Grills, smokers, cookers etc

[Kingcreek]

I know there must be hundreds of preferred methods but I'm curious about what the folks here use.
For over 20 years I used a classic Webber charcoal kettle grill and was perfectly content until the leg sockets finally gave way. My wife talked me into going propane for the convenience and bought an lp Webber. I absolutely hated it until I read on a bbq forum about converting to infra red cooking grates. Took some getting used to but I like it for most things.
Last year I went to a BBQ competition and talked to a guy using drum smokers. He had a $25,000 smoker on his rig that he said he didn't even use anymore. I looked into the drum smokers and went with the smaller 30gal size pit barrel cooker. This thing is rediculously simple and works great! I have done chicken halves, up to 8 racks of ribs, a whole beef briskit, and last night did a Mediterranean dry spice leg of lamb which was pure salivating yumminess with a perfect smoke ring, light bark, and juicy medium rare.
The pit barrel uses quite a bit of charcoal and I don't bother to fire it up for a couple burgers or one chicken but the vertical cooking method at a constant 225 degrees is simple and effective. Everything has been very tender and moist. Smokes without getting too smokey or bitter.

[wmenorr67]

Wow, what a way to start another fight.

Ways of cooking meat vary just as much as which is the best gun arguments we seem to have, not to mention cornbread.

[Kingcreek]

Wow, what a way to start another fight.

Ways of cooking meat vary just as much as which is the best gun arguments we seem to have, not to mention cornbread.

Ha! Not trying to start any fights!
I like the big green egg and would have tried something like that except for the cost and the weight ie not having a place to keep it outside I would have to move it out and in every time I used it.

[BobR]

I have a Weber charcoal for most grilling and indirect cooking.

I have a Cabelas electric smoker for ribs, briskets and such.  http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Premium-Electric-Smoker/732447.uts?productVariantId=1631964&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=BingPLA&WT.z_mc_id1=50019659&rid=20&gclid=CJnklpm_iNMCFU2oNwoduNEMcw&gclsrc=ds

I keep looking at Traegers/Green Mountain smokers and the like but just can't convince myself to pull the trigger on one when what I have works just fine.

http://bestreviews.com/best-smokers

bob

[Kingcreek]

My son in law bought a Traeger pellet grill but he doesn't use it anymore. He said it requires too much attention and fiddling with.
Its really hard to beat a classic weber charcoal. I still have my legless grill and one of these days I'm going to weld up some legs or a table type setup. I could get a few more years out of it that way.

[Jim147]

I had to semi retire my 20+ year old Weber to the cabin where it doesn't get used much this year.   Picked up a new one for the deck and it gets used more then oven ever does.

I have a small barrel smoker that I have only used a few times, just haven't got the results I wanted.

I was given an electric Weber smoker from a guy that moved, never tried it with electric modified to propane and fill it with local pecan and hickory it turns out real good.

[wmenorr67]

http://www.basspro.com/Horizon-Smoker-20-Classic-Backyard-Smoker/product/10206648/

This is the smoker I use and love it.  As for a grill just have a cheap one bought at Wally World.

[41magsnub]

I use a rec tec pellet smoker.  It is totally hands off, no fiddling, just set to 225 or whatever and let it rip.

[bedlamite]

I've got a Weber kettle grill and a Brinkmann vertical charcoal smoker that I picked up dirt cheap as a damaged item, beat it back into shape and it works OK.

[Ben]

I'm not sure if I'm an outlier or just one of the bumbling masses, but outdoor cooking for me is more about cooking outdoors than the method. So while I'm a 1911 guy with pistols, I'm a Glock guy with grills, and just stick to simple and easy to use propane.

Though that infra-red conversion thing piqued my interest. What are the advantages?

[Kingcreek]

I used "grill grates" to convert to IR cooking. The anodized aluminum grates transfer heat something like 5x better than cast iron? I know the cooking surface is over 200 degrees hotter than before the conversion. Best thing is no more flare ups. I use a lot less propane too because I cook almost everything on lowest settings.
grillgrate.com for the conversion info on propane grills. I honestly would have given my gas weber away if I hadn't found the IR grates.
(pitbarrelcooker.com is the charcoal cooker I have)

[Scout26]

I have this as my smoker.  Does great with Chickens, Ribs and Briskets.

I've also have a Smoke Hollow Combination  That I use mostly for grilling and not so much for smoking, although it does a nice job, it's just easier to use the propane smoker and periodically dump fresh wood chips in.   This requires too much futzing around to be a reliable smoker.

The Propane side is nice for when we're just doing a couple of burgers or dogs, or need dinner quick.  I do prefer the charcoal side for steaks and when we have time to really make dinner.

[charby]

I have the Weber kettle, love charcoal because you can make hot and cool sides of a grill.

