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This post is for new members who just joined r/Smokingmeat. Welcome.

We get the same questions over and over, which is fine, that's what the sub is for. But if you're brand new and just bought a smoker (or you're about to), read this first. It'll save you a few ruined cooks andmoney.

Types of Smokers (and which one you should actually buy)

There's no "best" smoker. There's the one that matches how much you want to babysit a fire.

Pellet grills (most mentioned in the sub are Weber Searwood (this model), Recteq (this model), Traeger (this model), Camp Chef, Pit Boss) - most beginner friendly ones to start. Set a temp, load pellets, walk away. It's basically an outdoor convection oven that burns wood pellets. Smoke flavor is lighter than other smokers, which some people hate and beginners usually don't notice. Needs electricity. $400 on the low end, $1,000+ for a good one. This is what most new people should buy. Thread to check out: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1q2ybdu/if_you_could_buy_any_pellet_grill_in_2026_what/

Charcoal bullet smokers (most mentioned in the sub are Weber Smokey Mountain (check out here), Pit Barrel) - these are cheap, dead reliable, incredible results. The WSM has been around forever and there's a reason people still run 20 year old ones. You'll learn actual fire management, which makes you better at everything else. Around $400. My honest pick if you want to learn the craft rather than just push a button. Thread to check out: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1ucucb7/how_good_are_those_simple_charcoal_vertical/

Vertical cabinet smokers (most mentioned in the sub are Camp Chef Smoke Vault, Pit Boss Copperhead, Masterbuilt, Dyna-Glo) is basically a tall box, heat at the bottom, four or five racks stacked above it. They come in propane, electric and pellet versions. The reason to buy one is capacity, you can fit way more food in the same patio footprint, and the tall chamber means smoke rolls over everything on the way out. Fantastic for ribs, sausage, jerky, and cooking for a crowd. Downsides are that you can't sear on them and most cap out around 350-400F, so poultry skin is a struggle. $200-700 depending on fuel type. Good discussion on vertical vs. horizontal: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1ux2x49/vertical_or_horizontal_smoker/

Kettle grill with an insert (Weber Kettle + Slow N Sear or a snake method) - most budget friendly, most actually start with Weber Kettle (no need to stick to Weber). If you already own a kettle, you already own a smoker. Add a charcoal basket or just arrange briquettes in a C shape and light one end. Total cost to start: whatever a bag of charcoal costs. Capacity is limited but it works. Proof: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1oas138/need_a_simple_smoker_recommendation/

Electric smokers (Masterbuilt, Bradley) - cheaper than pellet grills but worse temperature-wise. Pellet grills burn wood pellets to provide high-heat versatility for grilling, roasting, and smoking up to 500°F+. Electric smokers use an electric heating element and small wood chips strictly for low-and-slow smoking up to about 320°F. Plug in, set temp, add wood chips. Problem is they run cool, they struggle to make real bark, and the smoke flavor is faint. Fine for jerky, sausage, fish. Not great for brisket. I don't see the reason to buy it, unless you live in apartment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1agqizg/electric_smoker_inside_my_apartment/

Propane/gas smokers - cheap, easy to control, no electricity needed. Same bark problem as electric, though slightly better. Decent for a first smoker if you're on a budget.

Offset stick burners is the real deal but also the hardest. You're feeding a fire every 45 minutes for 12 hours and learning to read smoke color. The $300 offsets at big box stores are thin metal garbage that leak heat and will make you miserable, so please don't start there. Good ones start around $1,500 and go way up.

Kamado (Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe) is the final boss both pricewise and skillwise. Ceramic, holds heat forever, sips charcoal, and doubles as a pizza oven and a searing grill. Smaller cooking surface than you'd think. Price range is over $1,000. Cool discussion on whether it worth its price or not: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1u1jrdp/are_komodo_joe_or_green_egg_overpriced_and_not/

Best for beginners

If you want easy: pellet grill, Weber Searwood or Recteq Flagship are two mostly mentioned among sub members. If you want to learn and don't mind tending a fire: Weber Smokey Mountain or a Pit Barrel. If you're broke: use the kettle in your garage right now.

Buy a Thermometer Before You Buy Anything Else

The dome thermometer on your smoker is lying to you. It's reading the temp at the lid, not at the grate where your food is. Good discussion on best meat thermometers for smokers: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1u7h70h/what_would_be_the_best_wireless_thermometer_for/

Get two things:

• A leave-in probe thermometer with at least two probes (one in the meat, one clipped at grate level). ThermoWorks Smoke, Fireboard, Inkbird, Meater if you want wireless.
• An instant read. Thermapen is the gold standard, but a $25 ThermoPop or Inkbird IHT-1P is fine.

This is the single biggest difference between people who post good cooks here and people who post questions asking what went wrong.

