Opinions on the Brinkman smoker

[chokethechicken]

The wife is looking at treating me to a new BBQ smoker for my birthday next month. Now she has found a good deal on a Brinkman 'Smoke n Grill' - Double Charcoal Smoker & Grill unit but hasn't ordered it due to not really knowing how good it is; this is where you experts come in. Any first-hand info?

We're not going on holiday this year so much of August will be spent enjoying time in the garden and eating lots of slow smoked BBQ!

- Budget is an issue though and she cannot go splashing out on multiple hundreds of pounds.
- I really like the pro q excel 20 but that is probably going to cost me quite a bit.

Steve, I know I expressed interest in your frontier but the wife really would prefer us to buy new. I suspect this may change though after I read people's opinions of the Brinkman!

[Steve]

To be fair dude, you missed a cracker there. The Frontier is IMHO the best performing cooker in the Pro Q lineup. Unfortunately it went pretty quickly for £50 which was a bargain considering the condition of it.

I've not used the Brinkman but I know there's at least one person on here has owned one. My concern with it is that I think it's an open bottom design which makes it much less controllable. I'm sure you can cook some good food on one.

I would suggest that if budget is an issue, build a UDS, this can be done for well under £100 and you can cook some amazing BBQ on one.

I would say that when you buy a BBQ, you do tend to get what you pay for, I've had Pro Q's which are good cookers (probably best bang for buck you can get) but recently I bought some WSM's which are more expensive, but man they cook soooooo much better, I know have to deal with spikes after 8 hours rather than drops

[chokethechicken]

Thanks for your info - I shall probably give the Brinkman a miss due to some other concerns about the temp control.

..currently looking at a deal on a Pro Q Excel.

I take it that the WSM - Web Smokey Mountain? I have a weber bbq grill that has lasted yonks and is still in excellent condition. I was not sure what their latest smokers were like - very good it would seem?!

[Steve]

As bullet smokers go the WSM is the dogs danglies as far as I'm concerned. I've only had my two a few weeks and I love them.

[All Weather Griller]

I've had a WSM for about 5 years now and it's in great condition. Needs new grates I think now but aside from that it / they have been stalwarts in my smoker collections.

On the budget side, the UDS idea is tops, it would give you better capacity than a 47cm WSM.

Are you referring to the Brinkman Offset or the Upright (Similiar to the ProQ Amigo)?

[chokethechicken]

Oh dear, you have introduced me to the WSM..and after reading much material on the internet and already owning a weber grill bbq, I am hooked. Lol.

Already researching fuels and sourcing chunks of wood for smoking.

[Eddie]

Hi fella, if your budget can extend to a WSM, go with one of those. But if you're in my position that has a Pro Q excel 20, I will be using it for a couple of years and then progress onto a WSM. Some poeple don't like the pro Q's but I think they do the job fine.

If you go with a Pro Q, give Toby a PM as he may have one left, and a lot cheeper then some BBQ web sites.

If it's WSM, good choice.

As for the fuel, I always used Heatbeads, everyone one the site recomends them and I've never been disappointed.

Good luck

Eddie

[Steve]

Eddie is bang on. I'm not a fan of the Proq but I had them for a few years and they are perfectly good cookers. A great starting point for anyone.

[British BBQ Society]

Its a tough choice, the pro Q is much more versatile, but what you gain in versatility you lose in heat retention, ie stackers are great for moving stuff around, but they lose more heat than the WSM configuration, i genuinely believe that you get to know your cooker and can make anything work.
Toby

[chokethechicken]

Thanks for all of the advice - or should that be thanks for making me spend a lot more than I was expecting!

I shall be sure to get a photo story together for the first time that I use my WSM.

Now, I need to find stockists of the Heatbeads and chunks of smoking wood.