Ditching the pellet smoker for a stick burner

[Smokin Okie]

I am giving the Pitt Boss to my son so If I ever really need it back I can get it.

There ya go, keep it handy. Offset is a whole new animal.

 

[Displaced Texan]

I will be the one to disagree on gaskets to seal up the smoker. It is a smoker, not a pressure cooker, and if a little bit of leakage causes such an issue with temperature management, there are other issues probably with fire management, etc.

There, I said it lol.

Flame away. Wink wink.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I will be the one to disagree on gaskets to seal up the smoker. It is a smoker, not a pressure cooker, and if a little bit of leakage causes such an issue with temperature management, there are other issues probably with fire management, etc.

There, I said it lol.

Flame away. Wink wink.

Won't argue with you, but it depends upon how large the leak.

I had an Old Country Brazos with a sprung door. There was a gap in the lower left corner that was around 1/2" . And the gap continued all along the bottom of the door.

I tried RTV red sealant but the gap was too large and ended up using clamps on the lower corners to get the door to close.

Here's a biscuit test I did before I fixed the leak, and notice how the biscuits all along the door side of the grate are not nearly as brown as the others ( and that's not a factor of more light ) . And the one in the left corner, door side, was doughy.

That leak did all kinds of funny things to the temps and air flow inside the cook chamber.

BTW, I also learned that a smoker with a baffle in the cook chamber and exhaust at grate level, doesn't work well with tuning plates.

 

[Displaced Texan]

Won't argue with you, but it depends upon how large the leak.

I had an Old Country Brazos with a sprung door. There was a gap in the lower left corner that was around 1/2" . And the gap continued all along the bottom of the door.

I tried RTV red sealant but the gap was too large and ended up using clamps on the lower corners to get the door to close.

Here's a biscuit test I did before I fixed the leak, and notice how the biscuits all along the door side of the grate are not nearly as brown as the others ( and that's not a factor of more light ) . And the one in the left corner, door side, was doughy.

That leak did all kinds of funny things to the temps and air flow inside the cook chamber.

View attachment 659146

So that sounds like build quality, which is part of what I was going for when I said you would have bigger issues with temperature. I just see a lot of people buying a smoker that is otherwise built very well with small leaks around the edges and immediately trying to stop them. Yeah, in your case, it would probably be necessary. Here, we don't know if the OP has those issues, unless I missed it, and people are suggesting gasket material.

 

[Smokin Okie]

So that sounds like build quality, which is part of what I was going for when I said you would have bigger issues with temperature. I just see a lot of people buying a smoker that is otherwise built very well with small leaks around the edges and immediately trying to stop them. Yeah, in your case, it would probably be necessary. Here, we don't know if the OP has those issues, unless I missed it, and people are suggesting gasket material.

True. He does not know what he's got , yet.

But sprung doors are common with all offsets when the door is cut out of rolled steel.

This vid should start Sonny Moberg explaining the problem at the 7 minute mark.

 

[Smokin Okie]

The fix for my Brazos was not hard. Clamps in both lower corners along with a bead of RTV red sealant was all it took.

 

[fxsales1959]

Yesterday my wife and I were at Lowe's home improvement to get her some paint for a craft project she has going on and I swung by the grills and was looking at an OK JOE Highland when she said to me, "you have been wanting a new grill, do you want to get that one?" I was almost too stunned to reply but I did mange to squeak out YES. so I have a new OK JOE highland on its way soon. I can hardly wait to try it out.
I love that woman
That being said, can you guys recommend some must have accesories that I will need for my new smoker. I already have a charcoal chimney that I bought at the same time I bought the OK Joe and I have a remote thermometer from my previous smoker.

Google and consideer all/most of the mods. I bought the highland reverse flow. I did "lava tape" and RTV sealant on all appropriaet places. also bought lid clamps. I'm probably going to sell mine,as it takes up too much space amongst my other 6 "appliances". and it's too much work on really long cooks, plus there's not much good wood to buy in S. Florida. There's a plenty of" groups with good recommendations on the interwebs.

 

[SmokyMose]

I will be the one to disagree on gaskets to seal up the smoker. It is a smoker, not a pressure cooker, and if a little bit of leakage causes such an issue with temperature management, there are other issues probably with fire management, etc.

There, I said it lol.

Flame away. Wink wink.

I agree with the pressure cooker analogy. That's why I didn't do anything with any of the doors, which actually fit pretty well. I guess I just don't like leaky fireboxes.
Forgot to mention that I also sealed around where the stack attaches, which is a pretty loose fit.
I don't like leaky stacks, either.
This is my second offset. The hinges on the firebox door of my six year old CharGriller rusted solid a couple of years ago. I'm not new to fire management....

 

[Newglide]

I am giving the Pitt Boss to my son so If I ever really need it back I can get it.

Good call. He'll get good use of it and you can always get it back if the offset doesn't work out.
Before you spend a lot of time and money on upgrades and mods I'd just cook on it and see what works and doesn't work for you. Use it as the manufacturer intended first.

What part of the Piedmont are you in? I'm in Kernersville here

 

[old sarge]

My first dedicated smoker was an offset - Brinkman Smoke-N-Pit pro. It was a great and wonderful change from smoking on the old Weber kettle. After several years, and getting lazy (long smokes required several feedings of wood) I went electric. The food coming out of the stick burner was great. I actually miss it (my son offered it to a friend after a couple years of non-use). I think you will like it. And unless you have a generous son, hang on to the pellet pooper! Enjoy!!

 

[Displaced Texan]

True. He does not know what he's got , yet.

But sprung doors are common with all offsets when the door is cut out of rolled steel.

This vid should start Sonny Moberg explaining the problem at the 7 minute mark.

