I finally came to a conclusion

[NefariousTrashMan]

So in my quest for the perfect bbq flavor, I have tried several cookers, pellet, electric, mb gravity, cos, a little better than cos. My conclusion is there is no better bbq that from a stick fire on an offset smoker. Unless I’m doing something wrong I have not found a better flavor profile than from an offset. Heck I bought a mb gravity in the hopes of better que when my pellet grill killed over. Still left disappointed. Maybe my technique is wrong I layered charcoal and wood chunks in the gravity but still not the same as my trusty stick burner. Anyone else have this same thought?

 

[Smokin Okie]

I won't argue with you. I prefer the stickburner. But I had good results with my MB GF.

Did you put wood in the ash bin of the MB ? Suspended on a grate inside the ash bin the will flame and not smolder, creating good smoke.

I opened the firebox on my Assassin 17 GF the other day and flames came licking out. It burns clean, in fact, I'm worried it burns too clean. I don't put chunks in the chute.

 

[NefariousTrashMan]

I won't argue with you. I prefer the stickburner. But I had good results with my MB GF.

Did you put wood in the ash bin of the MB ? Suspended on a grate inside the ash bin the will flame and not smolder, creating good smoke.

I opened the firebox on my Assassin 17 GF the other day and flames came licking out. It burns clean, in fact, I'm worried it burns too clean. I don't put chunks in the chute.

View attachment 679090

I did not put them in the ash bin I will give that a try I have some expanded metal laying around I can make a grate with. Thanks for the tip

 

[Smokin Okie]

I got the same thing on the MB ............

 

[Hijack73]

I agree. Burning wood is how God cooks brisket. God how I miss my old smoker. I want to move back out into the country just to build another one. Maybe brick instead of cinder blocks this time. I have a yard the size of a small postage stamp now, so it isn't in the cards. Easy to mow, sucks for building smokers.

I know pellets are wood, it ain't the same.
I know lump is burned up wood, it ain't the same.

 

[Displaced Texan]

Yeah, I am not aware of any the great barbecue joints using anything other than wood for barbecue.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Stick burning is a lot of work, but it's work that I actually like and the results speak for themselves...

 

[Smokin Okie]

The drawback to splits in the ash bin, is I had to feed splits to it about as often as I would if running the stickburner.

But I have my doubts as to how long chunks burn in the hopper, no matter where they're placed in the hopper. When I emptied the hopper on the MB after a cook, the chunks way up at the top would've been turned into charcoal. It gets super hot in the hopper with no oxygen, the perfect environment to make charcoal.

 

[fxsales1959]

So in my quest for the perfect bbq flavor, I have tried several cookers, pellet, electric, mb gravity, cos, a little better than cos. My conclusion is there is no better bbq that from a stick fire on an offset smoker. Unless I’m doing something wrong I have not found a better flavor profile than from an offset. Heck I bought a mb gravity in the hopes of better que when my pellet grill killed over. Still left disappointed. Maybe my technique is wrong I layered charcoal and wood chunks in the gravity but still not the same as my trusty stick burner. Anyone else have this same thought?

It's a shame I'm old and lazy. Being down here in SE Florida good wood is hard to come by.
I just sold my OK Joe reverse flow, after the beautiful enablers here convinced me to try a WSM.
Sitting by the offset feeding it wood when it's 5 degrees above hell was not my cup of tea.
I also have a MB 560, which sits by the WSM now. I thought I'd hit the holy grail with the gravity.
Went thru the same frustrations getting smoke profile until i started putting a chunk at the bottom of the charcoal bin the adding a some to the ash pan. Also went thru the switch issues which MB helped me resolve..
The WSM is also easy to toss in the back of the camper. Currently looking for a deal on a 22" job.

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

Stick burner does provide a better product but it is hard to beat the convenience of a pellet pooper. I have a Lang 48 and Yoder 640S and find myself using the Yoder significantly more because I dont have to babysit it. Using a pellet tube in the Yoder helps with flavor and still gives a great result.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have to agree with you, I had a Lang & sold it for a Recteq. Is the flavor the same, no. But does it taste real good, yes. I got old, and tending a stick burner for hours didn’t seem as much fun anymore. So, I sacrifice some smoke flavor for convenience. Actually my wife likes the lighter smoke flavor of the R/T. I’m getting there too!
Al

 

[Randy1]

When you get right down to it, the big difference in BBQ is burning wood vs smoldering wood. Smoldering wood flavor is just plain wrong.
I prefer my wood burner flavor, but pellet grill-smoker is, within reason, a close second.
As the gentleman from FL, pointed out, on a 100F day it is doggone hard to hold a wood burner at 225-250 degrees. That, and I just do not run 50 pounds of meat anymore.

The pellet grill has it's sins but is a blessing in its versatility, and convenience. That being written, I would suggest a wood burner to those that have, time, space, wood resources, and freezer.

 

[Chasdev]

Just sold my Kamado and gave away my Masterbuilt 560.
Still have a pellet spitter for 20 hour porkbutt cooks but that's not too often.
So it's back to an offset stickburner for me, I can't stand the lack of post oak flavor in my BBQ.
I limited my spend to around $500 and finally settled on the Char-griller Grand Champ XD.
Not a heavy duty metal unit but I can't handle heavy gear anymore.
The XD was all I could manage to move and assemble by myself, and I barely got the firebox attached to the cook chamber at that.
Note, the firebox is thicker steel than the cook chamber, so that's good anyway.
I did a first cook and adding a mini split every 30/40 minutes the the temps were managable and the meat came out decent, so I'm going to do some experimenting with internal parts plus intake and exhaust opening settings to slow down the internal smoke's speed and see if the YouTube tips work.
IMHO it's a near perfect match for stickburn junkies with limited budgets.