Show Us Your Meat, and We'll Show You Ours

[Evan]

If you want cheap, get a Weber Kettle and use it as a smoker. Or try to find a Weber Smokey Mountain used on Craigslist if you want a dedicated smoker.

Both of those are charcoal which I don't want and the smokey mountain costs more than most electric and gas smokers I've come across.

Have you tried to maybe make some of your own DIY smokers? It at least would be cheap and fun.

I mean, the problem is that "set it and forget it" doesn't work for smoking because it's a sllllloooowwww but constant process. That's the point. That's the reward for your patience and time.

ugly drum smokers are pretty awesome.

smoking meat is kind of like fishing. most people fish as an excuse to relax, not just to catch some fish to eat.

so if you want that experience, you build yourself an ugly drum smoker or an offset smoker, and sit around with a beer and hopefully some company while you tend the fire (which as a bonus is pretty damn manly too)

ill do that someday when I have the time, but since I dont and for now I value the meat itself over the process of smoking it, the pellet grill is damn perfect. Fill the hopper, set the temp to 225, stick in a temp probe and set the alarm to 200 and then forget about it for a few hours (or go to bed)

(and its worth mentioning, theres more to smoking than just the cook. picking the meat, making your rub, trimming it, injecting it, knowing when to wrap, testing the meat, what temp to pull it off the cooker etc etc)