# Thinking about an El cheapo offset



## alan Maples (Mar 31, 2022)

The one I have in mind is an Outdoor Gourmet Sierra smoker. I'm aware of the fact that there are better offsets, but my budget is limited. Thinking about getting one in May. Is it a decent cheap stick burner?


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## bigfurmn (Mar 31, 2022)

Full disclosure, I have no stick burner experience. I am just wondering if you could get a good deal on a used quality unit if you watch Craigslist etc?


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## mneeley490 (Mar 31, 2022)

My advice? Don't do it. My first foray into smoking was a Charbroil American Gourmet from Walmart.






This thing had so many holes in it that needed to be plugged, and it leaked heat and smoke like a sieve. I'm pretty sure I spent more in hardware mods to seal it and get better heat retention than I paid for the dang thing. And then, if I wanted to smoke something like a brisket or a couple of pork butts, I had to stay awake all night tending the thing. Much like a boat, selling it was the 2nd happiest day of my life.

Nope, save your money and get something of better quality that doesn't need constant attention.


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## DougE (Mar 31, 2022)

These el chepos are more charcoal/chunk burners. The fireboxes are way too thin to retain enough heat burning splits on what I have seen.


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## daspyknows (Mar 31, 2022)

Agree with the above 2 posts.  The quickest way to hate using a stickburner is using one that doesn't do a good job.  I spent more than I originally planned and have no regrets.


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## OldSmoke (Mar 31, 2022)

mneeley490 said:


> Much like a boat, selling it was the 2nd happiest day of my life.









Well, I think there are many more great days to be had between buying and selling.


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## negolien (Apr 1, 2022)

Yeah bro try lookin for sales at lowes, Home Depot and walmart. Sometimes u can find chargrillers and gravity feeds on sale for a couple hundred bucks and you don't need to be a pro fire tender with those


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## Newglide (Apr 1, 2022)

Where are you located? As others said you will fight a cheap offset the entire cook. If you want a decent starter look at the old country, they are a thicker steel and do need a few mods but are under $1000.  They are at Academy Sports.
Also what other grills do you have and what do you plan on smoking?
If you don't have a kettle you can smoke everything on a kettle that you can a cheap offset. And there are a ton of accessories  for them.


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## smokeymose (Apr 1, 2022)

I don't know how much that one costs, but it does look a little flimsy and the firebox is kind of small.
I got a CharGrller at Home Depot about six years ago for $300 and have been happy with it. I think you can still get them for about that price, maybe less because they have new models.
No "mods" other than sealing joints while assembling and adding a couple steel plates for baffling.
I was going to retire it and get a vertical but the Mrs has some serious medical bills so I think I'll just get a new firebox ($79) and carry on.


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## BurntWeenie (Apr 1, 2022)

You only cry about quality once


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## jcam222 (Apr 1, 2022)

I know it’s not a stick burner but based on your budget perhaps this drum smoker would be good. Heck of a discount at Walmart and free shipping. This isn’t a Ferrari but it’s solid from the reviews I’ve read.


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## SecondHandSmoker (Apr 1, 2022)

Newglide said:


> you can smoke everything on a kettle that you can a cheap offset



^^^ THIS^^^

Unless you need an offset for the cooking realestate.  Once you have a kettle dialed and settled in, it doesn't require much tending.
As everyone above recommends, there are better options out there.
If you really desire a stick burner, then save your money for a quality rig.


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## kawboy (Apr 1, 2022)

I may be an oddball, but I bought a cheap $20 offset on Facebook marketplace. I did do a couple mods to it, but not much. I just needed to find it's happy place temp wise. I enjoy the putzing with the wood burner.


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## bbqbrett (Apr 1, 2022)

kawboy said:


> I may be an oddball, but I bought a cheap $20 offset on Facebook marketplace. I did do a couple mods to it, but not much. I just needed to find it's happy place temp wise. I enjoy the putzing with the wood burner.



The first offset I worked with was a cheap Brinkmann that me and a friend got.  The biggest problem was actually how much fuel we went through...using charcoal and wood chunks.  That being said we actually did a couple of BBQ comps (the reason we got it and we were on a serious budget) and won got a couple of calls while using that thing.

So to the OP alan you can do pretty good with a cheap one if you are willing to put in the effort.  It may be tough but you will learn a lot if you get it and stick with it.  Or as others said save a little extra $ and get something else.  The main thing is how soon you can save the money or how soon you want to start using an offsett.


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## 1MoreFord (Apr 1, 2022)

I've cooked a bunch of good food on a COS but I ran it using lump charcoal and the Minion method with chunks for flavor.  Doing it that way did allow for some minimal babysitting cooks.


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## bigfurmn (Apr 1, 2022)

A
 alan Maples
, think we scared him off lol.


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## Fueling Around (Apr 1, 2022)

I bought a cheap (price and quality) last generation Brinkmann offset as they were going out of business.  I only wanted a larger charcoal grill than the kettle.
Decided to give the offset a try.  I burned a lot of fuel trying to keep temps.  Leaked everywhere. The charcoal wasn't free but I tried to use more splits as they are basically free.
I got some beautiful ribs and brisket off the thing though.
I have free resources so made a bigger fuel basket with angle iron legs so I could remove the ash during the cook (without removing the entire pan and grate.
I happily kicked it to the curb after I got a cheap pellet pooper (another story)
I still use my 22" kettle for a lot of cooking and smoking.  New venture this winter was a Jumbo Joe 18" kettle and smoking.


