Your best and worst BBQ purchases.

[Dweverett]

Best would be either the Rectec or thermopen.

Worst would be stupid high temp gloves. Agree with the earlier post, cotton with the latex gloves over them is worlds better

Bear claws might be a decent runner up. Not because they don't work, just don't really add anything to other options

Edit... just saw another post, the Weber chimney starter I bought with my KJ is still wrapped in plastic. I'm sure it works great bu hasn't been needed for what I do given the options I have

 

[MDPHX]

+1 on the thermopen, gave me more confidence when first starting, especially with chicken that I was always worried of under cooking and killing everybody

 

[SmokinJohn]

Best "purchase": My UDS.
Worst "purchase": My Double Barrel Smoker. Didn't realize it was a stick burner until I was testing it out.

 

[SmokerKing]

Best: BGE / BUFORD drum builds / Thermapens

Worst: Man Law BBQ Light

 

[Wood Fire Steel]

Best BBQ Purchase: Parts to build my drum
Best Honorable Mention: If we are including grilling, nothing has improved my cooking more than my Thermapen.

Worst: High temp gloves. Never use them. I use cotton throw-away gloves and cover them with latex gloves if I’m going to touch food.
Worst Honorable Mention: Thermoworks Timestick. Had 2 crap out on me. Totally unreliable and reliability is the key feature for timer.

I would like everyone to stop...read the above post...and go buy cotton glove liners and 6 mil nitrile gloves. It will change your smoking life forever. Best part is they are cheap. I take butts directly off the cooker and wrap them with nothing more than my hands , thin cotton liner and nitrile gloves. I pull to temp butts without any tools. It is warm, but not hot. Way better than the clunky silicon mits. Best thing I ever did.

 

[Joe Black]

Best purchase: My Bell Fab smoker
Worst purchase: Nothing comes to mind.

As far as a bad or worst purchase is concerned, I owe a lot to all of my brethren for their opinions and tips. Because of this, I have had some forewarnings when it comes to buying some items that are not up to par. Thanks guys.

 

[Twisted T's Q]

probably a tie for best , pbc and my bayou classic that i got for $360. 00 ( bayou classic is still new so that may change over time ) but the pbc has defiantly stood the test of time .

worst a homemade stick burner that I paid $600 for , I used it some but it would work your ass off and nothing about it was right , I actually just give it away a few weeks ago

good thread btw Bob C Que

 

[ronbrad62]

My best has to be a used Old Country Over/Under smoker that was barely used and I got for $240.
Worst is a tie: the silicone orange hi-temp gloves all over Amazon are horrible because they don't mold to the hand, and the Bayou injector, also available there, has two needles, and the liquid needle has multiple holes and I often make quite a mess when I inject and slowly pull it back.

 

[sturev]

Depends on how you define equipment...
Best - A subscription to this site
Worst - numerous bbq gadgets that are filling up my kitchen and never get used... anyone want a bbq mop that holds a whole quart of sauce in it's strings, I mean WTF?

 

[Turkey]

Best: my first Weber Kettle because it got me into grilling and smoking.

Worst: various rubs. How do some people manage to make a bbq rub that is saltier than the equivalent amount of pure salt?

 

[Notorious Q.U.E.]

Best: Shirley

Worst: Famili OT digital thermometer off Amazon ; lived four months and then died. I thought I was getting a deal with an 80 dollar unit for 50, but maybe it's the reason they were cutting prices so aggressively

 

[pjtexas1]

Cotton gloves and disposable gloves? And I've been using just the disposable ones. It's hot but I'm quick.

 

[Kyle Serlington]

best: WSM (6 years ago)
worst: GMG Daniel Boone (1 year ago)

 

[Melissaredhead]

Bests pits: Weber kettles & Yoder stickburner

Best gadget: igrill 2

Best rub: Black Ops

Worst pit: cos leaky bucket

Worst gadget: stupid thick fire proof gloves too farking big to do anything (

Worst Rub: all others it's just salt ( I build my own)

 

[Pocchampion]

Best. My subscription to BBQ Brethren. I have gained more from this site than any pit or gadget I ever owned.

Worst: raichlen silicone gloves.

 

[Hankdad1]

Best: Akorn, and subscription to this site.

Worst: Wire brush for grate cleaning. My wife spit out a bristle. Damn things should be outlawed.

 

[mrbill]

best:
a few of Raichlen's BBQ books from Half Price Books. at home growing up, bbq was dad grilling pork steaks on a gasser and slathering them in sauce(homemade) once done. it was good. it still is good. i still do it to this day. however, when i got my first grill after moving out, i wanted to do some research on recipes/techniques...etc and being short on funds, bought a few of his books cheap. i read each one cover to cover and have been in love w/bbq ever since. they lit the spark that is now a flame.


worst:

cheap digital smoker/grill thermometer with probes that died on the first cook(it was not dropped and i followed all instructions for use). and by died, i mean the lcd display acted as if the crystals had been smashed. maybe 1/3 of the display was readable.

 

[LYU370]

Best: Subscription to this site of course any my FEC100. I too bought mine used for a little over half price, 2012 model in 2014, original owner only used it twice.

Worst: Like a lot of other people, those stupid silicone gloves. But technically, they were a gift, so... Possibly the Blackstone. I like it, but that $50 griddle is going to cause hundreds of dollars in damage to my deck if I don't figure out how to keep the grease contained.

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

Best: Toss up between any of my Weber kettles, Sub to this site or possibly the raw steel each time I build a new pit.

Worst: hands down cheap vertical from Walmart.

 

[mattmountz94]

Worst: Also agree on the orange rubber gloves, they are awful.

Best: Tough call between the Yoder and my Craigslist Kettle but the winner goes to the Kettle. Best 65$ i have ever spent