Lang Original Patio 36

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jsheet1

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2014
2
10
In late May I picked up a Lang orginal patio 36. A friend and I left Charlotte NC at about 3:30 AM and drove to the factory to pick it up. We got to meet Mr. Lang and he took us for a tour of the shop and informed us of some new things they are looking to improve on and introduce in the near future in fact they were getting ready to add on to their current shop.

Once I got home I immediately fired it up and seasoned it following the instructions on the Lang website, it was very easy to do and since I had a nice fire going I figured I'd make some chicken breast and they turned out great. In the weeks since I have used it just about every weekend both Friday and Saturday smoking ribs sausages, pork butts and chicken. I have really enjoy using it compared to the Brinkmann kettle smoker I have been using for the last year.

After using it for a couple of weeks now I would say that I am very happy with the smoker however I have had some difficulty with keeping a good fire going but that will come in time Just need more practice. Everything I have cooked has came out great and very moist. As for the quality of the cooker I feel that it is well-built all the welds look very good. The cooking grates are easy to handle and clean and despite the weight of the cooker it's rather easy to move around There are however a few things that I'm a little disappointed in one of those are the grate for the firebox, I would've rather have seen something that slides out. The other would-be the paint, on the top of the firebox the paint has already bubbled and chipped off a small area and I do understand that it is very high temperature and that's going to happen but I would wonder if powder coating it would be better?

All in all I am very happy with the Lang 36 and I feel for the cost you're getting a great cooker. I will always feel guilty spending the money but that's just me but I would buy another Lang.

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Jsheet1: I have the same model Lang and I don't know how to avoid the paint problem on the top of the fire box because you're correct, the temp is high on that location. I just live with it and when I get sick of looking at it, I sand and re paint with Ace high temp paint. Unfortunately, it's a never ending process. I don't know if powder coating would solve the problem. I sort of doubt it but if you find out it does please advise. 

To make it easier to clean out the fire box, you could insert a sheet of alum foil (shinny side up) under the grate. It does a couple of things - it re directs the heat and makes clean up easy. I've also installed porcelan plates on the bottom of the fire box, so in addition to the alum foil, my heat loss out the bottom of the fire box is about 125F as opposed to over 300F. 

I use lump charcoal because wood is not readily available in Tucson. I start with lump (Royal Oak) and add some wood chunks. If that's what you do, you should consider a charcoal basket. They're easy to make and are very efficient.
 
Wood River BBQ: When I pick up my cooker Mr Lang (Ben) was telling us about some of the things they are going to be doing in the future and one of those was powder coating the cookers, they had just installed the oven to bake the powder coat on so maybe that will do the trick? He also mentioned that they where possibly going to look at finding a way for those who already have Lang cooker the ability to get them powder coated.......

I'm glad you mentioned about the porcelain plates, Ben told me to put some fire bricks in the fire box and I had forgot about that it in my excitement with using the cooker. 

I'm fortunate to have access to plenty of Cherry, Pecan, Hickory & a little Apple wood. We have several BBQ joints in town and it turns out the guy who supplies some of those places is just down the road from my house, I have been using Cherry & Pecan. I might try starting out with lump Charcoal to get a good bed of coals.


 
A truck load of wood like you have would cost me a fortune!! I have to buy my wood by the milk carton. Mesquite & pecan are about $12 a box. Oak, when I can get it, is $15 to $18.a box. There's only one wood lot in Tucson and they charge what they want -- it's take it or leave it. I wish I had the option you have.

I cut the wood into coke can size to get the most out of what little I have. I build a bed of lump coals and use cheap campfire wood, which burns hot and fast, to get it going. Once I start the cook, I add the wood. I stop adding wood at about 140F internal, because the product won't take anymore smoke, and then continue the cook with lump. I have to do the best I can with what I have available.

I prefer the thin porcelain  PLATES. Bricks would be to thick and take up too much space, of which there isn't a lot to play with. A doubled over sheet of heavy duty alum foil worked well as a substitute for the plates.

Speaking of alum foil - the fit of my Lang cooking lid to the cook chamber is excellent but not perfect. A small amount of heat/smoke leaks out. What makes the higher priced smokers more efficient is they're AIR TIGHT. I was going to buy latches but the Lang metal is so thick they wouldn't have done anything. On my last cook, I wrapped the edges of the cook chamber with alum foil to see how it would work. The temperature was even from end to end but it looked crappy but all I was trying to do was see if it would work. On my next cook on Sunday, I'm going to try putting alum foil around the edges of the lid. When I finish the cook, I remove the foil because I don't like the looks of it. Sealant doesn't look any better and the gap is too small for fireplace webbing.

With or without the alum foil, the Lang is a good cooker.   
 
It's great to see another SMF member with a Lang from Charlotte! Can you please let me know where you are getting your wood from, and also some prices, I'm looking for a good local supplier. You can PM me the details if you think that would be better.

I put some firebricks from Northern Tool in the bottom of my firebox and they seem to be working out great, they fit perfectly in my 48 patio, but not sure how well they would fit in the slightly smaller firebox of the 36.
 
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Jsheets1: I think the bricks that glocksrock has located would be a perfect fit. Mine are 7.5X8 and I used 4 of them. They don't cover the entire bottom -- there is a small space but the center is the most important area. I cover them with a sheet of alum foil for easy cleanup. The ones glocksrock located are 9X4.5 but there are 6 of them for $20 so I think they'd work for you. The heat loss I saved is now going where it's suppose to go -- into the cook chamber.
 
I bought two boxes and it completely covers the bottom of the smoker, and I put two against the back wall and one against each sidewall as well since I had 4 extra. I also put heavy duty foil under them. I figured that will give me as much insulation as I need, and it's still easy to remove them for cleaning what ashes fall between the cracks. I don't use the supplied grate either since the gaps in mine are huge. I built a charcoal basket and used bolts to raise it up to the desired height. It's been working very well for me so far, well worth the investment.
 
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