replacement

[in. pred]

been in need of some new steel for years. i found the rite price on one of my options and snagged it.

model

@250$ i couldnt pass it up. im an A1 cheapskate. but, ive had a chargriller combo from garage sale for 10yrs and loved it. i stepped into the offset just to have more room. i will likely just use the firebox for grilling steaks n stuff. i prefer the fire in the same chamber as my meat. that just seems way easier and more efficient from my experience.

seasoning it i felt there wasnt enough heat transfer to the cooking chamber. i did peak it at 300 in there but i had to leave ash door ajar to get there. kinda windy and 50* outside too though. lol thats a lot of steel to keep hot in a wind.

ill have to read up on tips for offset running. tips or links to past threads appreciated.

 

[Fueling Around]

Nice find. I had a cheap offset and it wasn't good at keeping heat.

 

[mneeley490]

Nice find. I had a cheap offset and it wasn't good at keeping heat.

Same. I spent more on the mods to get it workable, than I did on the offset.

 

[in. pred]

yea i knew going in what i was getting. i mainly got it because of the big cook chamber. and my old chargriller lasted a very long time with major neglect.( because it cost 50bucks. lol) i never expected it to last that long. if the paint is as good as the last one i should be happy. the side burner is just a bonus hibachi grill to me at this point. once a year ill do a bunch of butts for our legion. that will be nice not to run two smokers to get it done. lol
i couldnt tell big differences with the damper adjustments alone. and when i opened the firebox lid to add wood, chamber temp would plummet but bounce back fast. but like i said it was real windy too. had it out to cook the paint fumes off. i baked it for a couple hours with some wormy apple limbs as fuel. it seems to be just like i like it if left alone. im a low 200-225 guy for most stuff 160-180 for fish. thats where she ran unless i opened up the door. then she ran at 300. i didnt have a huge fire either. im not used to a big fire the way i have always run my smokers. i prefer the fire in same chamber for temp regulation ease and efficiency. i started smoking in my grill long ago so thats where that originated. it works great so stuck with it. ill get a lot of use out of the fire box for grilling steaks and stuff though. thats my favorite feature i think. time will tell what my impressions are of it. no play time today its freezing rain and 31* outside. :) by the time i get to cooking anything in this she will be seasoned up for sure. got plenty of seasoned redbud limbs to use up for playing.

im guessing splits would run hotter than rounds too. thats all i was feeding it was 2-3" rounds. kind of a lazy fire that way. next run will be 2" split hickory. then the next run will be my normal fire in smoke chamber test. its twice the size of my old one so ill need to work out the coal number to temp ratio. in time im sure it will get a divider in the cook chamber also to cut that back some. old dog trying to make a new trick fit his old ways