Wanting to add another smoker to our ensemble. Help with smokers!

A

aimcat

Knows what a fatty is.
Joined
Apr 3, 2017
Location
Virginia...
So my husband and I currently own a large Pitboss pellet smoker and we love it. We love the ease of use and quality smoke it seems to put out on our bbq. We have bbq for 8 years now and prior to this we had the big WSM, we liked it but it was not consistent as much as the Pitboss. We also had a pitbarrel smoker and DID NOT like it at all. It constantly got way too hot and just no on it.
We want to add another smoker - keeping in mind of possibly doing competitions in the near future. Do we go with another pellet? Stick burner? Any recommendations would be great! Thanks!
 
You’ll probably get better help if you provide more info.

How much cooking capacity are you looking for?

What does your budget look like?

Sounds like you have taking a real liking to pellets. Are you really interested in switching fuel types and cooker styles? Or do you want to stay focused on pellet cookers?

Do you mind feeding and stick burner every 45-60 mins, or do you prefer to be note hands off with fire management?

These are just a few questions that I think will help others be able to better help you :)
 
Sorry forgot to include these details.

Cooking capacity: 1-2 butts and ribs or several racks of ribs at a time, etc.

Budget right now: $800 or less (prefer less)

We like pellets a lot, but I just want to know what others think. Kinda wondering about a stick burner, but we like more hands off to be honest, so I dont know. Our WSM of course did charcoal but charcoal seems like a hassle sometimes. :/ Or what else might benefit if we go compete or do we just stick with pellets?
 
We wanted to love the drum. We had a pit barrel. It was suppose to run consistent around 250-275 for ribs. We messed with this thing at least 10 times, it would always go over 400 and then burn everything or just put too much char out if we left it alone more than 20 minutes. Maybe a nicer drum doesnt do this? The WSM we used for 3 years. We had the big one and it took a lot of fuel.
 
If you wanna mix things up and try something new... and have complete and easy control... I agree with the Hunsaker idea ^^^^
 
IMnotalwaysHO

It sounds like you want another pellet cooker. I like drums, and the way they cook. But I have two pellet cookers along with a UDS and a stick burner. If you go with a good drum, there is a learning curve to figure out temperature control, but once you figure it out, you're there. Some guys use briquettes to get consistent temps. If you have the lid off for very long, the temperature will spike and sometimes is hard to get down. There are other things too, and that is why I love being able to talk on here. If you get another pellet cooker, you should have room to cook all of your competition stuff, but bigger is better IMnotalwaysHO, when you talk about competitions. Then you will have plenty of room to finagle things in a pinch.
 
800 is a slim budget. I have been there. My opinion is build an uds. Maybe add a bbq guru or other type of stoker. It would get you a good setup for minimal cost. A stoker should help keep it more consistent. Usually they run fine on their own but if you are not happy with the temp control I would add a stoker. I would build one with a flat lid or add a gasket to a weber kettle lid. I prefer the kettle lid so I can add 2 grate levels. If you use a stoker try and get it sealed up nice and tight around the lid.
 
aimcat said:
We wanted to love the drum. We had a pit barrel. It was suppose to run consistent around 250-275 for ribs. We messed with this thing at least 10 times, it would always go over 400 and then burn everything or just put too much char out if we left it alone more than 20 minutes. Maybe a nicer drum doesnt do this? The WSM we used for 3 years. We had the big one and it took a lot of fuel.
Click to expand...

I'd be curious to know your "settings" on your PBC. What charcoal, how open was the vent, etc. Sounds like you had an excessive airflow issue. I've learned that the more you tweak settings on the PBC, especially mid cook, the more annoying it is to control. A basket full of KBB charcoal, the vent open to PBCs specs in the instructions, and a few wood chunks have yielded consistent results for me and sits around 275 (I think, i don't check anymore).

Sounds like pellets should your jam. Lots of guys compete with them, but if I were serious about getting into competition I'd find a vertical cabinet or try a Hunsaker drum. Unfortunately, $800 is a pretty slim budget. i bought my Humphrey's Battle Box used for close to that, however.
 
Pedro7, it has been several months since we used it and have since sold it, but we were using Kingsford regular charcoal, we would put some in the bottom, light the rest in a chimney and place inside. We put the vent to the PB specs but that ran too hot so we would even just close it and tried closed, a tiny bit open,etc, we used wood chunks on top of the coals. It was almost always 350 or more no matter what we tried to finagle.

When you speak of a cabinet smoker - what types?
 
At competitions - I am talking smaller back yard types with KCBS etc - what is the general consensus on pellet smokers? Are they accepted? Frowned upon? What are more people using? Should we have more than just a pellet set up? If we tried stick burners - where do we get the fuel!? I worry about that part!
 
aimcat said:
At competitions - I am talking smaller back yard types with KCBS etc - what is the general consensus on pellet smokers? Are they accepted? Frowned upon? What are more people using? Should we have more than just a pellet set up? If we tried stick burners - where do we get the fuel!? I worry about that part!
Click to expand...

Don't worry about that part. There may be some that think negatively on pellets, but they are perfectly legal and widely used. At a contest you want to cook on what you are most comfortable on, not what you feel coolest using.

We are no crazy KCBS team and probably will never be (due to time/$$ investment/very young kids), but we started a few years back cooking on a PBC and a Home Depot Special Char-Griller in our first KCBS event. We cook a few comps a year on a used Humphreys Battle Box and PBC's and sleep in camp chairs or in a rented Uhaul and have a blast. What we've spent is next to nothing compared to what some of the "pro" teams have spent and we are ok with that. Vertical cabinets rule around here in the Northeast from what we've seen. Lots of Backwoods, Meadow Creek BX-50s, Humphrey's smokers, 270 Smokers, etc. Occasionally you see some Yoder Pellet grills and a Traeger, Rec-tec or GMG thrown in. It honestly doesnt matter what you cook on. Just go with what's most comfortable and have a blast.

We found the wood for our stick burner on facebook marketplace. Craigslist has places too. Think we paid $150 for a pickup truck full of cherrywood that will last us quite a while. Worst case you can buy bags at home depot, it's just very expensive.
 
aimcat said:
At competitions - I am talking smaller back yard types with KCBS etc - what is the general consensus on pellet smokers? Are they accepted? Frowned upon? What are more people using? Should we have more than just a pellet set up? If we tried stick burners - where do we get the fuel!? I worry about that part!
Click to expand...
check craigslist for wood.
Kind of a mix on smokers. I have seen everything from pellet grills, kamados, wsm, uds, stick burners, insulated cabinets. I use to compete with a 14.5" wsm just one.
Get what works for you.
To put it in perspective team of the year was using drums.
A bigger cabinet smoker is what I would pick. Problem is its just outside of your budget of 800. Humphreys makes ok smokers. You could try a Backwoods Chubby 3400 for $799 and free shipping.
I hate to see you jump in backyard comps and then in a year or 2 want to jump up to pro and have to upgrade your smoker. Only reason I suggest a drum is they are cheap and honestly you can use them on the pro circuit. The chubby 3400 will work but imo if you move up will be tight in the future. That is exactly what I did. Bought something that needed upgraded. A traeger and it became too small.
 
I would look at a humphreys weekender you ccould do your big meats in there and your ribs and chicken on your pellet cooker. I have used Humphreys product for a while and love them
 
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