Choosing a Smoker for Capacity

[nerb]

Hey everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice as to which smoker to purchase for a festival food booth looking to cook 30-40 racks of baby backs at once.  I'm looking to spend less than $1000 and have no problem doing some mods to a cheaper model.  I do a charcoal/wood chunk smoke.  No need for a trailer but wheels would be nice, and I'm leaning towards a vertical smoker.  All input is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello nerb.  I have no experience but I would bet you will get hit with an a bunch of customers at once.  Within maybe an hour or two.  I don't know about the cost but I would build a reverse flow for that amount.  You will probably need all those racks done in a 1-3 hour window.  My other advice is go bigger.  If your ribs take off, nothing worse than having a smoker too small to keep up with demand.  Every customer you turn away is money lost.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[nerb]

Agreed.  I am shooting to sell all the ribs in a 1-2 hour window for lunch.  So I'm thinking if I have two smokers loaded with 20 racks each, I can have 40 racks ready for the crowd with one 3 hour cook.  I am leaning towards a vertical smoker because I understand the cooking temp is more evenly distributed in the chamber than a horizontal, so all the ribs are done at the same time.  I have never used a reverse flow smoker though, I'll do some research on it.

Anyone have suggestions for a specific large capacity smoker for the beginner food vendor??

 

[va_connoisseur]

For 20 ribs at once, maybe a Stumps Baby, and ypu would need rib racks. They run about 2grand new but there are some used units floating around.

 

[nerb]

Ok thanks, I'll look around for one