Anyone have experience with smokers and smoker-grills?

[seawasp]

My backyard grill is pretty much shot; I can sorta cook around its faults but I really need to get a new one.

I'd also like to do some real meat smoking instead of trying to fake it with a slow-cooker.

But I don't know how to tell (A) which smokers are good for my purposes (I'm not doing it as a business, just for a medium-large family), and (B) which grills/smokers/grill-smokers are going to SURVIVE. I don't really have a good place to park it when not in use, so it has to survive standing out in the weather, and -- being honest -- given the time and "run run run" life I have currently -- I'm not really going to do much in the way of cleaning in many cases, just let the stuff burn off and scrub away the major pieces as needed and empty anything at the bottom.

So it's got to be really tough, long-term survival. Gas or charcoal/wood is okay, though getting wood is going to be something of a pain here . OTOH, I'm not sure how you'd do "smoker" with gas.

Comments

[missingvolume.livejournal.com]

You can smoke flavor with a pan of wood chips when you have a gas grill and a vinyl cover adds years to the grill. We always have propane but that is because my Father in Law sells propane. So we get high in grills cheap. We never did any real smoking with the gas so I can't tell you if it is feasible or not. We had a Ducane grill. We replaced it once as an upgrade and it went to a friend that still uses it. And but lots of use I mean we used it at least twice a week as long as it wasn't too cold outside.

[xpioti.livejournal.com]

My parents have had extremely good luck with their Weber charcoal grill. I think they've had the same one for about 30 years. I can't comment on which model would be best, but as a brand, Weber's good. :) Good luck!

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

As I said before - get a Weber.

If you are really charcoal-phobic, there is a gas attachment for them, and, indeed, pure gas versions that still allow for charcoal/wood smoking.

We've had ours (one of the charcoal versions) ... errr... 20ish years or so, in a high-salt environment, and it is fine.

Note - ensure that you get the right sort of Weber. The D Weber series are all good and well, but prone to run-on and often prompts the completionist urge with many accessories and spin-off items. Not to mention frequently burning up the best of the accompaniments, although many claim that that just highlights the quality of the main dish.*

*My apologies to the barflies who just lost their drinks over that. No, I will not buy you a new keyboard, either.

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

And, yes, I have been waiting many years to use that gag.

[cateagle.livejournal.com]

*snort* Good 'un!!! You just have to honor them properly.

[eacole72.livejournal.com]

We have a Trager pellet grill that is one of our best purchases ever. It was expensive, it is effectively a wood-fired oven. It can do anything from 180 for low-temp long smoking to 475 for baking pizzas.

We've got it sitting on the concrete patio under the upper deck. We've got a cover for it for the winter, but we've used it often enough in the snow that we've not used it.

Instead of using wood, it uses pellets made of compressed sawdust. I've got 3 bags in the back of the car right now, two of hickory & one of apple. It has an electric igniter and powered auger that take the pellets into a fire box. The temperature setting determines how fast the auger moves pellets in to fuel the fire.

There is another company that makes pellet grills that is a little bit cheaper than Traeger. I think they are called Green Mountain.

Another option would be Big Green Egg. They are big ceramic grills that use charcoal. They can get up to 800 to sear a steak or pork chop. Downside: they are extremely expensive. They also extremely durable.

[dalesql.livejournal.com]

With grills and smokers, you pretty much do get what you pay for. Sitting outside year round, go for stainless steel if you can afford it. Another trick is to get some bits of scrap aluminum and attach them to parts that don't get too hot. They will provide cathodic protection for the steel against rusting.