Smokers advise

[mrclean28]

Well I may be opening a can of worms but what the hey. I currently have the egg smoker from Browning. I paid a littel change for it as not much, but lately considing the off set smoker. Here is the main reason, keeping the fire going. I have to either add lots of coal which burnt fast tonight or remove themeat and lava plate to add more coal and restart the fire. Looking for good input please which means anything.

 

[mrclean28]

Forgot to mention I also have a Masterbuilt Smoker

 

[trippy]

 
Well I may be opening a can of worms but what the hey. I currently have the egg smoker from Browning. I paid a littel change for it as not much, but lately considing the off set smoker. Here is the main reason, keeping the fire going. I have to either add lots of coal which burnt fast tonight or remove themeat and lava plate to add more coal and restart the fire. Looking for good input please which means anything.

Are you going to buy one or build one? The amount you plan on spending will run what you will end with. I have a off set early Brinkmann Pro that was built by Horizon Smoker makers, in the early days. Have had that smoker some 13 years now and it just shines on the weather like a champ. Its a great summer cooker for where I live. Cool and cold weather make it much harder to operate. My Baby now is the vertical pellet smoker I built out of a food warmer. I find it so easy to start that up and cook any weekend regardless to temp out side. Been cooking well down into 20 degree weather with it. Amazingly holds heat great and does not power through pellets all that bad either. You can find it on the forums in other builds. I have put some money into that build for the longevity of it. Since I will have it a long time I think it was well spent.

 

[mrclean28]

Buy and thank you

 

[trippy]

If your going to buy something then I would look at Yoder Wichita or Horizon Marshal smokers. Perhaps the Lang padio would be what you are looking for as well. The price can be a tad high but honestly they will out last, ten 200$ cheap grills you can buy at the box store. As for it being reverse flow I think you can cook just as well with a proper built off set. They just need to have the heat diffuser plate in them. I modified my Brinkman to have a plate like in the Horizon Smoker. It works great to help control the temp through out the cooking chamber. Where the front near the fire was very hot then the temp dropped off near the stack. Once I installed that plate it cooked near same all across the cooker. 

The Lang will be a great reverse flow cooker to buy. The added options on it can run the price up quick. The padio 48 would be the ticket if I was going to buy a reverse flow. I could not see how you could possibly wear it out.

Johnson custom smoker makes a reverse flow that is not quite as expensive as the lang. 

You certainly have a lot of choices in the market. Any of the smokers from those builders will last more years then you got left in ya to cook.

Good luck in your shopping.

 

[mrclean28]

Thank ya they are pricey but was wondering if any of them out there are built into a patio outside

 

[trippy]

Quick answer. Yes. But the question would be why would you want to leave a good smoker behind, if by chance you found the need to move? At least with the others you can load it up with ease and go. Pulling down a island BBQ is time consuming. Also adds a lot to price installing it. Now you could say it will be a value asset to the property. It will also change who would buy it as well. Taking out buyers because they don't want to pay for something they will not use. That is catch 22 like building a spec home.

 

[mrclean28]

Just seen this one from a friend who got it. Any input.

Oklahoma Joe Longhorn Charcoal/Gas Smoker and Grill 

 

[trippy]

3-4 year gas grill. The gas side will wear out before the charcoal side of it. It is not built very heavyweight in the steel used. Your green egg is a far superior smoker. If your going gas grill get a stainless model. Those hold up better. The heavier the off set smoker is built will help maintain even temperature in cooking. Steel will hold heat better. Your green egg benefits from its ability to hold even temps because of the heavy construction.

 

[mrclean28]

I am not so keen on the gs portion but the offset side. Still shopping around for the right grill

 

[trippy]

I have owned in years past cheap offset smokers from brinkmann. Couple of them as matter of fact. They lasted a few years but I never did really big long cooks on them. They was just fish, chicken, small roast cooks that rarely got over a few hours. I got a Brinkmann Pro about 13 years ago. I have changed out the grills on it is about the only thing I have had to fix. Its spend year in and out in the weather, holds up like a tank. I have had several 12 hour cooks on this one doing many pounds of pork butt, Ribeye roast, lots of ribs too.

IMG_0385.JPG

• trippy
• Dec 28, 2015

I have never regreted what was at the time a bit of a spendy buy. It has out lasted every other cheap offset smoker I ever had in the past. I have no doubt I will have it until I can not get off my chair to cook on it. I know they run pricey but in the end they will out last several cheaper models even when abused with weather.  You would have to do specail modificatons to a cheap one to get extra years out of it. As well making sure its was not weather abused. If you was to look at this smoker right now it is sitting under 3 feet of snow in the very same spot this picture was taken.  Has been there 10 years now just like that.

So my best advice is get something your going to use for a long time if you really want to smoke foods. Off set smokers will test you and you will fail on many cooks trying to get it right. It truly is a art that you have to master keeping the fire. Learning how much wood and what works. I have spent a lot of years making good stuff and stuff that was just not that good. Trying always to figure out what it was I did wrong. I have gotten what I think is pretty good with this offset smoker. But I have had 13 years working with it now so that helps.

 

[mrclean28]

One reach has lead me another. I am looking at he Guru Party blower to help keep my egg heat consistance. I agree I will pay more for a good Smoker in 2020 once I retire and never move again. It is something to save for right now. Saw a nice heavy one at Academy Sporting good I figure $900 was alot but compared to the lesser brands it is worth it. Thanks for the input

 

[mrclean28]

Do you know the model number of yours?

 

[JckDanls 07]

as far as your egg is concerned.. have you tried using the minion method ? you should be able to get 10 hrs or more on one load of charcoal.. I'm thinking ...