I just used my CB Thursday to cook for our Water Department (about 20 people) where I work. I cooked 9 racks of Cash & Carry ST. Louis ribs rubbed the nite before with BRITU. I put them on at 7:30 AM and foiled them 2 hours into the cook for about 45 minutes and then painted them with a mixture of Sweet Baby Ray's and honey and left them on for another 45 minutes. By then, they were falling off of the bone, but not mushy. We also cooked some brats and chicken and apot of red beans and rice, and another pot of baked beans. Most everyone brought something to the party and we had a great time! I used a 20# bag of Kingsford blue and once the CB came up to temp, it stayed steady as a rock. Everyone was impressed, and with the CB, I still had room to cook more on it! I used racks for the ribs-- I woud post picts, But we are at Hood Canal for the weekend and I only have dialup....
Cajun Bandit (Weber Grill Mod)
- Thread starter Robert McGinley
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OK, since no pictures, it didn't happen-----
I checked with my "photographer" for the event, and she had lots of pictures of the cakes and salads and people eating, but none of the ribs. She said that every time she wanted to take pictures of the smoker and the ribs, there were too many people around the smoker, or the finished pan, but she does have pretty pictures of the table arrangement and people eating and talking. Next time I will personally try to take pictures myself, but I was pretty busy!!! The temps held steady at 250-265 almost the whole cook once I came up to temp, which took about 1/2 hour. For a large cook and the price, I don't think you can beat the Cajun Bandit as my kettle was a freebee from a recycling event that the city hosts every quarter. A neat place to pick up "stuff" that others don't want----
I checked with my "photographer" for the event, and she had lots of pictures of the cakes and salads and people eating, but none of the ribs. She said that every time she wanted to take pictures of the smoker and the ribs, there were too many people around the smoker, or the finished pan, but she does have pretty pictures of the table arrangement and people eating and talking. Next time I will personally try to take pictures myself, but I was pretty busy!!! The temps held steady at 250-265 almost the whole cook once I came up to temp, which took about 1/2 hour. For a large cook and the price, I don't think you can beat the Cajun Bandit as my kettle was a freebee from a recycling event that the city hosts every quarter. A neat place to pick up "stuff" that others don't want----
JohnLocher
TVWBB Member
For my latest installment in the Cajun Bandit saga: Barbecued Pizza (Notice I didn't say "Grilled Pizza", which is a whole different beast than what you typically associate with as being a pizza)!
As I'm sure you know, during the summer most days it's too hot outside to crank up the oven. Right now, for me, during the spring it's too nice out to be inside doting over the oven, but I still need my pizza fix! Enter the Silver Bandit Pizza Oven/Barbecue Smoker/Grill/Firepit/etc!
I started with a big charge of lump. Lump burns hotter and that's what I was going for here; a nice hot oven-like environment. It still ended up not being enough; next time I'm going to do a larger load of active coals.
Once the coals had ashed over, I attached the center section and lid with all vents fully open to bring up the temp in there as high as I could. On the top rack I set a rectangular pizza stone to start preheating. As you can see here, temps held pretty well in the high-roasting range for the duration of the cook, and whenever they started thinking about dipping (since I wasn't going to add more coals), I just opened the access door and stoked the fire with a hair dryer set to cool... pop pop!
After rolling out the dough on some parchment paper to about the size of the pizza stone, I dressed it with some olive oil, sea salt, sauce, cheese, sauteed mushrooms and garlic, pepperoni, chile flakes, more cheese, then some good Parmigiano Reggiano. Now I know that conventional "Grilled Pizza Wisdom" states that toppings should be on backwards (cheese, toppings, sauce) since the pizza will be so close to the heat and the cheese needs to be able to melt, but since mine was on a stone with the lid on in a "convection oven" type of environment, I dressed the pizza in the regular manner. I transferred the whole thing to the grill via an overturned cookie sheet, removed the lid and slid the pizza (still on the parchment paper) onto the stone and re-covered the Silver Bandit. About 20-30 minutes later (depending on your definition of doneness), the pizza came out just as good if not better than any oven-cooked pizza I've ever had! And certainly better than any crappy Grilled Pizza hybrid that I've ever had!
As I'm sure you know, during the summer most days it's too hot outside to crank up the oven. Right now, for me, during the spring it's too nice out to be inside doting over the oven, but I still need my pizza fix! Enter the Silver Bandit Pizza Oven/Barbecue Smoker/Grill/Firepit/etc!
I started with a big charge of lump. Lump burns hotter and that's what I was going for here; a nice hot oven-like environment. It still ended up not being enough; next time I'm going to do a larger load of active coals.
Once the coals had ashed over, I attached the center section and lid with all vents fully open to bring up the temp in there as high as I could. On the top rack I set a rectangular pizza stone to start preheating. As you can see here, temps held pretty well in the high-roasting range for the duration of the cook, and whenever they started thinking about dipping (since I wasn't going to add more coals), I just opened the access door and stoked the fire with a hair dryer set to cool... pop pop!
After rolling out the dough on some parchment paper to about the size of the pizza stone, I dressed it with some olive oil, sea salt, sauce, cheese, sauteed mushrooms and garlic, pepperoni, chile flakes, more cheese, then some good Parmigiano Reggiano. Now I know that conventional "Grilled Pizza Wisdom" states that toppings should be on backwards (cheese, toppings, sauce) since the pizza will be so close to the heat and the cheese needs to be able to melt, but since mine was on a stone with the lid on in a "convection oven" type of environment, I dressed the pizza in the regular manner. I transferred the whole thing to the grill via an overturned cookie sheet, removed the lid and slid the pizza (still on the parchment paper) onto the stone and re-covered the Silver Bandit. About 20-30 minutes later (depending on your definition of doneness), the pizza came out just as good if not better than any oven-cooked pizza I've ever had! And certainly better than any crappy Grilled Pizza hybrid that I've ever had!
