oklahoma joe's smoker?

[northernsmoker]

I'm debating between the OK Joe and the Brikmann trailmaster vertical smoker. Both are the same price range and need modifications.
I smoke mostly beef ribs and wondered which one I should get? I don't care so much for perfect temperature etc, I smoke for 5 hrs and finish in the oven.

S

 

[cman55]

 
I'm debating between the OK Joe and the Brikmann trailmaster vertical smoker. Both are the same price range and need modifications.
I smoke mostly beef ribs and wondered which one I should get? I don't care so much for perfect temperature etc, I smoke for 5 hrs and finish in the oven.

S

I own the OKJ and from what I've read, at the price point we're talking about... $400-$500, The Joe is your best bet. Just make sure you do a really good visual inspection on it in the store you're buying it from. Make sure the chamber door lines up straight along with the firebox. You're better off picking one preassembled off the floor for delivery too. They're heavy and with a decent amount of care (covering, etc..), should last quite a few years.

 

[northernsmoker]

 
I own the OKJ and from what I've read, at the price point we're talking about... $400-$500, The Joe is your best bet. Just make sure you do a really good visual inspection on it in the store you're buying it from. Make sure the chamber door lines up straight along with the firebox. You're better off picking one preassembled off the floor for delivery too. They're heavy and with a decent amount of care (covering, etc..), should last quite a few years.

Went Back to Lowes and they were out of everything. So I took the OK Joe Highland display model for $300 Canadian :)
Comparing to my old $100 peace of Junk that had more holes than Swiss Cheese this looks like professional unit. 

Can't wait to start using it.

 

[cman55]

 

 
I own the OKJ and from what I've read, at the price point we're talking about... $400-$500, The Joe is your best bet. Just make sure you do a really good visual inspection on it in the store you're buying it from. Make sure the chamber door lines up straight along with the firebox. You're better off picking one preassembled off the floor for delivery too. They're heavy and with a decent amount of care (covering, etc..), should last quite a few years.

Went Back to Lowes and they were out of everything. So I took the OK Joe Highland display model for $300 Canadian :)
Comparing to my old $100 peace of Junk that had more holes than Swiss Cheese this looks like professional unit. 

Can't wait to start using it.

You won't be sorry and congrats! Welcome to the wonderful world of stick burning. First thing you do while seasoning it is to note the smoke leak points. It will leak some and you'll want to address that soon as you can. The next mod would be to get a heat baffle plate. If you know any machinists or have access to that kind of equipment, do a search on this site for "OKJ Mods". You'll be surprised at the ingenuity of the folks when it comes to their OKJ's. If you want to use a gasket around the cooking chamber, I would look into buying the gasket for the large BGE. Cut the long way and glued to the OKJ, they will cut down on your smoke leakage significantly.

Let me know how things work out!

Cman

 

[thatcho]

Good news found one used but in good condition 150. I was wondering who has made the charcoal basket?

 

[beef4me]

Hey Thatcho, I made my own, I watched this video on youtube and copied him...works great

 

[thatcho]

Beef4Me looks like i will be making one myself also. I am looking at adding some type of baffles or plates also. Thnks for link

 

[thatcho]

Cmann55 we have a fireplace store that has all types of rope gaskets on spools looks like i will be getting some. Thnks for the info

 

[valleypoboy]

Lots of good info in this thread: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127173/temperature-control-for-my-oklahoma-joe-longhorn
The basket is pretty easy. You just need some expanded steel and a way to cut it. Just make sure you don't make it too big. I made mine 12" x 11" and it BARELY fits into the fire box.
Be sure to watch Adamstonad's youtube video. There's lots of great mods that can be done to this smoker.

 

[tallon713]

For those trying to decide.....I just want to say that I own the brinkmann TMLE and finally saw a Okie Joe at walmart. What a differance!!! The Brinkmann is thin metal, maybe 1/8" and all bolt together some spot welds in the cc. If I wasn't set on a1/4" pit I would buy the Joe in an instant. The quality is better, the steel is better, the fire box is better.....Its just better!!! Don't even think about the brinkmann, all the time and money I have put into mine I'll never get back and still don't like it. GET THE JOE! hope this helps.

