Is a Brinkmann Gourmet a wast of money?

[bigvince76]

hI, I have just returned from a trip to Texas and South Carolina, and not surprisingly I have the 'Q' bug, bad! My funds are very limited and it would seem buying a smoker is not cheap in the UK.

I have spotted a Brinkmann Gourmet for about £50. This seems a good deal but having a quick look around the internet it seems it needs a lot of work to make it functional, I have neither tools nor skill so drilling holes and the like is really not an option. I want to cook brisket, pulled pork, turkey and maybe have a go at jerky. I am sure there are better options but will the Brinkmann Gourmet do as a start or am I just throwing money away. It seems the next step up is going to be over £100 which just at the moment is going to be a stretch.

This looks like a fantastic site and I look forward to trying some of the recipes on here. Thanks for any help you can give.

Vince.

[British BBQ Society]

Hi Vince, Completely understand your predicament, and i am sure you will get a few different answers but in this case i think it comes down to you get what you pay for. Where are you based? I have some Ex demo Pro Q Excels that I am looking to move as have now upgraded to WSM's.

Cheers
Toby

[bigvince76]

Hi Toby, I am based in sunny Stoke on Trent. The excel 20 looks great but I suspect is a little out of my price range.

[wade]

Hi Vince
The problem I think that you will have with the Gourmet is its size. You may spend the £50 and produce good tasting food however you may not reach the standard of BBQ that you are seeking. Even though good BBQ is not really rocket science starting with the right tools really helps. "Great" BBQ however is something a little different and you may need to go to one of the BBBQS competition cooks to sample that.
If you have been eating in the Texas and SoCal BBQ shacks then you will (hopefully) have been eating good BBQ - though from experience sometimes they can disappoint.

If you can possibly stretch your budget a little then personally I would probably start with a good all-rounder like the Weber 57cm Kettle. As this is the end of the season you can get some reasonable bargains on these for around £90 (at places like wowbbq.co.uk). You could also get the smaller 47cm Weber for around £80 but they would probably not be quite as good for what you want. I am sure others forum members can suggest other, maybe cheaper, alternatives. At a later stage you could then consider working yourself up to a Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) or equivalent.
If you go to the BBBQS events you will see a mixture of WSM and ProQ smokers in use and both seem to give good results. From members feedback on here though the build quality of the ProQ does appear to be somewhat inferior however I have not used one myself. It is good that Toby has more of the Ex Demo ProQs in stock as when I tried to get one a couple of months ago he had run out - if they are a good price they could well be worth considering.

Whatever you buy you should be able to cook some good tasting meat. It is great that you got the BBQ bug from where it is done the best

Wade

[Eddie]

The Pro Q is a great starter BBQ smoker, as you pay for what you get. If you can get one second hand from Toby or anyone els, you wont go far wrong. But what seems to be pricey some times are the bits and bobs that you need for the smokers. Considering that most people seem to down tools and pack away the BBQ for the winter, it's a great time to pick up bargins from B&Q and wilkinsons. What ever you do decide make sure you use a good quality charcoal, restaurant grade or heatbeads should do.

Good luck

Eddie

[Braindead]

I have a Brinkmann and modified it based on what this guy did

http://bbq.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=bbq&cdn=food&tm=40&f=21&su=p284.9.336.ip_p830.4.336.ip_&tt=4&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm

It helps considerably in controlling temperature and air flow. Best two mods are to put a raised grate in the charcoal pan and put some kind of controllable air vents in the base. On the other hand you may want to go buy something that works well out of the box

[BBQFanatic]

I started out with the Brinkman, but I will give you the same advice I got (and ignored)... Its a false economy. As you will work very hard to get consistent cooks on the Brinkman. For the money its not bad, but needs mod's just to get it to work effectively. I lived with one for 12 months before upgrading. Do yourself a favour, drop Toby a line and see what he come back with, the ProQ is a country mile better than the ECB (el-cheapo brinkman as its commonly known as) and will make it easier for you to produce the kind of food you have tasted in the states. I am being hard on it the unit, because I learnt the hard way.

http://bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=997&hilit=ECB&start=10#p7546

[cutcookeat]

Hi Toby:

Do you have any more of the Pro Q Excels for sale?

cheers

[Riverrat]

Got to agree with Wade about the ECB, I have one, as a beginners smoker it is Ok and you will have some fun with it and turn out some half decent food... BUT .... you will need to make some mods to it to get a better burn and sort out some air flow control (vents in the bottom), ALSO, expect to be buying another smoker/grill within the next couple of years because the bottom will probably have rotted/rusted out (mine has!!!) I now use a 22.5 inch Weber Kettle which will grill and smoke and for the money (not much more for a One Touch Silver over an ECB) in my mind a much better buy, PLUS a ten year warranty against the dreaded rust. Agreed that it has not the cooking volume of an upright type smoker but how much do you need to smoke at one time? Its Thanksgiving over here this week (not a good time to be a Turkey!!) and I will be smoking a 12 pound bird on the Kettle and use a fraction of the charcoal that the ECB would have have consumed.

So, my advice for what its worth, if money is tight, your best option is the 22.5 Weber One touch Silver (just need to drop a temperature gauge in the lid) you will not be disappointed with it, don't skimp and get the smaller one, it will be to small, and the 26 inch would be great if they were not so expensive!! (with all due respect to Wade)

[SR-71 Blackbird]

Hi Riveratt,

Regarding your turkey smoking for thanksgiving can you note down the weight of charcoal you use when you do your smoking for me please as I would like to get an idea of how much it could take if I wanted to do something similar. Could you also note down the temperature and the time taken to cook the bird.

Thanks very much,

Alex