Smoker/Cooker advice needed

[Herb]

So, I don't have a proper smoker / charcoal cooker and was hoping to get advice from people that have any of the following as a start my quest.

• Big Green Egg / Kamodo Grill
• Big Ugly Drum / Pit Barrel Cooker
• Charcoal or electric dedicated smoker
• Traditional charcoal BBQ that can multi-task as smoker

Coming from a big family, I tend to think I need something bigger than I probably do...it's really just my wife, my son, his girlfriend, and me. However, I want something at least big enough that we can also add maybe 4 more.

My patio is not covered and space at this point is at a little premium. I'd prefer something more vertical that has a smaller footprint, but if it has wheels I have no problem storing near or in my shed if it has wheels big enough to roll it about 50 feet or so across the lawn when I want to use it.

I've had H2O smokers in the past and my biggest gripe is having better control over temperature as well as a lack of versatility. Basically those puppies are built for the single purpose of smoking food.

I am intrigued by the Pit Barrel Cooker or  Ugly Drum Smokers. You can build your own from a used food grade 55 gallon drum and various kits.  Obviously, these can be tricked out:

 

 

 

These puppies can cook a lot of volume if needed and you can hang multiple full racks of ribs, cook turkeys, and briskets at once.

I've had friends that have gone the Kamodo Grill/ Big Green Egg route and from what I can tell, these are pretty impressive cookers / BBQs / and smoke well. The problem is the price...man those things are expensive.  My other worry is what happens if a hard freeze causes the ceramic to crack.

What do y'all have, friends have, have used, etc.,. and what recommendations do you have. I'm interested in all of the major things you like or dislike. 

I don't want to break the bank but want to upgrade my arsenal.

[NDTiger]

Just seeing this Herb, which route did you go with? 

I've made a couple ugly drum smokers, just basic ones but it is definitely hard to control the temperature with them.

 

I've also had a few electric smokers and now a pellet grill. Yes, I know pellet grills aren't your typical smoker but they're super easy and control nicely.

 

I have the Silverback by Grilla Grill, absolutely love the company and the owner has taken calls over the weekend to help people with issues, says a lot.

For something smaller look at their Kong at Grilla Grills.

[Herb]

On 1/24/2022 at 9:58 AM, NDTiger said:

Just seeing this Herb, which route did you go with? 

I've made a couple ugly drum smokers, just basic ones but it is definitely hard to control the temperature with them.

 

I've also had a few electric smokers and now a pellet grill. Yes, I know pellet grills aren't your typical smoker but they're super easy and control nicely.

 

I have the Silverback by Grilla Grill, absolutely love the company and the owner has taken calls over the weekend to help people with issues, says a lot.

For something smaller look at their Kong at Grilla Grills.

I postponed the decision.  Lol.

The drum smokers - when built right - have a valve on both the intake and the exhaust and theoretically should allow you to dial in the temp you want. On the LSU one in the pic, it looks like there are 2 intake valves (the entry point into the drum on both is at the bottom). 

This one has a chimney on top in addition to 2 intake valves:

I'm kind of leaning towards the Pit Barrel Cooker simply because I can cook out of the box instead of building something that looks like c-RAP.

https://pitbarrelcooker.com/collections/cookers

But, I'll think about it a little longer. When the weather starts warming up I may be more motivated to pull the trigger.