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.
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Opinions requested, re: what cooker do I need next?
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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
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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?
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Skelly stick burner,offset, kbq
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Thanks customtrim that sounds like a lot of fun. Never even been around someone using a stickburner, but it kinda spiked my testosterone.
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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!
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Charter Member
- Oct 2014
- 7327
- NEPA
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Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Maverick 732, DigiQ, and too much other stuff to mention.
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.
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Club Member
- Jul 2016
- 3394
- Elizabethtown, KY
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Current line-up of cookers: Oklahoma Joe's Bronco Pro, Masterbuilt Gravity Series 1050, Blackstone ProSeries 4 Burner 36" griddle, Weber Performer Deluxe and Weber Smokey Joe.
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.
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Moderator
- Nov 2014
- 13629
- Land of Tonka
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John "J R"
Instagram: JRBowlsby
Smokin' Hound Que
Minnesota/ United States of America
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Grills/Smokers/Fryers
Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1
Karubeque C-60
Kamado Joe Jr. (Black)
Lodge L410 Hibachi
Pit Barrel Cooker
Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer
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Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
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Accessories
Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS4000 Torch X 2
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2
Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner
Digi Q DX2 (Medium Pit Viper Fan)
Dragon VT 2-23 C Torch
Eggspander Kit X2
Field Skillet No. 8,10,12
Finex Cat Iron Line
FireBoard Drive
Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron
Grill Grates
Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate
Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4
Lots of Lodge Cast Iron
Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet
Large Vortex
Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum
Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run)
Smithey No. 12
Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3
Stargazer No.10, 12
Tool Wizard BBQ Tongs
Univex Duro 10" Meat Slicer
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Fuel
FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal
Kingsford Blue and White
B&B Charcoal
Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60
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Cutlery
Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife
Dexter 12" Brisket Sword
Global
Shun
Wusthof
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Next Major Purchase
Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Founding Member
- Jul 2014
- 1471
- Altadena, CA
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- SnS Kettle
- Camp Chef 24" Smoke Vault
- Buckaroo Chunk Wood Grill
- Weber Genesis SP-E-335
- Fireboard
- Thermapen MkIV
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....
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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!
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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.
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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
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but don't grill grates radiate more heat? Not sure how that is effective as a deflector vs say a
platesetter.
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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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