Old Country BBQ Pits Wrangler Smoker Review

[fisher6688]

yeah i will try smaller splits this weekend for some picnics/butts. By the way the stove gasket rope just fell off the next day haha. Dont use the gasket rope ! 

 

[fisher6688]

Also i will try to adjust my plates using a half open to full open damper and exhaust

 

[bigwillybobo]

I bought this exact smoker for my dad over a year ago. My brother bought the Pecos. Both grills do an outstanding job cooking all kinds of meats. I have not thought about "tuning" the Wrangler because it really does an outstanding job smoking big briscuits, but I will now look into doing that. The Pecos has seen a few briscuits and has done a very good job with them as well. I think it takes more experience to do one on it bcause it lacks the firebox, but still a great grill. I highly recommend these to anybody looking. Yes they cost money, your buying quality. It's an investment for any serious griller out there. I fully expect these grills to be running strong 15 years from now and I'll be standing there cooking and bitching over a beer about how you can't find quality grills like these anymore.

 

[jcrevz]

I bought this exact smoker for my dad over a year ago. My brother bought the Pecos. Both grills do an outstanding job cooking all kinds of meats. I have not thought about "tuning" the Wrangler because it really does an outstanding job smoking big briscuits, but I will now look into doing that. The Pecos has seen a few briscuits and has done a very good job with them as well. I think it takes more experience to do one on it bcause it lacks the firebox, but still a great grill. I highly recommend these to anybody looking. Yes they cost money, your buying quality. It's an investment for any serious griller out there. I fully expect these grills to be running strong 15 years from now and I'll be standing there cooking and bitching over a beer about how you can't find quality grills like these anymore.

not only great for smoking, but i use my wrangler for grilling too. i love the taste of wood fired, and the fire sits low enough that flare ups are nonexistent. i just build a small fire, let it burn down to some coals then throw on a couple splits.

(firebox side of course)

 

[blkstallionbbq]

Doing my first smoke. Got a Maverick E72. Is the temperature supposed to fluctuate frequently? It's hopping in the 250-280 range but it hops every half minute or so.

 

[fisher6688]

Doing my first smoke. Got a Maverick E72. Is the temperature supposed to fluctuate frequently? It's hopping in the 250-280 range but it hops every half minute or so.

might be the wind? mine rides up the temperature hill and comes down slowly

 

[blkstallionbbq]

It is fairly windy out. Is the rising and falling bad if it is still staying in a good range?

 

[fisher6688]

i think you want to hold as steady of a temp as you can. but this is hard for smaller smokers as i have seen. for me i now use three tuning plates. run the exhaust wide open and intake damper wide open. i try to control my heat by putting smaller splits of wood instead of the bigger splits. 

 

[fisher6688]

Got some rib racks from academy and cut some pieces off of them to fit better in the wrangler. Can hold 7 racks.

image.jpg

• fisher6688
• Jun 18, 2014

 

[glocksrock]

Very nice! Just make sure you rotate the ribs through the rack while cooking, I didn't do that when I filled up my rib rack on the wrangler, and they didn't all cook evenly.

 

[fisher6688]

thanks glock ill rotate every hour probably!

 

[blkstallionbbq]

Made my first pork butt on the Wrangler two weeks ago as I mentioned. Family was getting rather impatient so I pulled it off early. Internal temp was around 187 or so. I must admit I had a rough time with this first cook. I started with a chimney of lump charcoal and added large splits of post oak and some more lump throughout the cook. I went through 12 large splits which seems like a lot to me. The wind was pretty obnoxious that day so the temps were dancing all day. It didn't stay within the same range for too long so I'm hoping it was wind and not leaks in the smoker. I am thinking of doing a charcoal basket. I saw a guy who placed charcoal in the basket, and then stood a split of wood on its end to make it look like a tower so to speak with the charcoal around it. He said it lasted him 6 or so hours and he didn't need to add another split. This blows my mind because I went through 12! I will be using smaller chunks next time. Any other tips? The meat turned out fine. Not quite pulled pork but it had good flavor and a nice smoke ring. Also, buying post oak and having it delivered to Iowa is very expensive but I wanted to try it because I've heard it's great for brisket. I called a local guy and he said he sells Fir (fur) oak. Not sure on the spelling. Anyway has anyone heard of it? Is it basically white oak?

