First foray into offset smoking

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handsomeswede

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2009
17
10
Hello all.

I have smoked for years on a self-made pit of concrete blocks and racks in my backyard. Last year I competed in a rib competition with a drum cut in half.

For convenience I purchased a cheap Brinkman Smoke N Grill last summer, made some modifications and it is killer for butts and picnics.

However, the Brinkman has little room for racks of ribs and thus I am considering an offset.

After much research I have narrowed it down to three choices: Char-Griller Smokin Pro, BBQs Galore Bar-B-Chef and Royal Oaks Heavy Duty.

I was wondering if anyone could weigh in on the above. They each seem to have their pluses and minuses.

The Char-Griller is the cheapest but looks as though it would need many mods to function as truly desired. The Bar-B-Chef is not sold anywhere near me so shipping is costly. The Royal Oaks is the dark horse. Lowes will soon be carrying them and I cannot find specs, reviews or even a manufacturer's site.

I look forward to your responses.

HandsomeSwede
Upstate, NY
 
Craigslist was actually one of my first stops and amazingly not a thing in my area.
 
Welcome to the SMF. I'm sure you'll have plenty of feedback in a short time. Good luck my friend.
 
Worked well for me. Had to make some mods but I really like it. Took me a year to find it though.
 
I dito CL. Give it a week or so and maybe expand your looking area. I spot great deals everyday but my search has expanded nation wide!
Good LUck and welcome to SMF.
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beard
 
I just did a 4 slab spares smoke on my Brinkmann SNP LPG conversion a couple months back...the post was lost when the server crashed. I think my SNP mods thread got lost, too. Darn...well, other than the gas burner, the other mod was just to flip over the coal grate in the cook chamber and use it as a baffle/tuning plate. No biggie.

My spares smoke was with 2 slabs on the main grate and the other 2 on the warmer, temps were pretty even through-out the rig. I've got lots of therms to monitor with.

Here's a couple for ya, found my pics on hard drive:
aV2cIOf0.jpg


Pq2rMyHJ.jpg


Happy smoker hunting & good luck...so many smokers to choose from!

Eric
 
i love my smokin pro with the mods an awesome first timers offset. since it didnt coat me much for the smoker i had no problem spending a little more to make it better. total mod cost was around $60.00
oops welcome to a great place by the way!
 
I can't help you with your choice of smoker, but welcome to the forum. Just make sure whatever you end up with, that you take lots of pics of your smoking creations. We do like Qview!
 
Welcome to the SMF family, I don't know anything about the ones you mentioned, maybe some one will come along that does.

Not sure what kind of money you are wanting to spend but have you looked at Oklahoma Joe, Lang, and Klose

The Lang web Site http://www.pigroast.com/

The Klose web site http://bbqpits.com/

Oklahoma Joe @ Academy http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=content&target=products/outdoors/grills/smokers&start=6&selectedSKU=0263-02219-3361

Hope this helps


EDIT : I Love my Oklahoma Joe
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, keep 'em coming!

I do not know if WalMart is going to be carrying them this season or not but I do know that some Lowes will have them, that's how I happened upon it and also why I am so interested in specs.

Lowes tells me the unit will retail for $319 which makes it pricier than the other two units I am looking at, however, by the time you figure in shipping for the Bar-B-Chef they should be comparable. The Bar-B-Chef sounds like the best unit in the price range but if the Royal Oak has a similar 12 gauge steel I think that would be way I would go given a copious amount of Lowes coupons and gift cards.

So basically, what it comes down to is the '09 version of the Bar-B-Chef that wouldn't really need mods or the new Royal Oaks with heavier gauge steel and what looks like a larger cooking area.
 
Txbbqman has given us our first clue! I clicked on the Oklahoma Joe's link and, lo and behold, the OJ Longhorn appears to be a larger version of the smoker offered by Royal Oaks.

While the gauge steel is not listed, do you know if it is thicker than what you would find on the retail Char-Griller or Char-Broil?
 
yes, there is a near 50 page thread about the longhorns, they have been reported to be 11 and 12 gauge steel, I was almost going to go get one until I found out I can get a larger (24 x 36) and thicker (5/16 wall) unit in Tulsa OK for the same $450. At $319 the RO might not be a bad deal especially since you are so far away from any builders.
 
I have the Chargriller pro. I have done the dryer vent mod, flipped teh charcoal tray to use as a baffle, and added an expandable rack in the firebox. Totaled like $40 of mods. Great smoker for the money.
 
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