Brinkmann Pitmaster???

[gjw]

Hey folks, need some advice here. In short, I'm having a new deck built this summer, and I'd like to put a "real" smoker out there. I have a MES that I do really enjoy using, and I also have a proprane grill that I've cooked on for years, but I'd kind of like to venture into the realm of charcoal/wood smokers.
I just received a catalog from Cabelas, and they have the Brinkmann Pitmaster on sale for $109. Now the money is not that important here, but is this particular smoker a good one? Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with it? Would you recommend a different brand or model?
I've read some reviews, and more than one person said that the meat would get way too hot next to the offset firebox, and that they basically smoked their meat right under damper.
Thanks,
GW

 

[gjw]

bump******

 

[txbbqman]

A smoker is just like anything else you will buy, You get what you pay for.
Not trying to be rude, just saying.

I do not know anything about the particular smoker you asked about but here are a few links to check out some others. Yes they are pricey but they are built to last a very long time also. If I were building a new deck and wanted to add a smoker I would for sure look at how long that smoker would last me.

http://www.horizonbbqsmokersstore.co...let/StoreFront

http://www.pigroast.com/

http://bbqpits.com/

http://www.gatorpit.net/


As far as cooking underneath the damper, it depends on your pit, you can have a good quality pit "tuned" so that it maintains a constant temp throughout the entire cooking chamber. Or you can have one that is not tuned and it may be hotter in one spot than in another.

Tuning can be done with some relatively minor mods to just about any pit.

I am sure others will chime in and feel free to ask more questions, we will help if we can

Good Luck and Happy Smokes

 

[suprfast]

I think that might be similar to what is sold at walmart too. I just bought the brinkman Smoke N Pit from walmart for 158.00 and it too was a nice starter that will need to be modified. I was able to hold the temps steady unmodified so i know it will hold temps just well when i get around to modifiying it in the next week or two.

The SnP does feel quite sturdy for the price range. When i went to bass pro i did see the horizon and it was constructed out of 1/4" steel which was nice, but the price was not. If you feel comfortable adding modifications to an inexpensive smoker then the cheapie will be just fine. If you cant do it yourself, you will be adding a lot of cost to the smoker and you would be better off spending 350.00 or more for one that is already complete.

kris

 

[gjw]

Thanks folks, that's what I needed to know.
Greg

 

[coachin&smokin]

I don't want to hijack the thread but I was a lot like you. Last year I started BBQ'ing and bought a Smoke Hollow #5 Gasser. I really liked it a lot and it was easy to use work etc. This year I wanted to start using charcoal/wood. After thinking about it and researching it for quite some time I decided to build a UDS. I did my first ribs last week and they were by far the better than any I had on the Smoke Hollow. The charcoal and wood flavor really make the best BBQ.

The build was super easy and fun. After it's done you can cook on it and have the satisfaction that you actually built the cooker. You can put a nice paint job on it and it would look pretty good on your new deck.