Can't believe it - never used Cimarron

[philpom]

Unbelievable find, some of you saw I posted about an unopened King Kooker I grabbed from an estate sale, today discounts started so I went back and tucked around a corner out back was a smoker. It was an early to mid 90s Brinkmann Cimarron, all of it, including even the ash tool. It was filthy but for $130 I couldn't say no. For those not familiar, these were made by Horizon Smokers for Brinkmann. They are 1/4" fully welded steel. Horizon also made old school Oklahoma Joe's.

Brought it home and cleaned it up a bit and I'm telling you, it's never been used, stored in a shed as far as I can tell. No smoke, residue, very minor rust on the outside but some surface rust inside.

As I recall, back in the day these sold for $699-$799 at Lowes or Home Depot.

Perfectly clean probe.

Clean inside of lid.

Handles in great shape, no wood on this one.

Clean stack inlet.

Almost prestine grates. You can see some of the surface rust here, I will clean that out this weekend.

That thick steel. Little rust on the flange.

The worst place for rust on an offset, but none. (Back side of the firebox)

And wow, that thermometer....

This is what it looked like when I got it home. I knew it was in pretty good shape but no idea it was almost like new and never used

Hit those estate sales, especially in older established neighborhoods with large homes, never know what you'll find!

Now I gotta finish cleaning this up, I have pork ribs thawing, perhaps I'll see how it runs tomorrow.

Cheers

 

[mneeley490]

Holy cow, you sure have the luck. Nice find!

 

[chilerelleno]

Youre into serious paydirt, keep coming up Golden.

I'd flip that for $500. and buy either a OCL 556 Polonium suppressor or a Glock 19.

 

[philpom]

Holy cow, you sure have the luck. Nice find!

I think you are right, a lucky find. But it helps when you know what you're looking at. I believe most "normal" folks would walk past this in favor of something new at Lowes..... Maybe I'm wrong but I had no issue waiting until the discount days started at that estate sale because I was very confident it wasn't going anywhere.

 

[philpom]

Youre into serious paydirt, keep coming up Golden.

I'd flip that for $4-500. and either a OCL 556 Polonium suppressor or a Glock 19.

I think I could flip it for triple my money or more without even putting anything in to it beyond a quick scrub.

Is it crazy that I will probably keep it? I already have an Old Country G2 but the cool factor is worth more to me than $400 and honestly if I wanted a new gun I'd probably just go buy it :) It'll probably find it's way to our other house since the old Brinkmann Smoke'n Pit offset I have up there is all but dead. This one should last another 25 years or more covered. Probably way longer if I oil it occasionally.

Trust me, I hit those sales all the time looking for something to buy. It's a pretty cheap fix for that urge to get something cool. I'll probably go back to this particular sale because the house is loaded with neat stuff and tomorrow discounts go up to 50%.

 

[chopsaw]

I'd keep it for sure . That's a great find .

 

[indaswamp]

Nice Find!

 

[sawhorseray]

I'd keep it for sure . That's a great find .

ME 2, THAT'S A REAL GEM!

 

[texomakid]

What an amazing find! Yeah I would have brought that home too. Looking forward to seeing what you cook on it.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Great find !

That is really an original Oklahoma Joe, built right after Joe Davidson ( the Oklahoma Joe ) sold out to Brinkman in 1998. After that, Brinkman started cheapening the smoker, moved production to China. They created the Oklahoma Joe smokers we know today.

Joe Davidson signed a non-compete agreement. He moved to KC to open a barbecue joint with a partner there.

But his brother Roger continued to build the Oklahoma Joe smoker under the Horizon brand.

Also, Joes shop manager, moved up the road to Wichita and began building Yoder smokers. Which were almost identical to Oklahoma Joes.

 

[processhead]

Congratulations on a great find. Hope you like yours because you will never wear it out or burn it out.
The Brinkman Cimarron smokers turn up from time to time on the second hand market. I have a pair of them.
One is an offset like yours and the other is the grill version which is identical but without the firebox on the side or a stack pipe.
The grill version makes a pretty decent indirect heat smoker. I have some chicken thighs smoking on it right now.
BTW if I am not mistaken, you have the wheels installed on the wrong end of yours.

 

[1MoreFord]

Let's try another variation of history.
The OK Joe brand name was sold to CharBroil or New Braunfels or whoever owned them at the time.
Brinkman bought the old location and started building their pits at it with some of the old employees.
Joe went into the BBQ 'raunt business.
Roger started Horizon and then there was Yoder.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Yeah, that's right, Joe did sell to Char-Broil. And Roger had some kind of deal with Brinkman, before he started Horizon.

If you're a Texas Monthly subscriber, the Okla Joe story is in their archives. Daniel Vaugn interviewed Joe back around 2013.

Joe started Oklahoma Joes while he was in grad school at Okla State Univ. He was welding to pay his way through. And we'd just had a huge oil bust in the early 80's and there was a lot of oil field pipe around that could be had for pennies on the dollar. The 24" and 20" pipe was used for surface casing in oil wells.

Joe built 12 offset smokers. Took them to the Oklahoma State Fair in 84 or 85. Sold all of them and took orders for 100 more. And he was off and running.

