Hi, and welcome. As an owner of both a #1 and a #2, I can definitively say that both are great! That said, the general consensus here is to buy the biggest that your budget will allow, on the theory that you can always smoke a single pork chop in a #4, but you can't smoke 4 turkeys in a #1. For me, the #1 is fine for at my cabin, but I sometimes wish I had gotten a #3 for my main house. Good luck.