Well the Boss didn't have what i thought he had.

[mavrick813]

So, I talked to the Boss's brother today. He's the one that offered me the free Smoker. It seems that it's a $30-$50 smoker. He said he wasn't sure what it was called But said it was shaped like a tube. He was at work so he couldn't go outside and check. After doing some searching on the net for $50.00 smokers only things I could find were these small bullet shaped vertical smokers.

With that in mind, I am back in the position of shopping for what I want. A Nice Offset with decent cooking area. But I'm also very interested in Best quality, and Bang for Buck Models.

I am very interested in getting my hands on a Charbroil Double Door Offset Smoker.

BUT It seems the only place I am getting any luck with finding it is from Charbroil Direct, And they want $35.00 shipping, + an additional $75.00 Shipping. + the $200.00 ticket price. That's over $300.00 for a Smoker that retailed for $199.00 in 2004

So, I've resolved to look at other smokers. I have my eye on these 4:

Charbroil Silver Smoker,

Chargriller Smokin Pro,

Brinkmann 40" Smoke 'n Pit Charcoal Smoker

Chargriller Outlaw w/ optional Firebox.
I can't find a picture but it looks like the Smokin Pro but larger.

The Brinkman is the Largest, with 1200" and the Outlaw is obviously much larger then the other two, 1000" over 830" but does anyone have any experience with any of these?

I'm not educated in these matters but you guys have the experience so, please help me out. And if you'd steer me in another direction all together, i'm open to suggestions.

I'd like to keep the price in the range of $200-275.00 for the Smoker as I am easily going to spend a couple hundred more on Accessories, Lump, Coal, Cover, Thermometers etc etc...

Thanks
Mike

 

[watermelonslim]

You might want to wait and see what your boss has exactly before you go buy another one. He might have something like this:

That's the Char-Broil American Gourmet Smoker, Barbecue and Grill, currently $78.96 at Walmart. It's not the $30-$50 the guy said, but it's still pretty cheap and shaped like a tube...

As for the grills you listed there, they all look good to me.

I got the Chargriller because it has the removable ash pan. I like to be able to easily slide out an ash pan and dump it when I'm in the middle of a long cook. That was one of the main reasons why I chose the Chargriller over the other comparable models. All the ones I looked at had a door that opened and you had to reach in and sweep out the ashes. That wouldn't be too fun to do in the middle of a long cook with red hot coals that are about to choke themselves out from the ashes.

But that may not be a big deal to you (a lot of people don't care about that, I'm kind of weird that way).

I know you'll need to make/buy a charcoal basket for the Chargriller (among other mods) and I don't know if you need to do that with the other grills you listed or not...

 

[ronp]

Have you considered the MES? It is
conveinient and runs 300 at Sams Club. It also doubles as a holding oven which I like. Eliminates a lot of extra steps like wraping in a cooler. You can wrap and leave it knowing the temp will be there. I just did a brisket and did just that for many hours while I was sleeping and in the am it was great and ready to pull.

Just my experience.

 

[mavrick813]

Well, I just ran a bunch of reviews about the MES and noticed it gets about 3 stars out of five everywhere.

I noticed a steady bunch of complaints about a magentic door seal that blows out and what not.

I like the idea of a set it and forget it type smoker. But I also love the idea of using my smoker as a charcoal grill. Every once in a while a Blue flame steak just doesn't cut it.

I was thinking if I go with any of the 4 I mentioned and wanted to ease my time in the fire maintenance dept I could always rig in an afterburner.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I really appreciate them. Anyone else??

Mike

 

[ronp]

I also did a search before buying it and it got a 4+ rating with over 100 reviews. They did have a recall problem way back, but it was resolved.

Good luck in finding what you want or need.

 

[gorillagrilla]

got the bar b chef fr/ bbq galore http://http://www.bbqgalore.com/retail/

impressed so far . most mods done at factory.very tight. they list at 249 but mine was 175 about 6 mo. ago. and thats in cali ! direct fr/ store
bummer , link dont work I think..shows store in New Jersey

 

[mavrick813]

Gorilla,

Man that looks like a well made Smoker, But the closest BBQ Galore to me is in MD, I tried finding an online supplier that may have carried it, but was unsuccesfull.

A little smaller then the ones I was looking at, But an awesome looking smoker from what i could see.

Mike

 

[gorillagrilla]

hadda add a basket but otherwise

 

[ddave]

That's what I did with my SnP (the one you have pictured in your post).

And if I decide I want to do a charcoal smoke, I can switch it back in less than 5 minutes.

DAve

 

[rwc565]

Or you can do what I am going to do. I found a local Vocational school that has a welding class for high school student. They will build the smoker to my specs for the cost of the material. Upside: inexpensive, downside: built by high schol kids who dont have much welding experience. I dont mind the down side because I know the kids will do the best that they can do.

 

[cinnamonkc]

I have the CharBroil Silver Smoker and love it. Did all the standard mods and bought a small, kids sized, flat sided, shovel that I use to scoop out the ash when needed during a long smoke. (It's about 3 feet tall) Haven't had any issues with that at all.
KC

 

[ddave]

Since you get to pick the material I would bet it will hold up better than some of the thin walled ones that are for sale at the retailers. Don't know much about welding myself but I have seen some pretty sturdy stuff built by high school kids. As long as the welds aren't too sloppy. Nothin' a grinder can't fix I guess.

Sounds like a fun project for them. I bet they appreciate the chance. You'll have to treat them to some Q after it's done.

Dave

 

[mavrick813]

RWC565,
That's a damn good idea, So I called over to my old HS. Would you believe that they took they're Metalshop class out, and put in a Computer tech, and Industrial Engineering tech class? I asked them what they did with all the old equipment and they told me it's in storage, And that it would more then likely be disposed of in the near future.

Unbelievable.

 

[richtee]

Someday- somewhere in America...that's gonna be regretted.

 

[watermelonslim]

Sounds like at least 1 person (Mavrick813) is already regretting it.

I can see putting a computer lab in a high school- absolutely, but you can't take out the metal shop. Wow.

That is a great idea by the way (getting the local high school to make it and treating the class to some delicious que after it's done).

 

[daddio]

the char griller snp is a good one i've had several over the years and still use one.check the net for academy sports they were haveing a sale on the chargriller outlaw with firebox for 150.00 and thats a great buy!!

 

[tn_bbq]

Seems i remember our ag. class doing small engine repair stuff for dirt cheap. Might have been at-cost or for a nominal fee as a fund raiser. I still remember seeing them tooling around on lawnmowers and go-carts while I was stuck in geography class.

 

[mavrick813]

Yeah My AT tech class did repairs on the teacher's cars all year long and every month we had a Pizza party on them. Oils changes, Brakes, Rotates, etc etc. Toward the end of the year we serviced a couple of dozen Mowers.

Mike

 

[mavrick813]

Well, Got the smoker from the boss today and I was dead on it is the H20 that I linked up above. Not sure if I'll be using it or not but who knows.

Mike

 

[jbchoice1]

I've got a new braunfels/ok joes, hondo, and one of the h2o's already. like them both for different reasons. if you don't want the one the boss sent you, you could send it to me...