testing different smokers

[tnjimbob]

I recently brought some leftover comp ribs to my boss for the second time this competition season. The first batch I brought was cooked on a Traeger, and the second was cooked on a WSM with KBlue briquettes & wood chunks. He much preferred the WSM ribs, as do my family & I. Ironically, both ribs won First Place in their respective comps. 

As Tee said, no one cooker can do everything perfectly. However, through trial & error (and a lot of practice!), we learn what we are comfortable cooking on, and sometimes that is a different cooker for different situations. I guess this explains why I have five cookers on my patio, and why I have specific purposes for each one. I love the convenience of my pellet grill, but for a majority of cooks, I really like cooking on my Weber kettles. They can do just about any cook I can think of, and mine seem to be easy to maintain temps in. I have gotten 9+ hours on one load of charcoal for long cooks and I have seen 700+ temps for searing steaks when necessary. Their only limitation is a lack of cooking space when cooking for a crowd. That's why I'm glad I have two.

[pz]

I don't think there is any one cooker that truly excels at everything...

This is quite true.  I think that each cooker has a particular skill set when preparing foods, and that if you want a truly complete experience, you'd be better off with multiple units IMHO.

For instance, we love to make pizza, and do so on three different cookers:

• wood fired oven
• standard Char Broil gas grill
• Big Green Egg - mini

We have produced good results on all of them, but the results all are different.  In the wood fired oven, the pizza is slightly charred around the edges, and has that distinct wood fired taste that everyone who has ever tasted pizzas of that kind recognize.  Definitely a favorite.

On the gas fired grill, we can get a super crisp grilled crust, which is completely different, yet just as delicious - just not the same.  Also definitely a favorite.

The Big Green Egg - mini is a unit we mostly purchased for portability (we keep it in the RV).  Big Green Egg sells a pizza stone for an outrageous price, but we purchased a pair of equivalent stones from Amazon for $12.  It is lots of fun making pizza in the mini while in an RV park, and the flavor is good, but it is mostly just a plain pizza.  Not really one of our favorites, but hey, taste is a matter of opinion anyway.  We've not tried adding wood chips to the lump charcoal to see if a smoky flavor would change things.

I wouldn't consider doing a pizza on the Traeger.

The bottom line is that each of our cooking units will treat the same cooked item in a different (and thankfully typically delicious) way.  Interestingly, I've managed to convince my better half that all of them are necessary, even though she shakes her head when I want something new. 

[jimsbarbecue]

I agree with Teesquare and others that more then one cooker are just necessary tools. We use Pellet Grills, Drum Smokers, Weber grills, Hasty Bake Grill and a 18 WSM. The WSM I keep if for nothing else to cook brisket on.

[Chili Head]

PZ you're missing out by not cooking pizza in your pellet grill!
Crank it up and cook away! You won't regret it.

[pz]

PZ you're missing out by not cooking pizza in your pellet grill!
Crank it up and cook away! You won't regret it.

Well, with an enthusiastic endorsement like that I guess I'll need to try it!