Anonymous wrote:Gas totally defeats the point of smoking. You want charcoal.
Big Green Egg if you have the $$$.
If you want to start out affordable and see if you like it, get a water smoker (also called "bullet" smoker, because of the shape). They're foolproof and good for beginners. This Brinkman is $49 at Home Depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Smoke-N-Grill-Charcoal-Smoker-and-Grill-810-5302-S/100606041?N=5yc1vZbx92
There are better versions of that up to a Weber one for $399.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-22-1-2-in-Smokey-Mountain-Cooker-Smoker-731001/100657671?N=5yc1vZbx92
I'm usually a big fan of Weber, but it's hard to see how that could be 8 times better than the Brinkman. If you can spend $400 for that, spend $600 or $700 for the Big Green Egg.
Offset smokers look macho, but are much harder to control, easier to dry out the meat, etc. And good ones cost thousands.
A cheap one looks like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Smoke-N-Pit-Charcoal-Smoker-810-3045-SB/203679870?N=5yc1vZbx92
I don't recommend it unless you're really committed to spending whole days monitoring the fire--otherwise you'll have some frustrating and disappointing meals.