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re: What, if any, benefits are there to a stick burner vs a ceramic smoker? QUESTION ADDED
Posted on 9/23/23 at 7:06 am to RichJ
Posted on 9/23/23 at 7:06 am to RichJ
quote:because post oak and hickory were native to the area of Texas BBQ?
there are reasons the top central TX bbq joints use post oak & hickory(
0
Posted on 9/23/23 at 7:13 am to auwaterfowler
I’m almost 62. I’ve been smoking meat for about 47 years...as a backyard fun hobby. It’s hard to beat the fun, and the product, you get from a stick burner. But I prefer an old school bullet style water smoker for whole turkeys, chickens, and ducks.
This post was edited on 9/23/23 at 7:14 am
Posted on 9/23/23 at 10:34 am to RichJ
quote:
Guys that do it for a living have it down to a science, have huge wood burning smokers. No green eggs or other ceramic cookers, or pellet grills around.
Kind of an odd thing to say. You can’t run a restaurant with a 24” cooker.
Posted on 9/23/23 at 11:39 am to TCO
quote:Offsets can & do create an inarguably better product. They are also less versatile and require more money, space, and expertise than a ceramic.
Kind of an odd thing to say. You can’t run a restaurant with a 24” cooker.
This post was edited on 9/23/23 at 11:40 am
Posted on 9/23/23 at 2:31 pm to Louie T
quote:
Offsets can & do create an inarguably better product. They are also less versatile and require more money, space, and expertise than a ceramic.
I believe I pretty much said this in the 2nd post.
Thanks though.
ETA. I wouldn’t agree with the “expertise” part. Ceramics require all the know-how of what’s going on inside the dome. Humidity is also more of a factor with ceramics so you have to know how to balance that.
This post was edited on 9/23/23 at 2:35 pm
Posted on 9/23/23 at 3:11 pm to TCO
Your last post insinuated one of the primary drivers for the better BBQ places use of offsets is sqft constraints of other types of grills. I disagree.
This post was edited on 9/23/23 at 3:26 pm
Posted on 9/23/23 at 4:33 pm to Louie T
No Louie. I’ve said multiple times that stick burners produce the best product. Better than ceramic, much better than pellet. You said something about restaurants not using ceramics. Even if a restaurant wanted to use ceramics, it would be literally impossible. So it was a moot point made by you.
fricking hell.
fricking hell.
Posted on 9/23/23 at 4:39 pm to TCO
I've said zero about restaurants not using ceramics until you started talking about grill space. You're either confusing me with the person you originally responded to or we talked past each other.
Either way, sounds like we're aligned with offsets. Ready for more space so I can ditch the ceramic + pellet for an offset
Either way, sounds like we're aligned with offsets. Ready for more space so I can ditch the ceramic + pellet for an offset
This post was edited on 9/23/23 at 4:53 pm
Posted on 9/23/23 at 5:27 pm to auwaterfowler
I've got an ugly drum smoker that I use for ribs, brisket, turkeys, and pulled pork. Put some post oak scattered around in the tray and that thing keeps a consistant temperature for 12 hours with pretty good smoke/bark results. Still not as good as a stick burner, but a hell of a lot easier with a great product.
Posted on 9/23/23 at 5:28 pm to Louie T
My bad. That was RichJ.
quote:
Ready for more space so I can ditch the ceramic for an offset
Posted on 9/23/23 at 6:36 pm to TCO
Pellet is the one that'll be donated, and I'll be left with kettle, ceramic, and offset.
This post was edited on 9/23/23 at 6:37 pm
Posted on 9/23/23 at 6:53 pm to Louie T
Lou, what offset are you running baw?
Posted on 9/23/23 at 6:54 pm to GynoSandberg
Don't have one. Space limited at the current place
Primo is at my parents, so I have a pellet + kettle with me.
Primo is at my parents, so I have a pellet + kettle with me.
Posted on 9/24/23 at 8:46 am to auwaterfowler
It depends what you want out of it. Do you only want to enjoy the end product? Get the ceramic. If you enjoy the process, get the stick burner.
Posted on 9/27/23 at 2:13 pm to auwaterfowler
Would this be considered an offset smoker? My nephew has one he wants to sell me for $600.
Pit Boss by American Barbecue Systems
Pit Boss by American Barbecue Systems
This post was edited on 9/27/23 at 2:22 pm
Posted on 9/27/23 at 2:32 pm to auwaterfowler
Pretty much. I would love to have one of those designs, but my charcoal gravity feed has made like too easy to go back until I am retired.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 7:00 am to auwaterfowler
Yes, that is an offset smoker, and for 600 bucks it is a steal! If you don't want it I'll buy it for that price!
Posted on 9/28/23 at 9:29 am to auwaterfowler
Here's the problem I have with a ceramic cooker and why I switched to a weber kettle and WSM.
Flavor.
Ceramics cook so efficiently and burn so little charcoal, you lose flavor. Yes, you add wood and whatever else but when your primary heat source cooks with the efficiency of a gas oven, you lose something. Pellet Grills have the same problem.
This is why less efficient cookers produce better bbq. Also stick burners burn wood and wood embers, almost exclusively. That right there is why you get a better product.
Flavor.
Ceramics cook so efficiently and burn so little charcoal, you lose flavor. Yes, you add wood and whatever else but when your primary heat source cooks with the efficiency of a gas oven, you lose something. Pellet Grills have the same problem.
This is why less efficient cookers produce better bbq. Also stick burners burn wood and wood embers, almost exclusively. That right there is why you get a better product.
This post was edited on 9/28/23 at 9:35 am
Posted on 9/28/23 at 9:42 am to auwaterfowler
quote:
We are empty nesters now and I want to get a bit more serious about my smoking game.
Stick Burners are going to smoke better, but they are much more labor intensive.
But…. You will quickly realize that 99% of the people you cook for will not know the difference and they will enjoy whatever you serve.
I’ve gotten to where if I smoke something to bring somewhere (like to someone’s house) I use the gravity fed since it’s easy. If I have a bunch of guys over to my house drinking beer and watching football I’ll do the stick burner because it gives us something to play with.
Posted on 9/28/23 at 11:09 am to BigBinBR
quote:
But…. You will quickly realize that 99% of the people you cook for will not know the difference and they will enjoy whatever you serve.
Has not been the case in my experience. I get compliments on my BBQ cooked on a ceramic, but I get rave reviews about BBQ I cook on my offset. I don’t own a pellet, but in my experience the flavor has been light.
quote:
Would this be considered an offset smoker? My nephew has one he wants to sell me for $600.
If you don’t buy that for $600, I will buy it today. All jokes aside.
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