Offset Smoker Recommendations


 
Thanks Lynn,
That was kind of my thought, it is a Weber forum, I very much appreciate your insight on how and when you use the stick burner. I don’t think I need one but, I can understand the interest. My wife would probably throw me in the thing!
 
And actually, the barbecue board in this forum is really close to being dead. The most active board here is gas grills and rehabbing gas grills. Seems to me the barbecue board could use some additional subject matter.
 
Jeff Boudman said:
I’m considering an Offset Smoker. Does anyone have recommendations?
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The only recommendation I have is: are you sure you need that much cooking space? (Which is actually a question and not a recommendation, but this shouldn't be an issue until we're all stir-crazy from being quarantined and semantics turn into raging debates.)

When I got into barbecue many years ago I really wanted an offset. Wanted one bad. So I bought one of the consumer models, put it together, started using it...and then found out that it took up a lot of room in the garage, used a lot of fuel and I hardly ever needed that much grate area.

And that's when I got my WSM.;)
 
But its not about cooking space, its about air flow and convection and better barbecue.

I have no need to load my stick burner down with meat, I only want one brisket strategically placed.

You shouldn't buy a stick burner for capacity, unless you plan on doing pop-ups.
 
Brad, I went the opposite. I discovered that I was smoking for large enough groups that an offset just flat-out was not large enough. Probably once to three times a year, I'm smoking for 50-70 people.
 
Anyone buying a stick burner for capacity, is buying for the wrong reasons.

Its not about capacity, its about quality .
 
As far as burning stick M1 grills hand built in Texas. Why, because its like a Hasty Bake but on steroids'. Meaning it has a charcoal grate built inside that you can move up & down with the hand crank. On the bottom side it has a insulated fire box to burn stick wood. Its the best of both worlds. I have the Weber Smokers, the Green Egg, Open Range, a small Hasty Bake & the M1. And I can tell you burning stick wood in the M1 puts off smells & develops flavors that are hard to match with just charcoals & wood chips. Once the wood fire sets in I don't find it that hard to keep it around 250* as long as you stay around & watch it every 35-45 mins. And most of my cooks I add cherry wood as it adds something special. My other smokers are excellent but there is something special about burning stick & I like to keep moving anyway. You burn stick 6-8 hours you earn your meal & burn calories too.
And yes this site needs more real BBQ'n posts like in the old days. I do it all the time.
 
<chuckle> My g/f put down a VERY firm kibosh a few years ago when I contemplated building my own offset smoker out of a 250 gallon tank. She gave her blessing to the GF cabinet smoker without hesitation.
 
An Old Country Pecos from Academy is a good deal as long as it has a decent build. If you’re patient, though, you might find a decent offset used like I did. I actually sold both my WSM 18 and 22 for the flavor I get from my offset. I also sold a vertical offset smoker I had because it didn’t give me that horizontal offset smoke flavor.

Anyhow, I found another latest model 18” WSM recently for $50 and I couldn’t resist. I figured the guy had bought a pellet grill but he replaced his WSM with a Masterbuilt electric smoker. I kid you not.

So last weekend I put more pork butts than I ever have in either of my current smokers. (My previous record on my old 18” WSM was 5 pork butts start to finish on that pit alone, and it took 18 hrs if I remember correctly.) Saturday it took 15 hrs to smoke these 8 to 9 lb pork butts, with 7 hrs in my offset, and 8 to finish in my WSM (three on each grate “tripod-ed” on end.) I used my BBQ GURU first gen PartyQ with water (in a deep disposable foil pan sitting in OE water pan) over lump and a bottom layer of briquettes from my last bag of Weber charcoal.

As it primarily relates to my WSM, LESSONS LEARNED and REMINDERS RE-learned:
5 butts tops from now on in either pit. While 6 butts don’t necessarily impede air flow too much in my WSM like in my backyard offset, I can’t rotate the bottom grate around to check tenderness without fear of knocking the pork butt tripod down.
Ramping up the temp too much in a severely packed WSM will overcook the bark in places, water in the pan or not, mostly on meat on the bottom grate.
Nothing beats the texture of 225-235*-ish smoked pork butts, and the WSM is hard to beat....well, I never forgot that. I just missed it. ;)
 
I started on a charbroil offset. I had to do all the modifications. It was ok, but that was quite a few years ago. They have made them with a thinner metal since then. If you really want a good stick burner, you are going to pay quite a bit more than $500.
 
I would put my recommendation in for Lyfe tyme. They a local company here in Texas and they make all different size offset’s. They are quality made out of 1/4” thick metal so they will last a good while ( some would say a life time lol ) I was luck enough to find mine on Facebook marketplace for under $200 with a pile of post oak included. Although the previous owner didn’t take care of it, it’s still solid.EE38179D-AD77-435E-9C6D-DB1A15CC04DE.jpeg
 
Bob Bass said:
In the 7 years and 65 KCBS pro level BBQ competitions I've judged, never have I been able to tell what type of cooker the BBQ teams used.
Would be interested if any other KCBS CBJs have or have not noticed any difference.
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Hi Bob! Hope you are hanging in there and staying safe!

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I have never been able to discern a difference of cooker used. Having said that, there's so much going on flavorwise with comp BBQ in terms of injection, rub, smoke wood, saucing, etc. that the cooker used is just one part of the equation. Side-by-side tasting of briskets with S&P and same smoke wood but cooked in different types of pits would be an interesting exercise.

Returning now to our regular programming in this thread... :D
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I can smell the difference in the smoke. I don't know if I can taste it. I think side by side it might be harder to tell.
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At Camp Brisket 2020, we did a side-by-side taste test of briskets cooked with pecan, mesquite, hickory, and post oak, all seasoned with S&P. They all tasted good, you could taste differences between them, but I couldn't identify what was what. Someone with a really discerning palette and lots of experience comparing such tastes might be able to, though.
 
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