Offset wood smokers


 
John Sully

John Sully

TVWBB Fan
I have been reading and researching offset stick burners for the last few months and I am seriously considering buying one. I have looked Yoder, Lang and Lone Star but would really appreciate any input from folks who own and use them.
 
I have an Old Country Brazos. Its 1/4" steel. Has a 19 X 40 cook chamber with a 22" firebox. I enjoy the barbecue it makes more than any other. I just don't get to cook on it often enough, weather is the main reason I don't. I also enjoy the whole process of sourcing the wood, splitting it to workable size, and then feeding splits to it during the cook. But its not for everyone. Ya kind a gotta be a bit of a fire bug, if you enjoy pokin and stoking the fire in a fire place, this might be your thing.

I might be upgrading my Brazos and I'm looking closely at Workhorse pits, at the Franklin pit, and I would also put Lone Star Grillz on my list.

The first decision to make, is do you want reverse flow vrs direct flow. Shirley Fabricators in Alabama make a very popular reverse flow. They have a patio model priced in the 1,500 to 2,000 range. Their wait list is up to 3 years, except I think maybe its shorter for the patio model. If I was going reverse flow, I would probably go Shirley.

The Yoder design is a bit out dated. As is Horizon, which is basically the same smoker. And both are rooted in the original Oklahoma Joe's. When Joe Davidson sold out to CharBroil in 1998 and they immediately cheapened the product, Joe's brother Roger started Horizon , building the same Oklahoma Joe smoker. Then his plant manager left to go up the road to Wichita and work for Yoder, and built basically the same product. They're " bottom up " smokers. They exhaust at the top of the cook chamber. The better newer designs exhaust at grate level.

Lang is reverse flow and honestly, I don't know much about Lang. They are popular , though.

Lone Star has two versions, they've got the 20" wide that are " top down " cookers. They deflect air from the firebox up and say it circulates. Their firebox has some unique grilling and griddle capability. Their firebox is square with a flat bottom and there's a problem with a flat bottom in keeping a good coal bed together, but they're recently built a firebasket to solve that problem

Lone Star also has 24" pipe smokers that I really like, except they use tuning plates. IMO, if they would update the exhaust on the cooker, they would not need the tuning plates. That's what Franklin and Workhorse have done. But that's just my opinion.

I love these smokers, love to talk about them, if ya got any questions I'm glad to try to answer.
 
Lots of good advice from Lynn. Here's my offset story; My Dad bought a really tiny but heavily built offset smoker. It's barely big enough for a pair of briskets, but it probably weighs 250lbs! Dad really never used it much, but after he passed, my brother and I agreed he should keep the smoker and we'd use it whenever we get together.

Similar to what Lynn said about the Yoder, Dad's old smoker is a bottom up design and the temperature control was pretty bad. I read up on the problem and got some baffle plates to go under the grill grate to create a more even heat and smoke distribution. Now Dad's old offset is fun and easy to use. We actually burn charcoal in this smoker, with a charcoal basket in the fire box using the minion method and wood chunks to make smoke, and it works pretty good. We might try stick burning sometime. The old cooker "lives" at my brothers house, and I always look forward to a chance to use it when I visit.

So..... I think the Yoder even with the bottom up design is a be good smoker, you just need the baffle plates under the cooking grates to make sure the smoke and heat are evenly distributed. I think Yoder might have this as "optional" on their cookers but it's been a long time since I've hit their website.

Good luck & share some pictures of your new grill when you get it!!
 
The loss from using tuning plates or what Yoder and Horizon call a " convection plate " , is air flow. That's where the Franklin or Workhorse pits excel. Air flow gives convection cooking which is more even cooking and also speeds up the cook , to a degree. More air flow results in better bark. I really do think it makes better barbecue, which is what we're after.

Here, Jimmy Daniels of Workhorse Pits modifies a Yoder


And here he does a biscuit test on the modified smoker, he says something to the effect, that it may not be better, just different. But I'd prefer the modified version. My Brazos has a baffle between the firebox and the cook chamber that really screws up the air flow inside the cook chamber. I would like to cut it out and then improve the exhaust, so I could get a lot of air moving in and out of the cook chamber. I would get more even temps from end-to-end, give me more actual cooking space on the grate.

 
Lynn / John,
Thank you for all the info, very helpful. I just looked at the Workhorse pits, very nice build and and all the science makes so much sense. I do enjoy tinkering with fire, my form of escape from the real world ! I'm trying to pick a direction in the next few weeks and it looks like any of these will take some time to fabricate. Maybe by summer I'll have one ??!!
 
I've been dreaming of a nice offset pit for a long time. I have a Old Country offset that is similar to the ones sold at academy. It's very thin metal compared to what Lynn has. I enjoy using it but it really has to be baby-sat which I don't mind doing if I have time. The Franklin and Workhorse pits are at the top of my list. If money were no object, Mill Scale and Moberg make very nice back yard units but are very expensive. Lone Star Grillz is excellent too, but I have the same objections Lynn does to the tuning plates. Those have kind of fallen out of fashion but plenty of people make them work. Shirley is great for reverse flow but that 3 year waiting list is daunting. Another to look at for reverse flow is Johnson Smokers out of Ennis, Tx.
 
John Sully said:
Lynn / John,
Thank you for all the info, very helpful. I just looked at the Workhorse pits, very nice build and and all the science makes so much sense. I do on'enjoy tinkering with fire, my form of escape from the real world ! I'm trying to pick a direction in the next few weeks and it looks like any of these will take some time to fabricate. Maybe by summer I'll have one ??!!
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Do you have Aaron Franklin's barbecue book ? Its filled with good info on offset stick burners. Everything about them, he's thought it out completely. If ya don't have it already, I'd read it before I bought an offset pit.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Do you have Aaron Franklin's barbecue book ? Its filled with good info on offset stick burners. Everything about them, he's thought it out completely. If ya don't have it already, I'd read it before I bought an offset pit.
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Thanks Lynn, I'm going to get a copy over the weekend.
 
Wasn't sure where to post this so here it is. I ran my Pecos today and had a much better cook than the first few. Big thanks to Lynn and Dustin for the info you've passed along about offsets. I also read Franklin's book at your recommendation and found some great info. Keeping the door cracked and focusing on a clean fire made a big difference. I still had some issues and have a ways to go, but I'm getting there. Thanks again guys. IMG_20210626_061448.jpg
 
Stick burners are a labor of love. Franklin's book is the gold standard for cooking with wood, fire, and smoke. I bought his Master Class last summer and I'm still watching. Its become as much of a reference as the book.

I hear good things about the Pecos. From what I can tell, its the best smoker at that price point.

BTW, I see that Glen Blue 26 peeking out back there.
 
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