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BBQ and Outdoor Cooking Thread

Daluteh said:
For that much money, do you need the pellet smoker? What is it you want to do with it? Looks like some good reviews already.

I mean if you're fine doing 400/500 bucks - you can spend 300'ish on a masterbuilt 30 inch one and be happy. I like mine, but I don't love it because the small smoker is not ideal to me.

The masterbuilt ones look different, they are stand ones with racks. Like I said I don't love mine, but it's mostly because I want to set it and forget it and I need to add new wood chips every 60/90 minutes to top it off.

It works super well, you just need to baby it a bit more. Maybe I'm a bit of a purist with my dad using charcoal and wood blocks to smoke so I'm not a huge pellet guy but I see the appeal for overnight smokes.
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I definitely want to set it and forget it. I am a lazy person when it comes to this I know this about myself for sure
 
E.Appleton said:
I definitely want to set it and forget it. I am a lazy person when it comes to this I know this about myself for sure
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Then really pellet is your only option, or at least the most accessible one. That might just be what you go with and deal with the hopper / pellets when you're not using it. I'll argue that if you don't overfill and you finish the burn each time you'll be more or less fine.

One thing that I have noticed is that if you're doing an all day smoke, there isn't a ton of difference between the smoke flavor after 6 hours vs 10 hours. Maybe get one that you're thinking of and let the hopper run dry near the end of the smoke so you don't need to worry about it. I say that knowing you can do it with wood chips or charcoal and blocks but since I'm not a pellet user I couldn't confirm that it's absolutely necessary to maintain pellets while you smoke.

That initial smoke set with the first grouping of hours should / could be enough. It's like for wings you can smoke them for an hour and then finish them off in an air fryer and it doesn't taste less smokey, and you get the crisp of the wings that you can't get from a lower temp smoker.
 
Daluteh said:
Then really pellet is your only option, or at least the most accessible one. That might just be what you go with and deal with the hopper / pellets when you're not using it. I'll argue that if you don't overfill and you finish the burn each time you'll be more or less fine.

One thing that I have noticed is that if you're doing an all day smoke, there isn't a ton of difference between the smoke flavor after 6 hours vs 10 hours. Maybe get one that you're thinking of and let the hopper run dry near the end of the smoke so you don't need to worry about it. I say that knowing you can do it with wood chips or charcoal and blocks but since I'm not a pellet user I couldn't confirm that it's absolutely necessary to maintain pellets while you smoke.

That initial smoke set with the first grouping of hours should / could be enough. It's like for wings you can smoke them for an hour and then finish them off in an air fryer and it doesn't taste less smokey, and you get the crisp of the wings that you can't get from a lower temp smoker.
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Yeah talking with other friends that do this more regularly that's what they recommended. Just don't overfill and let it burn. They are in the entry level too and I've tasted what theirs outputs so, as a novice, I think entry level is plenty.
 
E.Appleton said:
Yeah talking with other friends that do this more regularly that's what they recommended. Just don't overfill and let it burn. They are in the entry level too and I've tasted what theirs outputs so, as a novice, I think entry level is plenty.
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You may need to be a bit more careful overall but I think you'll be happy with the solution.

To go back to your original smoker though, if this one says the controls fail a lot, or a lot in a comparison to others, get something that has better controls to it. The whole smoke revolves around the controller working correctly - otherwise you could just throw a chunk of cherry wood in a weber grill that costs 50 bucks and call it a day.
 
IMO with barbecues and any hard-use items, buy the best you can afford. Metal quality, metal coatings, seals, etc. all seem to improve.
My buddy's costco special traeger is rusting out badly after 2 years, while the proper traegers I have seen or Yoder smokers look fresh still.

Either buy a cheap one to see if you like it, and replace it in a couple years, or buy once and cry once, with a commitment.
 
Steaks should stand up on their own:
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Little deceiving in the colour - it was 124F when it was pulled off the grill and then blushed out with some edge cooking. But it was succulent enough with all the rendered fat that it had something for everyone.
 
It’s been a while since I posted here because it’s been a while since I grilled. Live has been just so busy and stressful lately. But I took the weekend off and decided to get back to a good old Sunday night grill.

Fajitas are on the menu with some elote and veggies. Nice, humid south Florida night and an opportunity to grill with a beer while the kids play Mario Kart on the Switch 2.

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BigDill said:
It’s been a while since I posted here because it’s been a while since I grilled. Live has been just so busy and stressful lately. But I took the weekend off and decided to get back to a good old Sunday night grill.

Fajitas are on the menu with some elote and veggies. Nice, humid south Florida night and an opportunity to grill with a beer while the kids play Mario Kart on the Switch 2.

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I had a de-constructed quesadilla with sour cream and salsa
 
This weekend's cooking: Just a classic spatchcocked Hutterite chicken and then i went for more of a Chinese inspired char siu marinade/ glaze on the ribs.
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Starting spareribs. Got to figure out what else I’m doing. Have the rib tips I’ll do something with. Maybe beer can chicken or baby back too.


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S’mores.

Using the Reese’s peanut butter cup is a pro move!
 
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Tested out the Paella pan for its true purpose this weekend - works pretty well, need to figure out the temp control to control the amount of crisping of the rice on the bottom. It's quite an exercise in thermal management - it takes A LOT of heat from the charcoal to get the pan hot enough to simmer which was interesting. Started with 1 chimney of fully lit briquettes and then threw some more in the fire halfway through to get some more longevity in it (due to my guests being late), and then had a runaway fire with the dome hitting 500F, but that may have actually been a good thing as I could have been under with my single chimney.
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Blackstone Chex mix!
 
I wish I could have kept my blackstone rust free
 
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