What I saw is he explained why there is no comparison between a Moberg or other big name, or small name like my Bell Fab, pit vs a mass production Okie Joe, Char Broil, etc. He talks about the added metal pieces in the door to prevent the gaps that cause potential large leaks.

Speaking of Char Broil, I made barbecue on one for about 15 years and it leaked like a sieve and I managed it anyway and made good barbecue.

Not trying to talk anyone out of adding gasket material, I just think it is unnecessary 99% of the time.

 

[Smokin Okie]

What I saw is he explained why there is no comparison between a Moberg or other big name, or small name like my Bell Fab, pit vs a mass production Okie Joe, Char Broil, etc. He talks about the added metal pieces in the door to prevent the gaps that cause potential large leaks.

Speaking of Char Broil, I made barbecue on one for about 15 years and it leaked like a sieve and I managed it anyway and made good barbecue.

Not trying to talk anyone out of adding gasket material, I just think it is unnecessary 99% of the time.

But if you listened closely , he said " they still move " . He's trying to prevent it , but it can happen, even to a Moberg. His final warning about " if you think you know steel, you've not worked with steel long enough " left the door open.

And its very obvious, the quality control on a $5,000 pit is gonna be much higher than Old Country cranking out a Pecos as cheap as possible or an Okie Joe from Home Depot. Doesn't need to be said.

 

[Displaced Texan]

But if you listened closely , he said " they still move " . He's trying to prevent it , but it can happen, even to a Moberg. His final warning about " if you think you know steel, you've not worked with steel long enough " left the door open.

And its very obvious, the quality control on a $5,000 pit is gonna be much higher than Old Country cranking out a Pecos as cheap as possible or an Okie Joe from Home Depot. Doesn't need to be said.

Lol, I didn't hear him say, if it still moves, add gasket material.

Anyway, gasket away if folks want to.

 

[daniels]

I will be the one to disagree on gaskets to seal up the smoker. It is a smoker, not a pressure cooker, and if a little bit of leakage causes such an issue with temperature management, there are other issues probably with fire management, etc.

There, I said it lol.

Flame away. Wink wink.

I agree with you 100%.

Offset smokers started as a makeshift arrangement for smoking food in the oil fields. They're not precision equipment and don't need to be. If you have a stamped sheet metal smoker a bit of leaking is the least of your worries but I'll bet you can still get some excellent smoked meats out of it by just burning part of another stick of wood during a smoke to make up for their inefficiency.

Look at how many homemade smokers are made and people still get wonderful results.

All I care about is can I get the smoker up to temperature and hold it reasonably close to that temperature! I haven't failed yet after a couple of practice smokes to get the hang of managing the fire on a new piece of equipment.

 

[Displaced Texan]

I will go further and say baffles and tuning plates are not necessary either. Mad scientist and others have caused a lot of over thinking IMHO. Ask me how I know lol.

I know that is not going to be a popular opinion, but part of the fun is learning how to master the equipment you bought. That's just me.

Again, not a single mod on my old cheap Char Broil. Well, except I drilled a hole and installed a temperature probe.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I will go further and say baffles and tuning plates are not necessary either. Mad scientist and others have caused a lot of over thinking IMHO. Ask me how I know lol.

Tuning plate with a baffle works on a bottom up smoker that exhausts out the top of the cook chamber, i.e. Yoder or Horizon or any old Okie Joe.

But a baffle, especially coupled with tuning plates with a grate level exhaust , just sends most of the heat/air under the meats and out the smoker.

How do I know ? Been there, done that, and got pics of a whole bunch of biscuit tests on an OC Brazos

 

[Displaced Texan]

Tuning plate with a baffle works on a bottom up smoker that exhausts out the top of the cook chamber, i.e. Yoder or Horizon or any old Okie Joe.

But a baffle, especially coupled with tuning plates with a grate level exhaust , just sends most of the heat/air under the meats and out the smoker.

How do I know ? Been there, done that, and got pics of a whole bunch of biscuit tests on an OC Brazos

I'm glad that all works for you.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Even though it's not an offset, I went through the same stuff with my WSM. Lid and side door leaks drove me nuts at first. I just learned to deal with.

 

[chopsaw]

I have a new OK JOE highland on its way soon. I can hardly wait to try it out.

Sounds good . Everyone that does this should have one at some point . I only had a cheaper one , but still miss it at times . The food has a flavor you can't get from other smokers .
Best advice I can give is to echo keeping the ash cleaned out of it . Get a metal trash can with the locking lid bail as suggested above . I have one that I use for my kettles and pellet grill . That ash stays hot longer than you think . I clean mine the day after I cook , and it still has some hot embers . Leaving ash in the smoker is extremely corrosive especially if it gets wet .
I would use it as is to start , then you can figure what else you need . Enjoy . and let us know when it gets there .

 

[LazyK68]

I started with a WSM, moved to a thin metal offset, now I'm running a Lang. I burned out my thin firebox by not cleaning the ash. Now I use a tired vacuum to suck out the ash, from everywhere I can reach, the day after.
I would agree to run your new smoker as is and make calculated mods. Just like anything manufactured, it will be unique in certain ways.
My eureka moment was when I realized that I'm heating the steel for the cooking process and the smoke is the flavor. Fire management is a craft in offsets. But the results of your learning are delicious. Think of splits as Subway sandwich size to bread loaf size. I've used B&B charcoal to get started, and flavor woods in bags at Academy Sports. (Kinda cheating but I travel too much for work.) Place your next split on top of the firebox to get it almost burning, so when added you don't get much white smoke. Kindling cracker on Amazon is helpful.
Have fun, the work is worth the flavor!