I'd also recommend getting the cheapest charcoal BBQs to see if you like them. I started out with $20 Master chef bbq from Canadian Tire. It's a pain to work with this little guy. But I enjoy cooking with charcoals, so I just bought myself Weber Performer Delux on marketplace for $180. I am excited to try this out!prosonik wrote: ↑ I would personally would disagree about the above statements. I'm not here to throw shade at offsets - I've never used them. However, the classic barrel-style smoker is the Weber Smokey Mountian. It's been around for years and it's a proven winner. I have no idea if the above smoker is any good. From my experience, cheap bbq's make me angry. I would recommend for folks getting into smoking at a very low entry point, to pick up a Weber kettle and then go offset. Best case - they love it and carry on with learning about smoking - worse case, they still have a webber charcoal bbq and they can crank out some amazing food with it. I saw a weber kettle for under $100 clearance in Edmonton a few weeks ago. you can find them used all the time for around that $75-100 mark. Peforma, if your lucky $150-200.
The reason I suggest that, is that on cheap BBQs, the build quality is really bad. The metal is very thin, it's flimsy, and I'm sure the heat retention won't be great or worse it will allow air in causing temp spikes. When it comes to smoking, you want something with a good seal too.
I'm not saying you can get good food out of cheap bbqs - you can. However, can someone NEW to bbq get good food out of it? Do they know how to control the heat? Are they willing to spend some bucks on a decent thermometer?
For anyone getting started at smoking and bbq; I highly recommend https://www.amazon.ca/Meathead-Science- ... 054401846X "Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling"
For beginners, I'd also recommend get something at $20 or look for smokey joes and see whether you like charcoal BBQs or not. I am just contemplating if I should hoar these two guys or not
