Lone Star grillz Vertical Offset (Pics & Review)

Well I've got my new pit and I thought that I would share some photos of her as well as my experience with her performance. Lone Star Grillz is a small business in Conroe TX and they build a really nice pit for a pretty reasonable price. From trailer pits to patio pits, insulated smokers to charcoal grills and fire pits, they can make just about anything that you want and in any style that you prefer. I always liked the design of the old NB Bandera and I decided to have a vertical offset built by LSG that would give me the versatility that the Bandera offered but with the quality and craftsmanship of a good pit builder and here she is! I've done a few cooks so far and I couldn't be more pleased. The pit is all 1/4 " construction with a 1/2 " firebox and all of that thermal mass equates to excellent temp control, while hardly using any more fuel than my old NB Black Diamond. It's kinda like going from a Ford Pinto to a Lexus! LOL! The heat deflector and tuning plates allow very even temps from left to right while also offering the option of creating a cooler spot if I wish by simply adjusting the tuning plates. This pit has nearly 6000 sq. inches of cooking area between the main chamber, the warmer/oven and the grill top. While I was smoking at 250 in the main chamber last week the oven was holding at about 350 with the pinwheel dampers half open, so that tells me that I could probably get 400 to 450 in there pretty easily and be able to bake cornbread or simmer sauce while never interrupting the main cook! I converted it to a mini vertical smoker the other day and smoked some chicken, which I also reverse seared by removing the handled steel plate inside and exposing the grill top. I'm looking forward to many experiments with my new toy and posting some pron in the future. So here are some pics.. Sorry about the lighting, they turned out a little dark.

MilitantSquatter said:

Congrats again Bill... That's really big !!!

Looking forward to receiving my Lonestar in a maybe 4-6 weeks or so.

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Thanks! Yeah it's a monster. It stands about 7 feet and weighs in at around 1400 lbs.! Yours will be really nice with the insulated firebox, I always thought that as stick burners go that the vertical offset design always made more sense as it allows heat and smoke to travel as it naturally wants to, which is up! With the insulated box, I'll bet that you'll get efficiency close to that of a Jambo!:wink:

peeps said:

very nice! I looked at LSG's vertical offsets but it was just too far out of my budget plus I would have to get it shipped. I found a local fabricator and we worked out a design similar to a NB Bandera, but larger...

Can't wait to hear how your performs. I should have mine in a couple weeks.

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Good for you! I think that the design just makes sense efficiency wise and the cooking capacity of verticals is scary! The only drawback is that you can't do a whole hog with it but we don't do a lot of that down here in Texas anyway. I'm looking forward to seeing some pics of yours when it's done!:thumb:

TuscaloosaQ said:

Beautiful very nice setup and you can certainly see pride was taken in building it, I know you are happy congrats

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Thanks! Yeah, I've seen Gator pits, Klose pits, Langs and many others up close and I'd put Lone star Grillz right up there with them in quality. I think that Chris Goodlander is doing it right out in Conroe TX and his time is coming to be recognized as one of the elite pit builders.

peeps said:

I agree. It will work great on my patio without taking up too much space. Also, I don't need to remove shelves to access other shelves like in a UDS.

Here is his cleaned up sketch of what we worked up.

I have never even thought of doing a hog, so I doubt I ever will. A neighbor has a big trailer smoker if either of us ever decides to do that.

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Yep, that's the old Bandera alright! I think that you're going to be a happy camper when you get that baby home!:thumb:

Smokinwright said:

Very nice cooker. Chris at lonestar grillz is a great person to work with and builds a quality product. I am more than happy with mine, but more times than not it is more cooker than I need.

Can't wait to see what you cook with it!

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Thanks! Which model did you get? I actually chose the design and size of mine because I plan to do some catering in the future and wanted to get as much capacity and versatility as possible in as small a footprint as possible. The 30" x 24" cabinet has six slide-outs and will hold twelve briskets and Lord only knows how many half chickens or racks of spares, all in a 2' x 4 1/2' footprint. I doubt that I'll ever fill the thing up, but if I need to cook a lot of food, I know that I can!:wink::grin:

clweed said:

I ordered the Insulated Vertical from Lonstar Grillz last week, but I am having second thoughts after seeing your beast and watching the videos on the vertical offset and warming oven.

I really like the oven option without using smoke

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Yeah, I guess it depends on weather you're a set it and forget it guy or if you don't mind tending a fire. As a long time stick burner user the model that I chose was a no brainer and you're right about the oven, the versatility that it gives you is frightening! I can smoke at 275 in the main chamber and bake cornbread in the oven at 400 at the same time, it's by far the most functional warmer/oven I've ever seen. Down the road I may have Chris build me a trailer pit for competitions and I'll guarantee you that the oven WILL be going on there when I do!

Smokinwright said:

I bought the 24x60 trailer pit with vertical. Only thing I wish I would have done is got it with a insulated firebox. Other than that, I have no complaints.

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Had I not opted for the warmer/oven I would have gone for the insulated box myself. I get pretty good economy with the 1/2" firebox along with the oven on top which captures the heat that would normally be lost. It gets good and hot in there and the heat radiates through the right side of the cabinet which helps maintain the cooking temperature in the main chamber. I only use a little more fuel than I did with the old NB Black Diamond!