Let's Talk BBQ
General => General Discussion & Topics => Product Reviews => Topic started by: Jammin2Dub on July 24, 2015, 10:46:38 AM
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I currently use a Char-Griller Duo Black 3-Burner (40,800-BTU) Liquid Propane Gas Grill. Recently I have been looking into getting an offset smoker. I have never used one before and wanted to get some more insight to see if a offset smoker is worth the investment. My grilling is primary on the weekends and I greatly enjoy smoking meat low and slow.
Below is what I have found compatible with my grill. Does anyone have some reviews or advise?
Char-Griller Multi Function 250-sq in Portable Charcoal Grill
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/avzj/grill/dsddsdssd_zpsv4ea3m1v.png)
Char-Griller Duo Black 3-Burner (40,800-BTU) Liquid Propane Gas Grill
(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn19/avzj/grill/xcvxcv_zpsmwzp9dpj.png)
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I hate to tinkle in anybodys Kool-Aid but stay away from POS offsets. I have ran a char-griller all the way to custom 600 lb units. Even the best off-sets will take up a bunch of your time. You have to learn fire management. A cheap off-set however can put out some great chow. You just have to work harder at it due to poorly fitting doors and super thin metal.
Here is a good article from Meathead over at Amazing Ribs: (This pretty much says it all)
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/offset_smokers.html
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If you are considering an off-set, have you ever heard of The Good One? They are manufactured in Kansas, Mo. Chris Marks used them when he dominated the competition circuit with The Three Little Pigs cooking team. Chris now tours the country teaching about BBQ and The Good One smoker/Grill. The Good One uses a full length fire box that runs in front of the smoker box. You control the heat and smoke with a full length damper. These pits can burn up to 10 hours with no adjustments once you get the temps dialed in. When Goodwin Mfg was making them they were distributed by Ace of Hearts BBQ. I was a cowboy dealer for them and I sold the pits along with The Three Little Pigs rubs.
Watch for a full review from me in the next couple of weeks. I will be reviewing their patio model "The Open Range"
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You already have the CG and the addition of the side box will work just fine. I bought my son in law this setup a couple months back. His is the new model which has a door rather than the whole top opening but that is a minor detail really. It is easy to get it to hot do to the small area in the main tank so take care with that. Start light on the charcoal/wood...
And no this is not a big time smoker by any means but we are talking $80 for the side box here. I assure you that you can make this work just fine.
You do need to practice and learn the smoker. But that is always the case inst it? Good excuse to drink more beer on the weekend...
Get some beer and start early with a small pork roast of any sort. Put in a few beef ribs for snacking on after a couple hours and have fun! If you can get the Mexican cut on the beef ribs they will be done a bit sooner. (That's cross cut about an inch or two long).
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I'm with Smoke -- that Char-Griller thing is a toy piece of junk and you'll regret ever messing with it. Do some research on some good quality offsets or other smoker types that are much more capable.
Hub
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I'm middle of the road.
I've had a chargriller offset ( bigger model ) that lasted 10 years.
With a charcoal basket & a few modifications is only a relative PITA.
Unfortunately I have 2 friends with your chargriller combo & with both the gas side burned out within 2-3 years.
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I think it is only fair to the OP that we ask some questions about budget - in order to make recommendations that are realistic for him.
So, what is do-able for you...? And then we can talk about options within your price range.
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When it comes to off-sets, I shudder at the thought of how many people have left a home improvement store with a POS off-set and after a couple of futile attempts gave up on smoking all together..........when it comes to off-sets...cry once.......
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at this point in time on a budget the $260 chargriller Akorn Kamodo with cart at HD is a great useful smoker.
A number of members have one & I think response has ranged from good - great.
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The Kamado Akorn will cook grub as good as an off-set without all the work and fuss......and as LA points out, that is a sweet deal with the cart included.....
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Alex as others have stated the cheap offsets can be a real pain. Just looking at the picture of the char-griller add on you and can see that at the top of the lid there is a gap where the lid meets the housing. The idea of the vents is to control air to regulate temps and they do no good if air is also coming in from another location like the lid.
If you are going to go the cheaper route then you will need to spend some time sealing the lid with a fiberglass gasket and sealing other parts of the housing with high temp RTV to keep the air control more manageable.
Then as the thinner metal heats up more gaps might appear as the metal expands causing the air flow to change. The more air you get the hotter your smoker.
Just something to consider when making the jump to an offset. Also price/budget is a factor too.
Higher quality off sets do cost more but will be something that is air tight and easy to maintain temps with. And will last long enough to be passed on to the next generation.
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Muebe is spot on. Just to add. A custom well made off-set still requires a ton of babysitting. You pretty much put the food in the smoker chamber and it is all about fire management after that..................
