Which smoker?

[Goes To 11]

I'm a long time follower of AmazingRibs.com but just signed up to the pitmaster club. Thanks to this site, I'm the go to guy around these parts (read: my family and my wife's family) for barbecue. My wife's siblings like to invite themselves over for ribs and always ask if I am going to make a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving.

To this point, I have been surviving using a natural gas Weber Genesis EP-330. However it is a bit of a pain smoking with it. I have found the best method is to foil wrap the wood chips and place them on the far left flavorizer bar (with the ribs being on a rack to the right). It is a delicate balance to keep the wood smoking and keeping the temperature at 225F. Sometimes I'll crank the burner up and open the lid to get the wood burning but not heat up the grill too hot. Of course smoke goes everywhere even with the lid down including straight up into my neighbour's bedroom window. so it is a bit of a hassle babysitting the grill to maintain the smoke and temps. I'm not entirely sure how accurate the temps are because my thermometer gets pretty close to the meat when cooking four racks of ribs.

I'm not entirely sure where I should go next for a smoker. I don't want to spend a ton of money but I can if I really need to to buy something good. Since I have a natural gas outlet so I have my eye on the Smoke Vault but I am wondering if I should try something different and go with charcoal like a Weber Smokey Mountain or a Kamado style. I am in Canada if that makes a difference. Any recommendations? I need to be able to cook 4-5 rib racks, or one large turkey at a time. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[MBMorgan]

Easy and economical: A Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC). Welcome from Colorado, BTW.

[Goes To 11]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have two concerns about the PBC. I've heard that it cooks at around 300F. Isn't that too hot for ribs, brisket and pulled pork? My second issue is that I am not sure where I would find it locally for a decent price. Amazon.ca has it on for over $800 plus over $200 shipping.

[Bob's BBQ]

PBC is a rib and poultry MACHINE. You'll love it.

[gepaza]

Ribs, Poultry and Brisket! Bought one and my son-in-law loved the food so much, I bought him one about 6 months ago. He has become a brisket master and just smoked 30 lbs for a wedding in the family. Perfect! You can NOT go wrong with the PBC.

[JimLinebarger]

I just did a test shipment direct from PBC to Kamloops, British Columbia and FedEx ground was $130. Amazon sometimes has sellers that rip people off. I saw the PBC for $999.99 on Amazon.ca.

[Steve R.]

I think, in your situation, the Weber Smokey Mountain is the obvious choice.

[BBQ_Steve-O]

Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) is a solid choice! I have an 18, which has done well for me.

[BBQ_Steve-O]

Welcome to the Pit!

If you're otherwise happy with your Weber Genesis EP-330, you might want to try an A-MAZE-N Tube. This might be a cheap solution for your smoke problem.

[Goes To 11]

Thanks, this looks like it might solve some of my problems with the smoke. Wood chips on top of the grill don't stay lit but it sounds like the pellets in the A-Maze-n tube will stay smoking when lit.

[surfdog]

+1 on that.
Any time I'm tasked to cook on my father's Traeger...I add a tube. (Not quite enough smoke profile without it for me.)
It's also VERY handy for cold smoking things like cheese.

And finally, welcome.

[Ratton454]

I am in Canada if that makes a difference.

Hi Goes to 11, what province are you in?

[Goes To 11]

West coast of BC.

[customtrim]

Being in Canada and due to winter temps I would look at a ceramic kamado if you plan on doing any all year cooking. I have cooked pork butts in 3 degrees with no problems

[Goes To 11]

I'm on the West coast so it doesn't get all that cold (usually). We basically get Seattle weather: sunny summers and rain all winter with a little snow here or there.

[Oakgrovebacon]

Welcome to the pit from Southern Illinois

[Mr. Bones]

I have two 18.5" WSM's, an couldn't be any happier with them. That bein said, I have heard wondrous things said about th PBC, here, an elsewhere!
Best I can recommend is do yer homework, see which kinda cooker will best fill yer needs/wants.

Howdy from Kansas Territory, Welcome to Th Pit!
Lookin forward to hearin more from ya!

[JGo37]

You'll have to get a PBC next time you win...

[Keiferr]

Welcome from southeast Michigan!

[Henrik]

Welcome to the pit! The WSM is a solid cooker, and so is the PBC. Slightly different beasts, but both good. And they're way cheaper than a kamado.

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[RonB]

Welcome to The Pit.

You need to decide how much time you want to spend on a cook. You can go anywhere from tending every 30 min or so to almost no tending at all - even cooking overnight while getting a good night's sleep.

Wood burners generally require the most tending because you have to add wood fairly often. Using a temp controller with charcoal or pellets may allow you to set the cook up and go up to eight hours without tending.

[Goes To 11]

Thanks, I'm big on low maintenance with little tending. My Genesis makes great ribs but I feel like I am fighting it for four hours.

[Dadof3Illinois]

There are so many choices and it really comes down to what/how you plan on cooking, how much room you have and what the budget is.
If you want something for mainly smoking I would look at a WSM or PBC. If you want something that can grill as well as smoke then a 26” kettle or kamado might work best. Then for pure smoking a KBQ might be the ticket or even an offset.
Tons of choices out there. I have the large smoke vault, it works pretty good and I use it but it doesn’t impart as much smoke flavor as the others mentioned above.
And then there are all the different pellet cookers that are really great cookers.
Im using a weber 26” kettle more often than anything else right now outfitted with the SnS and feel it’s the best of both worlds for me.

[Livermoron]

While they're both good cookers, I'd recommend the PBC over the WSM for capacity and ease of use.

[gepaza]

You can smoke 8 racks of ribs at one time on the PBC, and in five hours you will have already cleaned up after the feast.

[ColonialDawg]

I just purchased a PBC and it is puts out some mighty fine BBQ. I cooked chicken on mine this past week and it was the best chicken I’ve ever tasted. This weekend the family is coming over and I’m doing 6 racks of baby back ribs. PBC is economical, user friendly, has great capacity, and doesn’t take up a lot of space on the patio. And you can buy it directly from the PBC website, free shipping.