What's on the smoker today?

When we moved I had to abandon my smoker. It, and the wonderful grill I bought a few years ago, went to a friend. It hurt to lose them both, as they'd become good friends.

So I'm looking at propane smokers now. The Camp Chef & Masterbuilt are the leading contenders, but I thought I'd ask you reprobates for other suggestions under $300.
 
When we moved I had to abandon my smoker. It, and the wonderful grill I bought a few years ago, went to a friend. It hurt to lose them both, as they'd become good friends.

So I'm looking at propane smokers now. The Camp Chef & Masterbuilt are the leading contenders, but I thought I'd ask you reprobates for other suggestions under $300.

I have a propane Masterbuilt. It's a vertical smoker. I really like it.

Pros: -can be moved easily, even taken to camp because it doesn't require electricity, which I have done
-simple and always works
-cheap (in both time required and $ to run)
Cons:
-You will be looked down on folks who use offset smokers
- Because temperature is regulated by release of propane and not a sensor on the temp of the chamber, if you are in a place that fluctuates temp rapidly and significantly, you have to pay attention to maintain consistent temps
 
I have a propane Masterbuilt. It's a vertical smoker. I really like it.

Pros: -can be moved easily, even taken to camp because it doesn't require electricity, which I have done
-simple and always works
-cheap (in both time required and $ to run)
Cons:
-You will be looked down on folks who use offset smokers
- Because temperature is regulated by release of propane and not a sensor on the temp of the chamber, if you are in a place that fluctuates temp rapidly and significantly, you have to pay attention to maintain consistent temps

The vertical masterbuilt was the one I had to abandon. I really liked it, and thought it performed evenly & w/o much drama re: temp management.
 
I have a propane Masterbuilt. It's a vertical smoker. I really like it.

Pros: -can be moved easily, even taken to camp because it doesn't require electricity, which I have done
-simple and always works
-cheap (in both time required and $ to run)
Cons:
-You will be looked down on folks who use offset smokers
- Because temperature is regulated by release of propane and not a sensor on the temp of the chamber, if you are in a place that fluctuates temp rapidly and significantly, you have to pay attention to maintain consistent temps
I have a similar smoker and can attest to this. My only complaint is feeding chips so often because the chip plate is kinda small. But, it takes up very little room on my patio and still does a good job for the price point.
 
I found a bunch of smithfield rib racks on yellow tag mark down at walmart so I bought 6. I cooked one rack 3-2-1 method and they came out great. Juicy and beautiful smoke ring and homemade sweet and spicy BBQ sauce. And since it was only me I froze half of the cooked rack and still have a couple of bones worth of leftovers for me.
 
I have a similar smoker and can attest to this. My only complaint is feeding chips so often because the chip plate is kinda small. But, it takes up very little room on my patio and still does a good job for the price point.
Pellet grill/smoker will solve that issue and more. Some of the best money I've ever spent.
 
Pellet grill/smoker will solve that issue and more. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

Bigger chunks solve it as well. I've got rounds of Apple, Maple, Cherry & Apricot in the pole barn. 6 chunks about the size of 1/2 a tennis ball last for a whole smoke on a Turkey.
 
Antelope sirloin asada and bluefish cooked in mayo and lemons. The mayo is suppose to take away some of the strong taste. Both were really good. Actually I can't stop thinking about the Antelope. Glad we put in for 8 doe tags and contributing to point creep to hunt 32 with 6 points. Member here said hunt 47 but can only eat sirloin. Brined meat for 6 hours with a little sugar also.. Bunch of parsley and Cilantro, 4 cloves garlic, 1 shallot, tbs of cummin Paprika crushed red pepper garlic powder. 1/4 tsp Salt pepper and 2 tbs red wine vinegar and 1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil in blender. Wife made Butternut risotto. We should have charged are friends $25 each that we had over. 20210603_184354.jpg20210603_191929.jpg20210603_192116.jpg20210603_192245.jpg
 
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Smoked a boneless half pork shoulder on the new Traeger. Started on smoke setting for about 3 hours then upped the temp to 225° for about 5 hours then put in foil covered aluminum pan with apple juice for another 4 hours until the internal temp came up to 205°.
It came out very tender but not as smokey as the last one I did in a masterbuilt elec smoker. I'm still learning to use this new smoker but I think I'm gonna like it. (y)

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When we moved I had to abandon my smoker. It, and the wonderful grill I bought a few years ago, went to a friend. It hurt to lose them both, as they'd become good friends.

So I'm looking at propane smokers now. The Camp Chef & Masterbuilt are the leading contenders, but I thought I'd ask you reprobates for other suggestions under $300.
I have a buddy who has a Dyna Glo and seems to like it.

p.s. reprobate...great use of vocab.
 
About half way there. I sampled a few pieces - flavor is really good! It’s got a nice kick to it but not too bad.

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Here’s the recipe if anyone’s interested. I marinaded it for 36 hours, and also put fresh cracked black pepper on it just before putting it in the smoker.
 
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