Would like to get a smoker! Any Recommendations?

[JWFilips]

Hi Guys,
I was thinking of getting a Small smoker based on all you guys posting!
The problem is it is Just My Wife and I and we really don't entertain much ( and we like it that way)
So I was wondering if there are small smokers that you folks can recommend for 2 people?
I usually smoke chillies and such on my Weber Charcoal grill but it is work watching it like a hawk.... I think a smoker could be very exciting addition Especially since you guys do Meatloaf! That is what I call an affordable meal!

 

[Brad]

I have a pellet grill and I am quite happy with it. Plug it in, set the temp you want, fill the hopper and walk away.

Mine doesn’t get the use it could but like you it is just two of us. A full brisket or pork shoulder is way more meat than we can realistically eat. Will be doing some ribs this weekend with the kid coming to visit.

 

[Ian]

This one's nice...

 

[L Ross]

I bought my current Master Chef smoker off FB Marketplace for 40 bucks. Electric heating element, digital control, with a pan for saw dust or chips. 4 racks, works like a charm. I see them on FB MP all the time for 40 to 50 bucks. I use that for smoking fish, peppers, sausage, and ribs.

 

[Tomme boy]

if you want to grill and smoke get a pellet one. It is so easy. I scrapped my other propane one I had after getting a pellet stove. You can use regular pellets or they now have charcoal pellets if you want the charcoal flavor.

 

[JonB]

My buddy just bought a Pit Boss pellet grill...first time using it, he invited me over for salmon...it was excellent. and it's easy as Brad says, "Plug it in, set the temp you want, fill the hopper and walk away."
.
You've seen my TX smoker-grill (New Braunfels) from my photos, with side fire box. Now I can use charcoal and it's fairly easy to control temp, but when I use all wood fire, using a small fire, it's a challenge to keep the temp constant...and adding more wood often makes the food too smoky for my liking. I did a salmon fillet today, just to prove to my buddy how challenging it can be, compared to his pellet grill. I usually end up getting the grill too hot at some point and over cooking the fish. Today, I tried a little different tack, I started a BIG fire, then waited an hour until all the wood was coals, then put the fish on the grill, added a small piece of apple wood, then set the vents so temp was 250ish. Salmon turned out perfect this time.

 

[smokeywolf]

Pellet grills are definitely the easiest to deal with. "Set it and forget it". Lots of different flavors of wood pellets. Good results and a short learning curve.

Absolutely the best possible smoked flavor comes from an offset stick-burner. You also have to hover over them and babysit them while smoking most anything. Fire control can be difficult to master. Long learning curve.

Kamado ceramic grill works for me, but may not for you. Very economical on charcoal and wood chunks or chips. Easier than most to maintain stable temps in cold and/or breezy conditions. No electronics to fail. A bit of a learning curve, but easy to keep stable temps for 3 or more hours at a time.
Biggest negative to the Kamado type grills is it is very difficult to add wood or other fuel once the cook has started.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Its been just two of us for a while here. I have a little master chef electric. Was under 100$ new. It works well but I often find it too small. It started with ability of 300+° now and for a while best it gets is 250°. Now thats FINE, generally I target 180-200° sometimes 225° so it works fine. Chip tray is small I have to refill every hour @ 225 and inside two hours @ 190/200° but need to get hot and turn down for less or you dont get chips smoldering. Its wuick and easy and if only 2-4 people wanting dinner its fine. A whole Chicken fits but ribs need be short a full rack must be halfed and a large one may not all fit one of the two racks.

I like it but wouldn't buy again.

They make a dual fuel model it has close to 3x volume but is barely twice size. BUT same physical foot print just taller. Its Propane/Charcoal. Its 275$ ish better & larger chip box. Plus wood box that could provide smoke/heat far longer. (Better taste too off that.) This one would be my recommendation.

They iffer a propane only version for less$$

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Exact size as dual fuel. (Same size box near as I can tell ) Home depot/Tru-value/Lowes usually has both.

 

[Winelover]

.We have a electric Masterbuilt smoker with four racks. Most of the time, used with only one or two racks installed. Just the two of us. Try to smoke multiple items like slabs of ribs and chicken drumsticks. The chicken, we'll eat the next day. Disadvantage is having to add wood chips, evey 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

Started off with one of those egg shaped charcoal smokers, like Smokey uses. They need to be babysat, the whole time. Downside is dealing with the ashes and unburned charcoal, the next day.

Recently, purchased a Ninja Woodfire grill. It's a small electric grill with a smoking option. Uses wood pellets, rather than chips. Most of the time it's used strictly as a grill. Have smoked pork chops, as well as, pork tenderloins. It gets a lot of use on my upper back porch. We also have a propane Holland Grill, on the porch. When we purchased it, they were the only USA made grill, available. They have gone the way of the dodo. Was never happy with the way it grilled. Never got hot enough to make prominent grill marks. Acted more like an oven at 425 degrees. We use it mostly for vegetables and grill the meat on the Ninja. Ninja gets very hot and sears the meat, quickly, sealing in the juices. Very happy with it.

