British BBQ Society Forums

Hi I am thinking of buying my first smoker and have narrowed it down to either the pro q frontier or the excel, now I only tend to cater for 4-10 people max and have a large kettle that I use for grilling/indirect cooking.i have mastered a lot with the kettle but now feel a smoker for the low and slow and the kettle for the roasting and other BBQ stuff. Could you tell me if the frontier will do what I require as I'm sure it will or if there is any other reason to get the excel. Thanx in advance John

Ignoring the size choice I'd go for the excel just because it's made from thicker steel, you can always just not use the centre section for smaller cooks.

Hi John,

You really dont need the excel for the numbers you are catering for. The frontier is easier to manage, uses less fuel and will do the job perfectly. I am sure a couple of others will jump in with their opinion soon, unless you are going to have to cater for alot more i just dont see the benefit of the larger cooker for you.
cheers
Toby

Hi John,
As Toby said the Frontier will be big enough for what you want to do.........but that's how we started and very quickly 'outgrew' the frontier and went for the excel. Just my opinion though.

Also it will depepnd on how much you get the bug! You may find that you want to cook for more people or even enter a competition or 2

What ever you decide remember it's the cook not the cooker that gives you the end result. Some people might say "If you can afford it, get a WSM" yes they are built better, but Myself and bear and blue BBQ team walked away with 5 Awards last weekend. All done on the Pro Q Excel 20.

If you do dicide on a Excel 20. Give Toby a PM and mybe he might have one or two left. The raeson why I recomend Toby, is that he is not greedy and he sell's them at a decent price.

Good luck with your choice.

Eddie.

hi thanx for the replies i think i'll get the frontier and see how i get on as although i would happily bbq everyday my mrs doesn't share the passion if i out grow it then i will upgrade but im sure the frontier will give me what i need for a while yet. as for "its the cook not the cooker" i couldnt agree more, i have seen some terrible items served out of webers as good as they may be. as for the bbq bug ever since i got my big kettle (given to me because the old owner was filling it with 12kg of restaraunt grade lump wood as said i got to hot to even get close too let alone cook on .) i have done a large amount of food Pork shoulder, beer can chicken, chicken thighs ect.. but think that id produce better food buy cooking low and slow for the big cuts/whole birds and use the kettle for the more regular british bbq food thus alowing me to have even more fun!!