For those with multiple cookers: how do you choose?

[Old Glory]

I have an XL BGE; WSCG; DCS Gasser; Humphrey's Cabinet Smoker.

BGE does pizza, Low and Slow, and is the overflow for WSCG for grill duty if I need more real-estate during a party

WSCG does daily grilling; Indirect; Reverse Sear; Spatchcock Chicken, Vortex Wings and Thighs; Two Zone Cooking; Direct Grilling Burgers and Dogs; Searing Sous Vide Proteins; Low and Slow (can fill BGE with Butts and do Ribs on WSCG); Cast Iron Cooking; Wok Cooking; Yakitori; paella

DCS does quick weeknight meals. Searing, burgers, regular grill stuff when I don't have time to do charcoal. Also fitted with griddle for smash burgers and teppanyaki, fried rice, etc. Side burners used for searing with cast iron.

Cabinet used for big events, graduations, Superbowl, etc

[SmokingSteve]

I have 3 cookers. Weber Spirit II 3 burner gasser, vertical propane Masterbuilt MPS-340 XL cabinet smoker, and a Cuisinart 360 22" propane griddle. Do not have anything that uses charcoal or stick burner. I live in AZ where we are already hitting temps in the low 100s so I try not to have to babysit them in the summer. I tend to use the smoker the most. i got the Weber grill 2 years ago, the smoker last July, and the griddle a few months ago. I did smash-burgers a la Paul Sidoriak on the griddle for my birthday yesterday and then did chicken thighs in the smoker with nekkid corn on the cob on the grill for supper tonight. So they all get used for different things. Sometimes separately and sometimes together. I think next will be a pellet pooper.

[Polarbear777]

The size and shape of the food.

[JeffJ]

Amount of available time, quantity of food, venue and WEATHER all dictate to varying degrees what I go with. Michigan weather isn't BBQ friendly compared with other states.

[Robert M]

what I cook on is determined by how I plan to cook it, weather, what I am going to cook and how much effort I want to spend on it. for the long slow cooks or cold weather I fire up the Lone Star Grillz Mini cabinet smoker, that will hold enough food to feed a lot of people and never gets used to capacity. For a quick steak the choice of the lodge sportsman's grill or the Weber smokey Joe. If I want to do a batch of wings I just fire up the Rec Tec trail blazer which will hold about four pounds of wings. got rid of my stick burner because I don't have time to sit there feeding it all day and half the night for the rate times I cook a whole brisket. the Mini can be fired up brought to temp add the food, then just come back when the fire bird tells me the internal temperature is where I want it. yes the pellet grill can do the same thing but who doesn't need another pit. for steaks, pork chops, shish kabob the smokey Joe or the lodge pit works just fine. Do I want more pits? of course I do because there may be something unique about the next one I having tried yet.

[tenphases]

Aww man that was sooo much fun!

[CaptainMike]

One of my favorite stories on AR is when you picked up that Hasty Bake. Still makes me chuckle.

[Argoboy]

I had a Napoleon gas grill first then I wanted to start smoking so I bought a Traeger pellet grill, then to cook in cold weather I bought an Akron Kamado egg. The wind blew my Akron egg off the deck and damaged it so I plan to replace it with an new egg. Right now I am looking at a Vision Kamado that I can buy locally. My next toy may be a Santa Maria style grill as I like the idea of cooking over wood but space is a controlling factor.

[tenphases]

I just realized how I choose. It happened today. I go on marketplace everyday and search "bbq smokers" "charcoal grill". Every once in awhile I get a really good hit. Its how I got my Hasty Bake, Humphreys, WSM 22, Broil King Keg, WSM 18, and my Camp Chef Pellet. I look for clearance sales as well I got a bunch of cookers that way as well.

I got all those cookers listed above for less than 1500 over the course of 6 or 7 years. Today I got a hit on a PK Grill for 100 bucks but I lost it. I basically go fishing for platinum and gold medals everyday (it takes 10 seconds) and every once I get a hit but after more than a decade of hunting they add up.