 

[smokin tim]

I have an Oklahoma Joe horizontal smoker and am having trouble getting a fairly consistent temperature. I have to constantly open the firebox door and then temp drops, so I then shut the box but the temp spikes back up too high so I open it up until temp drops again. I am having to do this too much. What am I doing wrong?? I fill my chimney with charcoal till white, then I put them in firebox along with a little wood.

Thank you for any suggestions...........Smokin' Tim...

 

[cman55]

 
I have an Oklahoma Joe horizontal smoker and am having trouble getting a fairly consistent temperature. I have to constantly open the firebox door and then temp drops, so I then shut the box but the temp spikes back up too high so I open it up until temp drops again. I am having to do this too much. What am I doing wrong?? I fill my chimney with charcoal till white, then I put them in firebox along with a little wood.

Thank you for any suggestions...........Smokin' Tim...

Well Tim, I'd would start by looking at how you have your dampers set up. Basically, your far end damper will control your airflow which in turn, controls your temp. Leave the far end damper full open and control the temps with the firebox damper. Next, get a heat baffle plate. This will distribute the heat and smoke throughout the cooking chamber. You may have noticed that your OKJ is hotter on the firebox side than the far end. A baffle plate will eliminate this. Lastly, charcoal briquettes burn hot so try Lump Charcoal. Far less ash to clean out which means less rust. If you really want a more thorough temp monitoring system, the OKJ has an additional thermometer port so purchase one and install. That should give you a pretty good window into what's going on in your cooking chamber. I've added 2 additional thermometers at grate level so I have 4 on my OKJ. 

 

[tim harb]

I would first not use the temps gauges as accurate temp. get a thermometer and put in and all the way through the potatoe (use it as a stand but not to where the temp of the grates will affect the reading) or buy an actual oven remote thermometer.  You take temps at grate level. The ones on top are not all that great especially if the fire box is open. I would also find a small flat cookie sheet that is the right size to fit under your grates. You can cut one at like 6 inch or 4 inch. spread these around with larger gaps at the stack end and thinner gaps in beginning. You can add and remove to adjust. I always had better luck if I kept one plate under the 3 inch elbow I installed to force the smoke and heat to circulate. then I put a temp probe at before the elbow and one 4 inches from the fire box opening at grate level. When you cure your smoker after a cleaning you can adjust to get it with in 20 degree temps of each other. (slight temp difference can be used to your advantage.) Now with the briskets buring too quickly and hot can be what your using and how your using it. First find a good quality charcoal.  Stubbs is what a lot of smokers recommend. You can even order from Walmart and have it delivered site to store sometimes.... Next make a minion basket out of expanded metal. You can get it from Lowes home depot ect. You can look up videos on how to do it. or you can buy one and have it shipped for your smoker. Put the fuel in there unlit. I usually use a mix of wood and stubb or even blue bag. get like 4-8 briquettes and get them white and put in a corner on top of the unlit fuel. or if you like you can get wood chips and get them started and use them as a starter for smoky flavor. (do what you prefer and experiment.) This usually will control heat issues after it raises temp and can make your fuel usage decreased. I normally put in most corner. this makes it so air can get under the coals as then cook. I ran into issues when lighting them near the fire box adjustment that it can ash and close the gap and choke the temp but if away from the opening it can make it last longer. The minion method has produced the best results with me. I tried to get the baffle plate and it wouldn't let temps work in mine. I have seen where some people have issues and others don't. I would also sugest that you get some thick oven flat rope to seal the fire box door and even the main cooking door. This will help with temp control as well. 

 

[fishegg]

OK pic 1.jpg

• fishegg
• Oct 14, 2015

OK pic 2.jpg

• fishegg
• Oct 14, 2015

OK pic 3.jpg

• fishegg
• Oct 14, 2015

I believe I have found an older model OK Joe, the can looks like 1/4 inch to me. Its for sale but about 3 hours away. Can anyone help me identify this model? There is no website that supports the OK Joe line of smokers that I can find right now. Also, can anyone please tell me what the cut off date is for the old to new? I won't mind making a run for it if it's worth it. I don't see any out there now with a pull out ash drawer, thank you very much for your time.

