pellet/disc smoker

[chrisbonnie]

hi lads

first post here. Have been searching for a BBQ forum from this side of the atlantic. (im irish though, not british )

Anyway, after investing in a decent BBQ last year (broil king), i now want to branch out into smoking my food.

ive seen the Bradley Smoker, which in my naive opinion looks very smart, i have no idea how effective it is, but it looks handy.

another one ive seen is the YODER pellet smoker. The Yoder costs well over a thousand euro though, so thats well down the list.

is there anything else thats similar to these two smokers in terms of ease of use on the market?

as much as id like a proper wood smoker, i just dont think it'd be practical enough over here in Ireland as the weather is kinda crappy, and finding wood for it is another expense. in fact my main plan for the smoker would be to install it in my shed and make a chimney for it.

Anyway lads, ill leave it to you. Any help would be brilliant

[Swindon_Ed]

Although the Yoder pellet cookers are awesome they do come at a cost though. A cheaper alternative would be the Green Mountain grills which are available in the UK which are very good and cost a lot less than the yoders

[chrisbonnie]

Good man Ed.

I see from your website you compete in competition bbq. I look forward to pestering you for tips and tricks in the future

[Swindon_Ed]

No problem.

Not sure what part or Ireland you're from, but it's looking like there might be a comp' over there next year which you might want to look out for, we're looking forward to it already.

[chrisbonnie]

No problem.

Not sure what part or Ireland you're from, but it's looking like there might be a comp' over there next year which you might want to look out for, we're looking forward to it already.

im in Dublin Ed. But if there's a BBQ competition, ill be there spectating, and eating

[robgunby]

My 2c, (nowhere near professional advice!) is that if cost is an issue, don't buy a pellet smoker. You mention finding wood as "another expense" but wood is generally cheaper than the discs / pellets you have to buy specific to your smoker. Aside from the wood suppliers mentioned on here, local tree surgeons can be an excellent source of very cheap (sometimes free!) wood.

Also, the weather is not as much of an issue as you might fear. I do most of my smoking in the winter, and I'm just next to the Peak District so we get some pretty wild weather here too! I have a wind break set up along the edge of my pit area, and wind was previously my only problem with the weather. I have smoked in heavy falling snow and -8 degrees, and I've just got an El Cheapo Brinkmann!

I think the only thing the Bradleys have going for them is ease of use. Just set it going and forget about it. But where's the fun in that?

[Chris__M]

Pellets are never going to be cheaper than free wood, but it isn't that expensive to run a pellet grill.

I am paying a range of prices for my pellets, depending on what they are, but my main general use pellet is a blend that costs me under 50p per pound (Lil' Devils, from Liverpool Wood Pellets). For slow smoking, the grill uses about half a pound per hour, on Medium, it is a pound per hour, and on highest setting, you can double that. In real terms, that means a couple of hours of hot grilling is going to cost you a couple of quid, and running all day on the smoke setting will cost you about 2-3 quid.

Going for a premium pellet, such as oak, hickory, mesquite, prices will be upward of that, perhaps even double. But I still probably spend more on my beer for the afternoon's BBQ than on the pellets in my grill.

[chrisbonnie]

Pellets are never going to be cheaper than free wood, but it isn't that expensive to run a pellet grill.

I am paying a range of prices for my pellets, depending on what they are, but my main general use pellet is a blend that costs me under 50p per pound (Lil' Devils, from Liverpool Wood Pellets). For slow smoking, the grill uses about half a pound per hour, on Medium, it is a pound per hour, and on highest setting, you can double that. In real terms, that means a couple of hours of hot grilling is going to cost you a couple of quid, and running all day on the smoke setting will cost you about 2-3 quid.

Going for a premium pellet, such as oak, hickory, mesquite, prices will be upward of that, perhaps even double. But I still probably spend more on my beer for the afternoon's BBQ than on the pellets in my grill.

which pellet smoker do you happen to have Chris?

[Chris__M]

which pellet smoker do you happen to have Chris?

I have an Traeger Lil' Tex, with an old-style manual temperature control, plus my own add-on controller.

However, I don't think anyone is shipping Traegers here any more - they used to be sold by the American BBQ Company, but they have moved to Green Mountain Grills, which I understand are also decent pellet grills, although I haven't played with one.