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Opinions requested, re: what cooker do I need next?

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    Opinions requested, re: what cooker do I need next?

    While I have a lot of envy over the setups many of you have, I think I'm doing okay here with a Blaze 4 burner gas grill and a PBC. I love them both. But the Gold Medal Giveaway threads always make me wonder what I would really want next. I'm a huge PBC fanboy, and the Blaze is a serious piece of machinery (my old college roommate GAVE me one recently). I've even toyed with the idea of paying it forward if I hit the Gold Medal lottery, and giving a PBC to my other friend that is not yet a believer, while keeping the other swag for myself. I can't remember exactly what all went with it, but that fancy knife set would be pretty cool too. Pellet smokers seem logical for my next step, since I've never smoked a brisket and they seem easier for longer cooks. **Note: My old roomy that gave me the Blaze is a high level rep for appliances and outdoor kitchens, or I'd repay the favor. I'd owe him something different when it comes time to reciprocate.

    #2
    Biggest thing would be ask yourself.......
    1 how much do I want to spend
    2 how much room do I need to cook
    3 what do I want to cook
    4 do I want a set it and forget it or do I want to tend to a fire
    4 how much smoke flavor do you want pellets and kamado produce the lowest
    5 how long do you want to keep it, some kamado's have a lifetime warranty
    6 how big of a footprint can you do

    Comment


    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      Let's pretend there's no budget, I have all the room I need, and I don't mind tending fire or replacing the unit. That gets us down to what I want to cook... I'm not a pro, so what would I need outside the PBC and the Blaze?

    • customtrim
      customtrim commented
      Editing a comment
      Skelly stick burner,offset, kbq

    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks customtrim that sounds like a lot of fun. Never even been around someone using a stickburner, but it kinda spiked my testosterone.

    #3
    I reckon it depends mostly on which direction do ya wanna expand out yer current smokin game...

    If easier long cooks is what yer hopin to achieve, I'd haveta say that either a good pellet cooker, or a ceramic cooker would be things to seriously evaluate.

    I cain't give ya any useful guidance on those, not ownin either, but there are tons of folks here who can give ya their experiences to consider!

    I wish ya best of luck in yer quest, an look forward to seein what ya come up with, an th Great Food ya make with it!

    Comment


    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      Always like your input Mr. Bones Pellet is kinda what I was thinking, but not real sure how much I'd use it. Now that y'all have me thinking, I may need more in the way of utensils lol

    #4
    Need? None of them. You have a great setup.

    But... that’s not really the question, is it?

    What you you would want is something that does something different than what you have. And that is a stick burner. What you need is something that burns wood: a KBQ, or a big ol’ smoker on wheels kind of thing.

    If if I hit the Gold Medal Giveaway, there’s nothing there that I really need. I guess a gasser would be nice, but it’s not like I have more meals to prepare. Having another thing on the deck would just make my life more complicated. I wish the classes were still there, but since they aren’t I’d take the SRF package. Having another "thing" is tempting. But it’s just a thing.

    Comment


    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      I like the way you think Mosca ... a stick burner would be interesting, and it's not so much a need as what I'd want to do.

    #5
    Seems like you don't have MCS at the moment. Let it rest - it will come back at the right time!

    Comment


    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      You're probably right EdF ... but what if I hit the Gold Medal thing? That would be some serious pressure. But since I post occasionally, I'm guessing it won't be me lol

    • Mr. Bones
      Mr. Bones commented
      Editing a comment
      Skelly ,[b]Oh, trust me, Brother[/i]; then yall have some really difficult decisions to make!

    #6
    I luv my pellet grill it cooks a mean bird great steak cooker then use your gasser for the sear but if you don’t have a flat top that’s what I’d get

    Comment


    • Mosca
      Mosca commented
      Editing a comment
      Ooo. Good recommendation.

    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      Fire Art , you mean one of those Japanese griddle types?

    #7
    Black stone or camp chef
    Attached Files

    Comment


    • Skelly
      Skelly commented
      Editing a comment
      Ooooohhhh, I like that idea.

    #8
    There is something about a stickburner that appeals to the caveman in a lot of us. Personally, I would go in that direction. Availability of wood is a consideration there.

    Comment


      #9
      Buy an offset, you won't regret it.

      Comment


        #10
        Unlimited space and unlimited budget and you already have smoking taken care of? I've always been intrigued by the Santa Maria style grills. I would love to be able to effortlessly adjust the height of my cooking surface relative to the heat source. If I were in your position, that's one I would consider carefully.

        Comment


        • JGo37
          JGo37 commented
          Editing a comment
          Absolutely!

        #11
        Pretty much any cooker is great if you learn how to use it, so I would take a look at the list customtrim posted and start from there. I will say though, all pellet poopers are not created equal. Some put out as much smoke as you want and some are pretty much outdoor ovens. I have both. If you are thinking of going that direction, do your homework so you get the one that's right for you.