Mike Sydnes
TVWBB Member
I've been eye-balling these for a while now and was ready to pull the trigger so I hopped on their site. For some reason I remember the price being roughly $170, but now I see they're $225. It's still tempting, but a little less attractive than before.
Is the general consensus that they're still worth it? Let me know what ya think and thanks in advance for the feedback.
Is the general consensus that they're still worth it? Let me know what ya think and thanks in advance for the feedback.
I like ours---it made use of a kettle which sat lonely most of the time--kettles are usually ez to find on craigslist etc so it is a less expensive entry to another smoker also---a wsm is probably a little easier to control temps but the conversion just has a little longer curve--not a big deal--imo anyway
Does the $225 include the stainless steel door? I paid $165 for mine during an on-site special at a BBQ contest in April 2009. That was before the came out with the SS door - which is fantastic in an of itself.
I can attest to the usability of this device. I don't use the CB very often because I seldom need to cook more meat than I can cook on my 18 WSM but on the occasions when I've needed to cook more than 2 or 3 butts at a time, its been fantastic and I think I may make it my go-to rib smoker because the grates are big enough to lay slabs of ribs down flat.
Pat
I can attest to the usability of this device. I don't use the CB very often because I seldom need to cook more meat than I can cook on my 18 WSM but on the occasions when I've needed to cook more than 2 or 3 butts at a time, its been fantastic and I think I may make it my go-to rib smoker because the grates are big enough to lay slabs of ribs down flat.
Pat
Brian Moriarty
TVWBB All-Star
I just added a second Cajun Bandit to the arsenal. Now I can keep one in the comp trailer and use the other on my Performer.
Been using mine almost a year now and I kick myself for dumping the $$ on the big bullet.
Mike Sydnes
TVWBB Member
Thanks guys. Right now I have a 18.5" WSM, a SS Performer, and a 22.5" OTG. The OTG does not see too much action primarily because I find myself using the Performer and WSM for a majority of my cooks.
While I absolutely love the WSM, I have been left wanting more capacity on a number of occasions. Based on my situation (wanting extra capacity and having a spare 22" OTG) and all the positive feedback I'm hearing on the Bandit, I'll be placing my order today. Hopefully shipping isn't an arm an a leg. Anyway, thanks again to everyone for all the reviews and input, I really appreciate it! Have a great weekend.
While I absolutely love the WSM, I have been left wanting more capacity on a number of occasions. Based on my situation (wanting extra capacity and having a spare 22" OTG) and all the positive feedback I'm hearing on the Bandit, I'll be placing my order today. Hopefully shipping isn't an arm an a leg. Anyway, thanks again to everyone for all the reviews and input, I really appreciate it! Have a great weekend.
Mike Sydnes
TVWBB Member
Chris Perres of C&C Grillin posted about this last June. They took away the additional shipping charges and rolled it into the product cost, so the $225 you see now includes shipping. Back when I got mine, there was an additional $30-ish shipping fee. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hey Jake, I don't think that deal is still available (I wish it was!)
I bought mine just last week. Paid $225 for the bandit and another $40 for shipping. Roughly $265 total.
Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
Current price is $225 + $45.81 for shipping now. Include a new OTS and it's $360, or $419 with a new OTG. Seems pricey when a new WSM is $390. Of course you can find used kettles but if we're comparing new then I don't see why you would get this.
There actually are some benefits to using the CB that the Weber doesn't have (Handles, better door, ability to grill on a real grill, storage when not using as smoker, clean up with OTG kettle is easier, etc). There used to be a lot more benefits to the CB before Weber made the upgrades a few years ago and came out with the 22.5 WSM).
I think the key you touched on is comparing new. If you are going to buy everything new and you know you are going to be smoking often for a lot of people and never really grilling then it makes sense to go with the WSM.
On the other hand, if you also want to flip some burgers or steaks, having a kettle around is nice...A kettle works really well for smaller smokes for the family. That way you don't have to pull out the entire 22.5 WSM for a rack of baby backs or a single tri tip or even a pork butt.
I guess what I'm getting at is the CB set up would be more versatile.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a new kettle to use with a CB either but I did buy the CB to add on to my Performer and I am happy. But part of the reason is because I've learned that the vast majority of the time, I can cook plenty in the performer alone. We bbq for other people just about every weekend and my grills are hot at least 5 times a week, and I still only legitimately need the space of the the CB about 4-5 times a year. So it's hard for me to lay out 390 for the big WSM when the CB does a great job at a lesser price.
Just my thoughts.
Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
Shaun, how much is that bad boy?
Mike Purnell
TVWBB Pro
I agree Justin, the versatility is what is the seller IMO.
As for the price, you could also probably find a used WSM for the same $$ as a CB....possibly a little less with some patience.
Regardless, from reading a lot of feedback, sounds like the CB is very well built and worth the money.
As for the price, you could also probably find a used WSM for the same $$ as a CB....possibly a little less with some patience.
Regardless, from reading a lot of feedback, sounds like the CB is very well built and worth the money.
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