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I want a nice offset myself. But not until I retire, hopefully in 2 years. Hell there's no time for fire management now! :D
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Opinions are like armpits in a way.
Just sayin'...
We need to consider that Jammin is new to this forum. He MAY be at the stage I was when I joined the group years ago. If I had gotten all this grief when I asked a question, I probably would have moved on.
It's a good thing to try to understand someone's experience level, budget, how much cooking space is available, etc before I tell him what he ought to do. I am thrilled with my "cheap" offset and would recommend it to anyone. I would tell them it has taken me a long time to learn how to use it, but the experience has been rewarding for me.
They may learn much quicker than I did.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
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Opinions are like armpits in a way.
Just sayin'...
We need to consider that Jammin is new to this forum. He MAY be at the stage I was when I joined the group years ago. If I had gotten all this grief when I asked a question, I probably would have moved on.
It's a good thing to try to understand someone's experience level, budget, how much cooking space is available, etc before I tell him what he ought to do. I am thrilled with my "cheap" offset and would recommend it to anyone. I would tell them it has taken me a long time to learn how to use it, but the experience has been rewarding for me.
They may learn much quicker than I did.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Well said, Jack. Especially about new members - we all (well except me) have a lot of knowledge, but need to respect new member questions. Sometimes in our zeal to help, we may overreach....
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You are quite the diplomat, sir..
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My first smoker was a $49 brinkman. You could have drove a truck through the air gaps in that thing. However, after modifications I had that smoker keeping within 10 degrees for hours. Because I did it myself, like Jaxon said..." the experience has been rewarding for me". If that smoker is what you want then go for it. Do a search on how to modify it, keep it clean and dry and you will probably get a couple of years of smoking enjoyment out of it. I highly recommend the Kamado Akorn if possible down the line though.
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I hope I'm wrong but I think its to late. He hasn't posted since July.
NOS, Jaxon and Holly are correct...
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This may fall under the "tough-love" category that those of us with kids, young or older, go through regularly. However the message is delivered the intent is to spare them the pain that we went through to learn the "right way"! Sadly much of that advice goes unheeded only to have them say later, "I wish I would have listened to your advice!"
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That is why we have read so many posts about how people left other forums to come to this one. Everybody has to start somewhere. Hopefully we don't get to the point to where people are leaving here because they feel they are getting critical replies to their honest questions.
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I agree! But sometimes people ask a question not necessarily to get an answer but rather to have their idea reinforced.
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I would not consider my advice I gave as grief. I would not want someone to get an offset and then just quit out of frustration. I feel like we would be doing someone a disservice by not telling them everything we know about a cooker. Many people have high expectations and might be let down with their results because they do not understand how the smoker works.
A small investment of High Temp RTV and Fiberglass gaskets can make a world of difference to any cheaper off set smoker. An off set has a learning curve already so knowing things that can make that curve less rounded can help.
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My first smoker was a $49 brinkman. You could have drove a truck through the air gaps in that thing. However, after modifications I had that smoker keeping within 10 degrees for hours. Because I did it myself, like Jaxon said..." the experience has been rewarding for me". If that smoker is what you want then go for it. Do a search on how to modify it, keep it clean and dry and you will probably get a couple of years of smoking enjoyment out of it. I highly recommend the Kamado Akorn if possible down the line though.
My first one was a Masterbuilt 7 in 1. A thing of beauty if there ever was one. Me and a buddy of mine bought them the same year. When he gave up on his, I got it from him and rigged the center section to fit on top of mine and had a double stack. There still wasn't a way to control the airflow, but with the gas on I could now cook 30-40 lbs of BBQ at a time.
As far as running him off. Obviously he's gone, he only stuck around for a week. He got some good advice, hard advice, but good advice.
I hope that, at least, he's found a home, is sitting in the backyard, sipping on a tasty adult beverage, and stoking a nice fire.
BD
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You know what the good part is?.........Looking over the posts just on this subject, there was no bickering, anger, or frustration.
Just people trying to be helpful. All in all I think you all do a DAMN good job.
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Sometimes ya just tell it straight. I have cooked on a 80.00 Char-Broil Silver Smoker and a 2000.00 Pits by JJ. Just gotta call it like it is. He probably has posted this on other forums and went for the path of least resistance............
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well, now we can put this puppy to bed.
No offense meant...
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I would think that would be his call....if he so chooses! I mean...he asked the question. ::)
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I had a smoke hollow combo gas/charcoal/smoker, the smoker was small but good for just me. The thing leaked like crazy but I got used to it and put out some decent food. I used red high heat RTV caulk to seal the outside of the firebox to the smoking chamber which helped a little. After barely two years the gas side started acting up, and I would have had to replace the burners. In hindsight (which is always 20/20) I wish I just bought a gasser and separate offset, even if the off set was cheapo model. I didn't want to keep it just for the smoker because there was too much wasted space. I bought the used Weber and scraped the combo. In the spring I am going to figure out which offset I'm going to get.
