Cabinet Smoker?

[Bigfoot21075]

Hello!

I am a long time backyard BBQ fanatic, I currently own a Large Big Green Egg (awesome cooker), a Gasser Weber and a 22" Weber Kettle.I make pretty good stuff on these, but are really frustrated with the capacity. Without jury rigging and moving racks around, doing several racks of ribs on the Egg is a PAIN! I have tried the Traeger Texas pellet (NO smoke taste at all - sold it), had the cheap-o Offset type, not consistent enough and bad in coooold weather.

I want something I can load full size, uncut racks of ribs into (St Louis). I love the set it and enjoy the day feature of the Egg and understand a good cabinet smoker can offer the same thing. I have looked at a lot of these smokers and it is pretty much down to Backwoods and Stumps. I LOVE the idea of a water smoker - moist meat is important.

The two cookers are similar to me, but one factor is customer service. There is a distributor for Backwoods in the Mid Atlantic. Not so for Stumps. That may be the final factor unless Stumps is significantly better for some reason.

That aside, I have never competed but thought it would be fun to do the occasional competition. I used to love doing Chili cook offs! I need a GOOD smoker that can produce GREAT results after I learn it, hold enough to make a showing at a competition, but not be so big I can't just use it for the wife and I.

The BW Chubby is cool, but I am afraid the bottom shelf would be too hot and not very useful, and it is overall small. The party looks nice, but after I upgrade the doors it costs damn near what a fat boy costs. The fatboy seems perfect for beginner competition but is it just too large to fire up for a pack of chicken or 2 racks of ribs?

I lookede at the Spicewine, but the small one weighs 400lbs! I could convert my gun safe to a smoker if I want that!

Your thoughts on all of the above a TRULY APPRECIATED!

THANKS!

Bigfoot

 

[tmehlhorn]

A gun safe now that would make a cool smoker. The thing about a gun safe it they are made to protect your stuff from extreme heat, so they would do an awesome job at heat retention. Secondly they are very tight already and would seal very well. The only issue would be actually working on that very stout material.

 

[PimpSmoke]

Pretty sure the hot spot on the BW smoker is at the top, from what I know of them as they are a sort of vertical reverse flow. There are a lot of guys here that cook on them that would know better.

 

[Fatback Joe]

I am pretty partial to the Stumps, love that GF feature.

I don't think you will be disappointed no matter what you choose.

 

[ribslayer]

Check out the vertical smokers from Pitmaker.
Insulated like a high quality gun cabinet and built like one too.

 

[Bourbon Barrel BBQ]

I went from a XL BGE to a stumps stretch. I like cooking on the stretch a lot more than the egg.

 

[ammoore]

Yes, your "hot spot" will be at the top with a backwoods.
I have both a party and a chubby model and actually like the chubby better.
It is easy to move, easy to operate.
As for the Party, unless you are set on the upgraded doors, skip it. Just looks nicer but doesn't offer you anything else.
I also cooked on a home made gravity feed for several years (not stumps but same principle) I loved it and you won't go wrong with either choice.
However, based on your comment about the SpiceWine, weight is an issue. That may be your deciding factor. Stumps are built like a tank. I don't mean that in a bad way, but they are heavy. If you need portability, I think Backwoods are one of the lightest insulated cookers out there. (There may be others???)

The downside of the BWS chubby and standard party is the depth. Full slabs of ribs usually need trimmed. Also a full sheet pan will not fit.
This is my personal pet peeve, but if they made it standard they couldn't sell it as an upgrade....

 

[eddieh70301]

shipping charges on a stumps could run upwards of $400. There is also a crating charge of $160. I own a Stumps baby. I do like the gravity feed system. I've never had a problem with food not being moist. When i first got the Stumps, i would put a water pan on the last rack, mainly as a juice collector. But I no longer do that and just let the drippings fall through the drain.
Also, the top rack on my baby is useless inless you are cooking bacon. the clearance between the racks could be at least an inch or two more apart to allow room for bigger butts, etc. I had cooked a chuck roast on the second rack and placed a butt on the third rack and the top of the butt was hitting the bottom of the second rack. it is a PITA but i usually don't cook a smoker full at one time so i make do.

Cost wise, a Backwoods would probably be the better option unless you can find someone selling a used Stumps. Check their site. Sometimes they have people selling them to upgrade to a bigger model.

you can also check out superior smokers & dw country smokers. I think both of those guys worked for stumps at one point.

 

[chibi]

To bad you are so far away...I would make you a great deal on my clone I am looking to sell.
I love the stumps gravity system. long cooks with little tending and very moist meat.

 

[abangs]

You'll love the chubby. It is a small cooker but has a great capacity. This past Saturday I had 3 slabs of baby backs and 3 whole chickens on mine and still probably could have put another 3 slabs of ribs in. Mike at Backwoods has excellent customer service. Check their website. There are usually some used ones available. The chubby is also light enough the UPS will ship it fairly reasonable.

 

[Sammy_Shuford]

Nobody mentioned Superior Smoker.

http://www.superiorsmokers.com/