- Jun 29, 2017
- 3
- 11
Hello guys and gals,
Been cooking and smoking meat for a while now and did not know all of the things that I could have been doing correctly until I started lurking on the BBQ forums trying to figure out which pellet smoker I wanted to purchase. Was looking at MAK, Yoder, Karubeque, etc and trying to determine where I wanted to spend the big bucks to get a smoker. Been using a Little Chief with fair results for years. Had almost decided on a MAK One Star General but was still not satisfied with the size. Had seen the Louisiana Champion grill at Costco in Camas WA where I live but had not yet added it to my list because it was big and uninsulated. Was trying to justify spending $1800 on a pellet grill to my wife who was the one who wanted to give me one for Father's Day, my birthday, and any other holiday that was coming up since the cost was so high. Started a spreadsheet with pellets per hour, grate size, cost, etc to try to compare more closely. Reading all of the forums that I could find and reviews to see which grill/smoker I could get with the most features. Would love to use an offset but work prevents me from spending that much time on this hobby. One day, I am getting ready to leave work for the 1 hour commute home from Hood River, OR when I get a call from her. "There are two of these Louisiana Champion systems left, do you want me to pick one up for you?" I said yes. When I got home, it was in my son's truck, in the garage. I started unboxing it. Then I had to go teach a class and had to leave with her for two hours. Took the manual with me to read if I had a spare minute. Did not get the chance. Came home to find two of my sons putting it together. I got to put the control box/pellet storage on because the rest was put together. It is a great grill/smoker with a large grill, hot smoke chamber, and cold smoke chamber for those not familiar. Now I want to load it up with pork butts, brisket, bacon, sausage, fattys, cheese, etc. I have done two pop can chickens, one bacon wrapped venison tenderloin, and burgers in it so far. Thank you for all of your advice and knowledge that I have gleaned already from this site. I am just now trying to figure out how to mod the side boxes with Tom's offset cheese smoking mods and trying to determine where to bring the cold smoke into the unit. Nights are still cool enough that I may be able to smoke some cheese before it gets too hot to do that.
Thanks again for all of your knowledge and I am looking forward to many great conversations to come.
Been cooking and smoking meat for a while now and did not know all of the things that I could have been doing correctly until I started lurking on the BBQ forums trying to figure out which pellet smoker I wanted to purchase. Was looking at MAK, Yoder, Karubeque, etc and trying to determine where I wanted to spend the big bucks to get a smoker. Been using a Little Chief with fair results for years. Had almost decided on a MAK One Star General but was still not satisfied with the size. Had seen the Louisiana Champion grill at Costco in Camas WA where I live but had not yet added it to my list because it was big and uninsulated. Was trying to justify spending $1800 on a pellet grill to my wife who was the one who wanted to give me one for Father's Day, my birthday, and any other holiday that was coming up since the cost was so high. Started a spreadsheet with pellets per hour, grate size, cost, etc to try to compare more closely. Reading all of the forums that I could find and reviews to see which grill/smoker I could get with the most features. Would love to use an offset but work prevents me from spending that much time on this hobby. One day, I am getting ready to leave work for the 1 hour commute home from Hood River, OR when I get a call from her. "There are two of these Louisiana Champion systems left, do you want me to pick one up for you?" I said yes. When I got home, it was in my son's truck, in the garage. I started unboxing it. Then I had to go teach a class and had to leave with her for two hours. Took the manual with me to read if I had a spare minute. Did not get the chance. Came home to find two of my sons putting it together. I got to put the control box/pellet storage on because the rest was put together. It is a great grill/smoker with a large grill, hot smoke chamber, and cold smoke chamber for those not familiar. Now I want to load it up with pork butts, brisket, bacon, sausage, fattys, cheese, etc. I have done two pop can chickens, one bacon wrapped venison tenderloin, and burgers in it so far. Thank you for all of your advice and knowledge that I have gleaned already from this site. I am just now trying to figure out how to mod the side boxes with Tom's offset cheese smoking mods and trying to determine where to bring the cold smoke into the unit. Nights are still cool enough that I may be able to smoke some cheese before it gets too hot to do that.
Thanks again for all of your knowledge and I am looking forward to many great conversations to come.