Been thinking about a Weber Q propane for quick grilling and tailgating.

Currently smokeless, worn out several charcoal and electric drum type smokers, due to rusting issues. Secret is meat can only take smoke flavor for so long, pull off and wrap in foil to hold in moisture and finish that way.

[K Frame]

I absolutely love my Weber kettle. To me, the only way to cook outdoors is over charcoal.

Briquettes for chicken, long-term smoking, dogs, brats, and veggies.

Natural lump hardwood for steaks and burgers. The higher heat of natural charcoal makes for fantastic sears.

Castle Key has a Big Green Egg, and it's absolutely incredible. He's done some amazing pork shoulders and birds on the thing. He did incinerate a brisket, though, as neither he nor I took into account that a brisket isn't nearly as fatty as a pork shoulder, and you can't cook them the same way.

I'd love to have one, but I'm also space restricted, and to be honest, the Weber does just about everything I need it to.

[BobR]

Secret is meat can only take smoke flavor for so long, pull off and wrap in foil to hold in moisture and finish that way.

I finish all of my big chunks of meat (pork butts and whole briskets) that way except after the foil I wrap them in a towel and put in a cooler for 2-3 hours to finish them off.

bob

[Kingcreek]

I do the same. The leg o lamb last night rested wrapped for about 30 minutes but was perfect.
For a full barrel of chicken (8 halves) or ribs (8 racks St. Louis style) I use 2 blocks of hickory about 2"x2"x2" each. About 3-4 hours in the barrel. On the ribs, I first coat them lightly with yellow mustard and then a dry rub, then coat with BBQ sauce for the last 30 minutes and let it carmelize. They're ready when I can pull them apart with my fingers.

[RoadKingLarry]

I built mine in the spring of '99. All 1/4" steel for the body and a couple of pieces of expanded steel for the cooking grates.
We use the little Weber for grilling up a couple of steaks or burgers for two.



I have cooked many hunks of dead pig with it in the last 17 years.







I prefer hickory for fuel and have gone back and forth from using all wood to charcoal and wood. All wood takes a bit more tending to keep an even heat but the final results would be hard to tell the difference.

[K Frame]

If you need me, I'll be in my bunk...

[T.O.M.]

I have 2 Webers.  I have a Spirit, the mid-level LP rig.  And, I have the classic Weber charcoal grill I bought my dad for father's day In 1987.  I use LP for fast cooking, meaning 30 minutes or less.  Low and slow goes on charcoal.

[K Frame]

Propane grills... Satan boxes fueled with dinosaur farts.

[Jamisjockey]

I've got an electric Masterbuilt smoker and it does a great job.  Even cooking is super easy, meat always turns out yum.

[RoadKingLarry]

Propane grills... Satan boxes fueled with dinosaur farts.

Propane has no soul.
Meat is so much better when it has been infused with the souls of dead trees.

[K Frame]

I know the old Hank Hill meme was "Taste the meat, not the heat," but I have never really cared for food that is cooked on a propane grill. It just doesn't have the same flavor that cooking over wood/charcoal does.

Yes, you still get the flavor of the carmelized fat, but the wood/charcoal adds an additional layer of flavor that's just makes food so cooked pop.

Castle Key makes a really tasty chicken and cheese enchilada. Good, solid recipe.

A couple of years ago he decided to cook the chicken on his Big Green Egg. Really added to the flavor.

Then he had a stroke of idiot/savant brilliance and also started baking the enchiladas on the grill, too. Even though they're in a pan, they still pick up the flavor of the burning charcoal, and it's simply incredible.

Took a good dish and made it an incredible dish.


Some years ago friends of mine upgraded their propane grills, and gave me their old one. I cooked on it a number of times, finished off the tank of propane, and never had it refilled. I went back to cooking on the grill.


I'd not done much grilling over the past couple of years because of the patio door situation, but now that I have that resolved, and as soon as the contractor is finished with the siding and I can have my back yard back, I'm going to grill like mad.

[wmenorr67]

I know the old Hank Hill meme was "Taste the meat, not the heat," but I have never really cared for food that is cooked on a propane grill. It just doesn't have the same flavor that cooking over wood/charcoal does.

The biggest mistake wood/charcoal users make is if they lighter fluid not letting it burn off prior to adding the food to the grill and/or dousing the coals with fluid after the food is on the grill.

I myself have converted over to using a chimney starter and it works great.

[bedlamite]

The biggest mistake wood/charcoal users make is if they lighter fluid not letting it burn off prior to adding the food to the grill and/or dousing the coals with fluid after the food is on the grill.

I myself have converted over to using a chimney starter and it works great.

The type of lighter fluid makes a difference too. Mineral spirits based is just nasty. Alcohol is much better and burns off completely. However, if a chimney isn't available, the Weber cubes are the second choice. One of them will light a grill with no problem.