new BBQ/smoker purchase

[dangerousdowning]

My large trusty grill has come to an end and have been looking for a replacement, but with the added ability to smoke.
What i loved about my BBQ was:
Big - about 85cm wide. Love cooking for freinds and also helpfel for non direct cooking
A lid - do loads of cooking with the lid closed
Temperature gauge
access hatch - to top up coal
ash catcher - helps when you're keeping it going for a full session, where you keep topping up, plus making it easier to clean

With this, I've been stuck finding a replacement (without spending silly money) and added to this I really want to start smoking food.
I've come across one on Amazon, which ticks most of my boxes, but it has no reviews and I didn't know if I'd be throwing my money at something, that wasn't going to be a good smoker:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/broil-master%C2 ... bbq+smoker

What do you think?

Cheers

[dangerousdowning]

sorry, just spending more time on this forum and can see that there is little respect for these type of BBQ's\smokers.
I guess this takes me back to learning the lesson of buying a multi-tool. Where you end up with something that does 4 things poorly, compared with a dedicated tool for each job.

I really want to start smoking, but at the same time, need to replace my existing BBQ.

[YetiDave]

Step away from the cheap offset

That thing will be more trouble than it's worth. If you've got that kinda budget I'd be looking at a Weber kettle or building a UDS

[gingerchris]

If you're after a bit more info on why most of us would recommend you avoid a cheap offset, Amazing Ribs has a pretty in depth article about them.

Go for a UDS - just as cheap (or cheaper) and loads more fun to build.

[dangerousdowning]

looking on the site, I like the look of the Proq excel 20 and the WSM, but a bit pricey.
Then I saw the Big Poppa's Drum Smoker Kit from that link, but not available in the UK and can't see any others.....possibly a market for it..

[YetiDave]

looking on the site, I like the look of the Proq excel 20 and the WSM, but a bit pricey.
Then I saw the Big Poppa's Drum Smoker Kit from that link, but not available in the UK and can't see any others.....possibly a market for it..

There are plenty of guides out there for building them. I made do with a drum, a 56cm kettle BBQ, a washing machine basket, a River Country thermometer, stove rope and a bunch of nuts and bolts. It kicks the crap out of my Pro Q for temp stability and fuel economy

[dangerousdowning]

There are plenty of guides out there for building them. I made do with a drum, a 56cm kettle BBQ, a washing machine basket, a River Country thermometer, stove rope and a bunch of nuts and bolts. It kicks the crap out of my Pro Q for temp stability and fuel economy

do you put a bowl of water in that too?

[tommo666]

looking on the site, I like the look of the Proq excel 20 and the WSM, but a bit pricey.
Then I saw the Big Poppa's Drum Smoker Kit from that link, but not available in the UK and can't see any others.....possibly a market for it..

The poppa drum kit is available from this very site, the pres Toby imports a variety of BBQ related goods and flogs them from the saysausages shop.

Link here: http://www.saysausages.com/shop/#!/~/pr ... d=33844245

[YetiDave]

There are plenty of guides out there for building them. I made do with a drum, a 56cm kettle BBQ, a washing machine basket, a River Country thermometer, stove rope and a bunch of nuts and bolts. It kicks the crap out of my Pro Q for temp stability and fuel economy

do you put a bowl of water in that too?

Nah, I never found water made any difference. I just have a pizza pan set up as a heat diffuser above the charcoal basket

[BraaiMeesterWannabe]

I used to buy cheap and cheerful but ended up replacing often. I bought a 57cm weber kettle about 10 years back and still have it and It is in tip top condition, even after living outside without a cover all that time (have had to replace the cooking grate a couple of times).

A few years back I bought another weber kettle so that if I have lots of people round I have enough space, and I have just bought a 47cm Smokey Mountain which I have used for the first time earlier this week. The temp is so stable and one bed of coal lasted more than 9 hours (I went to bed and it was still going strong and stable so reckon at least 10 hours maybe more).

The only downside to Weber is the cheap lid thermo's which are not very accurate.

Webers are not cheap, but IMO they are worth every penny as they outlast anything else I've ever had. If I calculate the cost of my first ever Weber per BBQ I reckon it would work out cheaper than a lot of others....that's what I told my wife when I came home with the WSM the other day