I am looking to get back into smoking. I live in Southern California, so I don’t have access to full logs. I plan to use Natural Lump coal with wood chips. I will be smoking on a wood deck, so I need to be able to keep it clean. I have a $1500 budget.

I am considering:

Offset smoker such as the Tejas 1628
http://www.tejassmokers.com/products/1628.htm
This is the type of grill the pros use. It has much capacity, but I am not sure I need the offset box if I cant get logs at a reasonable price. Learning curve on temperature control. Searing feature can replace my old Gas grill.

Komodo Cooker such as the Big Green Egg
Rabid following and great temperature control. Expensive for what you get. Risk of expensive breakage in earthquake or moving. Great searing feature can distroy my old Gas grill.

Weber Smoky Mountain and Weber Genesis Gas Grill
I am sure the Weber can make some great barbecue, but if I am going to give up entire days cooking I don’t want to mess around. On the other hand the budget is freed up to buy a new gas grill, which will get a lot more use than the smoking feature. Both the tejas and big green egg have searing features, but they are slightly less convenient. The Weber Smoky mountain is light weight, meaning my bad back will not be aggravated.

Let me know what you would do if you had my budget. Thanks!

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