I've used both styles of smoker's.Big cheif works great,but the old frid holds more.I'm going to build a smoker out of ply wood and use a small wood stove and burn alder in it.I find that natural smoked meats and fish seem to taste better to me when using fire wood style versus chips from a bag.But if you only smoke a few times a year the big cheif is my choice. STRIKE ZONE