PBC?
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Go for it, you'll love it. The taste is definitely different than other smokers.

I think that $290 for a fully assembled PBC delivered is a great deal. By the time you add up the money, time and effort I put into the new one while I was rebuilding the old one, my costs probably work out to more than that.
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Pit Barrel Cooker. It's a fully assembled 30-gallon UDS.

http://pitbarrelcooker.com/
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Oh, interesting. Thanks Adam.
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I'm torn on whether to get a La Caja China. They cook quick, but use a lot of charcoal.
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I don't personally own a China box, but I've used them a number of times. Two bags of KF doesn't seem that bad to me when you consider you're cooking a whole pig. Heck, I burn a third to half of a bag just to do two 9# shoulders.

What the China boxes don't do, being basically duch ovens, is get any smoke or fire flavor into the meat. This is not a bad thing, it's just a different way of doing things. The cooking really becomes all about the meat and marinade.
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wanted to expand on that, but ran out of time on the edit... here's paragraph 3


It's for that reason I'm torn on them. I like them, I like what they can turn out. I like how fast they do it. BUT, I also like a least a little bit of smoke char on there, otherwise it's just an oven. I like doing mojo marinaded Cuban style pork shoulders in a smoker with no smoke wood, just briquettes or lump - you get just a little bit of char and wood flavor in there. To me, that's the taste difference I prefer. :-)
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That's part of my concern as well Adam. I've read about people using something like an Amaz-N-Smoker in them to impart the smoke flavor. I guess I'd really have to do a lot of whole pigs to justify getting one. Sure you can do multiple pork butts, etc, but my Bradley will do the same.
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Bob, I have one, and can tell you Some of the pros and Cons to owning one.
I'm on my phone now, but I'll be sure to post something later.
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Thanks Dom!
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I tried smoking on the Kamado yesterday.
It turned into one of the more stressful cooks that I've had in awhile.
I had a hard time dialing it in, dealt with a faulty pit probe, and battled the rain the whole cook.
The food still turned out good, so I guess that's all that really matters.

I got the Kamado for a steal, but found out after the fact that it doesn't come with a heat diffuser for smoking.
Looking online, I could get what I needed for anywhere from $50 - $80.
Adding that cost doesn't make the deal as good, so before I spent the coin, I tried to see if there was something else I could do.
I had a cast iron pizza pan I bought for use with the pizza oven.
I went and laid it on the bottom rack, with a foil pan to catch the grease.

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This worked quite well for the shoulder I did.
Not sure if I would need a better diffuser if doing brisket or ribs.

Here's the start of the cook

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About to foil.

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Pulled

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As usual, since the grill was lit, I threw on a fatty.

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15# Packer brisket on the Pit Barrel.
I wound up trimming nearly 3lbs of fat off before I started the cook.
I worked the knife in and cleaned out a lot of fat between the point and flat.

Start
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Trimmed
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Cleaned out and partially separated.
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Rubbed up
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On the Pit
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Ready to wrap

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And back on the smoker.

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Looks tasty Dom! Are you opening up your own Deli?
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No, but I did drop a 13 pound brisket in some brine to make pastrami later in the week. :-)

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:-):-)
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All finished
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Cubed up the point,
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and sliced up the flat.
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Did some beans and corn as well.
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This was the best brisket yet.
It had amazing tenderness.
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:-)

Great looking brisket Dom. One of these years I NEED to make it to your annual herf; if for no other reason than to sample your BBQ.
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I forgot to ask Dom, did you put the point back on the smoke for burnt ends or just cube it up at the same time you sliced the flat? If you didn't put it back on, what was your feeling on how the point came out?
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I didn't put it back on, Mike.
I wanted to, but I couldn't keep the vultures at bay.
As I was cubing it, everybody was picking chunks right off the cutting board.
Point was terrific the way it was. :-)
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