Homesteading - Which Type of Smoker is Better?

Anyone on the homestead that raises livestock knows about smoking meat. Today I want to talk about which smoker or smokers are better to have. The two smokers I will be talked about today could not be more different from each other which is why I have one of each.

The first one is just a standard Oklahoma Joes barrel smoker. This was my first smoker and I really enjoy using it. It has a lot of space which is ideal if I want to smoke a large portion a meat like large whole hams and full size ribs. I can fit a lot of meat on this guy but the biggest reasons I have this smoker is one it doubles as a grill with lots of space for grilling out with many people. It also runs on charcoal and wood chips which here in a hurricane area is a really big deal. If we have a power outage and I have lots of meat in the freezer this smoker will work even if my generators are out of gas to cook meat for my entire family and anyone else close by that may not be as fortunate. I also take the left over half burned wood pellets from my electric smoker and reuse them in this smoker so their is no waste.

My second smoker that gets the most use is a Bradley electric pellet smoker. I love the ease of this smoker to just set the temp, add the pellets along with the meat and walk away. If you are cold smoking or smoking for longer then 4 hours you will need to reset the timer every 4 hours which I don't really like and the space is great for lots of trays of small size hams or other meats but not great for large portions. The biggest benefit of this style smoker if the ease of setting and forgetting and not worrying about the temps. The biggest problems are the smaller sized shelves and also that it needs a power supply to function. Not a problem for me since I have hardline 120 volt ran into my greenhouse but if the power is ever out it does not function along with it also does not double as a grill. It does function as a oven up to 280 though without needing to run the smoker pellets so if your into dehydrating veggies or making jerky this style smoker is perfect for you.

I use each of these smoker and sometimes both at the same time since they each have their own uses and benefits. What is your favorite style smoker?