First purchase, or, "How I was overcome by the paralysis of choice."

[cdschwanz]

Just joined at the request of Meathead himself due to the scope of the question I'm asking. I'm starting at step zero here.

My wife said she wanted to buy me a smoker for Christmas, so we're looking into things now. We're going to have around a $500 budget or so; not looking for the highest-end of the spectrum but definitely understand quality and you have to spend money or else you'll be shelling out more for multiple pieces of cheap equipment than one good one. This will be entirely for home/enthusiast use, nothing large scale or competition.

Here are the things I am looking for:
- Smoker first. I have a propane grill so I'm not looking for a multi-tasker or to replace the propane. They can exist in harmony.
- Ability to be lifted by one person. I'm going to store it inside our outdoor shed but move it closer to the house to actually cook. Wheels would be a plus, but lifting it is fine.
- Insulation to be used in the winter. I'm in Ohio and I have never heard of anyone smoking food in the winter but I would love to have that as an option. If it can't but meets all the other criteria that's fine, I'd just like to know going in.
- Capacity for large pieces of meat. I want to do more than one rack of ribs at a time, things like half or a whole turkey, large piece of pork shoulder or brisket, or leg of lamb. Whole quadrupedal animals though are not on the table right now.
- Expanadability for cold-smoking. Is that a thing, modular setups? I'm thinking bacon or salmon. Not a priority, but this is more of a "wish list" item.

Based on other recommendations from people on Twitter, to even the side bar on this website, the Pit Barrel Cooker seems to be people's favorite. Affordable, stupid simple to use, consistent performance. I was thinking about getting a Weber kettle grill as well (entirely separate) but this also looks like it could do that as well for grilling on the weekends when I have more time to let charcoal come up to temp.

What do you think? Is the PBC all its cracked up to be? For a little more money is there something that is an entire feature-class better? Or should I be looking in a different direction entirely? Thanks for your feedback and I hope to learn more from this community!

[MBMorgan]

PBC for sure ... it's all that it's cracked up to be, and more ...

[ScottyC13]

I went through the same as you and decided to go with the Weber Performer. It is a multi-tasker but lots of folks here use it for smoking. I also have a Weber Genesis and use that in the winter, so I don't think I will have an issue. It gets cold here too in Boston. I got the Slow 'N Sear kit and the DigiQ and have started using it. Haven't done a long slow cook yet, but will in a week or two.

That being said, my second choice was Oklahoma Joe's Bronco smoker. PBC are supposed to have a different flavor. I still may get one (my son hinted at getting me one for a gift).

https://www.oklahomajoes.com/bronco-drum-smoker

I assume you went through the site's reviews.

[jfmorris]

I've been smoking and grilling for 30+ years (I'm 54), and think you are on the right track.

With a $500 budget, I would stay away from pellet smokers - you will find some in that price range, but I think its a case of you get what you pay for. A cheap pellet smoker is not likely to last. You will find electric smokers and propane smokers within that budget, but my opinion is that those won't give as good of a smokey taste as food cooked with burning charcoal and wood chunks. That leads you to charcoal smokers. The kettle you mention can be used to both grill AND smoke. I personally own an offset smoker, but find myself smoking most of the time on a 22" Weber Kettle, with the Slow 'N Sear accessory. I can fit 2 Boston butts (for pulled pork), 1 brisket, 4 chickens, or 3 to 5 slabs of ribs using a rib rack. And it uses a lot less charcoal than my big smoker.

With charcoal smokers, I think your only quality choices under $500 come down to the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) or the Pitbarrel Cooker (PBC).

The WSM cooks on 2 levels of cooking grates, although you can get kits from 3rd parties that let you hang the meat as well. It offers a little more control over temperatures, due to the adjustable vents on both the top and bottom of the smoker. And it comes apart easily, as it is made with a bottom, a cylindrical middle, and a top.

The PBC is unique with its focus on hanging meats, and being a 1 piece body design, seems like it might be easier to move than the WSM, since you don't have to worry about anything but the lid coming off. That would make it easy to move in and out of a shed.

With both, I don't think insulation is a huge concern. That factors in more with the pellet smokers. You will use more charcoal when its cold, but to be honest, whether it is 90F outside or 30F outside, compared to a 225F to 350F cooking temperature, its not a big deal. I would say in winter, sheltering the smoker from the wind will be more important than the cold itself.

