smaller one is pretty affordable, and I don’t think I’d need more space than that. [quote=“Coogles, post:26, topic:4908”]
If you’re planning on ordering the smoker from Amazon I would keep an eye on their warehouse deals section, from time to time they’ll have unused open box smokers or smokers that have damaged packaging available for a good discount.
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This is a great tip - I had no idea this even existed!
A quick update on something I mentioned earlier in this thread. In the search for an alternative to bisquettes for my Bradley smoker I found these 1 ounce steel tins on Amazon that are close to the dimensions of a bisquette (about 3/8" less in diameter and 1/16" thicker). I punched some holes in the lids using the reamer tool on my Swiss army knife, put in some wood chips and loaded the tins in the bisquette hopper. The test run went really well, the control box advanced the tins down the ramp to the burner without any issues. Due to the reduced diameter four tins fit on the ramp at a time resulting in each tin spending 40 minutes half on and half off the burner plate. When I opened the tins later all the wood chips had combusted. If the rain holds off this weekend I may try to fully load the tins with chips and see how they work for a real cook.
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I have an original Masterbuilt 30 that just won’t die. My friends all have Cookshacks which are the Cadillac of the Electric. But I’ve been enticed by the Smoke-it smokers. Pretty much Cookshack look a likes but with foreign parts and a much lower price tag
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Your opinion on a Mak 1 pellet smoker?
I bought one in 2015, had been smoking brisket, pulled pork, bluefish , ribs and pool loin with bourbon . Wish I bought the Mak 2 but figured I do not need the flame zone as I have a rasmussen infra red grill which I can use as flame zone but did not realize that the extra 1000 dollars makes the Mak 2 a better deal as all the parts are SS.
still have a lot of request for the best brisket, pulled pork with vinegary carolina sauce . The ribs are also amazing. I follow Meathead’s Amazing Ribs and Steve Rachlin’s recipe.