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## nicefly (Apr 2, 2022)

I started off with a Kingsford offset I got for Christmas.  I think it ran them about 250$ but that was quite a few years ago.

I enjoyed it. Sure it was work I was out there every 20 min or so to tend the fire but it got my foot in the door.  I learned and had fun.


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## alan Maples (Apr 5, 2022)

mneeley490 said:


> My advice? Don't do it. My first foray into smoking was a Charbroil American Gourmet from Walmart.
> View attachment 627792
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I decided to wait and get an Oklahoma Joe highland reverse flow smoker.


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## alan Maples (Apr 6, 2022)

Since it looks like I would need around $1,000.00 on up to get a good stick burner, I bought a Weber 22 inch premium kettle grill and will smoke meat with either that or my MES. I would love to have a quality stick burner, but have a limited budget


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## mneeley490 (Apr 6, 2022)

alan Maples said:


> Since it looks like I would need around $1,000.00 on up to get a good stick burner, I bought a Weber 22 inch premium kettle grill and will smoke meat with either that or my MES. I would love to have a quality stick burner, but have a limited budget


You really can't go wrong with a Weber kettle. I still think it's the most versatile grill/smoker out there. Learn to perform the Minion Method (aka Snake method) on it for long smokes like pork butt or brisket.


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## caiguar (Apr 6, 2022)

alan Maples said:


> Since it looks like I would need around $1,000.00 on up to get a good stick burner, I bought a Weber 22 inch premium kettle grill and will smoke meat with either that or my MES. I would love to have a quality stick burner, but have a limited budg


The kettle is the best grill you will have.  I have all kinds of grills and that one still gets some of the duties.  It smokes, grills, sear, either the best of them.

Save a bit of money and buy any of the masterbuilt gravity series.  Depends on the space you need.  In have the 800 and 560. 560 is plenty and you can sometimes find them on Craigslist or offer up.


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## Fueling Around (Apr 6, 2022)

alan Maples said:


> Since it looks like I would need around $1,000.00 on up to get a good stick burner, I bought a Weber 22 inch premium kettle grill and will smoke meat with either that or my MES. I would love to have a quality stick burner, but have a limited budget


Welcome to the kettle heads. Best all around wood (charcoal is wood?) burner ever created.
I haven't posted much on the 22", but I recently did a couple of smokes on my new 18" Jumbo Joe


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## alan Maples (Apr 6, 2022)

Fueling Around said:


> Welcome to the kettle heads. Best all around wood (charcoal is wood?) burner ever created.
> I haven't posted much on the 22", but I recently did a couple of smokes on my new 18" Jumbo Joe


I'm thinking about breaking it in with a Boston Butt, but I don't know when.


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## bill1 (Apr 7, 2022)

A Weber kettle lasts a lifetime and is easily moved.  It's very versatile, can do lots of meats and lots of cooking styles (low&slow to steak-grilling).  I think you made a great choice.  
You didn't mention your experience level, but you seem pretty new here so I think it's wise to not break the bank on something you don't know if you're going to dig or not.  An offset is a pretty unique space of the cooking world and takes a bit of effort to develop technique with it.  Spend some time with your Weber, and hang around here a bit and you'll know better what your next (if there's a next) cooker should be and what pricepoint you want to be at.


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## Fueling Around (Apr 7, 2022)

I use lump charcoal in my kettles.  Briquettes burn out too fast for me.
I realized from the Jumbo Joe to not sweat the temps.  Just pour a pile of lit charcoal in a side and put the meat on the opposite side.  
I also use a 6" smoke tube.  Apple is the wife's favorite.  When the tube burns out, I move the meat to my oven. Wrapped meat in a grill is wasted charcoal.


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## caiguar (Apr 7, 2022)

I love my kettle, if you need any pointers just ask around.  Almost all of us gave had the mighty Weber kettle at one point or another.  S lot of us still do.  I actually did use it today for reverse sear steaks.  Love the thing, it's hard for any other grill to compete against the kettle.  Enjoy it, it's the best teacher of them all as you can do lots and lots of different things with it.


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## alan Maples (Apr 8, 2022)

bill1 said:


> A Weber kettle lasts a lifetime and is easily moved.  It's very versatile, can do lots of meats and lots of cooking styles (low&slow to steak-grilling).  I think you made a great choice.
> You didn't mention your experience level, but you seem pretty new here so I think it's wise to not break the bank on something y'm ou don't know if you're going to dig or not.  An offset is a pretty unique space of the cooking world and takes a bit of effort to develop technique with it.  Spend some time with your Weber, and hang around here a bit and you'll know better what your next (if there's a next) cooker should be and what pricepoint you want to be at.


I'm a newbie here, but not with smoking meat. I've had an offset before, but it was a cheap one and meat near the firebox would cook a little faster. I think unless I can get a reverse flow offset, I shouldn't get one


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## bbqjefff (May 2, 2022)

mneeley490 said:


> My advice? Don't do it. My first foray into smoking was a Charbroil American Gourmet from Walmart.
> View attachment 627792
> 
> 
> ...


I second that. I was lucky. My wife's uncle gave me an old New Brunfels stick burner. It just has some rust I have to clean off but it's an older heavier duty smoker. Works great!


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