OFFSET BUILD VS. REC TEC?

[c14james35]

Right now I have a chargriller offset with a few mods. Its my first smoker had it for about 3 years or so. It runs just fine the majority of the time but I want to up grade. I really like the ease of use and set and forget feature of the pellet being that it can be hard to find time to baby sit a stick burner plus I work alot of OT in the nicer months of the year and it would be nice to throw something on in the morning and come home and it almost be done. However im worried about not getting the same smoke and bark I can get out of an offset.Also I am a union sheetmetal worker, a lot of the work I do is fabbing and welding and I have access to any equipment and material I need. I think it would be really bad ass to build one out of black iron and dress it out in some polished stainless, maybe a reverse flow. But I want it to stay nice and im worried about high temp engine paints peeling or burning off.Im also worried that with a pellet I wont be able to use it in rain and snow unlike a offset. Anyone have any suggestions or pros and cons verse the two?

 

[seenred]

I cooked on a Rec Tec pellet cooker for a few years. Here are my thoughts on your questions:

You're never gonna get the same smoke flavor from a pellet cooker that you get from a stick burner. Pellet grills burn very clean, producing a subtle smoke taste. You can increase the smoke flavor some with a tube smoker accessory, but it'll never make the same smoke flavor of a stick burner.

I wouldn't worry about cooking in winter weather...I ran my RT year round, in rain, snow, whatever, and it always performed well in all conditions.

All boils down to what you want...if you're handy and like building stuff, a nice reverse flow build could be the way to go. If set and forget is more important to you, the pellet cooker might be for you.

And lastly, I wouldn't presume to tell another what to do...a grown man makes his own decisions. But I have never gone to work (or anywhere else for that matter) and left a burning smoker at home unattended. Where fire is concerned, there are too many bad things can happen...even with a set and forget cooker. At best, you could ruin an expensive hunk of meat if your temps spiked while you're gone...at worst, you could burn up your smoker (or your house!). It's true that I know of guys who do it, but I want to be there when things go sideways.

Just one man's 2 cents...whatever you decide, you can get good advice from plenty of good folks here who have built or cooked on a similar rig.

Red

 

[c14james35]

Well the old lady would be home anyways to keep an eye out. Thanks for the input though, im kind of leaning towards a build.