I'm on my second Old Country smoker and have zero complaints. Both have been outstanding quality and an excellent value. Like yourself, the first one took a bit of time to convince the wife that it was something we just couldn't live without. Don't remember the name of the first one (Pecos?) but it was the $400 offset version from Academy. By the time we started building the new house my better half was convinced that a good smoker was second only to God. During construction we sold the $400 one to a friend and bought the All American Brazos. They are the exact same size and configuration but the Brazos is much heavier gauge of steel and has the double sealed lids on the CC and FB. Both were converted via modified turkey fryers to heat with propane and I just use a small stainless steel dog's water bowl for my smoker wood and set it right on top of the turkey fryer. It works great, I get all the benefits of cooking with a real fire (versus electric), all the wonderful flavors of smoked.meat, and it's as close to "set it and forget it" that you'll ever get. I've done literally hundreds of cooks on both units and never so much as a glitch with either one. IMHO, without really breaking into a much higher price point, I don't think you can do much better than an Old Country smoker.
Robert
