What are you Grilling now?

[n_maher]

So build a giant enclosure and put one of those ovens that Mike suggested inside.  Desired aesthetic plus 60sec pizza FTW.

[Hopstretch]

10 hours ago, VPI said:

I really want a huge pizza oven, mostly for the aesthetics, but wanted to try it out cheap on the BGE first before dumping 15-20k into a pizza oven. 

This is the least Head Case thing I have ever read. 

[grawk]

[Voltron]

Smoked chuck roast. Much better than I expected. And a great excuse to use plenty of horseradish cream sauce.

[naamanf]

Put on my fairy wings this morning. 
 

[Dusty Chalk]

Fax is on!  ‘D’you lose my number?

[n_maher]

Ok HC, I need some assistance. My introduction to smoked meats, a Masterbuilt electric smoker, has been great but has taken it on the chin the last two winters and has been blown over multiple times and is probably one good shake away from death so before it kicks the bucket I'd like give some serious consideration to its replacement. I do enjoy the ease of set-and-forget that an electic smoker provides and I've been looking into to "nicer" ones that are not sold by Amazon/Big-Box stores like Cookshack and a few others but figured I'd toss it out to the serious members of this group for further advice. Is it time to step up to a pellet fed unit? If so, recommendations welcome?  Big Green Egg for flexibility of smoking and stupid hot oven for pizza?  Googling seems almost useless.

[EdipisReks1]

I'd just go with a standard 22.5 Weber. This is stuff that I did years, and years ago. It was amazingly good. 

Edited May 3, 2020 by EdipisReks1

[Aimless1]

Nate, are you looking to primarily smoke or are you looking to smoke &/or cook?

[n_maher]

13 minutes ago, Aimless1 said:

Nate, are you looking to primarily smoke or are you looking to smoke &/or cook?

Smoke. I use the gas grill for cooking duty.

And Reks, yes that works, but part of what makes the electric so appealing is setting it and no tending. No worrying if the fuel burns out or if the temp gets too high or too low. Less mess to clean up (although they all are messy).

[EdipisReks1]

5 hours ago, n_maher said:

Smoke. I use the gas grill for cooking duty.

And Reks, yes that works, but part of what makes the electric so appealing is setting it and no tending. No worrying if the fuel burns out or if the temp gets too high or too low. Less mess to clean up (although they all are messy).

Gotcha.  I'm just a fan of the simplest solution that works, these days.  My smoking these days is in the form of tofu and my Smoking Gun, anyway. 

[n_maher]

There's definitely a part of me that would like to try a charcoal-based solution, a friend swears by his Weber Smokey Mountain, but I don't want to end up with something that I don't use. 

[EdipisReks1]

41 minutes ago, n_maher said:

There's definitely a part of me that would like to try a charcoal-based solution, a friend swears by his Weber Smokey Mountain, but I don't want to end up with something that I don't use. 

I hope you find a solution that works for you best, Nate.  I'm vegan and wearing a kimono, so what the hell do I know?

[Aimless1]

If you're only going to smoke then a smoker or pellet grill are probably your best choices.  I am a fan of pellet grills and use mine constantly, but use it for both grilling and smoking.  My daughter's fiancé has a smoker and loves what ever he has.  For your needs that may be the better option, and I know very little about a smoker.

I have done briskets and ribs on the pellet smoker.  I have had to refill the hopper when doing a brisket once after about 12 hours.  So the deal with pellet smokers is they all work fine and all do the same thing.  Things to look for once you determine the size is the PID (temperature controller) and hopper size.  Once you dial in your temp you literally set it and forget it until done.  If you get one then you have the fun of trying different pellets until you find what you like best and what works best in your smoker.  Can also fine tune flavors like hickory, apple, jack daniels & etc.

My gateway drug was a green mountain grill daniel boone.  I liked the PID on it better than the Traeger at the time. Bargain basement purchase in the land of smokers but made many briskets on it.  Then I went the opposite direction when I got one for the primary residence and got a Memphis.  All stainless steel, top of the line PID.  Not as nice as Stretch's but very nice indeed.  The other top end model I looked at was MAC.  

