Kamado Style Smokers

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A few friends recently picked up a Kamado style smoker and I am somewhat interested in starting a new hobby in this area.

Any thoughts/recommendations on the various options available? I am mainly looking at the Big Green Egg and the Kamado Joe Classic II. At the moment, I am leaning towards the Kamado Joe Classic II since Costco will be having the road show in our area next month.
 
I've been smoking with a BGE for a little over two years now. I went with a BGE because I have an excellent local hardware store that stocks just about everything. Super convenient if I need to pick up any accessories or I want to see something before I buy. The store previously stocked Kamado Joe, but was in the process of changing their product lines just about the time I purchased.

Speaking of accessories, if you're going to be doing any type of smoking, buy a BBQ Guru or Flame Boss temperature controller. It makes temp control a total no-brainer. Doing a brisket, I'll walk away from mine for 16 hours and it'll hold 225 degrees like a rock. They are worth every dollar.

You'll want to stick with lump charcoal; Regular charcoal briquettes make too much ash. I typically use the little waxed cardboard starters. They work well if it's not windy. If it is windy, a little help from a propane torch gets things going.

I'll second the Amazing Ribs recommendation. Meathead cuts through a lot of the manure that people pass off as gospel. I'm not too keen on the product reviews anymore though. It's just coincidence, but Amazing Ribs has the Kamado Joe Classic II on their "Pitmaster Award" list, which is their list of best value. Their reviewer never actually cooked on one. The pictures from the "review" are straight from the Komado Joe website, as is all the description. I know it's a good product, but a little disingenuous to glowingly recommend it having never actually cooked on it (or even had one available for photos). Then there are things like the $2,000 Weber Summit kettle grill that received a gold star (the sites highest rating), despite being laughably expensive and having temperature control issues: It was unable to maintain 225° ("It ran a little hot, at one point reaching 260°"). Weber graciously provided one for review though.
 
I use an Acorn. Got it at BJ's or Costco. One of those type of places. It was the floor model.

Some tips I've learned:

Plan a good hour to get your charcoal lit and the temperature stable.

Not all lump charcoal is the same. The Cowboy brand works well. I had some other brand that was hard to light and keep lit.

I use a cotton ball soaked in 90% isopropyl alcohol to light the charcoal.

One of my favorite things to make is cornbread is a small cast iron skillet.

Costco/Sam's/BJ's sell the correct cuts of meat like pork shoulder for pulled pork or the big racks of ribs.

I've tried pizza a few times but that is still a work in progress.

For gadgets, I've tried to build a PID fan controller with parts but I can't get it to work. It was fun building it.

I use a remote temperature monitor to monitor the grill temp and food temp.
 
2 smoker threads?
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My smoker is going on 36 years old and is still smoking like day 1. And, I bet my dad paid a whole $20-$25 for it. How much do those eggs cost, about $150-$200, and MORE?
My favorite 2 cuts of meat to smoke are pork loin and brisket. I have come up with my own homemade marinade sauce for each cut. The only time I ever use an injector is when I smoke/fry a turkey and/or chicken.
 
A large Big Green Egg goes for around $1000 before accessories. I would estimate the smallest one with no add-ons would run about $550. I have a large that was given to me about 12 years ago.

What I like about mine is the low amount of fuel it uses, the range of temperatures available (low temp smoke to over 750 degrees for searing steaks), and the ease of maintaining a constant temperature over a long period of time with one load of charcoal/wood. In Las Vegas you have to pay for your charcoal and smoking wood, so that is a consideration. If you live somewhere you can get a year's supply in an afternoon with a chain saw and a maul, not so much.

I see no reason an insulated steel version would not cook as well as the ceramic type, but it would have to be well taken care of to last like the ceramic ones. Mine has sat outside in the elements it's entire life, and works today exactly as well as it did when it came out of the box.

P.S. Thanks for the idea of an alcohol soaked cotton ball as a starter Leo. I always have that around, and keep running out of other starters.
 
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Picked it up last Saturday. Also got the Joetisserie add on.

The temperature control is definitely an art. I have lots to learn.
 
I have been using a Acorn Jr. that I got on clearance for about a year. It really is amazing just how little fuel it takes to cook with. I was using alcohol and cotton balls to light it, but have switched over to using a heat gun. The Acorn Jr. is really small, too small for a rack of ribs. I also have a larger cheapo vertical smoker with a water pan than makes awesome turkeys, and a large home built smoker for bigger cooks.
 
Nah, if I needed that kind of help I would just get a electric smoker. Might as well just get a Traeger or something.
 
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