I know there are some smoking/BBQ experts here and I need your help. My wonderful wife wants to get me a smoker for Christmas and let me pick it out. I've narrowed it down to the following
1) Big Green Egg Large
2) Traeger Lil Texas Elite
This will be used mainly for true BBQ style cooking and not direct heat grilling. I have a very nice large gas grill and a Weber kettle to fill those requirements.
Big Green Egg:
Pros:
Easy to control heat
cooks with readily available lump charcoal
Versatile, can bake, grill direct
Cons:
Expensive. Need nest, plate, etc pushing well over $1000
Small cooking area
The thing looks fragile, may be perceived by me
Lil Texas Elite:
Pros
Larger cooking area
quality electronic heat control
less expensive
Easy to use, push the lighter and let it cook
All metal construction
Cons:
Made in Asia somewhere
Reports of metal warping making parts not fit together properly
Need to use only wood pellets.
I'm sure there are more pros and cons for both and would love to hear what you have to say.
1) Big Green Egg Large
2) Traeger Lil Texas Elite
This will be used mainly for true BBQ style cooking and not direct heat grilling. I have a very nice large gas grill and a Weber kettle to fill those requirements.
Big Green Egg:
Pros:
Easy to control heat
cooks with readily available lump charcoal
Versatile, can bake, grill direct
Cons:
Expensive. Need nest, plate, etc pushing well over $1000
Small cooking area
The thing looks fragile, may be perceived by me
Lil Texas Elite:
Pros
Larger cooking area
quality electronic heat control
less expensive
Easy to use, push the lighter and let it cook
All metal construction
Cons:
Made in Asia somewhere
Reports of metal warping making parts not fit together properly
Need to use only wood pellets.
I'm sure there are more pros and cons for both and would love to hear what you have to say.