Old Country BBQ Pits Wrangler Smoker Review

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Thanks for the info ButtBurner.  It's hard to tell on the Internet.  I looked for it in Lowe's and Home Depot, and both have it on the web for $40...but my local stores had none in stock at either place.  Glad to know it a nice cover.

I'll let you know how it turns out Lance.  You're right...should be able to make it work, regardless. 
 
If you google search bbq pit tuning plates you can see photos of them. Basically i cut out 3 1/4in steel plates and i placed them in the smoking chamber. They are long enough so tht they sit against the side of it about 5in above the very bottom of smoking chamber an right above the edge of the baffel coming from firebox.
Lance, since we will have the same smoker (when mine arrives) what is the width and length I need to have those 1/4" tuning plates cut to?
 
4"x15.75"   i originally cut out 4 planing on getting the pecos but with the wider diameter making the overall cooking chamber shorter i only needed 3 of them to even the temp out on mine.    one thing you should know though it will be cooler where the baffle is at then in the rest of smoking chamber so you will want to start by placing your first plate about a third of the way over the baffle and work your way left towards stack with rest.   if start right by the baffle the heat will continue to flow under that first plate but with it overlapping a little over the end of the baffle and closing that gap between the 1st and 2nd plate to about a 1/4 in or so it should cause some of the heat and smoke to take a easier path of resistance and flow up the baffel to get around the plate and it will bring that cold spot up to temp to compare with the rest of the chambers temps.   i spent about 3 hrs holding a steady temp in my firebox with lump and wood splits to both season and adjust my tuning plates back and forth till i found even temps across the entire grate and to make sure i had smoke rising throughout so that my meats cooked even and smoked evenly as well.   they say no two smokers are the same but if you look at the pic of mine on my profile you should be able to eyeball the tuning plates locations for a easier and faster time of tuning it.
 
oh and also you can always get those plates in different thickness metal if youd like i just chose 1/4 in cuz i had it readily available in my welding shop at work and it helps hold the heat longer for when you open the lid or the firebox to add wood i feel it helps keep the smoking chamber from dropping temp as bad and keeps you from using bricks or ceramic blocks in the bottom if you felt like taking that route like some people on here do.
 
Just another route, take it or leave it, is to install a solid sheet and using a hole saw, cut holes in the sheet to allow the heat to come through where needed,: smaller less frequent holes near the firebox and increase the size and frequency as you get closer to the smoke stack.

Its a little more work to fabricate, but seams to even things out a lil better. I like to keep the holes more toward the outer edges and not so much in the center of the plate becouse I prefer the smoke to "drop down onto" rather than "rise up through", but thats a personal preference and either way it works out well.

If you have a plasma cutter, it makes very short work of the fab.
 
I would like to make a corection. The wrangler smoker is actualy 19in diameter by 30in long cooking chamber. Just measured it. The cooking grate in it is 16in by 25in
 
If you guys don't mind, I would like to ask a question. Did you take the Wrangler home with you? Or did you have them deliver? If they do deliver, what is the charge for that service?

I think that you have provide a wonderful education to us about the Wrangler. I am in the market for a small offset smoker and you just brought the Wrangler into Contention. Tomorrow, I am going to Uvalde, TX to visit with a fellow who custom makes 1/4 inch smokers. He has a 16 inch x 32 inch offset where the offset is 16 x 18 inches. This size works for me as a little over a month ago I ordered a Yoder YS 480 pellet grill which is fantastic. I also would like to have wood fired grill to work with as well. His price to me is $589.00 less 15 % for a military discount. I am retired Marine Corps. This means my price would be $500.00 plus options like a thermometer and perhaps now that you educated me, I will price the tuning plates which he can fabricate as well. I think that this will be about $50.00 for the plate the length of the grill with exception of the drip area. I might ask him for one with graduated holes from firebox to the stack. That is exactly what the expensive competition Yoder Wichita mode has installed.

The Wrangler on the other hand has 920 inches of cooking space and a very nice size for my patio. If this was 1/4 inch, this would be a no brainer for me. So tomorrow will tell the story. 

I want to thank you very much for such comprehensive analysis and a layman's description of your observations of this smoker.

Regards,

Ed
 
So the Pecos has more cook area? one challenge I have now is I can only get 4 st. Louis slabs in my New Braunfels smoker. I thought the wrangler was 3/16 thick but also had a larger smoke chamber?
The Wrangler is has around 920 sq inches of cooking surface and I think the Pecos has around 1,040 sq inches.  I'm actually heading back down to Academy shortly to pick up the Wranger so I'll double check.  While there might not be much difference between the cooking surface, you can really tell the difference in the steel.  Because of that, it made my decision easier to sacrifice a little cooking surface in favor of the thicker steel.
 
Oc makes a 1/4 model thats a little bigger but its 999. Personally if you have a contact tht will do one for 500 out of 1/4in id buy it. Unless you need the deeper cooking space. I bought mine at the store here in killeen tx outside of fort hood where im stationed but but mickhlr thats posted on this forum ordered his. He messaged me saying it cost 80 for shipping If you need photos i have them on my profile because i know se academy sports dont have every old country model like they do here
 
Hey thank you for the information. I just got off the phone with Academy in Shertz, TX and will deliver for $85.00 via an outside service. They set it up and get it scheduled. I pay Academy for the grill and then I pay the company that delivers separately.

