Jambo Pits. Why not Reverse Flow?

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so
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Why hasn't Jambo made a reverse flow?
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True dat!! I love it when the little bullet guys or the ones with the $400 WSMs win the competitions. It proves what you are saying to a "T".
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Thunderdome,

i believe the reason that Jambo Pits are not reverse flow, is because the configuration that he sells...well SELLS. he has perfected a product that people are willing to pay top dollar for. as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". there is the possibility that he would not do reverse flow as well as others and that would sully his name.

of course, that is just my opinion.
 
Jeff I agree with this. I do compete in competitions and I do not Cook the same at a comp as I do for my family. Heck I usually wont eat my own food at a comp....I cook for the judges not for me

I LOVE This......Very well said

I have seen it and when I pull up and see one...those are the guys I worry about....not the big fancy rigs

and to stay with the topic......Why doesn't somebody just call Jamie and ask him why he doesn't make a reverse flow
 
its well proven only part of the equation is cooker, the 2009 Iowa Team of the Year cooks on 4 wsms, sad part is they ain't even 22s LOL.
 
Cooker choice ranks right up there with politics and religion. Each design have positives and negatives--it's up to the individual to make things work out for great BBQ. It gets back to being more than one way to skin a cat.

As far as comps go, it seems the pellet smokers are the ones usually kicking butt and taking names. David (Butcher BBQ) did well in our local KCBS comp earlier this month (took 1st in chicken--placed pretty well in the others). His was done on one pellet smoker after his companion smoker died early in the comp. It put him at a disadvantage because he usually has the smokers at different temps. He still knew the equipment well enough to come out on top.

It almost seems like someone hijacked the thread to begin an artificial arguement designed to stir the pot. Jambo's, Lang's, or any other quality smokers will perform admirably when in the hands of a competent cook.

As to the original question, I have no idea why the Jambo isn't reverse flow. While I've seen a few, I've never really checked them out closely. Maybe it is designed like Bill's Custom Cookers. The smoke enters at the top of the cooking chamber and exits below the cooking grate. This gives a really even heat in the cooking chamber and ensures the smoke goes past the food before exiting the stack.
 
The secret to good bbq is maintaining a constant temperature- whatever temp. you prefer. The Jambo pits have insulated fireboxes which are huge in relation to the rest of the cooker. The cooking portion of the Jambo uses heavy guage steel to keep in the heat. I know a few cooks who have Jambos and have seen them in action. A bag of Kingsford and a couple sticks of wood and that sucker will burn forever. The heat stays inside the cooker and the charcoal burns slowly and evenly. Fantastic smokers for setting the temperatures and going back to the motor home for a nap. These competetive teams who cook every weekend don't stay up all night and watch their smokers. They set the smoker and go back to bed with the confidence knowing the Jambo will keep temp and not run out of fuel. Jambo owners pay extra for the luxury of sleep. The Pitmasters show on TLC showed how the Jambo had no problem keeping temp in the very windy and cold Delaware weather. They are fantasic smokers and I would love to have one, but I don't have a third car garage and I don't compete enough to justify such a large rig.
 
I have this backyard jambo pit. Got it about three weeks ago and used it about 5 times. I never cooked on a reverse flow pit so I can't comment on the differences between the two of them. I will say that the jambo keeps the same temp (within 10 dre) from front to back and right to left. It takes a little bit of time to get used to it. It has a very large cooking area 48x24. The fire box is also large. It cooks very clean nice blue smoke from the stack.  I am very happy with it. Had to call jamie a few times to get help adjusting the vents. After I played with it for a few times I got it right.
 
I have this backyard jambo pit. Got it about three weeks ago and used it about 5 times. I never cooked on a reverse flow pit so I can't comment on the differences between the two of them. I will say that the jambo keeps the same temp (within 10 dre) from front to back and right to left. It takes a little bit of time to get used to it. It has a very large cooking area 48x24. The fire box is also large. It cooks very clean nice blue smoke from the stack.  I am very happy with it. Had to call jamie a few times to get help adjusting the vents. After I played with it for a few times I got it right.
Hey welcome to the forum! Very cool I don't know if anyone else here has Jamie's backyard model. Please post pics! I looked into his backyard model recently but opted for a Lang 36. I'm sure others agree with me when I say that we like seeing pictures of everyone's pits and their cooks!
 
Got to sit down w/ johnny trigg at the blues and BBQ here and discuss his jambo. He uses it just because he doesn't have to tend it.

 told me it's the longest burning even temp smoker he has seen. he didn't take a walk. one jambo cooker got 3rd in butts . most places were taken by custom builds and GC was taken by 3 guys who had 4 home built cajun microwaves w/ some type of computer controllers.

 It aint what you got it's what you can do w/ what you got.
 
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well I found a few leaked out pics of a jambo on inet. there were 3 in all  one of the firebox to cookbox and one of chimney placement and one of the firebox door and i must say, its got me rethinking my reverse flow plans of my pittrailer!!!!  It actually flows from top to bottom, firebox enters cookbox well above grate and chimney is below grate.  so it cooks meat from top vs from bottom like everyother pit

wow!!!
 
If you look at most of the smoker mods for direct flow cheap offset smokers, one of our mods is taking the smokestack side down to grate level to even the temps in the box.  Obviously the firebox side is different (something we can't change without a welder), but it osunds like we're modifying our equipment to mimic that.  Add in the heavier grade steel and insulation, and viola.
 
I have a jambo about 10 months and it's great. It cooks good and keeps the temp. Your right the heat and smoke vent is above grate level and the stack is at grate level. this way the heat comes down and out as it passes over the meat. I have the backyard model.
 
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