Charcoal Smoker/Grills

MChalkley · May 21, 2000

Ok, guys and gals, a question for you:

(Actually, that brings up another question first: Are there any gals/ladies/females/whatever the politically correct term is these days who are regular visitors to this forum?)

Anyway, what are your recommendations for charcoal smoker/grills? I'm interested in getting one. My criteria:

I can't be just a grill. I've got a Weber, which I'll get rid of when I get the smoker/grill.

It has to be charcoal. I have no interest whatsoever in gas. (Diesel, maybe, but not gas...)

I don't want to pay over $300.

Quality, design & performance are the key issues. Remember, you're talking to a Kubota owner here. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

To get an idea of what I'm looking at right now, check out http://www.chargriller.com/smokinpro.html.

Thanks!

Mark

W5FL · May 22, 2000

Sorry, gals are in short supply on the tractor website - try the cooking forum.

Seriously consider investing a whole $59 in one of the Electric Smokers that have the water pan. Home depot makes them, and I will bet that you cannot tell any difference in the smoked flavor EXCEPT that it will smoke bbq, hams, and turnkeys for 10 - 12 hours unattended. They really work great. My wife started to take it back until she tried it. Now you couldn't get it away from her.

Actually, the quality may be closer to BLUE, but you can buy 3 of them just in case. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird · May 22, 2000

Mark, we did a lot of that kind of cooking for many years; don't do as much of it anymore. But we had a big natural gas grill at the edge of the patio in town with a rotisserie, and then I used one of the round "Cookin' Cajun" charcoal smokers with the water pan Wen mentioned. I preferred the charcoal, to which I would add some hickory chips that I soaked overnight in water. I used to smoke a lot of fish, briskets, and occasionally a turkey. After we bought this place, a friend gave us one of the smaller Cookin' Cajun electric smokers with the water pan, like Wen mentioned. It does work well, but seems to me to get a little too hot. I'm not familiar with the one you're looking at, but it does look good.

Bird

MarkV · May 22, 2000

Mark, Look into a Brinkman Pro Smoker. We have two, one at home and one at the weekend home, that we use weekly. I have had several differnt types over the years and find that the remote fire box works much better than the coals at the bottom type. The Brinkman is also sold as New Brunswick and are about the same in style as the Chargiller you were showing. What I found is that the Chargiller was a much lighter gauge steel and like a wood stove, the heavy material holds heat better and longer. Home Depot has them off and on in my area and I paid right at $200. Makes for great cooking!

JimBinMI · May 22, 2000

Blue..All the quality, lower price! That's what I'm talking about! /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

James · May 23, 2000

<font color=blue> Ditto!

<font color=black>

James

MChalkley · May 23, 2000

I had actually looked at the electric one and liked them a lot. I'm thinking about getting one for unattended smoking. But I still want a charcoal smoker/grill combo.

Mark

MChalkley · May 23, 2000

MarkV - I looked at one of the Brinkmans at Walmart, but I'm not sure it was the model you mentioned. I liked it pretty well. But I have a question: Are you sure you aren't thinking of the Char-Broil grill when you said it was made of lighter steel? I saw a CharGriller at Home Depot (the grill-only model, not the one I want) and it seemed like it was made of heavier steel to me. They also carry the Char-Broil and it was pretty cheesy...

Mark

ddl · May 23, 2000

For more data and we all love data check out this site http://www.rbjb.com/rbjb/rbjbboard/. Lots of useful information. Brinkmand Gormet work real well even through the weber smoky mountain is made of thicker metal
Dan

MarkV · May 23, 2000

Mark- Opps, you may be right and I am thinking of the wrong one. The Brinkman model we have is called the "Smoke'N Pit Professional". It is a heavy rascal with a side fire box and large cooking area. They say you can put coals in the cooking area for large gilling events or grill in the fire box for smaller groups. We never grill in the cooking area and find the fire box large enough for four steaks or a bunch of burgers. When used as a smoker, the cooking area will develope a nice seasoned glaze that seems to add to the flavor. I would say what ever model you get, get a thermometer to monitor smoking temps. Try 200-250, long slow cooking times, a water tray with water and vinegar under the meat and a towel to control the drooling./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif