Reverse flow smoker vs normal

1uglyduc said:

i have cooked on my small brinkman smoker for several years in the backyard. I am planning on building myself a smoker and i need some insight. does a reverse flow smoker (example Lang) cook better than a traditional smoker? is the temperature easier to control? Has anybody made a baffle system with moveable plates to control hot spots?
Thanks

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Here's an older thread written over a year ago with plenty of your concerns addressed.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1957882&postcount=5

1uglyduc said:

i have cooked on my small brinkman smoker for several years in the backyard. I am planning on building myself a smoker and i need some insight. does a reverse flow smoker (example Lang) cook better than a traditional smoker? is the temperature easier to control? Has anybody made a baffle system with moveable plates to control hot spots?
Thanks

Click to expand...

I prefer the reverse flow for the even heat, but lots of people prefer the traditional offset so they can have the hot spot(s). Yes, lots of traditional offsets have sliding plates so you can control temps in different areas.

Either way an offset, traditional or reverse flow, is going to be a much different cooker than your used to. So pick one and give yourself several cooks on it to learn it.

Lots of good advice on here about fire management if you use the search function. Think small and hot when it comes to a fire. And remember this is not a set it and forget type of cooker so you won't likely be able to keep a steady temp. You are shooting for more of a range. I know when I was using reverse flows my range was 260-310. When the temp hit 260 i knew it was time to throw on another split.

In my opinion it is all about who is running the cooker. I have seen people swear by both the traditional offset others by reverse flow. Two different cooks may get different results, you have to be willing to spend time and learn your cooker. Weather and many other things can affect your cooker. If you have good intake and exhaust and everything is sized right then you should have no problem tuning your cooker period. I will never get in an arguement about this because noone comes out a winner, that being said i am a reverse flow guy because that is what I build, and learned on and like. i have had great food some of the beset that was cooked on a webber Kettle, truthfully it has a lot to do with who is cooking INMHO!!!! Be willing to spend time and be patient and all will be good!!!!!!

All good info so far and I'll through my thoughts in as well. My first cooker was a COS, (Silver Smoker) and I made moveable tuning plates for it. Now it works great. I recently picked up a used Lang 48. Love that too. A buddy has a home built reverse flow with moveable plates, also two sets with different thicknesses, as his baffle. That I think is the best way to go as you really can control any hot spot.

1uglyduc said:

i have cooked on my small brinkman smoker for several years in the backyard. I am planning on building myself a smoker and i need some insight. does a reverse flow smoker (example Lang) cook better than a traditional smoker? is the temperature easier to control? Has anybody made a baffle system with moveable plates to control hot spots?
Thanks

Click to expand...

I have built my first smoker as a reverse flow that has 1/4 solid plate welded in . It works great for temp control and burns very clean blue smoke . Any thing you built will be perfect . It taks a little time to learn how to control temp and flow in a smoker you build . I made sure I oversized my intake and smoke stack . I installed dampers on both so I can control intake air and flow control trough the pit . If you are undersize you will have a issue with getting or keeping temp . My pit runs pretty efficant since I only have to add one split every hour. Good luck with the build . Make sure you post pics as it progresses .