Offset Smokers

Any type of purchased BBQ Pit.

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Offset Smokers

Postby Creosote » Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:25 am

I am a newbie and plan on doing a lot of smoking since I have retired and live in the Pittsburg Tx area and plan on cooking with red and white oak mainly. I am looking at the $1,000 to $2,000 price range and will only be cooking maybe 2 briskets at a time or a brisket and a couple of boston butts so it doesn't have to be extremely large. I do want the firebox to double as a grill and want a good, heavy-duty smoker. I am looking at the Horizon 20" Classic Icon ($1700.00) and having the convection plate added as an accessory. Guess I am looking for feelers on what folks think of this smoker and any comments pro or con will be muchly appreciated and/or suggestions to a comparable or better stick burner. I also have the thermoworks Smoke for internal probes while cooking and just wonder if Horizon would modify the probe port to fit a larger diameter size if anyone knows, but I figure I will have to call them. Said I was a newbie, but used a smoker years and years ago.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby k.a.m. » Mon Dec 06, 2021 12:41 pm

They are nice cookers and work well once you are used to the fire management side of it. Personally I prefer a minimum size of 24" x 48" for a back yard cooker. 20" cookers just do not have enough real estate for me.
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby 1MoreFord » Wed Dec 08, 2021 2:35 am

Since k.a.m. mentioned 24" cookers I'll add they are usually easier to cook on than smaller diameter cookers.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby k.a.m. » Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:08 am

1MoreFord wrote:Since k.a.m. mentioned 24" cookers I'll add they are usually easier to cook on than smaller diameter cookers.

Good point Joe! Yes the larger the cooking chamber you have the easier it is to control throughout the the cook.
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.



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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby Creosote » Wed Dec 08, 2021 11:34 am

Been looking around and talked with a guy who gave me the link for "Bell Fabrications" in Tulsa OK and I pulled the trigger for a smoker. It's a 24 x 48 with a 20 x 20 firebox and 3/8ths inch thick. Great price of $1200.00 plus tax and that is with me picking it up. Couldn't see paying the shipping on a smoker that large. The picture of the full pit is what it will look like in a 24 x 48, that picture looks like it's a 30" diameter.
Attachments
Fire Box 20 x 20.jpg
24 x 48 Cooking Chamber.jpg
24 x 48 with handle.jpg
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby Rambo » Wed Dec 08, 2021 12:26 pm

That’s a Helluva Deal; congratulations
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby tex_toby » Wed Dec 08, 2021 2:39 pm

Very nice pit you got yourself. You really will appreciate that 24" pit. I have a 20x40 Gator Pit and it is a really, really nice pit - but I would LOVE for it to be 24" for the simple fact of being able to fit large foil pans in there. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes off of there!
20" x 40" Party Gator Pit
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby Creosote » Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:35 pm

Can't wait to get it and get some brisket and ribs fired up.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby Rambo » Wed Dec 08, 2021 7:27 pm

Creosote wrote:Can't wait to get it and get some brisket and ribs fired up.

:cheers: :chef: :salut:
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby GRailsback » Wed Dec 08, 2021 9:16 pm

Creosote wrote:Can't wait to get it and get some brisket and ribs fired up.


Just take that 30 in one, you can thank me later.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby Creosote » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:31 pm

:happ: Mr. Bell is due to start building my smoker around the first of February and I have come up with several questions prior to him starting the fabrication and I want to make sure I have all bases covered since this will last me for the rest of my life. I have watched numerous you tube videos and seen posts on other forums and watched several videos on Mr. Bells smokers from Bell Fab. Hopefully some of the members are familiar with Mr. Bell or have his smokers and will be able to help with some of my question. I am curious as to why he doesn't like end doors on the firebox if anyone knows (read several old posts from another forum and he is not a fan of them) and I think I want and need a side door, Pros and Cons please. Who uses tuning plates pros and cons, do I need them, does it make smoking easier, do you get better results? Do Mr. Bell's smokers now come standard with the triangular exhaust modification (aaron franklin's from an old post and aaron franklin's books) or what type of exhaust and smoke stack set up is the best? Who likes a folding smoke stack or not? Insulated firebox or not needed on a 24 x 48 with a 20 x 20 firebox and is the 20 x 20 firebox a good size or would a 24 x 20 be better? I don't even know if it would draft properly with a 24 inch diameter fire box. My question on the firebox size is not so much the cold weather but the wind in east Texas. I have also read Aaron's books and he cooks with a pan of water in his smokers for moistures, do yall place a pan of water while smoking. Again I am a newbie and appreciate everyone's inputs pros and cons.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby GTR » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:14 pm

I came only comment on a couple of your questions.
1) I have 2 smokers one is top opening, the other has duel access. I use a fire basket and definitely prefer the top access.
2) I generally cook with a water pan in the chamber.
3) My horizontal has a prefabricated tuning plate. It depends on what I’m smoking as to how beneficial it is.
As with any smoker final design is up to the pit master.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby 1MoreFord » Sun Jan 09, 2022 2:40 am

Creosote, putting a water pan in the cooker won't add moisture to the meat. In most cases a water pan is used for temp control. I know of folks who say it helps with end to end temp variations on their pits. Maybe, maybe not. Remember elementary school science where complete combustion produces water vapor and CO2. You can add all the moisture to the pit you want and still not add moisture to the meat. The only heat source I know of that might benefit from a water pan is an electric smoker. Another example is take a lean cut of beef and boil it in a pot of water. You still won't get moist beef. :deadhorse:
Joe

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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby GRailsback » Sun Jan 09, 2022 3:43 am

Creosote,

I am not familiar with Mr. Bells smokers, but here is what I am familiar with. I cook on a David Klose built pit. It has the end door on the fire box. It is designed to run with the baffles wide open in said door. It also has an insulated fire box, one of the best decisions I made when I specked it out and had it built. I also have tuning plates in mine, it will run dead even at 250 across 9.5 ft of pit. The main chamber is 30”x7’, and the upright smoke box is another 2.5 ft. It has 2 stacks and draws air like a dream. Which is key to any pit, they need to be able to draw air and breath. I do not cook with a water pan, I cook with quality meat, and quality meat only. The temp in my pit is controlled by the fire size and coal base, never really adjusting any of the baffles on the fire box door, or the baffles in the stacks.

I am not sure the size you are looking to build would require tuning plates or not. But my single most advice I would like to pass along would be to not build anything smaller than 24 inch pipe. It is always better to have the space and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Best of luck with what ever you decide to commission being built.
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Re: Offset Smokers

Postby Creosote » Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:04 am

Want to thank each and everyone of you for your comments.

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