If I had to summarize it, I would say that the PBC its probably the more foolproof of the two, and the WSM is the more flexible and tweakable of the two (if you want to control temperatures). The PBC is probably the lower cost entry point, and there are a TON of folks on this website that can help you with advice on cooking on the PBC.

I cook a lot of ribs, and the PBC can hang at least 8 slabs, and I've seen folks cram a dozen in there. You will hang 1 large or two small turkeys, or four chickens. I bet you could hang 1 or 2 briskets. With butts, it will be limited to about 2. The only thing I think the WSM could cook more of would be butts, on two levels, since with the PBC, they will hang at the same level, and you are limited by the 18.5" diameter.

Personally I would not consider the PBC as a grill. Sure, you CAN grill on there, but the cooking grate is kind of down in a hole, and it will be hard to reach down in there and flip burgers unless you bend your spatula! . If you want to grill AND smoke on just one device, nothing beats a Weber Kettle with the Slow 'N Sear. I live my Weber Performer Deluxe, and have the Slow 'N Sear, Drip 'N Griddle, Easy Spin grate, as well as a full set of Grillgrates. If I could only have one cooker, grill or smoker, it would be my Weber Performer Deluxe. The side table and the charcoal storage and the propane ignition for the charcoal all make it over the top for me.

I'm considering my next smoker, maybe next year, and while I was enfatuated with expensive pellet smokers for a while, the experience with my Weber Kettle and the Slow 'N Sear has led me to decide to stay with charcoal and wood chunk smokers, and it will likely be either a PBC or a WSM 22 for my next purchase, with the WSM 22 the most likely, as I cook a lot of pulled pork for events, and you can fit 8 Boston butts on a WSM 22. The PBC is a rib and chicken cooking machine though, and I may still get one just for that experience.

[jfmorris]

Murdy, I assumed he didn't want to build a smoker. A ugly drum smoker (UDS) is certainly a way to go that would be under $500, for someone that wants to do the work to source a 55 gallon drum, burn it out, burn off the paint, repaint the drum with a high temp paint, then drill it and install the hardware from the UDS kit. Maybe you can give him some links to those kits as another option. He says his wife wants to get him a smoker for Christmas though, so assumed that level of work was out.

[jfmorris]

Murdy nothing wrong with building a UDS. The ones you can buy, pre-made, like the Gateway drums, are up around the $800-900 price point. The kits are great if you have the time and ability to do the work.

[RickyBobby]

jfmorris , I’ve had my eye on a PBC for long time to add to the arsenal. Honestly though, I’m seriously considering that OK Joe Bronco in lieu of the PBC. No specific reason other than just because. Before I pick up ANY of those though, I REALLY need to get an SnS for my kettle. I don’t have one and have never used one, but have always wanted one!

[Troutman]

I think most of the items on your wish list can be had for $500. The PBC or the WSM would fulfill your needs. You're not going to get manything insulated at that price point so you'd have to get a welding blanket if you're serious about winter cooking outdoors.

If I were you I look to a Weber kettle. You can smoke and grill on it, it's probably the best entry level solution to your needs. With a slow-n-sear and a few other options you're good to go at under your price point.

Good luck and let us know your choice !!!

[LA Pork Butt]

cdschwanz I agree with Troutman. However, I would encourage you to give some thought to frequency of cooking, volume of typical cook, and volume of occasional large cook.

[ofelles]

Welcome to the Pit from the California Delta.
I have not direct experience with the PBC but people who do sure like it.

[ILikePigButts]

I have a PBC and a Weber Kettle with the SnS. The PBC is pretty great, but for your situation I would definitely recommend the Kettle+SnS. I live in northeast Ohio and am no stranger to winter smoking, and I did it in my kettle. I've made some of the best ribs of my life in that kettle when it's 20 degrees outside. And that was before I had the SnS. Another obvious benefit is that it's great for smoking AND grilling. The PBC grate is so far down the barrel, while also being so far away from the coals that you don't get great searing potential. Plus, it's uncomfortable to reach down. Stick with the cheaper, more versatile Kettle+SnS option and use the rest of your budget to acquire a good digital thermometer and stock up on charcoal and wood chunks/chips. And a case of beer to help break her in

[Steve R.]

I remember when I thought I was going to buy one more cooker and I'd be happy.

