thinking about a small, horizontal offset

[bhurst10]

Hey Brother I was in your same spot. What I did was waited it out on Craig's List and found this Diamond in the Rough. It is a New Braufels Silver Smoker, I paid $70 for it and put about another $70 in refurbishing and mods. And It has put out some really good Que.

[16Adams]

Mi dos pesos. Watch your's and surrounding towns for a quality offset that needs rescuing. Offsets seem to get listed frequently. Some quality units that are just ugly from sitting outside. Bring it back to life with elbow grease. Use quality materials in your restoration project. You will be quite happier with a frugally restored quality offset than a cheaply constructed cost anything.

[Bludawg]

For 300.00 your not going to find quality but it will satisfy your hunger for more effort as pits in that price range are fuel hungry beasts. I have Looked at the new Ok Joe several times and the quality did not impress me poor welding ad a very drafty fire box that would cost as much as the unit to fix properly.
For less than 200 you can get a CharGriller Outlaw and for the cost of 8' of 1" angle iron a piece of 12X24 expanded metal and a had full of machine screws have a pretty decent little offset that is pretty efficient mine uses 1 split every 45 min running between 275-300 deg.

[Gore]

Just a warning that a cheap offset in Michigan is going to mean a short BBQ season. Trying to keep those at cooking temps in cold weather is a LOT of work. I'm in Maryland and I quit using mine come late October. Just something to consider.

[woodpelletsmoker]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

actually just because its made in China doesnt mean anything anymore. Some Weber stuff is made in China. My 2 WSM clones are made in China, they are very nice cookers.

I did not look real close at the OK, just because its too big for me

I think the best thing is just to stay away from the grill dept when I visit Lowes LOL

I will just keep an eye on CL and see if anything pops up.

I was wondering if anyone knew of anything that I was not aware of

thanks

What I can be sure is that air inlet of BGE is made in China too.
I think that none believes BGE is second

[charrederhead]

The advantage you have is time/patience. Now all you need is diligence. Check CL several times/day.

I found a nice 1/4", all-weld Brinkman Cimarron on CL for <$100. Probably the perfect size for you.

[javahog2002]

Nice Cimmaron Pit. My offset came from CL in Austin. <400.00. I told him I wanted it immediately . I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

[J-Rod]

Originally Posted by Gore

Just a warning that a cheap offset in Michigan is going to mean a short BBQ season. Trying to keep those at cooking temps in cold weather is a LOT of work. I'm in Maryland and I quit using mine come late October. Just something to consider.

+1!!! Think of tending a coal furnace, one that loses heat pretty much as soon as you turn your back on it. My offset hasn't been used but once in a pinch in the last two years, and it was terrible to cook with. And mine is made from a welded drum not bolted together like the Home Dee pot ones. Cheapos=leakos without excessive mods and even then are difficult to hold heat because the metal is thin and chinsy. But hey if you want something you have to mess with it'll be right up your alley! Just saying the noveltiy quickly wears off when you can't get consistency with your cooks.

Honestly I'm thinking of selling mine, and I probably will never go back to any offset unless it was made from 1/4" thick steel, and well made at that.

[ButtBurner]

thanks!

This is good.

thats why I asked.

I have 2 smokers running right now with different things on them

Do I need another?

No..

But...


;)

[dkryzer]

I too was looking for a lower cost horizontal 3-4 years ago. I bought a Charbroil and ended up selling it in less than a year. It was junk even with mods. I then bought a Char-Griller Smokin Pro, made the suggested mod and it performed like a champ. I don't use it much these days since I built a much larger trailer offset. Here is the link to Char-Griller. http://www.chargriller.com/

[harris92]

Yes, keep looking on Craigslist. You may have to check several times a day as good smokers go fast. I have picked up six over the past year including a very old Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn and a New Braunfels Black Diamond. I restored all of them.

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by dkryzer

I too was looking for a lower cost horizontal 3-4 years ago. I bought a Charbroil and ended up selling it in less than a year. It was junk even with mods. I then bought a Char-Griller Smokin Pro, made the suggested mod and it performed like a champ. I don't use it much these days since I built a much larger trailer offset. Here is the link to Char-Griller. http://www.chargriller.com/

that was one I was considering. It gets good reviews and mods on Amazing Ribs, also it gets good reviews on Walmart and Amazon. It gets 4 1/2 starts on Walmart, 110 reviews. I have not seen one in person though so I was still a bit leery about it

I am still going to look again closer at the OK Joe at Lowes, I do some welding so I know what a good weld looks like. I am just curious is all

[pbj]

At this time the only smoker I have is the Chargriller w/sfb. I like sitting with a beer and tending the fire. It will go steady for 4 hours with an expanded metal charcoal box if you use lump. So far that is the only mod I've done. When the weather turns a bit warmer, I will start on some others. It is a little leaky at the moment.
Curly

[Bludawg]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

that was one I was considering. It gets good reviews and mods on Amazing Ribs, also it gets good reviews on Walmart and Amazon. It gets 4 1/2 starts on Walmart, 110 reviews. I have not seen one in person though so I was still a bit leery about it

I am still going to look again closer at the OK Joe at Lowes, I do some welding so I know what a good weld looks like. I am just curious is all

The biggest problem with the new Joe is that the fire box isn't tight( the feed door) If the fire box aint tight you can't control the heat. If you have a welder flanging the door and the opening will fix the problem, I would weld the firebox on as well it also need a baffle to eliminate a BIG hot spot. The uneducated see the name and assume it is it's predecessor and is a steal IMO it is the OKJ folks are robbing the public. At 1/2 the price it is still to expensive for what your getting, your paying for the name.

[J-Rod]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

that was one I was considering. It gets good reviews and mods on Amazing Ribs, also it gets good reviews on Walmart and Amazon. It gets 4 1/2 starts on Walmart, 110 reviews. I have not seen one in person though so I was still a bit leery about it

I am still going to look again closer at the OK Joe at Lowes, I do some welding so I know what a good weld looks like. I am just curious is all

Well look carefully. I took a gander at them for the hell of it while at Home Depot, and the folks down at Oklahoma Joe fool you into thinking it's very heavy and sturdy by making the door thick and heavy as well as the flanges around the opening, but the wall thickness of the chamber itself is a LOT thinner. Plus it's got a lot of bolt together parts.