What smoker should I get?

Three racks!

The two on the right are covered in Carolina Brewery BBQ rub. The one on the left has a sugar free rub for my mother in law... They've been in the smoker for about an hour and a half...

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Doing some "poor man's burnt ends" right now using a chuck roast from Keener Farms (buy from them frequently, they set up at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market). They hit 165 internal and then 190 foiled much faster than I anticipated, so they're set off to the side right now while I drop the grill temp down, where they'll go in for about 2 hours for the sauce and rub to caramelize and get tender.
 
I forgot to snap a photo of the poor man's burnt ends, but that's mostly because they were gone after about 5 minutes. I overshot the temps a little bit up front, but they still came out great for a budget cut of meat. I gave just a bit of a honey drizzle for the last 30 minutes and they were fantastic. Definitely going to pick up another cheap chuck roast (boneless this time) and do another batch. I think next go-around I will cube it first, put on a wire rack with a gap, and then smoke to get a little more bark all the way around rather than just top and bottom.
 
A second batch of burnt ends is on the smoker. I found this rub at Aldi last night and am giving it a go. It smells great - used hot sauce as a binder to make it stick, we'll see how it goes!

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That rub ended up with a great flavor to it. Will definitely be using again with beef! I tried the "cube it first" method of poor mans burnt ends the other day, and they weren't as good as the first that was smoked whole and then cubed to finish. While I did get a better smoke ring/bark all the way around, they dried out before getting tender. In part because it's a pretty lean chuck roast to begin with, and in part because it was a cheap Aldi cut and not the good stuff from Keener which has much better marbling/fat content despite being lean.

Last night I did a pair of BJ's pork loins char-siu style on there with some apple wood, and it was the juiciest, most tender pork I'd ever had. The only thing I'd have done differently would be a little heavier with the smoke up front, and ramp the temps up for the last few minutes to help crisp up that glaze on the outside, maybe even just finish off direct over the coals.
 
Butt on the Traeger after about 4 hours. Picture taken just before tenting it and cooking for about 3 more hours. Delicious!

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Family and a few friends coming over this afternoon... Got two 9lb butts on the smoker... This might be too much meat...

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Any of you guys use an offset smoker? I’m enjoying my WSM, but keep looking at these beasts.
 
I used an Oklahoma Joe's for a while. I then built an offset reverse flow smoker from a 500 gallon propane tank. While imho they are a better way to smoke meats they require more "tending to" and the pellet smomers are just easier.
JimB said:
Any of you guys use an offset smoker? I’m enjoying my WSM, but keep looking at these beasts.
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I just added an internal rack and the competition cart to my RT700. I have had it for over a year and ran over 300lbs of pellets through it an am still in love with it.
 
Infamous1 said:
I just added an internal rack and the competition cart to my RT700. I have had it for over a year and ran over 300lbs of pellets through it an am still in love with it.
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Dang! That's way fancier than mine. It's even got a light inside!

Maybe that's what I'll get when this Z Grill thing gives up the ghost eventually. So far it's been fantastic for a beginner!
 
Alabamacoastie said:
Dang! That's way fancier than mine. It's even got a light inside!

Maybe that's what I'll get when this Z Grill thing gives up the ghost eventually. So far it's been fantastic for a beginner!
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The light was great until it smoked over and is dim as a cousin......
 
Carolinatlc said:
Where did you find that grilling tray? I like the looks of it. My old one doesn't have handles on it and I'd like to get a new one.
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If was a 3 pack of stainless steel trays. Large, medium, small. They all have handles. The 3 pack came from Kohls for about $25.
 
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