Good info.

Ed
 
Just got back from picking mine up.  I've already got the chimney going and am going to season it tonight.  As Ed said, they were going to charge me $85 to deliver mine, so my buddy and I just picked it up.  You can also order the Wrangler online and they charge you $89 for shipping (anywhere in the U.S.), so it's about the same.  As for the dimensions I promised, the Wrangler has 960 sq in, and the Pecos has 1,100, so you're only losing 140 sq in.  I've already got plans to make a larger top rack (which the Pecos does not have) and a couple of sausage hangers to go across the top.  If you're looking for a cheaper offset to get you started, you can't go wrong w/ the Wrangler.  As for how it cooks, I'll find that out on Monday.
 
Thanks for all the input about the wrangler. I'm in the Houston area and pits this style range from 500 to 2000. Called Academy in Pearland they have one with my name on it. Will pick up Tuesday am. Plan on using it for two partys this Friday and Saturday.
 
Thanks for all the input about the wrangler. I'm in the Houston area and pits this style range from 500 to 2000. Called Academy in Pearland they have one with my name on it. Will pick up Tuesday am. Plan on using it for two partys this Friday and Saturday.
I just did my first smoke on mine today and it was some of the best BBQ I've put out.  Ribs turned out a little drier then in the past, but I was using gas and a water pan, but the flavor was more amazing.  Now that I've seen how it runs w/ meat in there, I've got a better idea on what needs to done for next time.
 
I just did my first smoke on mine today and it was some of the best BBQ I've put out.  Ribs turned out a little drier then in the past, but I was using gas and a water pan, but the flavor was more amazing.  Now that I've seen how it runs w/ meat in there, I've got a better idea on what needs to done for next time.
Good info grillin_all_day!  Can't wait to get my Wrangler fired up this weekend...hopefully.  It's supposed to be delivered Thursday.  I've also been smoking on the GOSM Big Block...for many years.  And, it always produced some great ribs.  So, I know I'll have the same learning curve.  But, I'm up to the challenge!  Did you do the 3-2-1 method on the ribs?

Were you able to get temperature readings from all parts of your smoker?  Just wondering how big of a difference from front to back.  I did get the tuning plates sizes from lphamilton1 above.  So, if mine has a lot of difference in temp, I'll just have to get them cut.  I don't want any hot spots to have to worry about. 
 
Good info grillin_all_day!  Can't wait to get my Wrangler fired up this weekend...hopefully.  It's supposed to be delivered Thursday.  I've also been smoking on the GOSM Big Block...for many years.  And, it always produced some great ribs.  So, I know I'll have the same learning curve.  But, I'm up to the challenge!  Did you do the 3-2-1 method on the ribs?

Were you able to get temperature readings from all parts of your smoker?  Just wondering how big of a difference from front to back.  I did get the tuning plates sizes from lphamilton1 above.  So, if mine has a lot of difference in temp, I'll just have to get them cut.  I don't want any hot spots to have to worry about. 
I tried to stick to the 2-2-1 method since I was doing BB's.  It turned more into the 2.5-1.5-45 because I was making my sauce during the first part, and cut out 15 mins. because they were done.  If you can see the probe in this pic, I put it facing toward the meat, right in the middle of both racks.  The end of the probe is right around the middle of the chamber.  I would say that I've probably got around a 50 degree difference between the baffle side and exhaust.  I'm looking into tuning plates as well, but will probably have to wait until after my surgery and I'm back on my feet.


With whole splits, I had to add wood every hour to hour and fifteen minutes, but the temps were running a constant 258-268 with having to run with the top of the SFB cracked open because the fire was getting way too hot.  Once I cut some of the splits and threw half in, I was able to control the temps so much better, running between 225-250.  If I would have done that from the beginning, the ribs wouldn't have been overcooked.  Either way, it was still some good que.
 
grillin_all_day...great info!  Thanks for the feedback.  And, they do look good to me.  Lphamilton1 also said he had about a 50 degree difference.  That really isn't bad.  I watched a YouTube video from guy about how he was seasoning his Oklahoma Joe, and it had a 150 degree difference. 

Just noticed you are at BAFB.  My first duty assignment, and then where I retired from, 20 years later after returning from Ramstein.  After I retired and moved back, I was a member of the golf course there...played a lot of golf there...great course!  But then again, the Shreveport-Bossier area is full of great courses.  We lived out north Airline in Bayou Bend subdivision...we loved it out there. 
 
Just for thought if yall want to try a cheap fix that may help i read a forum on here about a guy with the wrangler also and he took tin foil and made a flat sheet a few inches long and folded the side up and offset it an inch or so from the baffle to make heat rise up where the baffel is and it helped for him. Because in the middle to end of mine its a few degrees off originally with tuning plated but the baffle is where it was 50degrees off from the stack end.
 
Picked mine up yesterday at Acadamy in Pearland,TX they only had one. The tab on vent fire box side was almost broke off .Talked to manager about price? Ended up getting 50 bucks off. So for 449.99 i got it.
 
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