My team cooks on Excel 20's (we own one each) so these cookers are what I have the most experience with. I was fortunate enough to be at the American Royal this year where we cooked on two Fast Eddy pellet poopers and I spent some time with our neighbours, one of whom had a beast of an offset on a trailer and the other was cooking with 4 WSM's controlled by a stoker.
I like the Excel 20, the modular design and access doors are great features and I get good results cooking on it. It's not Weber build quality but it doesn't carry the Weber price tag either. Where I'd say it falls down a bit is at holding temperatures, it's hungry on charcoal to keep 225-250 for long periods and it struggles to hold heat in the wind. My view on it is that it makes a great first smoker and if you can forgive feeding it lots of charcoal it's a really great value smoker. I think mine will be cooking for a lot of years to come.
I've never cooked on a WSM, I don't like the doors, but it's built to the quality I'd expect from Weber. I know a number of guys who use them and the feedback is always positive apart from when you tlak about the doors
As for pellet poopers, I really didn't like the idea of them before going to the Royal. However I have to admit I liked the FEC100 we used in KC. What I like about it is that it gets up to temperature quickly, holds temperature well and gives a nice gentle stream of smoke that's consistent. I heard Fast Eddy himself say that it removes a lot of the uncertainties in smoking and I have to agree. However for me, this is one of the things I like least about it too, I like the artistry and skill of maintaining a fire and controlling how much smoke is present, that's part of the fun for me. So really I'm in two minds, using the FEC doesn't feel involved enough for me but it cooks really well and so consistently, for competition (or for vending if that's your thing) it has such big plus points that it's hard not to want one. Put it this way I definately hope Santa drops one down my chimney one Christmas soon.
My thoughts on offsets. Well I've never cooked on one but I want one!
My first big BBQ investment is going to be an offset, hopefully a David Klose but that's serious cash and it'll have to wait a while. The offset for me is the kind of unit I [i]want[/] to cook on and of course it's one of the classic American BBQ designs.
While at the Royal, our friend Ray Lampe (Dr BBQ) was cooking on a Big Green Egg and I tasted the best ribs I've ever had from Ray (which he described as "not bad"
), cooked on the Egg. The ceramic cookers look like another prefectly viable option and Kamado ones are also very beautiful to look at but I don't think it's an option I'll ever explore.
So personally I don't reckon you could ever say which smoker is "best" the good ones of each type have their own pros and cons. One thing I can say is that writing this essay has made me hungry, if only I wasn't at work...