Anyone know about this ...

[Big Dawg]

I'm guessing that this would qualify as a stickburner.

A friend of mine just bought one.  Does anyone have any experience with them?

Thanks!





BD

[Pappymn]

Interesting looking. Terrible reviews though

[smokeasaurus]

It would be called a Stick burner. Probably would have to have coals in the grill section to feed the upright with heat and smoke.

Here is another example, big difference in price...I figure the smoke box on the Gator weighs more than the Academy model.....the pay what ya get for motto comes to mind................

http://www.gatorpit.net/backyard_pits/trad_upright.htm

[LostArrow]

I'd be very leary of buying this cooker!
For about the same price buy a 18 in weber WSM

[muebe]

I have found that nowadays you really get what you pay for...

Seems awfully cheap. I would imagine the build quality would be less than par and not air tight where it needs to be.

[smokeasaurus]

In the BBQ world it is kind of like this: You either have well offs and poverty.....same with grills...either junk or super non-affordable......no more middle class......

[drholly]

In the BBQ world it is kind of like this: You either have well offs and poverty.....same with grills...either junk or super non-affordable......no more middle class......

In the immortal words of one of my friends from other forums (would like to see him again...) "hole, fire, grate..."

Don't get me wrong - I love my cooking tools (just like my friend loves his speakers.) But at the end of the day, we are adding heat in some controlled way to our food. If I can't afford the coolest / latest cooker (and I can't...) I need to find a way to bring that heat in the right / controlled way to my food. Or find something else to cook. That is the fun to me - when I don't have the "magic" tool / cooker / ingredients to create the recipe I want to do, I need to figure out another way. It might be more difficult, but will be more fun if I can accomplish it. To me that is the best part of cooking.

[Hub]

Interesting mesh of designs.  It'll probably work with a lot of tending and practice.  A stoker (if there is one that will fit it) would probably be worth its weight in gold.  I've owned a couple of lower priced offsets and they were okay as long as you didn't get too far away from them 

Hub

[Jaxon]

What DRHolly said...I enjoy the challenges in outdoor cookin'.

Aaron Franklin cooked for a couple of years on a couple of $99 flimsy, "no-seal" smokers and learned to cook some mighty fine bbq...that was all he could afford at the time. (one of the smokers was given to him)

He learned to cook 2 briskets in each one which was a HUGE challenge.  That helped lay the ground work for his future.

It STILL goes back to the ol' sayin'..."it ain't the cooker, it's the cook"

But what do I know? I'm just a backyard jack.

just sayin'...

[Big Dawg]

Thanks for all of the comments.  He currently is cooking on a Master Forge and is looking to get more into smoking.

There's no way that he was going to be able to drop 2-3 K on a smoker.  Fortunately, Cory is somewhat of a tinkerer, so, hopefully, he may be able to address, at least, some of weaknesses.  He also likes tending a fire, so he will get a chance to do that, too!

He's seen me cook on my two WSMs several times with good results, but, I guess, decided that was not the way he wanted to go.

I'll be interested to see what he does with it.




BD

[smokeasaurus]

Why can't BBQ Mfg's make "mid-grade" units.  Not 1/4" and not thin 20 gauge crap.  12 gauge seems to be a good thickness that many Mfg's ignore.........

[tlg4942]

Why can't BBQ Mfg's make "mid-grade" units.  Not 1/4" and not thin 20 gauge crap.  12 gauge seems to be a good thickness that many Mfg's ignore.........

Money money monnnnney....   
 My son gets to go to the huge wholesale home shows in Atlanta , Miami etc.. He said the Chinese are there with cameras taking pics of every angle.  So they can copy it make it cheaper, If we stopped buying that cheap $#!* they would improve it.

[Big Dawg]

Why can't BBQ Mfg's make "mid-grade" units.  Not 1/4" and not thin 20 gauge crap.  12 gauge seems to be a good thickness that many Mfg's ignore.........

Money money monnnnney....   
 My son gets to go to the huge wholesale home shows in Atlanta , Miami etc.. He said the Chinese are there with cameras taking pics of every angle.  So they can copy it make it cheaper, If we stopped buying that cheap $#!* they would improve it.

I tend to agree.  It seems like there could/should be something, somewhere, in between $250 and ten times that much  I'm not that Cory would have gone for it, but, the option should be there.

But most people, it seems like, are real bargain hunters and I just don't think that there's the demand, particularly for this particular type of unit.





BD

[Jaxon]

I consider the Old Country Pecos smoker a mid-grade / mid-priced smoker at $399.
Since I read Aaron Franklin's book, I have learned how to operate it more successfully.  It works GREAT for me - but I'm just a backyard jack.
you can watch my review here: 

[Jaaleb]

I've used an inexpensive offset for the past few years when I decided I wanted to learn to smoke. Recently I purchased an Akorn after knowing a kj or bge was out of my price range. I haven't had it long and have only done 2  low and slow but I am incredibly happy with the results. If you can catch a deal they're in the $250 range. Maybe not what some people want, however I'm thrilled with the results so far.
Jay