 

[philpom]

Yeah, that's right, Joe did sell to Char-Broil. And Roger had some kind of deal with Brinkman, before he started Horizon.

If you're a Texas Monthly subscriber, the Okla Joe story is in their archives. Daniel Vaugn interviewed Joe back around 2013.

Joe started Oklahoma Joes while he was in grad school at Okla State Univ. He was welding to pay his way through. And we'd just had a huge oil bust in the early 80's and there was a lot of oil field pipe around that could be had for pennies on the dollar. The 24" and 20" pipe was used for surface casing in oil wells.

Joe built 12 offset smokers. Took them to the Oklahoma State Fair in 84 or 85. Sold all of them and took orders for 100 more. And he was off and running.

Seems I had the players right but the order wrong. It's a convoluted history but very interesting.

Further research:
Oklahoma Joe's came first, founded in 1987 by Joe Davidson. Horizon Smokers was established later in 2002 by Roger Davidson, Joe's brother, after Oklahoma Joe's was sold to Char-Broil in 1998. Brinkmann entered the smoker market earlier than Horizon but after Oklahoma Joe's, with Roger Davidson working for them to produce high-quality smokers starting around the late 1990s, though exact dates for Brinkmann's smoker production are less clear. So, the order is: Oklahoma Joe's (1987), Brinkmann (late 1990s for relevant smoker production), then Horizon Smokers (2002).

 

[Smokin Okie]

Well, the Texas Monthly interview with Joe Davidson, was not behind the paywall for me. Don't know if that will work for everyone. And I'm not a TM subscriber.

Interview: Joe Davidson of Oklahoma Joe’s Bar-B-Cue​

By Daniel Vaughn

 

[processhead]

Well, the Texas Monthly interview with Joe Davidson, was not behind the paywall for me. Don't know if that will work for everyone. And I'm not a TM subscriber.

Interview: Joe Davidson of Oklahoma Joe’s Bar-B-Cue​

View attachment 723898
By Daniel Vaughn

Interesting story and an interesting man. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Interesting story and an interesting man. Thanks for sharing.

I enjoy those kind of success stories. Joe is a few years younger than me. Back in the 80's I looked for that kind of opportunity and never found it. Those were tough economic times here due to an oil boom gone bust. I blamed the economy. Joe did not see a problem.

I'm not envious or jealous of Joe's success, I'm happy for him that he found it.

And also, Joe did not let his college degree get in his way. So many, me included, thought that college degree was gonna open up doors. And if we did not make it in our field of study, that was failing.

For Joe, it was not his college degree that opened the door, it was his welding skill. And he was not afraid to get his hands dirty.

A college degree can be an albatross that holds people back. That, and letting other people define what success looks like.

 

[processhead]

It just shows what happens when you combine your passion with a vision and perhaps a little luck.
In Joes case, he was able to leverage his skilled trade into a business opportunity.

Too few people are willing to learn skilled trades and get their hand dirty anymore IMHO. It's unfortunate, because many of us made good livings with community college degrees and the country needs more skilled worker in trades, industry and medicine.

 

[TimboBBQ!]

Unbelievable find, some of you saw I posted about an unopened King Kooker I grabbed from an estate sale, today discounts started so I went back and tucked around a corner out back was a smoker. It was an early to mid 90s Brinkmann Cimarron, all of it, including even the ash tool. It was filthy but for $130 I couldn't say no. For those not familiar, these were made by Horizon Smokers for Brinkmann. They are 1/4" fully welded steel. Horizon also made old school Oklahoma Joe's.

Brought it home and cleaned it up a bit and I'm telling you, it's never been used, stored in a shed as far as I can tell. No smoke, residue, very minor rust on the outside but some surface rust inside.

As I recall, back in the day these sold for $699-$799 at Lowes or Home Depot.

View attachment 723810
View attachment 723811

Perfectly clean probe.
View attachment 723812

Clean inside of lid.
View attachment 723813

View attachment 723814
View attachment 723815

Handles in great shape, no wood on this one.
View attachment 723816

Clean stack inlet.
View attachment 723817

Almost prestine grates. You can see some of the surface rust here, I will clean that out this weekend.
View attachment 723818

View attachment 723819

That thick steel. Little rust on the flange.
View attachment 723820

View attachment 723821

The worst place for rust on an offset, but none. (Back side of the firebox)
View attachment 723822

View attachment 723823
View attachment 723827

View attachment 723825

View attachment 723824

And wow, that thermometer....
View attachment 723826

This is what it looked like when I got it home. I knew it was in pretty good shape but no idea it was almost like new and never used
View attachment 723828

Hit those estate sales, especially in older established neighborhoods with large homes, never know what you'll find!

Now I gotta finish cleaning this up, I have pork ribs thawing, perhaps I'll see how it runs tomorrow.

Cheers

Nice find brother! Smoke on!

 

[Winterrider]

BTW if I am not mistaken, you have the wheels installed on the wrong end of yours

I would think that the wheels on yours are on backwards. Nothing to grab onto on the stack end to lift and move with the wheels. I would rather use the fire box to lift and push, just my thought.
Either way, good score !