Looking into getting a new smoker, need help finding one

Welcome to the board! The basic offset configuration is available from many makers at many price/quality levels. Browse around and see what people have said about running them, their strong and weak points, and the various modifications to improve them.

I'm settling into a Masterbuilt and I love it.

The main issues I've seen with offsets is the drastic temp difference from one side to another. That's why I never owned one. Considered it many times, but just couldn't pull the triger on one. I have used them a couple times though, they are quite popular around here, but the temp difference was just too much. I have seen some mods online to help balance temps in one, but looked like something I realy didn't want to dive into.
That being said, alot of folks use that temp variance to their advantage. You could have something goind low and slow on one side and faster smoke on the other.
But whatever you decide, look for something thats heavy guage metal, not just for longevity, but also help hold temps good. Also try to find one that has a lid that overlaps the barrel so that you can control the smoke better. I was never able to find a decent one localy and wasn't comfotable ordering one without checking it out first.
I have toyed with the idea of building my own using a horizontal drum set up with the firebox mounted doen below for even temp distribution. Maybe a project for the future.

The temp difference hasn't been a problem for me because I've never cooked a rack full, just enough for two people, so only part of the rack is used and whatever temp is there will determine the cooking.

OTOH trying to cook an overload like this would be a farce of uneven results

Ha ha ha!!! Looks like somebodys going to spend more time shuffling meat around than cooking! Yea, the offsets seem like they'd work good in a situation where you'd only need maybe half the cooking area. My limited experience with them anyways.

This is a typical batch for me, I don't even need to have all the racks in place. Plus this lets me slide the rack to the hotter or cooler side.


What I like best is the versatility. That batch is cooking via offset but I could instead cook direct in the cooking chamber. Or, I could cook direct in the firebox.

Good afternoon and welcome to the site, go to the top click on Forums, drop down will appear then select Smoking Supply's & Equipment lots to look at on there hope this helps.

Gary S