The Texas BBQ Forum

just saw where you can get an old smoky normally over 100$ for under 70 buck at academy. before I bite the bullet and get one I would love some feedback on if they are worth buying. thanks everyone

Never cooked on one but I've seen them. I'm sure partial to my UDS.

I've got a drum that I could make one out of but I worry about the cook time. How much charcoal do you use and how long does it last?

10-12 lbs of charcoal will run at 275 for roughly 10 hours or more. I put about 16 lbs. of charcoal in mine and it'll go for at least 15 hours. If I filled my basket full I'm sure it'd run close to 20 hours. That's long enough to cook anything I want to cook.

You can also raise the charcoal basket up (I use a concrete block to set my charcoal basket on) to get the coals closer to the grate and use it as a grill.

I have a brake drum off of an 18wheeler that I thought about using as a basket. You could never lift it but I can improvise. Surely that would hold enough and help stabilize the heat. What do you think

Do you use the minion method?

Whatever you use as a basket is going to have to have a lot of holes around the sides and bottom or there won't be enough oxygen to keep the fire going.

I put a bunch of coals in the basket then add about a dozen lit charcoal briquettes to the top of the basket and let it burn down slowly. Add in about 4 or 5 fist sized chunks in f wood to the top of the charcoal and you're set.

Our Boy Scout troop uses them and they are great, we mainly cook burgers, chicken and steaks on them. Boys are tough on them and have not let us down.

The old smokey was essentially the smoker that UDS evolved from. They are a great backyard cooker!

Got an 18 inch old smokey and love it!! Wish I had got the 22 inch and plan to very soon but I have to agree with Finatic. The UDS is a heck of a good cooker too.I would suggest getting both!!!

I think they are the best bang for the buck. I own 3ea 22's an 18, and a 14. I also own a 22 WSM. An Old Smokey is somewhere between a weber kettle and a WSM. They are very easy to operate, they are very fuel efficient if wind blocked, and have the ability to direct cook and indirect cook at the same time. The only mod I did to mine beside building a dedicated table/cart for it (I use it nearly every day in the summer and several times a week year around.) was adding a weber 22 flip grate. It is a snug fit unlike the original grate, however it holds the grill round allowing the lid to seal better.

To date I have smoked probably 30 racks of ribs, a pork shoulder, cold smoked beef jerky, smoked chicken wings, cooked a perfect tri tip, and grilled everything in between.

That's a pretty slick setup


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I really like your setup. and the food photos all look fantastic. Nice. CF

JustinCouch wrote:just saw where you can get an old smoky normally over 100$ for under 70 buck at academy. before I bite the bullet and get one I would love some feedback on if they are worth buying. thanks everyone

Justin, the retail from OldSmokey is only $64.
the only two things to add to the normal 22" are the tall legs and the Flip Side hinged grill grate

the 22" OldSmokey blows a Weber away
with the 8" below the grill grate you can cook chicken direct over the coals without flare-up
and with 12" under the lid you can cook all kinds of taller stuff you can't cook in a Weber


since the fire grate is 8" below the grill grate the 22" OS isn't great for searing steaks,
so the trick we use to raise the fire grate for sear grilling and higher heat is to place cans on the bottom to raise the fire grate up to 4½" below the grill grate






cooking chicken 8" direct over the coals is great. if you don't want to, you never have to turn it if you cook it bone side down
it is the greatest cooker i have ever cooked chicken on




when you set it up to cook 1-sided indirect it runs in the mid to high 200°s depending on how big a pile of coals you're using








and when you set it up for 2-sided indirect it runs around 330°


best turkey i have ever cooked - BBQ Roasted

More Old Smokey picture....

Tri tip









Homemade jerky







Boston Butt