 

[fisher6688]

With the wrangler I usually use thinner splits. I split a split if you know what I'm talking about. I also warm the wood on top of the firebox before adding it in the fire. This helps keep a nice small hot fire. Which means the thin blue smoke and it's easier to keep a steady temp. The steady temp only lasts for around 30 minutes or more depending on weather conditions. On a windy day I turn my wrangler so the wind does not blow into the firebox. Line your smoker perpendicular to the wind. This should help with temp spikes.

 

[fisher6688]

Also plan ahead if you know there is a set dinner time. I start early and finish early usually. I let the meat rest in a cooler for up to 4 hours. I did a pork picnic and had it resting the cooler for 4 hours. When I came home it was still hot to touch. Pulled amazing

 

[rmichaeld]

I have read almost every post on the Wrangler going back to 6/13.  Guess I'm on the way to pick one up in a day or two.  I'm not impressed with the small flip up shelf on the front.  Looked at 6 of them and on every one the welds at the hinges keeps it from coming all the way up.

I'd like to take it off and replace it with a wrap around shelf that goes across the front and over the SFB.  The same material the cooking grate is made of.  Any welder near Central Texas willing to take on the task?

 

[mattintexas]

Hey everyone, first post here.  I bought a Wrangler about a month ago after reading through the entire thread and looking at similarly priced models.  Thank you everyone for all of your posts.  I found them very informative. 

I put my first brisket on at 3am this morning.  I've done some ribs, chicken and sausage, but this is my first brisket.  The posts on temperature control have been helpful.  I'm having a hard time pegging at 225, but I'm using quarter split oak firewood (about 16 inches) so I'm going to start by cutting in half and see if that helps before splitting the split again (quite a pain). 

Following an earlier poster's suggestion, I had some 1/4 sheet cut into 5 baffles because I had about a 10% flux in temperature across the grate.  I have a strange problem though, my temp is higher near the stack and drops towards the firebox.  I placed the first baffle over the built in firebox baffle and then spaced out towards the stack.  That helped reduce the flux.  I'm concerned that the bulk of the smoke is drafting under the baffles and right into the stack.  Anyone have a similar problem and a suggestion?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[jcrevz]

I dont think you should have a problem re:smoke. Mine is the same - more than 40 at times higher on the stack side. i tried butting up baffles right against the stack, this way theoretically (in my mind anyways :30:) you will get stack effect against that wall and back some of the heat back towards the box side. I havent perfected it or really took the time to yet, i need 1 or 2 more pieces of steel and havent got around to getting any. Ive been experimenting with stick size, fire placement, and found a normal split is easier to keep temps as long as you build the fire close to the damper. It will save time also, ive only had to throw one log on every hour and a half or more, i was loading every 30-45 mins and it was a pain. just make sure its preheated on top of fire box, throw in and keep door open until it catches real good.

 

[mattintexas]

Thanks.  I did cut in half and then split my spits, and its now pegged between 220-230.  Its counter-intuitive to use less wood to maintain a constant temperature; but it is working.  I've been checking on it with the same frequency as before, but when I was using a full spit I was still adding every hour to address the drop in temp, so my attention level is the same between the two.  I may look for ceramic blocks to help extend the intervals.  It would be nice to extend from one hour to two hours, but I'm not sure the blocks would really help that since the wood would burn down anyways.  Looking forward to opening it up and seeing how the brisket looks!

 

[blkstallionbbq]

Currently doing a brisket. Couldn't get the temps up so it was hovering around 180-200 for 2 hours. Rotated the smoker to let some wind in and now it's where it needs to be. Will those first two hours of low temps ruin the final product?

 

[blkstallionbbq]

Brisket turned out great despite the early setback!