I am considering getting a Weber smokey mountain smoker and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them? It gets great reviews and seems decent. Right now I have a Bradley digital smoker (electric and easy to use) but I want to get back to a more traditional smoker and flavor.

 

I have done a lot of smoke cooking (yeah, weird for a northerner) and I have a smoker just like this one. I just cannot recommend a charcoal fired vertical water smoker. It is a total pain trying to get your temps right. When you put in a new batch of charcoal the temp drops way down, then it spikes and then drops again as that batch of charcoal burns down. I know people have used them for a long time but it is a lot of work. I have made the same recommendation to two people who were going to get into smoke cooking. The first guy got so frustrated that he gave up the hobby. The second eventually took my advice and abandoned the charcoal fired smoker and got a propane fired vertical water smoker. I strongly recommend the one in the link below.

http://bbq.about.com/od/smokerreview...apr113007a.htm

It is soooo easy. Add your meat, water in the water pan and your favorite wood chips and you are good to go. You can make minute temperature adjustments with the flame size and the smoke vents. I have smoked forum to 13 hrs with almost no maintenance and no temperature spikes and drops.

I use this kind of smoker for hot smoking - pulled pork, brisket etc. Supposedly you can use it for cold smoking. I havent tried that. I have a Big Chief for cold smoking for things like sausage and salmon.

 

Ive had a lot of smokers but the home built one I now have is my favorite. Its electric and is the size of a refrigerator.
Like Tallguy said, the charcoal ones are a pain and (imo) don't make a better product than electric.

 

Well, bit the bullet and bought the Weber Smokey Mountain. All I can say is it blows the doors off the Bradley digital smoker. It holds the heat amazingly well (8 hours without refueling) and the ribs were amazing. The only mistake I made was I added more wood smoke part way through and it was a little much.

 

KLX - glad to hear you are enjoying it. Smoke cooking is an addication. I have a recipe for brie stuffed smoked lobster tails that people devour at parties. It is a little girly but it is good. A couple of years back a buddy of mine tried to make his own smoked oysters. My digestive system put that in the 'epic fail' department. I make lots of beef jerky and Bark has a great recipe for smoked salmon. For some reason he likes to smoke his salmon on the hood of a Subaru. You will have to get HIM to explain that one to you - he even has photos.....

 

8 hours is good!! Back when I was burning I had to refuel every 2 hours which is a pain.

Good news is that the rain and the critters finally cleaned off the Subaru. Bad news is that all that Salmon is gone (it was a good batch).
I even showed people how I dried it and they still ate it all.

 

Hmmm it appears I will need to get a Subaru to dry my fish on. Is there any particular model that is better than others? What about paint colours, model years? What about different types of fish or will a Subaru do all varieties?

Nice job, looks good.

What I like about the Weber smokey mountain is you can shut off all the air to the smoker if needed. Nothing is open and everything is controlled through the tight vents. This makes it incredibly efficient at temperature control and the briquettes burn and burn and burn.

 

I think that was my problem when I was using wood/charcoal. I couldnt seal it up good enough to keep the heat/smoke tamed down.

As far as the Subaru goes, the one that I get the best product from is a manuel transmission with over 285Kmiles.
I dont think the color matters.

One of these days Im going to try and make/smoke some sausage the way Tallguy does it.