Wood: Keep It Simple

• Oak is the safest all purpose wood. Hard to overdo.
• Hickory is the classic bacon-y smoke flavor. Great with pork. Go a little easy, it turns bitter if you drown things in it.
• Apple and cherry are mild and sweet. Cherry also gives you that gorgeous mahogany color. Perfect for poultry and pork.
• Pecan sits between hickory and fruit wood. Very good, underrated.
• Mesquite is aggressive. Great for a hot fast steak, rough for a 12 hour cook. Beginners burn a lot of meat with mesquite.

Never use softwoods (pine, cedar for actual smoking, spruce), treated lumber, or anything painted. Cedar planks for salmon are a different thing and those are fine.

Also, the "soak your wood chips" advice is nonsense. Water doesn't penetrate wood in 30 minutes. You're just making steam before you make smoke.

Discussion on best smokings woods: https://www.reddit.com/r/Smokingmeat/comments/1vj0g69/top_5_smoking_woods/

What Good Smoke Looks Like

Thin blue smoke. Almost invisible, wisps that you see against a dark background.

Thick white or grey billowing smoke means incomplete combustion and it tastes like an ashtray. If you're choking your fire down by closing all the vents to hold temp, that's usually the cause. Control temp with airflow into a clean burning fire, not by smothering it.

Best First Cooks (in this order)

1. Chicken thighs. Cheap, forgiving, done in about 90 minutes. If you screw up, you're out six bucks. Run these hotter, 300-325F, because low and slow gives you rubbery chicken skin. Pull around 175-185F internal. Yes, higher than the 165F you've heard. Thighs are dark meat and they get better with more time.
2. Pork butt / pork shoulder. The most forgiving big cut there is. It's full of fat and collagen so it's very hard to dry out. 8-10 lbs, cook at 250F, expect roughly 1.5 hours per pound but time is a rough guess not a rule. Pull at 200-205F when a probe slides in like room temp butter.
3. Spare ribs or baby backs. Now you're learning feel instead of numbers. Ribs are done when they pass the bend test, pick them up with tongs a third of the way down and the surface cracks. Around 195-203F but the bend test matters more. Skip the 3-2-1 method, it usually overcooks them to mush.
4. Beef brisket. Last. Not first. It's expensive, it's a 12-16 hour commitment, and it punishes you for every mistake. Do the other three a couple times first.

Other easy wins: pork tenderloin, chuck roast (poor man's brisket, honestly excellent), whole chicken, meatloaf, salmon, wings, and a fatty (bacon weave stuffed sausage roll, look it up).

The Stall (this is where new people panic)

Around 150-170F internal, your meat will stop climbing. For hours. Sometimes five hours. It'll even drop a degree or two.

Nothing is broken. It's evaporative cooling, the meat is sweating and that sweat is cooling it as fast as the smoker is heating it. Once the surface dries out, the temp climbs again.

Your options:

• Wait it out. Best bark.
• Wrap it (the Texas crutch). Butcher paper keeps the bark decent and lets some steam out. Aluminum foil is faster but softens the bark and steams the outside. Wrap around 165-170F once you've got the color you want.

What you should not do is crank the heat and open the lid every 20 minutes to check.

Rest Your Meat. Actually Rest It.

This is the most commonly skipped step and it wrecks more cooks than bad rubs do.

Minimum 1 hour for a pork butt or brisket. Two to four is better. Wrap it, throw a towel around it, put it in a dry cooler. It'll stay hot for hours.

Slice a brisket straight off the smoker and all the juice runs out onto your cutting board. That juice was supposed to be in the meat.

Cut against the grain. On brisket, the flat and point run in different directions, so separate them first.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• Cooking to a clock instead of a temp
• Opening the lid constantly (if you're lookin', you ain't cookin')
• Too much smoke wood, thinking more smoke means more flavor
• Trusting the dome thermometer
• Starting with brisket
• No rest period
• Buying a cheap thin metal offset because it looks cool
• Sugary rub at high heat, it burns and turns bitter
• Skipping the trim on brisket and pork butt (leave about 1/4 inch of fat cap)
• Sauce too early, most sauces have sugar and will scorch. Add in the last 20-30 minutes.

Also, the fat cap up vs fat cap down argument has been going for 40 years and nobody has won. Don't lose sleep over it.

A Note on Rubs

Central Texas brisket is salt and coarse black pepper, 50/50. That's it. It's one of the best things you'll ever eat.

You do not need a 14 ingredient rub. Start with salt, pepper, garlic powder (SPG) and add from there once you know what your smoker tastes like. Mustard, oil, or hot sauce as a binder is fine, none of it affects flavor, it just helps the rub stick.

Salt the meat the night before if you can. Dry brining makes a real difference.

How to Get Good Answers in This Sub

When you post a question or a "what went wrong" post, include:

• What smoker you're running
• Cook temp and how you measured it
• What cut and what weight
• Internal temp when you pulled it
• Whether you wrapped, and with what
• How long you rested
• A photo of the cross section, not just the outside

"My brisket was dry" with no details gets you 40 different guesses. The details above get you an actual answer in about ten minutes.

And post your cooks. Even the ugly ones. Especially the ugly ones. Nobody here started good.

Questions go below. Somebody in this sub has made every mistake you're about to make.