 

[RBHarter]

I have a pit boss smoker and grill. I'm obviously use impaired I can cook with gas , charcoal and smoke electric. It's a big unit with 3 racks in the smoker and 2 about 24² grills . It's supposed to vent the smoker and charcoal through the gas grill...........I haven't got that yet .

I gad a pretty nice gas smoker in Nevada . The big bug in it was that I couldn't turn it far enough down at 4100 feet on the back porch . The burner was just too big .

 

[L Ross]

For serious stuff I have a Louisiana Grill pellet smoker, but that is just too much when I want to smoke a pound of jalapeño peppers or a few fish fillets. I turn to the Master Chef for that.

My Dad smoked great fish with a 55 drum with racks and a buried fire pit about 6' away with the stove pipe leading into the bottom of the barrel. He used chunk apple wood and some how managed to play with both heat and smoke. He learned those skills on the farm where they smoked not only their own ham, bacon, and sausages, but also for several neighbors.

One year I smoked over 75 lbs. of sausage in a card board and wood framed smoker with a gas burner and a cast iron frying pan for the wood chips in the old milk house before we tore the barn down here. We used to host a sausage making weekend here for up to 4 other couples. We called it Sausage Fest. Nowadays folks would expect to see a rainbow flag and face painting at something called that.

 

[Ian]

....or an upside-down pineapple.....

 

[JonB]

One year I smoked over 75 lbs. of sausage in a card board and wood framed smoker with a gas burner and a cast iron frying pan for the wood chips in the old milk house before we tore the barn down here.

When I visited my Alaska Cousins (Yupik). They showed me how they smoke-dry Salmon (for several families). They had a ramshackle shed, maybe 12' x12' and there was an open fire near one brick lined corner of the shed and clotheslines running throughout, full of various cuts of Salmon. I wish I had a photo. My fave was something they called "half-dry" and it was King belly meat, I'm not sure if anything was added? or how long they dried it? BUT, I got to try some, they would boil it before serving on a bed of rice...Wholly RICH mama...a fella can only eat a small amount of that, if your gut ain't use to it.

 

[Rockydoc]

Started off with one of those egg shaped charcoal smokers, like Smokey uses. They need to be babysat, the whole time. Downside is dealing with the ashes and unburned charcoal, the next day.

As Smokey mentioned, there is a bit of a learning curve. But once learned, it can be a marvel. I have a Kamodo Joe Classic II. I have a little device I got from BBQ Guru. It has a little battery powered fan that sits in the air hole at the bottom of the cooker and a thermocouple that goes into the dome to monitor the temperature. You set the temp you want on the device and this controls the temp to within 2-3 degrees + -.
I can put in a full load of quality charcoal and cook a brisket for as long as 30 hours with that setup. Good charcoal leaves very little ash.

 

[JWFilips]

My concern with the pellet smokers is what do they use as a binder to make the wood pellets? Is it organic or a man made chemical?

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I dont have that but I believe its just compressed wood so probably water then dried. I doubt its got anything in it as its whole purpose is to impart flavor.

CW

 

[Missionary]

Never had one.
But I do know a serious turkey hunter who uses a 20 gallon metal bucket. Builds a wood fire. Lets it go to coals and adds what ever wood chips for flavor. Supends turkey from the top of the bucket and plops the bucket onto the coals up side down for about 5 hours.

 

[Brad]

Good pellets are held with just pressure. Do NOT use pellets for stoves designed for heating!
Jim, if you have a BBQ specialty shop in the area I would say they are a good place to start.

 

[JonB]

I always thought they needed oil for a lube and binder.
This is from Pelheat website

Traeger BBQ Wood Pellets​

How Are Traeger BBQ Wood Pellets Made? - PelHeat.com

Traeger are a BBQ wood pellet grill manufacturer, however they also produce their own BBQ wood pellets. Watch how Traeger BBQ wood pellets are made.

www.pelheat.com

Where the Traeger wood pellet process differs from standard fuel pellet production is in the use of food-grade soybean oil. Vegetable oil is often fed into pellet mills via drip-feed tanks or peristaltic pumps to reduce the pressure within the die and avoid die blockages.

However, too much oil will reduce the compression of the wood pellet to a point where it doesn’t form at a sufficient density. Wood pellet density is crucial for efficient combustion.

 

[fiver]

i have one of those old style aluminum box type smokers.
i love it for doing fish,,, except the amount of time it takes.
it IMO still does a better job though and i think it is because of the time,, and smoke temp.

for other stuff [like the ribs i done today] i use the electric one.... got it at Lowe's.
it uses wood chips [i buy them at wal-mart for like 6 bucks a bag]
it has a temp control, and a timer.
it uses about 4 times less wood than the box smoker.
super simple unit, but still cost me close to 200$
you have to check it every hour or so to add more chips, but not open the door to do so.

if i wanted to i could cook a 14" pizza in it, and I have,,, you don't have to add wood chips.