Once you get the hang of it if you start it with what is called the minion method it's pretty much set it and forget it. I have a maverick remote thermometer and have done multiple overnight cooks and set it to go off if the smoker gets below 200 or above 275 and it's only gone off once and that was a 10 second heat spike, I didn't even have to get out of bed.
If you're plannin on stayin' put for a while and like (do often) cooking and smoking I'd go with brick (side by side), not to mention it more than pays for itself if/ when the time comes to sale.
correct, but it kind of feels wrong. can you get a smoke ring on an electric? I was told you really can't though I don't understand why.
Don't know, and usually I am tearing apart the meat before I find out. EDIT: And from what I understand (again, not a smoker master), the smoke ring is simply eye candy. It has no affect on the flavor or quality of the BBQ.
yeah it doesn't matter via the flavor. I was thinking of getting a Bradley smoker originally, but decided on the weber.
After about 5 hrs a butt or shoulder wont take much more smoke flavor in. The ring is just evidence that it will have smoke flavor.
Cinder blocks are perfect. You can make the pit as big as you want for pretty cheap. My current pit is 10+ years old and would be good for several more.
so it's easy to maintain it at low and slow? I've also always wondered if a pure wood fire wouldn't over smoke it, but obviously that's what people have been doing far before vertical smokers.
I have a Masterbuilt Vertical combination smoker that I got on a closeout deal from HD for $100. It can either use propane or charcoal. I usually use it with propane and plenty of apple or pecan chips. So far I've only done some ribs and a bunch of pork loins on it, it's done very well.
I don't do "direct fire" under the meat. I burn down hickory to coals and that is placed under meat. The coals (less an open flame) produces better smoke. (It also cuts down on the potential pit fire you may have where you lose everything) You don't want it sealed off completely. As long as the smoke is able to pass through and release from the top of the pit "over smoke" is not an issue. I normally cook around 220. My great uncle did it this way for years. Thats where I picked it up.
I second everything droski has mentioned. I have the 22.5" Weber and I have run it for 20 hours on one bag of charcoal with very little baby-sitting. Once you get it dialed in you really only need to check on it every ~4 hours or so. It will hold more food than you will likely ever need to smoke. The dual racks are also a big plus over the BGE, as I can smoke roughly 20 lbs of boneless chicken breast (when I find it on sale) at the same time. I know the BGE has it's fanboys, and I don't think it is a bad grill, but dollar for dollar the Weber will give you much more value; plus portability. Biggest drawback is the water pan, but that isn't an issue to me.
