If you have a hankering for traditional barbeque (the kind that falls off the bone and has that distinct smoked flavor), then consider buying a home smoker.
If you’ve ever had real barbeque and then try to duplicate the taste on the home grill, then you’ve probably been disappointed. Home grills are designed for grilling (quick cooking over hot flames) and not for slow smoking which is the secret to making classic barbeque.
Over the years, the term barbeque has been bastardized to include any meat items cooked outside over coals or even gas. Hamburgers and wieners over open flames are delicious, but whole chickens and pork shoulders are just not going to fare well with such quick and direct cooking methods. Unless you boil ribs indoors prior to cooking on a grill, you’re likely to have tough meat rather more in the line of shoe leather than the tender meat that falls right off the bone.
If you do want a quick meal outdoors, then a grill is the right option. But, you’ll need to buy small pieces of meat and tend to the cooking. Grilling out is fun, and there is no shame in having a 30-minute meal outdoors.
If visions of whole turkeys, Boston butts, and briskets dance in your head, then you’re looking at a smoker. These larger (and sometimes tougher) chunks of meat are fabulous when prepared correctly which is slow and over indirect heat and smoke. Expect to invest from 4 hours up to 24 hours if smoking outdoors.
After hearing the amount of time needed to smoke outdoors, many outdoor chefs may hedge or back away. That’s a lot of time to spend cooking, but the cooking time is usually a social event for a family or group, a good smoker will be fairly self maintaining, and the meat cooked in a home smoker puts most restaurant dishes to shame.