Jaxon loves his Pecos, and it is cheaper than most for everything being welded. How I found this forum was The Smoke's review of meadow creek SQ36 a few years ago. They are about a hour away from my house and have a "yard" sale in the spring, but also have demos for sale. I know Smoke had trouble, but since it is so close and I can actually check it out in person that is still int he mix, even if the price is almost double. Now BIGG with his Karabue throwing another wrinkle into the mix. I'm just glad so many people have tried a lot of options to help make my choice harder, because I can never make up my mind.
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I had a smoke hollow combo gas/charcoal/smoker, the smoker was small but good for just me. The thing leaked like crazy but I got used to it and put out some decent food. I used red high heat RTV caulk to seal the outside of the firebox to the smoking chamber which helped a little. After barely two years the gas side started acting up, and I would have had to replace the burners. In hindsight (which is always 20/20) I wish I just bought a gasser and separate offset, even if the off set was cheapo model. I didn't want to keep it just for the smoker because there was too much wasted space. I bought the used Weber and scraped the combo. In the spring I am going to figure out which offset I'm going to get.
Jaxon loves his Pecos, and it is cheaper than most for everything being welded. How I found this forum was The Smoke's review of meadow creek SQ36 a few years ago. They are about a hour away from my house and have a "yard" sale in the spring, but also have demos for sale. I know Smoke had trouble, but since it is so close and I can actually check it out in person that is still int he mix, even if the price is almost double. Now BIGG with his Karabue throwing another wrinkle into the mix. I'm just glad so many people have tried a lot of options to help make my choice harder, because I can never make up my mind.
That Meadow Creek was one of the easier off-sets I have ran. The leak that darn thing had was the darndest thing. The SQ36 is basically their pig roaster PR-36 with the fire-box attached........
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For the record Aaron Franklin got his start on the $99 smoker that leaked, etc....in fact, he got another one like it that someone put out by the road.
With these COS he taught himself to control heat and smoke and learned how to cook some of the finest brisket in Texas.
He has produced a large number of videos on smoking meat for Texas public television. Most of these are done in the backyard. He uses the Pecos COS for the videos. That's why I got one.
If he was using the $99 smoker, I would probably have got one of those.
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The Old Country Pecos is one of the few off-sets that are stuck in the middle. You either have Home Improvement junk or custom made pits that will break the bank. Old Country has pitched their tent right in between and make a pretty solid welded pit.
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For the record Aaron Franklin got his start on the $99 smoker that leaked, etc....in fact, he got another one like it that someone put out by the road.
With these COS he taught himself to control heat and smoke and learned how to cook some of the finest brisket in Texas.
He has produced a large number of videos on smoking meat for Texas public television. Most of these are done in the backyard. He uses the Pecos COS for the videos. That's why I got one.
If he was using the $99 smoker, I would probably have got one of those.
I can see how the cheap ones can teach you a lot, and make you have patience. The welded firebox to smoking chamber is a biggy in my book after working with the bolt on combo. The only reason I found the Pecos, is because of you and AF. Having watched all his videos, thinking if its good enough for him, its good enough for me, especially at a reasonable price.
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The Old Country Pecos is one of the few off-sets that are stuck in the middle. You either have Home Improvement junk or custom made pits that will break the bank. Old Country has pitched their tent right in between and make a pretty solid welded pit.
Good part of the market to latch onto.
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I'll tell you this...I changed the way I was trying to use my Pecos Smoker after reading "Aaron Franklin: A Meat-smoking Manifesto".
I guarantee you will enjoy this book and you have a great understanding of fire and smoke. Heck, it's a great book to have even if you don't have a smoker.
Uncle Dee gave me this book and cookin' on the offset has been a pleasure ever since - no more stress.
If I haven't made it clear...get the book!
Just sayin'...
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I just got the book the other day.....gonna set down and have a read :)
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I just got the book the other day.....gonna set down and have a read :)
I must resist...I must resist...I MUST resist...
a real softball lobbed up there...anybody wanna knock it out?
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I just got the book the other day.....gonna set down and have a read :)
I must resist...I must resist...I MUST resist...
a real softball lobbed up there...anybody wanna knock it out?
All yours, buddy!
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I just got the book the other day.....gonna set down and have a read :)
I must resist...I must resist...I MUST resist...
a real softball lobbed up there...anybody wanna knock it out?
Hey Jack, I can't do THAT and read at the same time....might fall off the throne :D :D Same thing with chewing gum and walking............. :D :D