Buy this or a new pecos?

[bamapig]

Found this on marketplace and got them down to 175 but might could get lower. It looks smaller.than pecos but I'm not sure? Should I buy this or just pick out the best new pecos I can find?

 

[bamapig]

I think this might be a brazos

 

[TNJAKE]

That's an old country wrangler. And the answer to your question comes down to how much size you need. Is this one big enough or do you see yourself needing more? Pecos is bigger than wrangler and Brazos is essentially the same smoker as the pecos but made of heavier gauge steel

 

[bamapig]

is it thicker steel than the pecos or same? i dont need anything bigger than the pecos and most of the time could probably get by with smaller but a few times ive needed the space of my rectec 700 so id prolly like to keep that size

 

[JLeonard]

Wrangler vs Pecos

Anybody ever owned both smokers? Obviously the wrangler is higher quality, but does the thicker steel make that drastic of a difference in heat maintenance? According to the other threads, people seem to have the same issues with both smokers (heat maintenance/retention). Only reason I ask is I...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Check out this thread.
Jim

 

[TNJAKE]

Yes the wrangler is thicker than pecos as is the brazos. Also I revised my post #3

 

[JLeonard]

At that price I'd buy it if it was in decent shape.
Jim

 

[Smokin Okie]

That's the Wrangler and I think that cook chamber is 30" . Pecos will be closer to 40. My Brazos is 40.

It has a baffle between the FB and cook chamber. The baffle is to protect the FB end of the cooking grate from direct heat. But it appears to me, the heat will come up from the baffle and go directly to the exhaust. That means the stack end of the cooker is gonna run hotter, IMO ......... and I really don't know, Iv'e not cooked on one.

But then theres the upper grate. I would be very interested in seeing a biscuit test run on this smoker on both upper and lower grates. I gotta hunch the upper grate on the FB end, is not gonna get very hot.

With that short of a cook chamber, it really mixes things up.

Just me, my preference is longer cook chambers. I'm not so big on the diameter of the chamber, but I like long cuz then I cook on the stack end and I'm gonna get better convection on that end, a long way from the FB.

 

[bamapig]

That's the Wrangler and I think that cook chamber is 30" . Pecos will be closer to 40. My Brazos is 40.

It has a baffle between the FB and cook chamber. The baffle is to protect the FB end of the cooking grate from direct heat. But it appears to me, the heat will come up from the baffle and go directly to the exhaust. That means the stack end of the cooker is gonna run hotter, IMO ......... and I really don't know, Iv'e not cooked on one.

But then theres the upper grate. I would be very interested in seeing a biscuit test run on this smoker on both upper and lower grates. I gotta hunch the upper grate on the FB end, is not gonna get very hot.

With that short of a cook chamber, it really mixes things up.

Just me, my preference is longer cook chambers. I'm not so big on the diameter of the chamber, but I like long cuz then I cook on the stack end and I'm gonna get better convection on that end, a long way from the FB.

The upper grate doesn't really mean much to me cause I'm sure it will be a good bit hotter. But maybe crisping up some poppers or something but I usually throw them in the over for a minute or two to crisp the bacon really nice. So I'm not really sure when I would use it really. Adding in the shirt chamber and that has me leaning to the pecos. I'm not sure if I could add to stack to get more.even heating and with less room especially adding a water pan in there that would limiting my space even more.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I have a similar baffle in the Brazos. I don't use the FB end, especially the part of the grate right above the baffle. Its always cooler than the stack end.

But comparisons are hard even if the cook chamber was the same length, because there's so many variables that can change the results of a biscuit test.

 

[bamapig]

is the pecos really 14 gauge steel with 11 gauge doors? or is it 11 ga all the way? i read somwhere that it was 11 ga all the way?

 

[Smokin Okie]

Academy says its 14 gauge with 11 gauge doors. But 14 gauge is 1/32nd of an inch less than 12 gauge. Its not like its a major diff.

 

[Fueling Around]

Good price.
I wouldn't sweat the finer details of thickness. It all looks good in the photos.

There is no diffuser plate based on the grate and door.