 

 

 

[Voltron]

I am lazy and like easy solutions, so pellets are the only way to go for me. I've been using the same Traeger I bought many MOAs ago but replaced the PID for a much better one after going to Naaman's in Austin. So much more control of the temp, especially for low and slow smokes.

[shellylh]

Nate: I’ve had a Weber Smokey Mountain and they work great if you want to constantly pay attention to them to make sure the temp stays at the right temp, etc. Plus I always found myself cleaning it. If you want charcoal, go with a kamado Grill. My neighbor has a Kamado Joe and it works great. It’s a lot easier to open than the Big Green Egg because of its air lift hinge. They are heavy!

That said, I have a Traeger and love the pellet system. I should upgrade the PID. Suggestions from Al or Naaman?

[Voltron]

http://www.blazngrillworks.com/controller

That's the one, Shel. Easy to swap out on the Traeger. 

[Aimless1]

40 minutes ago, shellylh said:

That said, I have a Traeger and love the pellet system. I should upgrade the PID. Suggestions from Al or Naaman?

 

5 minutes ago, Voltron said:

http://www.blazngrillworks.com/controller

That's the one, Shel. Easy to swap out on the Traeger. 

It's been a couple of years so I may not be current, but I like the blazngrillworks Al suggested or the Flame boss 400 https://www.bbqguys.com/flame-boss/400-wifi-smoker-controller-w-universal-adapter-kit-fb400-u?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=1757301804&utm_content=341652417329&utm_term=3061103&species=shopping-ad-smart&campaignid=1757301804&adgroupid=67470556263&creative=341652417329&targetid=pla-793059537741&network=u&device=c&adtype=&productchannel=online&productid=3061103&productpartitionid=793059537741&gclid=CjwKCAjw4871BRAjEiwAbxXi2zp46o5NoaAY_yD6y-zQSpDSrxkYDUtXQ3fZ4qhnKYl-70268dhHvhoC-dIQAvD_BwE

 

[shellylh]

Thanks! I’ll look into this. I like having one I can manage on my phone so I might go with the Flame Boss.

[n_maher]

I've been doing quite a bit of research on this and am leaning way more towards a pellet grill/smoker - current leading candidate is the Traeger Ironwood 650. Seems to have a couple of features that are worth paying for over the Pro series.

[Aimless1]

Shelly & Nate, you might want to head over to amazing ribs.com & check out their reviews.  When I was looking they were my most reliable source.

Shelly, they like the FireBoard FBX11 & give it high marks

Nate, I didn't see your grill listed.

You can take a 30 day trial membership and search the site and look in the forums.  Lots of useful info and recipes.

 

 

 

[n_maher]

34 minutes ago, Aimless1 said:

Shelly & Nate, you might want to head over to amazing ribs.com & check out their reviews.  When I was looking they were my most reliable source.

They don't appear to have reviewed much, if any of Traeger's lineup since its introduction in 2019. 

[Aimless1]

A lot can change in 2-3 years.  Back then they literally reviewed every grill you could purchase in the U.S.  Might want to check their archives.

[n_maher]

1 hour ago, Aimless1 said:

A lot can change in 2-3 years.  Back then they literally reviewed every grill you could purchase in the U.S.  Might want to check their archives.

They have great reviews of the older stuff, the problem/challenge is that Traeger made what appear to be some really good changes in 2019 and plenty of other sites have had good/great things to say about them. The GMG options are cheaper, and I'm trying to determine if those differences are worth the cost.

[Aimless1]

45 minutes ago, n_maher said:

They have great reviews of the older stuff, the problem/challenge is that Traeger made what appear to be some really good changes in 2019 and plenty of other sites have had good/great things to say about them. The GMG options are cheaper, and I'm trying to determine if those differences are worth the cost.

The Traeger looked fine when I looked online.  When I bought my Memphis (end of year) I really wanted a Yoder but they didn't have any available.  Probably 50% more than the Ironwood 650 but built like a tank with nice goodies on it.  This is HC after all