Thoughts on Oklahoma Joe Highland Smoker

[MilwaukeeBBQGuy]

Hey everyone -

Looking at possibly making the jump from a gas smoker to a offset smoker such as the Oklahoma Joe Highland. I'm not looking to spend a ton, since it's my first charcoal/wood smoker, but want something that is decent. What is everyone's thoughts on the Oklahoma Joe Highland? Does it hold its heat fairly well? Or is there another reasonably priced charcoal offset smoker that I should be looking at.

All opinions welcome, thanks!

 

[terryd]

I had the Highland and liked it but I prefer a vertical so I've moved on to a Bandera.

The Highland was well made and ran good, I had some difficulty keeping the temperature difference down but in hind site, I think that was lack of experience more than anything.

If you've never owned or used a charcoal grill before, let alone a smoker, you'll want to do some reading up on fire control and proper smoke vs dirty smoke. The SIZE of the fire has more to do with smoke quality and temperature than the damper settings.

Also consider a wash tub or even an inexpensive charcoal grill to keep a running bed of coals to add to the smoker fire box as you need or pull coals to if your temperature is too high. I use one of my Weber kettles as a fire pit when running my Bandera.

The Highland has a good amount of space and is well made for the price. You should be able to find a used one for reasonable money in your area. I see them quite often on FB in my area for a fraction of the new price. Folks get them and then realize that a 16hr brisket smoke takes pretty much 16hr of attention and lose interest.

 

[cansmoke]

Hey everyone -

Looking at possibly making the jump from a gas smoker to a offset smoker such as the Oklahoma Joe Highland. I'm not looking to spend a ton, since it's my first charcoal/wood smoker, but want something that is decent. What is everyone's thoughts on the Oklahoma Joe Highland? Does it hold its heat fairly well? Or is there another reasonably priced charcoal offset smoker that I should be looking at.

All opinions welcome, thanks!

When it comes to keeping heat in, it is great. I go out 1 to 1 1/2 hours after I'm done and grill still hot enough to cook on. Some nights when I go to cover it up for the night in case of rain the coals are still glowing. Not getting covered those nights! My one issue is there is no warming area but that is minor compared to the gain with OKI Joe's ability to keep temperatures.

 

[MilwaukeeBBQGuy]

When it comes to keeping heat in, it is great. I go out 1 to 1 1/2 hours after I'm done and grill still hot enough to cook on. Some nights when I go to cover it up for the night in case of rain the coals are still glowing. Not getting covered those nights! My one issue is there is no warming area but that is minor compared to the gain with OKI Joe's ability to keep temperatures.

If you're doing a longer cook, say 8-10 hours, how often do you have to tend to the fire?

 

[MilwaukeeBBQGuy]

I had the Highland and liked it but I prefer a vertical so I've moved on to a Bandera.

The Highland was well made and ran good, I had some difficulty keeping the temperature difference down but in hind site, I think that was lack of experience more than anything.

If you've never owned or used a charcoal grill before, let alone a smoker, you'll want to do some reading up on fire control and proper smoke vs dirty smoke. The SIZE of the fire has more to do with smoke quality and temperature than the damper settings.

Also consider a wash tub or even an inexpensive charcoal grill to keep a running bed of coals to add to the smoker fire box as you need or pull coals to if your temperature is too high. I use one of my Weber kettles as a fire pit when running my Bandera.

The Highland has a good amount of space and is well made for the price. You should be able to find a used one for reasonable money in your area. I see them quite often on FB in my area for a fraction of the new price. Folks get them and then realize that a 16hr brisket smoke takes pretty much 16hr of attention and lose interest.

Thanks for the feedback. I have some experience with charcoal grills, but I'm sure there's a learning curve to the smoker stuff. How often were you messing with your offset during a cook?

 

[tag0401]

I love mine. For the price you can’t beat it. I am making mods to mine as I go to make it a little better but you can experiment and decide what you want to do with it. There is tons of info to read from people that use this smoker

 

[SmokinAl]

There are sure a lot of guys on here that have them & love them. Don’t hear too many bad things about them, although a lot of the guys do modify theirs to make them more efficient.
Al

 

[Wasi]

I had the reverse flow for a few years and I loved it. Keep in mind you will probably want to do some basic mods when you get it before you use it. High temp seal when installing and sealing the firebox is key or it will leak smoke. Also will be doing more babysitting when smoking with it as it is not set and forget it when keeping temps constant. It really is a well put together smoker. This site has everything you can add to your smoker. Not all of it is needed but it is specific to your smoker. https://bbqsmokermods.com/oem-smoker-mods-by-brand/oklahoma-joe-s/highland.html

 

[Berettaclayshooter]

I have the highland reverse, out of the box it was okay, I did two things that made it work much better. Since it's a reverse the stack is near the fire box, but the stock stack was too short to get enough draw so I made a new much longer one. The second is it came with baffles to make it a reverse, they were too high and too thin. I made another out of 1/4" steel plate and made it lower in the cook chamber. I also added gasket and sealed the firebox with high-temp RTV.
I use charcoal only to get a coal bed and then stick burn. The length of time in between refueling depends on a lot; how warm or cold it is, if it's windy, how dry your wood is, how thick the splits are that your using.

As a really rough out there time @ 70f. on a pretty calm day 5-10mph winds running dry seasoned oak that's about 3"-4" square I get about 50mins to an hour before it needs another split. Now that's on my smoker with said heavy baffle and such. They are now owned by charbroil and made in China, the paint is a joke, but a rattle can of high-temp paint and a wire brush fixes that.

 

[uncle eddie]

I had to use my brother in laws OJ smoker a few times at his lake house. The first time was tough - did it wrong...more or less grilled things by the fire box - but it was still good.

I knew we would be back many times and I would be asked to smoke meats again and again so I studied up on SMF about the OJ Smoker...spent a few dollars to mod his smoker (he has no idea!)...and did really well.

Bottom line, when I am drinking a brewski by Table Rock Lake, I really don't mind the OJ Smoker for short smokes (3 hours or less), but I tire of tending the fire for longer smokes. But that is just me. I know some guys who would gladly stay up all night tending fires and being smoking purists. I do believe the OJ Smoker makes a fine smoked meat though.

 

[JWFokker]

Oklahoma Joe smokers are decent, but for the same money or a little more, Old Country Smokers are much heavier and better built. You can find them at Academy.

 

[MilwaukeeBBQGuy]

Thank you so much, everyone for your feedback and information. Still mulling over what to do, and then need to convince the wife! :-)

 

[Berettaclayshooter]

Sometimes you just have to do things and ask for forgiveness later. Like make her a well cooked meal on the smoker. GO MEAT!