New to grillin

[HOTROD]

Hi everybody Im new to grilling can you suggest a starter grill and reading material or should i just go straight to cooking

[lantern]

I would like to know what type of grill you're looking for first. Gas or charcoal?

Second I would like to know how much money you would PREFER spending to set a spending limit.

[HOTROD]

I want to use wood such as oak pecan etc.Price range would have to be under 500$. Just personel use for family get togethers.Thanks for your reply.

[lantern]

100% wood? As in to burn down to coals before cooking? Or are you talking about charcoal and using chunks of those woods for flavor?


Or are you saying grill, but mean smoker?


The reason I ask is using hardwood sticks for grilling is great, but it makes grilling a much longer process. If that will be your only option you may wind up grilling much less than you would like. And that would be a shame.

[HOTROD]

I geuss I mean smoker I didnt really realize the difference

[Muscle Head BBQ]

well over $2,000!

flex.............
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Muscle Head BBQ
Stumps GF223 with Stoker
Lone Star by Bates offset
Hasty-Bake Legacy
Webber Kettle
Beverage-Air Kegerator

[necron 99]

Like many here, I'd say my answer depends on which cooker in my stable you're talking about, and you didn't include a response for "Under $100" in the poll choices.

I paid $64 for the BBQ PPro Deluxe Dome vertical (bullet) style smoker at Sears, and I paid $279 for me Bar-B-Chef horizontal offset smoker at Barbecues Galore. Here's a thread with pictures of each in action.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19324

I paid $0 for this model - I received it as an award.

Brinkmann Stillwater

And I still have one of these - it's retired and in need of a new home. I got this as a Christmas gift from my wife back in the 90's, but I'd used several just like this through the 70's and 80's. I think you can still get this model at Lowe's for around $50.

Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal

For a charcoal grill, I have a 70's vintage one of these that's still quite servicable. It's made of cast aluminum and has lasted a long time. It was well under $100 when originally purchased 30+ years ago.

Portable Kitchens Grill

Fora gas grill I have one of these, another gift from my wife in the 90's. It's the first, and only, gas grill I've had. The body on this is also cast aluminum, and it's still quite serviceable. It was $99 when brand new at Sears IIRC, we've been using it almost 15 years now.

Char Broil Masterflame 8000

http://www.shopping.com/xPR-Char-Broil-Charbroil-Master-Flame-Gas-Barbecue-Grill~RD-152123182724

edit - If I wanted to spend $500 and get a horizontal offset design for use to feed family and friends, this is what I'd buy. It has decent metal thickness, 20" diameter cooking chamber, good wheels, a baffle between the firebox and cook chamber, exhaust set at grate level, and two levels of cooking racks.

Old Country 20" Smoker

If I wanted to spend under $100 and start cooking pretty much straight out of the box, I'd buy the BBQ Pro Deluxe Dome Smoker at Sears.

Either one can use smoke woods like you want to use, but only the offset design could be a 100% stickburner. Eiither design is suitable for use with charcoal as a main heat source and wood for flavor and supplemental fuel. The bullet smoker design is very user friendly for minimal babysitting - like overnight cooks.

I recommend one of each. Maybe not right away, but one first, and then another later!
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Let's hope SoEzzy can ditch his heavy hand on photos in 2016!

[HOTROD]

SOUNDS LIKE YOU KNOW YOUR BARBQ! Thanks

[ou812warford]

[Toga]

If you are trying to figure out what to buy ask your self this. Do you want to babysit it and have the primal pleasure of constantly tinkering with the fire feeding it every hour or so( I like fire!! )or do you want something that can be fairly hands off and self sufficent for the long cooks such as brisket and buttz? If you like to babysit and play with fire an offset is a great way to go and can produce some excellent results with some practice. If you want hands off buy a WSM or ProQ. Those that own both of the before mentioned will give you their argument for one vs the other but both are fairly easy to use, give excellent results, and are fairly hands off once loaded up.

[necron 99]

[necron 99]

[Greg_R]

Your selection for a BBQ will come down to a few key considerations:

1) Do you want to BBQ _and_ grill (at high temps) or just BBQ on the unit? Most inexpensive BBQs are not setup for high temperature grilling (searing steaks, etc.). This means that you would also need a grill (Webber kettle or gas option, etc.).
2) How is the weather in your area? Does it get very cold or windy? Weather can greatly affect cookers with thin metal walls (they don't hold the heat in poor weather conditions). If you want to cook year round in bad conditions then consider a thick-walled steel or an insulated cooker. Ceramic cookers work extremely well in horrible conditions (because the ceramic really holds in the heat) but they also take longer to bring up to temp.
3) How much baby sitting do you want to do with the fire? As mentioned above, offsets require a lot of monitoring. Cookers like the Webber Smoky Mountain (WSM) or a ceramic cooker require much less attention. Additionally, you can purchase blowers that will monitor your fire temp and be able to maintain a specific temperature (BBQ Guru, Rock Stoker, etc.). On the extreme end, you have pellet smokers (Traeger, etc.) where you just turn a knob to set the temp and away you go. However, those smokers require pellet fuel which is a bit more expensive than charcoal or wood.
4) How much time do you want to spend modifying your cooker? Cheap offsets often require a good bit of modifications in order to spread the heat efficiently throughout the cook chamber. The other types of cookers mentioned do not require a lot of tinkering to get good results.
5) Capacity. Do you want to cook 10 chickens or 100lbs of pork? You will need an offset cooker for that amount of cooking. If you just want to cook up 2-3 things at once (brisket and a pork butt, etc.) then any cooker will do.

Keep in mind that it will take awhile to get the hang of temperature management & cooking in whatever cooking device you select. My personal recommendation (given your budget) would be a WSM with a blower control (BBQ Guru, etc.). These are very easy to use and an easy introduction to BBQing. An offset can hold a lot more meat but this is often not a consideration for the beginning backyard cooker (plus they are a lot harder to use). If you wanted to spend a bit more over $500 then the Traeger would make BBQing ultra-easy and a ceramic cooker (Big Green Egg, etc.) would allow you to easily cook in most weather conditions. Only the ceramic will allow high temperature cooking (although many people use the WSM and Traeger for grilling... just at lower temps). Offsets capable of high temps require thick steel walls which = expensive.

Good luck and enjoy!
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Greg

[EastTennQcrew]

I would also look in some of your ocal papers for items people have for sell??

RandyE
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