new smoker options

UDS. $200 worth. Then buy as much Charcoal n Wood Chunks as you can and some meat. Pork Butt is the Easiest and Brisket is the Hardest to get right.

Depending on how long your willing to wait you can score on craigslist for sure. I picked up my weber kettle for 45 bucks and my wsm for 90. I am afraid to by an egg used so I paid full price for that. It sounds like you want more volume than what an egg will provide, so wsm would be a great choice. In Texas I feel it will do brisket better than an egg anyway.

It sounds like you are not likely to build your own UDS. I am somewhat handy, but also decided I did not have the patience to build my own. That is why I decided to buy a Pit Barrel Cooker, a smaller version of a UDS that allows you to hang your food for even cooking and produces outstanding results every time.

It is probably the easiest way to cook juicy, smokey and delicious meat. If your goal is to cook great meals for you and your family without having to spend time tending the fire, you should consider the PBC. If you prefer to be more hands and learn about fire management, I think the WSM is for you. I am not saying the WSM is going to demand constant attention, but it does take more skill than the PBC.

Good luck in your search. You sound like someone who has already found a lifelong hobby. Enjoy!

Pbc

I recommend the Pit Barrel Cooker as well. For less than 300 dollars you get a very capable smoker with great capacity. And it's ready to go right out of the box. I have a large BGE, mini BGE, Pitmaker Vault and a couple of other massive Clone offsets. All are outstanding smokers for their intended purposes. But that being said the PBC is reasonably priced and above all it's a pleasure to cook on. Hey I love my 2 eggs and have no complaints with them at all. But it's just plain fun hanging meat on hooks in the PBC. It produces a par excellent end product. The food comes out perfect in my opinion. And one of the biggest pluses to the PBC is it's almost fool proof. On the other hand if you have a drum you can build a UDS and make minor mods so you can hang meat in it as well. If you are not interested in building one yourself then I highly recommend the PBC. If money is of no concern to you then I very highly recommend the Pitmaker Vault as well. It is a behemoth. Built like a tank and cooks like a dream. I have been highly impressed with mine in every aspect. If you don't require this kind of capacity then I again recommend the PBC or building a drum. If I were to build a drum tomorrow I would make the mods necessary to be able to hang meat in it as well. I just really enjoy doing it. I hope this helps and good luck with your choice.

If you have your heart set on the offset, I'd consider a Horizon 16" as well as the yoder. Both are very similar. I'd see which I could pick up locally, the shipping costs are not insignificant. The horizon should be available at the Bass Pro in Foxborough (assuming you are in the Eastern half of the state). Not sure what the situation looks like on the yoder.

I purchased my Horizon 16 Classic from Bass Pro for $926.00 + tax. Since it is kept in the garage, I don't need a cover. The only thing I had to order from Horizon was the diffuser plate. If you have access to the right tools, you could easily make one.

Another smoker/grill you could consider is the Char-Griller Akorn. It's an insulated smoker/grill. I've had mine for 2 years now and I love it. I like it because it's versatile. You can either use it as a smoker or a grill. It uses lump charcoal and very fuel efficient since it's insulated. Easy to control temps. For $299, you can't beat it.

If you're mainly focusing on a smoker only, you might want to go with something else. The only flaw it has I think (my opinion), it lacks cooking space. Do some research on it and see what you think.

Bob C Cue said:

Buy a Pit Barrel Cooker. Under $300 and it is set and forget simple.

Click to expand...

One up on this as well - Insanely simple to use.

For $300 I'd pick up a Pit Barrel Cooker... Same reasons as above. Ease of use, great output.

Check out The Good One....I have a trailer model and love it! The patio jr. can got the job done for you as well at the Open Range.

Based solely on what I've read, I think the construction is similar between the two. Think Yoder has the better service but that's a pretty big difference in price.

Heck, with the savings you could build a couple UDS' :-D

I agree you can smoke like a bandit on a 22 Weber kettle -
I got one for $10, and 2 for free.
Also, learn how to make more than $80 per week will help.

Another vote for the 22.5" WSM. Weber quality with the backing of a company which has great CS. Go for a 26.75" kettle for more versatility.