Jambo Pits. Why not Reverse Flow?

It all comes down to knowing your pit and learning how to cook on it...It can be an advantage to having a hotter spot.  I have used said hot spots to my advangtage.

My pit is done!!!! Cooks very even front to back left to right.

Everyone has a preferred grill just like they do for Pick Ups. I drive a Chevy, my brother drives a Ford and my pops drives a Dodge. The remarks never end.

In my case I have always wanted a smoker. However every year the wife gets me a propane burner. I very much dislike propane. My current grill is a $100 cheap o from Wally World. I have had it for a year and one of the burners don't work, and the bottom is nearly rusted out. However every time I fire it up, I get a bunch of people coming over wanting me to cook stuff for them. I even have a neighbor that has a kickin' grill set up on a trailer. The thing has everything, a fridge, a sink. It is a dream set up. But he has more money than sense. He like to brag about his smoker but he can't cook worth a darn. I have seen rocks that is more tender than his brisket.

I have never had the privilege of cooking on a nice grill, however when I do cook, I have a lot of fun with my family and neighbors, never had a single complaint about my cooking. 

To me BBQ is not about winning competitions, or who has the prettiest grill. Its about chilling with the people that are important to you. I have a neighbor whose daughter turned 9 years old. For her birthday she could go to any restaurant in town that she wanted. Her first choice was for me to cook some ribs on my broken down gas burner. Guess that is about the best trophy that one could get.

You are correct. It's all about having fun!

Wow lots of strong opinions here. I smoke on a cheap offset (charbroil silver). it can cook some very fine food. It did take a while to master it and it needs a lot of tending . that's the part of bbq i love, fire and smoke management. we just hang together all day like old friends. judging by how many of these i see used for less than $40 , not too many share my opinion.

do what makes u happy. And just keep smoking !

i halve wornout several chargriller offsets i now own a LANG 60 i love it jambo`s are works of art they are verry well const. they cook evenly across the cook chamber jambo`s design is the way he likes to build his pits remember one man`s love is anothers poison

You've got that 100% right. If you like to compete, that's fine. I've even considered giving it a whack myself some time, but I smoke, because I like to eat, and I like to entertain. And it is awesome to see my 4 year old girls gnawing on a rib bone. I had to take it away from one the other day; daddy will get you another rib honey, thats just the bone you're chewing on now. lol

I used to have a char-griller with a side firebox that I modified. I put the plates in it and everything, but I didn't like the temp difference from end to end. So I converted it to be reverse flow, and was much happier with it. So when I built my own, there was no question It was going to be reverse flow. Now there is no way I would compare my cheap, modified char-griller to a Jambo, but for my money, I prefer reverse flow. At the end of the day though, the proof is in the pudding, errrrr meat. If you make good Q, then who cares how you got there.

Hmmmmm....smoked pudding........is that a thing?

I get what you guys are saying, Ive made BBQ on some worn out gas grill carcases that turned out mighty fine before, ..but , you have to admit that different smokers produce different results.   Half the fun to me is tweaking each new smoker a lil bit to see how it effects the flavor, sometimes its good, sometimes its not so good. Jambo probably was playing around a lil bit and came across the design he like and stuck with it.

Here's the thing, I've had some pretty good bbq from some crap smokers.  It boils down to can you cook or not?  I wouldn't trade my babies for either of the name brands, I love 'em and I use them.....A LOT!  And if you have a smoker and hate it then change. Otherwise, learn your smoker and let it do it's job, supplying you and your friends smokey goodness and just be happy to be a part of a great community.  BBQ Baby!!!

Well it was a lot of fun to read this thread. Like everything else it seems in this world different folks will have different opinions.

I have never cooked on a Jambo but I have seen them at different competitions around the country and if I had the money I'd love to

own one and give it a try. I have a Lang Hybrid and a few other small cookers and they do alright by me. I am a firm believer that a good

smoker can help you out but if you can't cook a $13,000.00 smoker ain't going to help you much.