Help me pick a smoker

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an intro smoker in $300 range. the weber 22 smokey mountain recommended a lot. It can be used as a smoker and a grill correct?

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The 18 is closer to $300. The 22 is $400 on prime right now (marked down $100). It is a great smoker, but it is not a grill. You can do higher heat smoking/roasting, but it is not really made for straight up grilling.

The 22 is BIG. It uses a lot of charcoal. Most folks don't need the capacity. If you just want to cook a couple butts (I've done 4 at a time on an 18) or briskets, the 18 is fine, takes less space, uses less fuel, etc.

My friend wanted on. It's just two of them, and I tried to convince him the 18 was enough. He had to go big though, and he recently told me that he wants to sell the 22 because it is largely unused. He ends up using a kettle instead for small cooks.

That said, I've seen many on here say they love their 22s. You just have to assess whether you want that much capacity.

Old Country Pecos at Acadamy for $ 399.00 is great starter offset at that price.

22.5 WSM is also great bargain at $ 399.00 for a water smoker. The 22.5 WSM is more forgiving than tge offset abd turns out some graat smoked meat.

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Old Country Pecos at Acadamy for $ 399.00 is great starter offset at that price.

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I have this one. After RTVing the lids and and throwing a $30 harbor freight welding blanket over, I’ve been impressed with it for the money.

Is there much difference between it and the Weber Smokey Mountain in how well it cooks. I see they have hanging hooks and the weber is a water smoker.

Yea if I go that route I am going to get a pellet smoker linked a few post up. Want something that is a little more challenging though.

I love my 22 WSM. Can do full packer briskets with no problem and can lay ribs flat on the grate. Charcoal is cheap when they have the 1/2 off sales so I don't worry about fuel consumption. I just load it up and let it burn.

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i looked on the pit barrel's website and they're saying it takes 6 hours to cook a 16 lb brisket

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203 internal temp in 5-6 hours every time. I typically get 16-18 pound brisket, trim it out, wrap at the stall.

I have an Old Country. Smoker itself was I believe $300, necessary mods cost about $100 and my digital probe was about $50. I have consistently turned out good bbq on it. As long as you can gauge temperature and manipulate it, you'll be fine. I wanted to learn the art first before I invested serious money in a smoker and make no mistake, smoking meat on an offset smoker IS an art.

Smoking is absolutely an art, which is why I advise staying away from electric set it and forget it smokers. If you’re going to use one of those, I recommend just ordering takeout from a BBQ joint (hint: the local joint isn’t using electric pellet smokers either).