[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by plutoniumJoe

I can load my Weber Smokey Mountain with lump and let it burn for about 5hrs with only one slight adjustment after about 1hr.

yup and that the difference between a 35 buck charcoal smoker and a 400 to 500 buck one. I did about 5 hours of mods on my brinkman and it is still a pain.. I can't leave it for more than 10 min. I am slowly getting it better but here I have another problem.. no wood burning outdoor apliances are allowed and anything that burns real wood or lump falls in that catagory. I could run it on charcoal but I don't like the flavor it imparts.

only option is electric for summer for me. also for someone starting out electric can be very good as it is easier so they will get more good bbq results sooner, then if they decide they want the challange they can go to wood or what ever. another reason I am going electric is for making sasuage, you would be hard pressed on even the webber to start at 90 degrees for 2 hours then each hour raise the temp 10 degrees, till you get to 170. with electric and a step PID that I am using to make my big fridge smoker I can pre program this and not worry about it.

realy it makes no difference what you use for the heat source, electric, propain or wood, the only difference is how you apply the smoke. if you use a true stick burner then thats all you do, if you use lump, charcoal, propain or electric you have to introduce the smoke, weather it be by a chip tray or by just putting chunks of wood on the coals. the amount of smoke and consistancy of its aplication is the important part.

and heck when you can get a 300 buck electric smoker which gets very good reviews in the smoking comunity for 89 bucks, can you falt anyone for buying it

Steve