 

[simko]

Good Morning Everyone!

I just purchased a second hand (used once?) OKJ Highland smoker. For the price point (i paid 100 cad) I feel as if this was my best buy, I plan on building a horizontal offset smoker in the future, no time for that now.

Before i start using this thing, i plan on taking some of it apart, cleaning it down and doing a few simple modifications. I was hoping i could list a few things, and hopefully someone will chime in if theres a better option , I tried reading through this thread but i see that different people have results with different methods.

1. Sealing cracks, some are using high heat RTV (red stuff) whereas others are using some kind of fiberglass ? (is that correct?) Is one better than the other?

2.  A plate on the bottom? Is this to reflect heat from the bottom to raise the internal temperature towards the cooking surface? Not sure I understand the purpose of this

3. A plate that closes the opening between the firebox and cook chamber? Again, I dont understand the purpose

4. Adding thermometers at the cooking rack level, makes sense, what are good thermometers to get for this?

5. a bit of ductwork to stop smoke from escaping the cook chamber so quickly

6. expanded metal basket for wood and charcoal

7. Sealing the doors, looks like felt gaskets burn out, 1/2" stove rope is too big,  does anyone have success with anything that doesnt burn out?

8. Adding latches to keep the doors clamped shut (can someone let me know what these latches are called?)

Am i missing anything else? thanks in advance everyone, looking forward to setting this thing up :)

 

[vthokies92]

IMG_8356.JPG

• vthokies92
• May 12, 2017

Help. I already have a nice Weber Summit gas grill but I want to do REAL BBQ and smoke. I like the Okie Joe because it is much heavier, sturdier,  and better built than the Char Broil and Brinkman knockoffs.  Can you give some specifics about the mods you are making: diffuser plate, door locks, etc? I appreciate your help.

I bought the Oklahoma Joe's Highland reverse flow smoker from Amazon for $380 with ree shipping and it was delivered in the box in great condition. This model has tuning plates already with it and the only thing I had to do was add the caulking on the seams and gasket on the doors. it's an awesome low-price smoker.

 

[vthokies92]

I would get the black RTV paint. I got it for mine and it looks great. I don't like the red.
The latches I got are called smoker toggle latches.
I rely on the thermometers that go in the smoker and in the meat. I bought the ones for the door but don't really rely on it.

 

[vthokies92]

Good Morning Everyone!

I just purchased a second hand (used once?) OKJ Highland smoker. For the price point (i paid 100 cad) I feel as if this was my best buy, I plan on building a horizontal offset smoker in the future, no time for that now.

Before i start using this thing, i plan on taking some of it apart, cleaning it down and doing a few simple modifications. I was hoping i could list a few things, and hopefully someone will chime in if theres a better option , I tried reading through this thread but i see that different people have results with different methods.

1. Sealing cracks, some are using high heat RTV (red stuff) whereas others are using some kind of fiberglass ? (is that correct?) Is one better than the other?

2.  A plate on the bottom? Is this to reflect heat from the bottom to raise the internal temperature towards the cooking surface? Not sure I understand the purpose of this

3. A plate that closes the opening between the firebox and cook chamber? Again, I dont understand the purpose

4. Adding thermometers at the cooking rack level, makes sense, what are good thermometers to get for this?

5. a bit of ductwork to stop smoke from escaping the cook chamber so quickly

6. expanded metal basket for wood and charcoal

7. Sealing the doors, looks like felt gaskets burn out, 1/2" stove rope is too big,  does anyone have success with anything that doesnt burn out?

8. Adding latches to keep the doors clamped shut (can someone let me know what these latches are called?)


Am i missing anything else? thanks in advance everyone, looking forward to setting this thing up :)

Go for the black RTV caulk it looks much better than the red.
The latches are called smoker toggle latches - check Amazon for both

 

[vthokies92]

The Lava Lock gaskets work great.
I got the thermo pro wireless thermometer. one goes on the rack the other goes in the meat, it's excellent