# Insulated Fire Box



## culpepersmoke (May 5, 2020)

It's been a long time since I've had anything to post here on my favorite site. We sold our house (and my stick burner) a little over 3 years ago. We moved into our motorhome and traveled. We finally decided to get a house again and now I'm shopping for a new smoker. For the last 3 years I've have been pretty much sold on getting a Lang. I really hadn't considered anything else. The house we bought is in Michigan (I'm as surprised as anyone that we ended moving so far north). With the cooler temps I'm thinking I might like the HBT Deluxe model instead since it has a insulated fire box. While I'm certain the Lang 48 is a good size for my wife and I and the occasional extended family for the same $$ I can get a 60" model with HBT. One of my dislikes of the HBT is the diamond plate, but I spoke with Jamie today and he can build it out of 1/4" smooth steel for the same price. 
Does anyone have experience with cooking in colder temps, do you think the insulated fire box would be a plus? I'm thinking this is the deal maker / breaker.
Thanks guys,


----------



## daveomak (May 5, 2020)

Ask Jamie to add upper air inlets to the FB...  A welding blanket can be used to insulate the cooker when needed...


----------



## rsnovi (May 6, 2020)

Welcome to Michigan.  Sorry I don’t have an answer to your question.

I have also been look at stick burners.  In particular a Lonestar.  They offer 1/4”, 1/2”, and insulated fire boxes.  Being in Michigan all the smokers seemed to be built down south so shipping is expensive.


----------



## BG-IA (May 8, 2020)

Kind of a two part answer here.
1) I'm in Iowa and have a 1/4" 150 gallon reverse flow on a trailer that does not have an insulated firebox.  I have not had a problem getting to/holding temp cooking on it year round. I do not do anything different in the winter than what I do when it's warm out while cooking.  It does go through a little more wood when it's cold, but nothing that will keep me from using it in the winter.  I'll add that I'm out in the middle of farm country, and the wind is always blowing. 
2) The above being said, my next stick burner will definitely have an insulated firebox. I pretty much immediately wished that I would have gotten one.  I'm losing a ton of heat from the top and sides of the firebox, and I go through a lot of wood per smoke no matter the time of year.  I'm sure that an insulated firebox will increase the efficiency of the smoker all 4 seasons.


----------



## smokngun (May 8, 2020)

Awhile back I was looking at gravity fed smokers and found a custom smoker builder in Michigan. It looks like most of his builds are cabinet style though. Not trying to steer you away from Lang but save a small fortune on shipping. 
https://bigdscustombbqsmokers.com/


----------



## rsnovi (May 8, 2020)

smokngun said:


> Awhile back I was looking at gravity fed smokers and found a custom smoker builder in Michigan. It looks like most of his builds are cabinet style though. Not trying to steer you away from Lang but save a small fortune on shipping.
> https://bigdscustombbqsmokers.com/


That place is only about 10 miles from where I live.


----------



## culpepersmoke (May 9, 2020)

Thanks everyone. This has been and continues to be a struggle. I don't know about everyone else but its been rough trying to make a decision based almost solely on you tube videos and Web reviews.


----------



## culpepersmoke (May 11, 2020)

Just to close this out. I narrowed everything down to Lang, HBT and Shirley Fab. HBT price is tough to beat and Shirley after leaving several messages, text's and emails wouldn't get back with me so I put a deposit down on the HBT. I should get in in June. I'm really excited about getting a stick burner again.


----------