        Comment


          #12
          You have a good combination now. A great gas grill and a very good smoker. PBCs aren’t higher end like your gas grill is, but people who have them really like them. I haven’t ever heard anyone say they wished they had bought something else.

          But since you asked, I have to say that I am really enjoying my 36 inch blackstone griddle. It is a breakfast making monster. But more than that, there isn’t much of can’t do except low and slow smoking. Last night I did fried rice with wild caught in the USA shrimp. Fantastic. It is also great for burgers and even steak searing - although a good higher heat IR searing burner would do better. But wherever, the griddle is here to stay.

          Now you also mentioned budget wasn’t an issue. So I would be remiss to not mention WOOD FIRED PIZZA OVEN! I would love to have one of those. Not only for pizza, they can also sear steaks. And other stuff. And if that isn’t enough they just look cool. Nothing says "I have class" quite like a traditional Italian wood fired oven. But make sure to build at least one fire in it so you can leave some ash in it so everyone thinks you recently used it.

          Santa Maria grills are also a nice addition. They look pretty serious and everyone will think "wow this guy doesn’t play games when it comes to food".

          When I upgraded my game I was looking at pellet grills. But I ended up with a Primo XL ceramic cooker. I’m not at all regretting that. I love the Primo. Last night I smoked some sockeye salmon at 190 and the grill had no problem. As I understand PBCs tend to run hot. Well not the Primo. I can hold 190 (and probably lower) or I can hold 600. Whatever. It’s all just a matter of air flow. Can’t say enough good things about it - but it is quite heavy and the opposite of easy to move.

          What pushed me to the Primo away from a pellet grill of similar cost (with the table I built and accessories I was up to about $2000) was that I can use the Primo without electricity, and lump is cheaper than pellets. After a hurricane I can still use my Primo, but any pellet grill would require a generator.

          But options are unlimited. Ceramic cookers aren’t really better than pellet grills, just different. If I won the monthly drawing that GMG would be awful tempting.

          Comment


          • Skelly
            Skelly commented
            Editing a comment
            SmokeyGator I really appreciate the time you took to type all that, and it's great food for thought. I'd considered a ceramic but don't have experience with them so wasn't sure how much it would add to my capability. Sounds accurate re: holding lower temps. **Wanted to point out when I said "budget unlimited" it was hypothetical, but I tend to wait/save and buy what want later.

          • SmokeyGator
            SmokeyGator commented
            Editing a comment
            Downside to ceramic (other than they aren’t easy to move or lift) is capacity. Dollar for dollar a pellet grill will give you more capacity. But they aren’t hard to use really. With a controller it’s set and forget. Without one you just have to watch it at first then check in every so often.

          #13
          JEFinCLE beat me to the punch. I have a camp chef smoke vault for smoking, and a weber gasser. But I really love my wood burning santa maria style Buckaroo grill. There is nothing like cooking over a live wood fire for flavor and the fun of controlling the cook by raising and lowering the meat. Something to think about....

          Comment


          • Skelly
            Skelly commented
            Editing a comment
            theroc and JEFinCLE I would have never even thought about that, and now I am. It does sound fun.

          #14
          Thanks everyone for pitching in here. Lots of ideas I hadn't really considered. Problem now is I want 3 more cookers instead of 1... You hear about people testing in the 99th percentile for this or that, but I'm probably in the 8th percentile in terms of talent and experience on this site. Maybe lower... This is a fun resource for me. I want to reiterate that my "no budget" comment was sort of hypothetical, but not entirely. I can pull off a $3k purchase if I decide it's exactly what I want, but it wouldn't be tomorrow. I don't have a problem once I choose what I want and making it happen 18 months later if necessary. Thanks again everyone for taking your time to help me plan!

          Comment


            #15
            i'd say give the ceramics a good bit of consideration. I do everything with a BGE lg from cold smoke salmon to wood fired pizza
            and all that can be done in the dead of winter at 20 degrees outside temp in a snow storm. Drawbacks are capacity(which you can work around with grate extenders, and two zones require changing setups during a cook. But its easy live fire management and if you add a guru its really easy.

            Comment


            • customtrim
              customtrim commented
              Editing a comment
              I have the kj classic I use the griddles for it as heat deflectors so I can just drop it on to the griddles to do a sear. Dont have to change everything out this way

            • Jon Liebers
              Jon Liebers commented
              Editing a comment
              but don't grill grates radiate more heat? Not sure how that is effective as a deflector vs say a
              platesetter.

            • Mike Nilsen
              Mike Nilsen commented
              Editing a comment
              I really enjoy my kamado. I have a gigantic pellet cooker which is great when a guy needs to cook 4 briskets, but how often is that? Not often, but when I need to, it's awesome. I think the only thing you're missing is an easy button, so I vote pellet or kamado. Plus they look super slick when you get a table set up too.

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