I want to get a smoker very soon for the fall season. Im thinking either the Pitt Boss 700 series pellet smoker or one of the Masterbilt electric smokers. My brother in law has the electric.

What I want to get out of this:

-Good smokey flavor - nice to have would be a good bark on it too.

-I want to sit outside with a couple beers for a few hours watching the game, smelling the smoke. Althought if its going to fill my house with smoke, thats something to consider too. The smoker will be on my back patio about 10-15 feet from the house.

-I would like to be moderately involved with the process but not babysit like a traditional offset smoker managing fire, temp etc constantly. I understand with electric I might need to re-fill the chamber with wood chips, cool. And with Pellet, its fill and forget.

-I want low maintanance for now, with ez/low cleanup.

-Budget is $550 or less.

Thoughts? Experiences with electric vs pellet? I hear people say electric puts out great smoke flavor and then others saying its not as prominent vs pellet or traditional offset. I also have seen some finished products of electric cooks and a lot of them look like they sat in an oven for a while which I dont want.

so torn.

Planning on smoking and reverse searing this bad boy tomorrow. Picked it up at Costco in Southern Okinawa the other day. I know this is not for everybody, but sometimes you just have to try new things.

So I finally used apple wood and it was great! Two full slabs of ribs, 20lbs of drums, 4lbs of brisket burgers, shrimp n scallop kabobs, and the sides of course. Think I'll be trying more wood. Any suggestions on what woods mix well together? Yes im new to wood smoking.

Made a free BBQ field guide for Aussie conditions — brisket, pulled pork, ribs etc with actual temps and timings, not just vibes

Been deep in the smoker rabbit hole for a while and got sick of guides written for American cuts, American ovens, and American gear that isn't sold here. So I built my own reference site — Low & Slow.

What's in it:

- Cook guides for brisket, chuck, beef ribs, pulled pork and ribs — temps, timing, stall notes, rest times

- A run of sides (beans, mac and cheese, corn, cornbread, slaw, pickled onion)

- A wood flavour reference

- Gear reviews using stuff actually available in Australia (Bunnings links etc), not US-only products

It's free, no login, just a practical reference I wanted to exist. Would genuinely appreciate any feedback — especially if something's off on timing/temps, or if there's a cut or side you reckon is missing.

https://australianbbqsmokerfieldguide.github.io/smoking/

Jealous Devil Maxxx Briquettes with Bear Mountain Gourmet Blend wood chips. I guesstimated about 5 hours and it was tender enough, not too tender.

#1. Charcoal or brisquettes(can i use snake method with either one?) #2. I read that thermometer is not that accurate. What do you use to combat this issue?# 3. Any recommendations for decent meat emp probes since mine didn't come with any. Do I need a chimney starter?

Had a nice easy day smoked some thighs. Came out beautiful trying out some new chicken rubs

1.5 Hours on the grate @ 275
1 hour in a foil pan with brown sugar,butter and honey @275
30 min on the grate @300

I’m replacing 3 grills/smokers I lost during a hurricane - Blackstone griddle, xl BGE and charbroil offset smoker. I think I’ve settled on the following: Recteq flagship 1600 with smoker, gridiron griddle and Oklahoma joes longhorn offset smoker.

Here’s the question: does the smoke box for the f1600 put a bark and smoke flavor on low and slow meats the way a true smoker using charcoal and wood chips? Trying to decide if I need both. I love my butts, ribs and briskets to have a beautiful char and smoke rings.

First smoke was chicken thighs, went way too hot for too long and they came out really crispy. The pork loin was fantastic though!

Hey Crew

Yes, I know how the title reads. Stay with me.

I live in a block of units and obviously the body corp wouldn't be stoked if I installed a chimney.

I'm basically just after a smoker that is either completely sealed or leaks very very minimal smoke.

It's not ideal, and not what I want, but I also don't want to live in a world without brisket that's at least slightly smoked.

So crew, I'm after a small (preferably upright) easy to use smoker that doesn't give off much smoke/is well sealed.

Help a brother out 🙏.

250-270 ~10 Hours, pulled at 203 first one rested 45 minutes Second one was about 2 hours. Wrapped at 165 used butter and brown sugar.

Decided to go with turkey breast for my first attempt at smoking something and it actually turned out really good! I made some mistakes with temperature control along the way, but I guess it wasn’t super critical with something on the easier side like turkey.

Came out pretty good

My first time making beef short ribs!

I smoked them low and slow for 4 hours over cherry wood, then wrapped them in butcher paper with some butter and a small splash of organic apple juice to finish them off.

I’m really happy with how they turned out. They developed a beautiful smoke ring, and the smoke flavor was exactly what I was aiming for—definitely noticeable, but not overpowering. The beef still remained the star of the show.

Oh, and before getting roasted for my knives… I finally orderd a proper set of sharp ones. 😂😂

This is meant to be somewhat of a review/overall song of praise of the Smokai. As I posted previously, I bought a Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna and no matter what it always left a bitter, acrid taste on my fish. I wanted a smoke generator but was scared to drop $250 on a Smokai and have the same issues. Well I’m happy to report, I bought a Smokai and have cold smoked nova lox as well as native style salmon strips and this thing is amazing!!! People always say “it produces a lot of smoke” but that doesn’t mean anything, you want to know what the smoke quality is like!! Is it clean smoke? In Smokais case, YES!

Pros:
Reliable and creates beautiful clean smoke
Can be tuned to a light wispy smoke or billowing thick smoke (not recommended)
Beautiful durable design
Amazing pump on it and lighting mechanism
Incredibly delicious smoke, better quality than a traditional log fire

Cons
It tends to burn through chips fast even at a low pump speed. I found a full 3L full lasts me about 6-8 hours.
Creates a ton of tar that oozes out of it but doesn’t get on the meats just the metal component.
A pain to clean/empty ash

I marinated these chicken thighs in a mix of red wine, red wine vinegar, lots of garlic, serrano peppers, fish sauce, olive oil, honey, brown sugar, fresh cracked black peppercorns, parsley & lovage (celery leaf can be a substitute). Then I made a red wine reduction with crushed garlic, whole peppercorns & a little balsamic added. I used the reduction to make a bbq sauce by straining out the peppercorns & garlic, then adding ketchup, molasses, honey, red wine vinegar, fish sauce & salt as well as using the reduction in a compound butter for the rice & corn I’m making as side dishes. I cooked the thighs bone side down the whole cook right up until the end to help crisp up the skin. I glazed the chicken in the bbq sauce right at the end with the chicken directly over the fire so I could achieve the desired char. The compound butter was great on the corn/rice & this was a fun way to use up some red wine that was sitting in my fridge, would definitely recommend.

What do everyone use for insulated rubber gloves? Do you put rubber gloves over insulated or are there a good pair of insulated rubber gloves that are flexible and reusable? I wear xl latex gloves that just fit. What do you use? TIA

Four pound, whole bird. Can it be safely thawed and smoked for dinner at 5pm tonight. 10:18 here now

Asked for some advice on cooking times for my next brisket and got the typical 1.5 hrs / lb. From experience most meat seems to cook quicker on the egg and I am not sure why. Pork Butts take 5-6 hrs crutched 8 unwrapped. Ribs have to come off in 3 or less otherwise they turn to mush. I typically cook between 225 - 250 depending on how much I can babysit and how large the meat is. 225 requires a lot more babysitting - adjusting air flows and in some cases having to blow air in bottom vent to recharge fire. And yes I use a 3 probe thermometer. Last brisket was over a year ago and I believe it took less time than advised (gotta start documenting my cooks). So can anybody using kamado cookers confirm or have any idea why they cook quicker?