British BBQ Society Forums

Hi all,

Been looking to get a smoker for a good while now and wondered if you could give me a few pointers with the following?

1. What would be the best value smoker for me? I want to mainly cook ribs, brisket, pulled pork but also some chicken

2. Is there a decent dry rub available for ribs to give me good flavour

3. What wood would you recommend for flavouring ribs?

I know these are basic questions but would love some ideas from all the experts on here,

thanks

Rob

Hi there,
Best value would be a home made uds, if you don't want to make one, then either a weber kettle or proq frontier
You can have a go at making your own rubs, there's loads of recipes out there, just play and see what you like
My favourites are cherry, Apple or maple
Cheers
Marcus

hi mate,

Thanks for the reply, been looking at the frontier and the excel, i know the excel is much bigger

Rob

The pro q excel and frontier will both do the job you want them for. Experiment with your own rubs it's good fun and there are loads on the web. As for woods, experiment with them too until you find what you like. Even try combinations. All fruit woods will be good with ribs. Apple is great.

Hi Rob,

I've got a ProQ XL and would recommend it, I use it as often as I can mostly for whole chickens but have done briskets and pork too, all with great flavours. It's good value, well made and there's plenty of space inside, I tend to cook a couple of chickens at a time. The aromas that come off the smoker while cooking are great.

I make my own rubs, there's plenty of recipes out there and it's good to experiment and see what ones you like.

I use different woods, apple for pork, with chickens and briskets I've tried cherry, hickory, whisky oak, all are good.
It's all about experimenting and practice, the more you smoke the easier it becomes, the hard bit when you first start smoking is not opening the lid to have a look part of the way through cooking to see how it's coming along.

Thank you!

When you get the charcoal lit in the base how long does it last? I understand there is less air so it will burn more slowly than an open grill but how much will it need replacing in say a 4-5 hour cook?

Rob

hi rdt123,

I would recommend you get the weber 18inch rocky mountain smoker which uses charcoal ,mine is over 12 years old and still works and looks as good as new.
The best wood chunks are from hickory and they give the most authentic bbq taste to ribs.
How long will the charcoal last it all depends,in general you can get 4 hours with one load of charcoal,with me I usually throw in every hour ten pieces of charcoal but I live in a warm region,i have gone for 6 hours where I put the ribs in at midnight then went to seep and the heat was still going good at 6am.

http://www.thebarbecuemaster.net/cooking-ribs.htm how to cook ribs with a rub recipe from me

take a look at the smoker video
http://www.thebarbecuemaster.net/weber-smoker.html

With regard to upright "bullet" smokers there are two main camps The Weber Smokey Mountain & the ProQ Excel or Frontier. Both will work as a basic BBQ with their top sections removed, and as fully fledged smokers as well. The main difference I can see is price and adaptability. I won't go into the whys & wherefores as there are enough topics here to answer any questions you may have. A Weber OTP or similar will be a great grill and a satisfactory smoker for all but the most extreme of smokes. A bullet smoker is excellent, perhaps unbeatable (perhaps) as a smoker and an excellent BBQ whichever make you chosse.

I have a ProQ excel, i think its excellent, I've had cheap BBQs over the years, and a fairly decent gas one, and i love the ProQ.
I haven't used the WSM, but from the pictures I've seen it looks harder to access to middle grill, i may be wrong so i am sure some will correct me if thats the case?
Ive done 6 hour smokes without having to top up the coal, and tonight i grilled steal on it.

Thank you so much to all who have given their time to advise!

I realise i cant get anything shipped until Wednesday, does anywhere sell them?