Should I buy a smoker/barbeque?

[msc545]

So I am looking at a combination pellet smoker/barbeque made by a reputable company at a reasonable price, and I am thinking of buying it. I really love the taste of smoked and barbequed foods.

However -

I cannot cook at all, and I am worried that if I buy it I will use it, at most, just once, and then never use it again. I have purchased other things for cooking and then never used them, like a slow cooker I bought three years ago and have never used - it is taking up cabinet space now and will never be used by me.

What should I do?

Buy it.

Don't waste your money.

Updates

9 mo

I decided I'm not going to buy this. I have no need to buy something that I really can't use. We all have our limitations.

[nolabels]

My wife and I mulled over getting a smoker for years, researching them, and like you, considering our estimate of its usage.

We ended up buying a relatively inexpensive electric smoker. I was surprised by how great it works. I wondered if it wouldn't produce a good smoke because it is electric, but I needn't have worried about that. It's great.

We love it and use it frequently.

If I needed to buy another one, I'd go with electric again.

Good luck, whatever you do.

[msc545]

How do you get the smoke flavor with an electric unit?

[nolabels]

There's a tray that holds wood chips that's positioned directly above the heating coil. It's hot enough to ignite the chips. The chips then usually last about an hour. We've learned to watch it at around the hour mark, then replenish the chips. That can be done without opening the smoker. The tray is easily accessible from the lower right side of the cabinet. Very easy to do.

If you need to get it going and walk away from it for hours, that'd be a problem, I guess, but it works great for us.

[msc545]

What kind do you have - It sounds easier than what I was looking at.

[nolabels]

It's a Masterbuilt from Cabela's.
We got it a couple of years ago, so the exact model is no longer available, but this link is the closest to ours that I can find. It's basically the same unit with a different looking control panel.

www.masterbuilt.com/.../30-inch-digital-electric-smoker-with-window

[nolabels]

The LED display on ours is a bit hard to read in the sun, so I scavenged from an old lawn blower's upper output pipe to use to hold over the display and look down into to it to see the readout. I guess that it's about 4" in diameter.
Just shading my hand over the display doesn't quite do the job.

I would guess that that problem would present itself on any LED display unit.

It's no big deal, though.
I just thought that I'd mention it.

[msc545]

Very good to know! Thank you very much for providing all of this useful information, which is going to be quite helpful in terms of making my decision.

[nolabels]

You're very welcome.
Good luck.
Happy smoking!

[goaded]

Just make a stew in your slow cooker. See if you eat it. (You can freeze half, see if you ever defrost it and eat it.) Every kitchen's got some things that were bought and hardly used. Our fresh pasta mangle thing only gets used once a decade or so. The egg pasta is good, though, it's just a lot more work than dried.

[msc545]

I cannot really "make" anything and have it turn out edible. The best I can do is microwave stuff or help a real cook.

[goaded]

Stop being so defeatist! If you can boil water, you can make boiled eggs, rice, or (mashed) potatoes. Can you boil water?

You don't have to produce a three course gourmet meal, start easy and build up.

Or do this:

[msc545]

I can boil water but I never do because I have a coffee maker but does it for me like most of us

[Anonymous]

For all the fuss it's easier to have a caterer bring a smoker and do it for you, you'll get all kinds of meats and side dishes prepared to perfection, they clean up everything and you'll have tons of leftovers. Otherwise you spend most of your time fussing with the smoker and not enjoying the food.

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

Don’t buy out of boredom. If you know you’ll not use it it’s a waste of money.

But if you really want to buy, buy a cheaper one maybe?

[msc545]

This one is very cheap for a smoker. Like $ 500. Still...

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

I think that’s because you always work and barely have time to enjoy doing things that you’d like to do.

If it won’t take up too much space and you can see the use of it in future when you have a bit more free time, go for it.

[msc545]

Actually, I have messed up almost everything I have ever tried to cook, so I just stopped doing it. I think this would probably be the same.

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

Would be fun to see that 😂

[msc545]

It might be fun for you. It definitely would not be fun for me.

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

😯😝

[molonski2]

I'm not sure I can answer , I think you have to decide , cooking with these is quite a process and you need to be into the cooking part , its a slower cook , I used to BBQ basically everything ( but not on a smoker bbq ) which was easy , this is a different matter. So as not to waste your money , I suggest watching quite a few you tube tutorials , and then deciding if all this can be something you'd get into.

[exitseven]

It sounds like you know yourself pretty good. I would save your money. Go out to a good rib place for some takeout.

I want to fry a turkey but don't want to buy a turkey fryer. I an looking for somebody to borrow one from.

[msc545]

Thank you! The whole idea of frying a turkey scares the hell out of me. I wish you good luck with this though!

[exitseven]

My son did it a few years ago. I thought he had a turkey fryer but it turned out it belonged to his roommate. He did it twice and both times it came out good.

[RealMarek]

I had the same concern. Got a cheaper grill that had good reviews. After some rough starts I got an electronic meat thermometer so I can cook the food right every time. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. Everyone loves steak night.

[MementoMori777]

reasonable price to me sounds like flipping opportunity, unless you want a grill of course

[msc545]

It is really an opportunity to fail at this stuff yet again.

[MementoMori777]

you are counting your failures rather than your accomplishments

proverbs 18:21

death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat its fruit

if you haven't failed yet, dont call it on yourself because just how you can fail, you can also succeed and not trying at all is guaranteed failure, in the road of success, there's a lot of failure.

[msc545]

I surf, fly and play guitar and I'm very successful professionally and very skilled at my profession. I have many years of higher education and four college degrees. I'm not unsuccessful at everything, just cooking and skiing.

[MementoMori777]

then you chillin

[OfMiceandMen]

It is well worth it. Way more flavor than a propane grill.

[SnowedIn]

For the price of those "reasonable" or not, don't get it if you won't use it.

[najekim]

DO like we did, we bought a grill and the went to the bookstore and got "Grilling for Dummies." Actually got us using the grill more, even in winter.

[DermalPunch]

Why is it that you bought cooking equipment if you "can't cook".

[msc545]

I thought I might use it but then I never did.

[DermalPunch]

Hmm... interesting

[msc545]

I don't find it interesting - I find it sad.

[DermalPunch]

Well I mean did something happen that spurred this cooking ambition that later fizzled out?

[msc545]

I said before I like the taste of smoked and barbecued food. I just am incapable of actually cooking it. I thought maybe if I got a barbecue or in this case a barbecue combination smoker that I would be able to do this but it seems to me but I probably cannot. I don't feel like going through all the hassle and expense of finding out the hard way yet again.

[DermalPunch]

I get it

[ProbablyClueless]

I hear that the Traeger ones basically do all the cooking on their own.

[msc545]

Will they also shop for me?

[justabuddy]

If you are looking to get started I would buy a small, cheap one first. Learn on that. If you don't like bbqing you are not out a lot of money.

[msc545]

There are no small cheap ones. The one I'm looking at is significantly less than others at $500. The really larger full-size ones go for $1,000 and up.

[msc545]

This is just for a combination smoker and barbecue. For just a barbecue you can get a decent one for about $200 or less. I don't want just a barbecue. I like the idea of being able to smoke foods too.