What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

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What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby Irish BBQ » 27 Jul 2010, 09:58

Hi

I am new to smoking and i need some good advice from the experts regarding which smoker to purchase. I am undecided between purchasing an Excel 20, Cookshack electric smoker or FEC 100. I have more or less discarded the Bradley smoker as it just seems inferior to other smokers and expensive for the pucks.

I understand there is vast difference in price between them all and my long term goal is to work the farmers markets in Ireland selling the BBQ as a small business. I'm therefore looking to produce consistent quality BBQ.

Any help with regard to this would be greatly appreciated as i don't want to make the wrong purchase at the start.

Thanks

Karl
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby MadCow » 27 Jul 2010, 10:59

Obviously I am slightly biased toward the Cookshack and FEC100 as I sell them, but I would rather you bought the right cooker to suit your needs.

What you need to decide is how much you will be cooking, how automated you want the cooking to be and of course, how much you want to spend ...

The Excel 20 is a good cooker but you can't get a great amount of product inside it and you will need to keep an eye on temperatures.

The Cookshack electric smokers are automatic, they use electricity as the heat source and wood as a flavour .. (not suitable for competition cooking in the BBBQS) but you can use any self-sourced woods as long as they are hardwood, nut or fruit wood.

The FEC100 gives the most consistent flavour and a nice delicate smoked flavour, again fully automatic, but you might need to find a supplier of pellets over in Ireland as the delivery costs might outweigh the benefits of the cooker.

Hope that helps and I hope that some of you Traeger / FEC / and other bbq users out there will add to this to help Karl with his decision.
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby British BBQ Society » 27 Jul 2010, 12:21

Hi Karl,

For catering needs the Excel just wont cut it. I have been known to dabble with events from 100 - 800 people and I use a combination of a Trager (at the event) and and FEC100 for cooking pork prior to the event, do you know how much meat you will want to cook and that could help us point you in the right direction,

Thanks

Toby
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby Irish BBQ » 27 Jul 2010, 14:33

Hi Jackie & Toby

Thanks for the quick responce to my initial post. Im completly new to this and would not be 100% sure of how much meat i need to provide but i would like to have enough for 100 people starting off choosing from pulled pork, chicken, ribs and beef.

Is the trager you use for catering a pellet grill. Are the units expensive to run using pellets over using chippings in electric smokers. Pellets seem to be restricted to either Hickory or Oak as i would also like to use apple and other woods.

I take your poiint regarding the Excel for commercial use and was really concidering it as an entry level unit but i believe long term it is going to be either electric or pellet machines that i would use. What do you feel is a good entry level machine that has the capacity to be used commercially if required.

Thanks

Karl
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby Irish BBQ » 28 Jul 2010, 23:01

Hi

I have decided to purchase an Excel 20 to practice and learn on and save up for a FEC 100. Thanks for the feedback as it made me think what i actually need presently.

Chat with you all soon.

Thanks

Karl
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby MadCow » 29 Jul 2010, 07:22

No problem Karl, hope all goes well for you.
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby philnewts » 29 Jul 2010, 08:48

Hi
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but if you speak to Toby he may have some Excels for sale.

Regards Phil
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby Steve » 29 Jul 2010, 09:13

As Toby has already said to you the Excel is a great back yard smoker and is ok for competition too. However for catering it's not going to work for you.

If you want to start out feeding 100 people you're looking at loading up with about 50lbs of raw meat. Now the Excel will cook that in pork shoulder no problem, you'll be able to do plenty of chicken too if you beer can them all but it when it comes to putting racks of ribs on there you're just not going to have the space.

Horizontal units and cabinets like the Traeger and FEC are so much better for fitting racks of ribs on. Even with a rib rack you'll only get about 8 racks of ribs on a 2 stack Excel, that's about 16 people fed and putting a third stack on just makes the cooker less stable on temperatures.

Also with the Excels you will have to keep a closer eye on them and even nurse them through if you're cooking in adverse weather. This is fine for those of us cooking for enjoyment but might not work out too well for you.

If you just want to practice getting the food right at home then yeah buy an Excel and use it as a home cooker, if you want to use it commercially from the start then I'd say invest in something a little more suitable. Maybe go Traeger in the first instance then move up to FEC if you need it. The Traeger's from Jackie are very reasonably priced. I know John from BBQ shack in Brighton is cooking commercially every day and they're working out fine for him.

Good luck with your venture by the way, if you want any help with ideas for bulk rubs, sauces etc do post, there are plenty of people who can help you out.
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby Banjo » 29 Jul 2010, 09:42

Karl,
In your OP you say
I have more or less discarded the Bradley smoker as it just seems inferior to other smokers and expensive for the pucks.


Can I ask your reasoning behind this?
I'm not challenging, just asking, as the Bradley is on my list to check out, having seen one at the recent CLA Game Fair.
I thought the pucks were not too bad price wise and seem to be on a par with pellets - am I wrong in this?
Also, it would appear that there is a good range of different flavoured woods compared to the pellets, plus it would appear to be easier to change the pucks as opposed to a full hopper of pellets.

The Lil Tex looks very interesting and I would like to see one of these up close too.
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Re: What Smoker to Buy - Please Help

Postby ozza » 29 Jul 2010, 19:48

Are we talking water smokers on the Bradley if so I'd say they are very basic entry models, you need to have a degree of heat control and stability, never really found it with a bradley, but if your talking Webber SM or Excell, then totally.

Id pay the extra and save to a degree the hassle
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