Quote:
Originally Posted by HardDrive
I was thinking $500 or less. I don't care about brand, I want quality that lasts.
Any testimonials for off brands that are good? Anyone bought one from Costco?
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Nobody asked you what you wanted to do with it? Do you want charcoal or gas. A smoker with grilling capabilities.
As for Charcoal grilling..the
Weber Kettle is what about $80. I bought mine in March of 1982 (35 years old and still good with no rust). It is about the best for quick searing fish, chicken, burgers or steaks and with the
Rotisserie app you can ROAST chicken, beef, pork or lamb on that slow rolling cook.
You want to smoke and have grill capabilities? The BGE does both, but is really a slow smoking cooker. I have had one since 04, it is great for 1 or 2 people. It is economical on fuel as they tout.** One says it is worthless hmmpt..
how can U fk up using a BGE? That ceramic holds heat and moisture. The down side and it really isn't much of one is that cleaning the ashes out takes a minute or two. For myself (smoking) I use it more than just about anything else.
For out and out Prosmo...Proffessional BBQ Smoking.. I have a David Klose 36 inch Drum with side firebox out of Houston, This is the REAL DEAL. He is the guy who built the Tanker Truck Sized BBQ that Johnsonville Sausage hauls around and so many of the BBQ competition units. He has them down to a science, where the devil is in the small details of the unit. Workman ship is excellent. THEY ARE PRICEY and heavy (I paid 2K including shipping in 05, it weighs 500lb. Now the same unit is about 2K plus shipping).
For this one you can use either use charcoal or HARDWOOD LOGS.* What makes this exceptional is that the Steel Plate Drum is 1/4 inch thick and the Firebox is 1/2 inch thick steel plate. IT RETAINS HEAT to maintain an even temperature which is the KEY to real lip smackin BBQ. All those other thin metal units are not worth a fk. I know because I have used them.
I didn't use the Klose for a coupla years, but this year so far I have cranked it up 3 times. The level of smoking BBQ is outstanding...I had forgotten how good it was.
As with everything there is A LEARNING CURVE.
If you want gas...well I just don't know, cause I gots the religion of REAL SMOKING AND GRILLING and that requires a REAL FIRE. For if you use gas you might as well be cooking on the stove inside the house.
Now for WOK burning I gots one of those outside 100K BTU Propane WOK burners for $80...HIGH HEAT is what makes the difference between making mush Oriental and WOK HEI restaurant quality oriental food. Believe me it is fking night and day. That is why I was never happy and felt I was never successful at making the yellow people food before. The only reason I mention this is that it sits on the Patio.
Each one of the units I have serves a specific function, it is having the right tool for the job.
*I bought my Klose in 05, about 2 years later I got around to calling him up and asking about putting in a Propane pipe burner into the fire box mostly for quick lighting of the fire. He said it was "Too dangerous." ???? OK...A year or two later I check back on his website and low and behold he now has an option to put a Propane pipe burner in his firebox. The advantage here would be that after the first few hours of smoking a large cut of meat (where the smoke flavor is imparted) you can go to propane low and slow heat for the next dozen or so hours...so that you don't have to keep burning wood fuel and tending the fire. What I do now is move the piece of meat into the oven wrapped in foil at 275*.
** You can run a BGE for about 12 hours on a load of Hardwood Charcoal...