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I currently have the large Kamado Joe and it’s a great cooker. I’m just tired of messing with charcoal, and buying charcoal.  But I do love the taste of the food that comes out. I also need more space.  I thought about buying an expander rack, but Mike I said, I’m getting tired of messing with charcoal, and periodically checking on temp. I’d rather sleep, or play with my kids.  Lol.  So I was looking at the cookshack sm025. That’s what my budget allows.



I’m after the same wood fire/smoke taste I can get on the Kamado Joe. Is this possible on the cookshack sm025?  If so, how do you do it?

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As I'm sure you're aware, the CS electrics use very little wood, but in my SM066 I have never had too little smoke flavor, in fact, just the opposite until I learned to cut back on the amount of chunks I use. Of course it will not taste exactly like something cooked on charcoal. I know some folks have tried using one charcoal briquette in the wood box with the wood but I haven't tried that. Maybe someone who has will chime in. A search of threads here may provide some more info.

I used the charcoal briquette method.  Once.  Not worth the effort.  You will get a somewhat different flavor profile going from wood or charcoal to electric. I did and the difference to me was minor. Actually I went from a stick burner to electric. The biggest difference was how the meat looked: no smoke ring. But great smokey flavor.

I went from the Big Green Egg to an AmeriQue SM066.  Since getting the CookShack, I have not used my BGE once!  As mentioned, the CS needs only a small amount of wood especially compared to a charcoal smoker.  The convenience of the CS makes it a no-brainer as to which smoker I will use the most.  As far as flavor goes, both will make great BBQ.  

I have been using the CS smokers for over 20 years.  My first one was an SMO09.  I outgrew it fairly quickly and decided to move up to the SMO45.  I thought about the SMO25 and with the thought of outgrowing it, I went with the SMO45.  I ran both of these together for a number of years and was given an SMO66.  Some of the best advice I can give someone looking at getting a CS smoker is, buy the biggest one you can afford.  These things are built like tanks and I handed both my SMO09 and SMO45 down to my kids.  Both are still running like new.  The CS smokers do take a little getting used to.  They are built very tight and take amazingly small amounts of wood to get a good smoke flavor.  They also run very moist so if you are doing something like jerky or sausage that needs to be dried out, you will need to open the door several times during the smoke to dump the moisture.  Whichever smoker you buy, buy it from Cookshack and have them do an upgrade to stainless steel cooking grates and the optional side racks that allow you to add more cooking grates.  This will save you money in the long run and makes the smoker much more adaptable.     

I have had a BGE XL since 2012.  It is a great cooker, I have had very good, repeatable results. Having said that I'll also say I agree with what you said about your care and feeding the Kamado Joe.  I use a Digiq Que DX2 so in addition to cleaning out the firebox, adding the lump charcoal, I also need to setup the Digiq blower.  Not really a problem but certainly more time and effort compared to hitting the power button on my SM025.  I got the SM025 for much the same reasons you are considering a CookShack box. 

I still use the BGE but mainly for turkey and sometimes for chicken. 

So what size?  I purchased the SM025 because it has all the space I need.  Simple enough.  I considered a SM045 but, to date, that would have been overkill for me in terms of cooking space.  I normally smoke enough for two to four people.  When I do need more cooking space I have the BGE sitting right next to the SM025.  With the two units you can cook a lot of food.

As far as taste goes - both produce a first class product.  In my experience it can be difficult to tell the difference although I do find the cookshack can have a stronger smoke taste.  That is mainly a factor of how much wood you put in the unit.   One other 'thing' I like about the SM025 is it does a great job controlling/retaining a humid box.  The BGE does as well although I usually (as in practically 99% of the time) use a water pan.

I have done 12 hour cooks in the BGE doing pork butt and Briskette.  I have done the same with the SM025.  One factor to consider it that with the SM025 I never had to think about checking on charcoal or being concerned if the unit was still running at 3 AM.

I am huge fan of both. For me the edge goes to cookshack by a good margin.

Yeah, quite a rambling post but perhaps it helps.

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