It sounds like you need a Pit Barrel Cooker or Weber Smokey Mountain. My first purchase after joining here a few years ago was a Weber 22" kettle, and I haven't looked back. I now have a Weber Performer that handles most of the grilling, and a fair amount of the smoking when I'm not cooking ribs.

[Dewesq55]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[klflowers]

I posted my home boy welcome on your other post, so I'll offer my couple of cents here. I have a 22" kettle with the slow and sear and a 18" wsm. Between the two I can cook just about anything. I don't cook for lots of people, but I can probably do 4 or 5 butts between the 2 and a bunch of ribs. Of the 2, the kettle/sns is the most versatile - with the kettle/sns you can go low and slow or just grill a bunch of dogs and burgers pretty easily, but I have had my wsm for a long time and it is my baby.

I lust for a pbc (and they carry them locally now at the Ace Hardware stores), but so far I have been able to resist.

[klflowers]

HawkerXP - stop. Please. Pretty please. With sugar on top...

[FireMan]

C’mon big boy, you can handle it, PBC.

[klflowers]

FireMan, is this some kind of conspiracy? It's a set up, isn't it???? Is somebody doing a survey without telling me???

[HawkerXP]

Welcome to the Pit! I also started with gassers and moved to a Weber kettle and a few years ago I bought the PBC.
You can do a whole lot of things on a Weber kettle. I have a preformer, it nice to have 4 wheels and a table. Yes, get the SnS, it really helps.
Also get some good temp measuring equipment. Thermoworks has great stuff and they run sales every so often. I have the DOT with extra probes and a couple of POPs. You really, really need a good quality instant read digital thermometer. It was my biggest move towards making really good food.
I also love my Black Beauty (PBC). Use it mostly for brisket, ribs, chicken, turkey and did I mention ribs?

The digital thermometer and coming here have changed our lives.

[ILikePigButts]

cdschwanz most will have multiple probes for measuring the food and the cooker simultaneously.

[HawkerXP]

Skip that cold smoking stuff.. Two probes for the DOT. One for the meat and one for the grate temp.A POP to probe around to see if you've reached desired temp and / or the meat is probe tender. (that! is more important than temp_)

[Mudkat]

+1 on what HawkerPBC said!

[cdschwanz]

Wow, the amount of love I'm seeing for the Weber + SnS is INCREDIBLE. Definitely already validates my coming here to ask questions. Now I can't device which one I want more... Does the PBC have any advantage to hanging instead of laying on a grill grate?

[Loren]

The biggest advantage is how easily you can fit 8 racks of ribs/2 briskets/4(?) butts in a PBC. Most ribs I've fit in a Weber 22 is four, and it can get kinda tight depending on how big the racks are. I can squeeze two butts in the Weber and only one brisket. Also the PBC is, in theory, a set and forget cooker. I haven't managed to dial it into that setting though.

[FireMan]

Yup, mo. And mo is better!

[jfmorris]

I can fit 5 racks of baby backs into my kettle with a rib rack, but the cooking time increases, and I usually have to rotate them during the cook. The advantage of the PBC will be smoking more than the kettle can handle. But if you don’t smoke mass quantities, the kettle might be just fine.

[Loren]

I second the Weber with Slow'n'sear. And a Maverick xr thermometer. It's cheap, easy to use, and leaves you with lots of money to buy meat or other BBQ stuff as you develop preferences.

[Dewesq55]

For thermometer, I highly recommend the Fireboard (although that will take up a bigger part of your budget than any Maverick.) Later on you can get the Drive cable and a temp control fan and have awesomely steady/stable temps with basically no effort and you can change temps in a jiffy or even in advance using a cook program. I'm told it even extends your fuel life by keeping the temp steady, but I haven't really paid attention to it.

[FireMan]

Well, ol’ cd, what ya have here is a predickament. My wreckamandation is a PBC. It is a smoker par excellance & you want a smoker. And with all the lil doo dads of extras yer 500$ will do it.
Then you can start saving fer yer next purchase, cuz you will be gittin sumthin else after you get hooked. Just do what Meathead told you to do. Welcome! 🕶

[CaptainMike]

Hah, look at our time stamps!

[CaptainMike]

May I suggest acquiring the kettle with the required SnS goodies plus a decent digital thermometer, THEN start saving a little scratch for the next MCS itch such as a PBC.

[Willy]

Gotta go with Troutman and others—Weber kettle and S’n’S. Get the 26-inch if you can.