The hunt is as fun as the cooking for me and then I get to play with a new toy. Some are great right away some arent. It took me a year to realize that I absolutely love my Hasty Bake, I never would have realized that if I didnt go and find one for 200 bucks. Ill tell you what though, if it ever goes down im playing full price for another one!

[surfdog]

That’s my mantra...
If the bills are paid, and everything else is covered...go for it. (I didn’t accidentally end up with as many guitars as I have. LOL)

I always joke that my will is very simple:
Being of sound mind & body, I spent it all. LOL

[surfdog]

Like you, deciding when to use the WSM vs the BGE could not only be an exercise in futility, but also lead to even more questions/issues. Like, "Why did I choose that one?" Or "Would it have been better on the other?" Or developing a case of paralysis by analysis. I don’t need that drama. LOL

As the owner of multiple cookers, I try to avoid too much overlap.

My main charcoal grill is the WSCGC. Pretty much everything I could want in a kettle AND it smokes as well as the WSM (better?)...so no need to replace that. Much like your BGE & kettle combo...but in one unit obviously...which can limit what can be done at any given time.

My gasser is a 2005 Weber Summit Platinum D6. Six burners, and all the bells & whistles. It’s even capable of doing low & slow...though that does require a bit more work. Super at hot & fast with minimal fuss and the rotisserie is excellent. Perfect for quick cooks, but I’ve done everything on it...including pizza.

I have a Dyna Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber. Decent grill, and would seriously overlap a kettle save for the crank charcoal grates. I use it primarily like a Santa Maria grill...which is why I got it. I wanted a SM style grill but with a lid. If I ever decide to splurge and get a proper SM...that one will go. I’ve yet to run out of space on the WSCGC, so I’ve not used it for "overflow." It leaks like a sieve so I can’t imagine smoking on it without some serious mods. But loaded up with red oak and a tri tip...excellent.

I also have a 36” griddle. Sure, I could put a griddle on one of the others, but that 4-burner griddle has massive amounts of real estate. Smash burgers or fajitas for a crowd is easy...all while leaving the other grills open for anything else.

Finally, I’ve got a Camp Chef Somerset IV stove out there. A perfect companion to the other cookers and far superior to a single side burner like I have on the Summit. Two burners are currently occupied by their Artisan pizza oven and I use an 8.5qt CI Dutch oven for frying. Keeps the mess & smell outside...with more control than I can get on charcoal...and no lid to potentially hinder me, like the side burner of most gassers. Having used it for a while, I can readily recommend an outdoor stove of some sort.

So yeah, while I have multiples, they all serve a purpose and tend not to duplicate each other. At least not too much. With my current setup I can pretty much do everything outside should I be so inclined. More often than not, I am.

[jfmorris]

I understand the space issue. This time last year I had 6 cookers lined up at the end of the house, as I was storing two cookers for my son and son in law. Made for an impressive line up, but I am glad two are now gone, after they got into their own houses. I’m giving a Weber Genesis to my daughter who gets married tomorrow, and that will get me down to three for the first time in 3-4 years. I wouldn’t mind getting rid of another so I have space for something new...

[crazytown3]

Agree about the Performer. I have used it for WAY more stuff than I ever expected. It took a lot of thinking and overthinking before I added another cooker.

[MattSayar]

I just got a PBC, so currently I've been trying to find excuses to use that one as often as possible. It's hard to justify loading it up with a bunch of charcoal just to make a couple chicken breasts or thighs, so that's when I bust out my gas grill for a quick dinner. Finally, I have a Smoke Vault (in my profile pic, although now I have the bigger version), which I haven't used since I got the PBC, but only because I'm still experimenting with the PBC.

I can see using my Smoke Vault again in the near future because it's still kicked out the best brisket I've ever made. It's also nice to not worry about coals dying out for longer cooks (like pork butts).

[GolfGeezer]

+1! Limited by debt limit (I can't print money yet darn it), size of yard, number of meals per day, wife's lawyer's fees and size of refrigerator/freezer(s).