Which Smoker

wrayman... your name isn't doug wray, is it? If it is, I went to HS with you...

I hate to say this, cause I been trying for a while now (couple of years), but I still am not happy with ribs, and especially not happy with chicken, in my Smokette. Just don't get the bark I like. Now, on the other hand, it kicks butt on briskets and butts. So... I do all brisket and butts (and those are the 10-15 hr. smokes) in the SMokette, but I still prefer ribs and chicken on the Weber kettle (in which I smoke at a nice low 225, with charcoal and wood chunks.) I find that baby backs take about 3 hrs and spares about 5 hrs, with the weber, and it does not take much coal/wood at all, since I'm keeping such a small fire and low temp. With my offset (a New Braunfels el dorado) it takes much too much wood, and work. my 2 cents...

How Ironic, I am moving up from a Weber Kettle, trying to get more ribs on at a time..., perhaps you could share with your experiences on the WK, and how you arange everything inside of it. I hear ya about the wood/charcoal and trouble on the charcoal smoker.

If you use kingsfart charcoal, you be burnin' some cash

If you're too tired to eat after 5-6 hours of sitting around tending a cooker you should see a doctor.

A Cookshack is not for everyone and everyone is not for a Cookshack.

Q is SOOOOOO Subjective. I know many would could never taste the difference regardless of what they cooked on and I know some who can taste the specific flavor of wood used.

I love my CS's (have 3) and they do a great job, I can make everything I want on a CS and you'd be hard pressed to know the difference. But, it's a slightly different product than an offset, than a weber, than a grill, etc, etc.

However, I'll agree with Woodburner, in a fashion. Chicken and Ribs do come out slightly different on an offset, because of the bark. We've spent a lot of time around here talking about bark and I feel the ONLY issue in a CS is the significantly high humidity level it maintains. Because of the insulation and the small vent hole, the humidity stays very high. That's why it does brisket so well.

My solution, I open the door way toooo often, let the heat and the humidity out and my ribs come out great. Chicken? I'll finish on the grill to crisp up the skin. (I know a lot of Contest Cooks who finish on the grill too).

Main reason I don't use an offset is 1) I sold it. But mostly it's because of time considerations and tending the fire. With all the other things going on, right now, it fits my lifestyle. But I've had great offsets, and I'll have another. Webers are perfect and if you learn them well, they're great with a whole lot less fire tending than offsets. But you do have to tend them.

Isn't life about trade-offs? You certainly won't burn 30 pounds of charcoal in a CS and won't have to stand and tend it.

Too bad we can't have a party and solve this over a couple of offsets/webers/CS's to do a taste test on the spot.

And what's this about "experts" we're just all fans of Q around here. No experts here

Just Smokin'

I have a smokette and a 55 and love mine and cold weather does't bother it.I like the larger 55.

quote:

I hate to say this, cause I been trying for a while now (couple of years), but I still am not happy with ribs, and especially not happy with chicken, in my Smokette.

What part are you not happy with when you do the ribs in the CS? I usually let them get happy in there for about 5 hours and then toss them on the grill for a few minutes afterwards......

Purchased my smokette about a month ago. I primarilly bought it for venison sausage. I am very new to "Q". My old sausage smoker was homemade and propane fired. I needed to tend the heat every 15 min. for a 12 hr. smoke. Now I put in the product, set the temp, go to bed and dream of great food,get up in the AM and have ribs,pulled pork,etc. for breakfast .Life is very, very good!!
Maybe some day soon I will use it for sausage.

Qdogg: I do a dry rub night before, then put the ribs in the Smokette, and leave em for a good 4-5 hrs... sometimes sauce a bit and leave them on further. They get tender, but are just too "soft" on the outside... you know, no bark to speak of. I love the butts and briskets in there, don't get me wrong.

Maybe if I open the door a couple times, like Smokin says...

With the Weber, BTW, I start with about 12 briquettes (Kingsford, only!!) and one chunk of wood on each side. Then add about 3-4 briquettes and more wood per side, every 45 min or so. End result, I do not use much fuel at all to maintain such a low temp in the Weber. Baby backs take about 3 hrs, and spares about 4.

quote:

Originally posted by drbbq:
[qb]If you're too tired to eat after 5-6 hours of sitting around tending a cooker you should see a doctor.[/qb]

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, It was a joke

Ditto what S.B. says. Seems like the best part of owning a CS is the versatility - you can do bbq of all sorts, sausage, bacon, fish, jerky, vegetables, even cold smoking of cheese all with one machine that fits under the workbench.

If you're only going to do one particular food and you have a strong opinion about how you want it to come out, there might be a better appliance choice for that food. Or maybe not - that's up to you.

The second best thing is the low amount of work it takes to cook. Easy to set up for any of the above-listed jobs, very little tending, adjusting, refilling required, easy to clean up, easy to store. With that in mind, the small size is really a benefit (unless you're cooking for crowds) - it's not so much work that you're tempted to cook huge batches and freeze. It's more fun to make fresh every time, plus an opportunity to experiment with new recipes and refine techniques.