old country brazos at academy sports

[marvda1]

anyone familiar with this $999 smoker? 1/4 in. steel, cooking chamber 19"x40"
http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/st...__?N=578824977

[16Adams]

I've "kicked the tires" waking into Academy to buy B&B charcoal. Don't know anything good or bad but they look solid. However, Houston Craigslist has a Klose offset for 900$ asking and given the choice me and some buddies would be in Houston loading the Klose.

[FireChief]

Hey there. Same here. I've put my hands on it and it's a solid cooker. You can tell right away as when you go to lift the door on the cooking chamber you have to give it quite a heave !

This is coming from a guy who owns a 1,000 lb 24" X 48" offset pit. I think this pit will hold temps pretty well. If it's what you're looking for and within your budget I don't think you can go wrong with this pit unless of course you can score something on craigslist.

[LorinB]

I've had one for a couple of months and love it. Heavy duty and holds temp. well.

[Panthers65]

seems like a solid cooker, but for a grand I'd be looking for a used Lang, or picking up one of the Horizions from bass pro.

[DubfromGA]

I've also messed around with them in Academy.

A $1,000 will go a long way towards my XL BGE project, though.

[Texas Turtle]

I've had mine for almost two years and it's a good solid unit. Holds 250 - 275 like a champ with even heat disribution but you have to keep feeding it splits roughly every hour. It's a chore to move (weighs 600 pounds and only has two wheels). I don't regret spending $999 on the thing but if I could find a good used Klose for the same price I'd go that way. I've cooked brisket, butts, chicken and ribs on mine and they come out great as long as you make the time.

[marvda1]

what i didn't like about the horizon was it is $100 more for a 20"x36" vs 19"x40" for the old country.
the exhaust of the horizon is up top as opposed to at grate level for the old country. the horizon does not have a baffle at the firebox and the old country does. the old country comes with a heavy duty steel plate with holes in it to seperate the fire from the bottom of the firebox. the old country food table shelf is retractable.
you might have to do some mmods to the horizon.

[FireChief]

Originally Posted by Texas Turtle

I've had mine for almost two years and it's a good solid unit. Holds 250 - 275 like a champ with even heat disribution but you have to keep feeding it splits roughly every hour. It's a chore to move (weighs 600 pounds and only has two wheels). I don't regret spending $999 on the thing but if I could find a good used Klose for the same price I'd go that way. I've cooked brisket, butts, chicken and ribs on mine and they come out great as long as you make the time.

That's the difference when running a stick burner, you have to tend the fire. Even on my horizon, I'll get a good 2 - 2.5 hours off my initial load running solid at about 250F average. After that I'll need to add a log about every 1 - 1.5 hrs depending on what temp I'm wanting to cook at. I've used set it and forget it vertical type smokers and wouldn't change fire tending for anything. Love it.

[Trumpstylz]

I've seen their charcoal starter, and its a beast. It is, however, made in mexico.

[Texas Turtle]

Originally Posted by FireChief

That's the difference when running a stick burner, you have to tend the fire. Even on my horizon, I'll get a good 2 - 2.5 hours off my initial load running solid at about 250F average. After that I'll need to add a log about every 1 - 1.5 hrs depending on what temp I'm wanting to cook at. I've used set it and forget it vertical type smokers and wouldn't change fire tending for anything. Love it.

That's pretty much exactly what happens with my Brazos. When I have time, I prefer the experience of cooking on the offset. It's just more fun being "involved" in the process and doing it old school Texas-style. My WSM is more convenient if I have to be doing other things while cooking but I can't seem to generate near the bark on it that I get on the offset. One reason I bought the Brazos was that I had been cooking on a NBBD-type smoker and the Old Country unit had all the mods already in place. I had a thousand dollar budget and I shopped long and hard before deciding the Brazos gave me the most bang for the buck. I do hanker for the counterweight on the Horizon, though. That lid is really a chore to throw open.