Wood Pellet Smoker

[BrunswickDawg]

Alright, I think I have finally decided to bite the bullet and upgrade my grilling/smoking equipment. I'm not a competition cooker, so I don't need high end stuff (I would love a Lang, but can't justify the cost). I have always smoked on my big Weber kettle grill, so I am looking for something that needs less attention. The wood pellet smokers have me intrigued. Has anyone used one? I like the idea of filling a pellet box, turning it on and not dealing with it until my meat is done. Any input?

[BeastMan]

I've never delt with one either so I'm wanting to see what feedback you get

[SapperDawg]

I don't have a pellet smoker, but I do have two Weber Smokey Mountain's (18 and 22 inch), and have been nothing but pleased with them. The Weber will go for a good 8-12 hours with little maintenance required, depending on your heat level, and you can use the same gear set-up you have for your grill - charcoal and chunk smoking wood. You can generally pick one of these up on Craigslist for about half price, if you pay attention to it.

On the 22" WSM, I routinely smoke two chickens, two pork butts, sausages, loin ends and several meatloafs at once. So, my decision was made on the fact that I only have to continue buying one fuel source, and I was comfortable with how it worked already.

[BrunswickDawg]

I do like the idea of sticking with Weber - you can't beat the kettles for grilling. About how often do you have to feed it? The kettle was about every 75 minutes, and having to take the lid off that often just kills temp control. Although, I typically use chips and not chucks - so maybe I should try those too.

[SheltonChoked]

I have Treager and I love it. It only gets to about 400 max temp, so it's not great for general grilling, but it smokes like a champ. Adjustable thermostat goes as low as 150. Lots of pellet options. Only downside is you hate to waste the pellets smoking just one thing at a time, so we to fill it up. We got the medium sized one so its good for a full brisket and some room left over.
We smoke about everything we can: Chicken, turkey, pork shoulder, ribs, brisket, pork loin.

Just finished off a shoulder, we smoked at 200 F for 26 hours.

[SapperDawg]

I do like the idea of sticking with Weber - you can't beat the kettles for grilling. About how often do you have to feed it? The kettle was about every 75 minutes, and having to take the lid off that often just kills temp control. Although, I typically use chips and not chucks - so maybe I should try those too.

Hot and fast, I can keep it going on a single load of charcoal about 6+ hours before re-feeding. Low and slow gets you to the 8+ hours mark, however there are some charcoal management things you can do to extend that. When re-feeding, I just toss in handfuls of charcoal through the lower door vs take it apart and kill the temp....the temp will actually rise a bit opening the door.

On my Weber kettle, I have gotten close to a 6 hour burn using the charcoal snake with wood chunk method: http://cdn.amazingribs.com/images/pix/fuse_in_kettle2.jpg

[BrunswickDawg]

I have Treager and I love it. It only gets to about 400 max temp, so it's not great for general grilling, but it smokes like a champ. Adjustable thermostat goes as low as 150. Lots of pellet options. Only downside is you hate to waste the pellets smoking just one thing at a time, so we to fill it up. We got the medium sized one so its good for a full brisket and some room left over.
We smoke about everything we can: Chicken, turkey, pork shoulder, ribs, brisket, pork loin.

Just finished off a shoulder, we smoked at 200 F for 26 hours.
SC - why didn't we cook like that in school? Oh yea, beer....
If pellet cooking has A's seal of approval then I probably assume my fam will be ok with it. 26 hours? I am sure your neighbors hate you.

[BrunswickDawg]

Hot and fast, I can keep it going on a single load of charcoal about 6+ hours before re-feeding. Low and slow gets you to the 8+ hours mark, however there are some charcoal management things you can do to extend that. When re-feeding, I just toss in handfuls of charcoal through the lower door vs take it apart and kill the temp....the temp will actually rise a bit opening the door.

On my Weber kettle, I have gotten close to a 6 hour burn using the charcoal snake with wood chunk method: http://cdn.amazingribs.com/images/pix/fuse_in_kettle2.jpg
Damn, I feel like an idiot now. The snake would solve my feeding problem. Although, from a capacity standpoint, I still think I'm going to move up.