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Horizontal vs. Vertical Smokers?

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gambler

Knows what a fatty is.
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I'm new at smoking (meats that is), and I bought a Chargriller horizontal Texas style offset smoker. I'm still refining my methods, and improving each time.

But the more I navigate this sight, I'm seeing a lot of vertical smokers. They look like they would be more efficient and more evenly heated. I also noticed that some have water pans. What is the water pan for?

Also the BGE's and BDS's look pretty cool too. Is there any info on this site or anywhere else on the web where I can read the differences between different styles of smokers? I would also love to hear your recommendations on which smoker to purchase next. Thanks.
 
Welcome to the addiction!

Verticals tend to be more efficient. Horizontal offsets are usually a cleaner burning cooker. To some the flavor from an offset can't be beaten. Others like the fat dripping on coals flavor from verticals like a UDS.

But there are so many types of cookers out there that it will just take alot of research to even begin to understand them all.

I would google "Chargriller mods" to start with and get some of those done if you haven't already. Then I would start the project of building your first UDS. I say your first one because there is a great chance that you will want more. They are in my opinion to paraphrase Pitmaster Donnie T, pound for pound the best smoker there is.

But one thing is for certain, with you using terms like "my next smoker" you are gonna fit right in here!
 
It's all about how you like to smoke. I have an offset and love the taste of the que.

However, I have a UDS and love the set it an forget it (I also like the taste of the que).

It is all personal preference. Have fun, it's just a hobby, (for now, LOL.)

Jeff
 
AHHH its starting to take affect you got a taste now you want more...if you are interested in vertical smokers you can always make a UDS (ugly drum smoker) it is a cheap way to see if you like smoking vertical. They use very little fuel and can pretty much be set it and forget it. An other nice thing is they are cheap to make and you can add the option to use a water pan or defusser if you want. You should be able to make one for 100 bucks or less also. There is a thread with more than anybody ever needs to know on building a UDS here on the forum.
 
I have a Chargriller offset and a Bandera clone.

I like both, but if I had to pick to just to keep, it would be the Bandera vertical style one.
 
gambler said:
I also noticed that some have water pans. What is the water pan for?
Click to expand...


Because there is direct heat underneath the grill, the food can get dried out. The water pan provides moisture in the form of steam, and depending on the configuration, the pan could be used to fully or partially block direct heat/flame.
 
You cannot go wrong with a UDS, especially in terms of efficiency. Love my drum.
 
Welcome gambler!! I also have a Chargriller w/sfb. It was a decent grill/smoker to start learning on, and as it has been stated several times in this thread already, a UDS should be your next step. There is a taste difference, but I did 4 8lb butts last weekend and didn't use half a basket of coals. Read at least the first 100-150 posts in the link J'ville provided and you should be fine. Any other questions you could have will be in there somewhere, but if you can't read that many just PM me and I'll help you along. Almost done with my second, I think I'm going to start getting creative with the next one. This is the UDS picture thread to give you some ideas. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100279
 
I started out with an offset and quckly found out how much work went into monitoring the heat, recharging the fire, etc. Real PIA.

I researched the UDS, built a few, cooked a lot on them.

Haven't used my offset since. I need to sell it.
 
I have an UDS (love it) and am now looking into a vertical like a Stumps or Superior for the very reasons you mentioned. I'm just not into staying up all night and tending a fire.

SmokerKing said:
I started out with an offset and quckly found out how much work went into monitoring the heat, recharging the fire, etc. Real PIA.

I researched the UDS, built a few, cooked a lot on them.

Haven't used my offset since. I need to sell it.
Click to expand...
 
I'm one of those who like messing with the fire in an offset - a lot of times when I'm cooking, I like hanging around in my backyard around the cooker. I have a serpentine charcoal basket I can use if I need a few hours away, but I prefer stick burning. Sometimes we'll have 70 or more folks over for a party so I need the capacity (my offset has vertical & horizontal chambers).

While I thoroughly enjoy the process of cooking on a stickburner, I'll probably get a wsm or uds at some point because sometimes I may just want to cook a little bit & not spend a bunch of time tending the fire.

For me though, there's something about cooking on my offset that really works for me - not sure why - maybe I just like doing things the hard way sometimes. :crazy:
 
I own a cheap offset and love it. Yes it wastes a lot of fuel, but that may be because it's just a cheap unit, Brinkmann. As cheap as it is, I love it. I love messing with the fire, throwing in sticks every 30-45 minutes. But I also love money in my pocket, so I decided to add to my arsenal and get a WSM which should save me some money in the long run with fuel. Both have their pros and cons I guess.
 
I've only smoked on cheap offsets and high end quality verticals so I'm biased towards the insulated verticals. I think you'd like the convenience and user friendly attributes of the insulated vertical smokers. I own a Stumps Baby and I can tell you from experience it is about as close to "set it and forget it" as you can get and I don't even use a guru or anything like that.

The Backwoods brands are about the same way. They are excellent built units but use a water pan. The water helps control the heat and create humidity/moisture in the cooking chamber. I've owned a BWS unit as well and again, can't go wrong with it either. Good luck on your venture and welcome to the greatest addiction in the world outside of Jesus Christ Himself.
 
Use Norco's info on buiding your UDS. You will not be disappointed on the build or the performance of the drum.And ya can tell your friends ya built it yourself :thumb:
 
Smoothsmoke said:
I own a cheap offset and love it. Yes it wastes a lot of fuel, but that may be because it's just a cheap unit, Brinkmann. As cheap as it is, I love it. I love messing with the fire, throwing in sticks every 30-45 minutes. But I also love money in my pocket, so I decided to add to my arsenal and get a WSM which should save me some money in the long run with fuel. Both have their pros and cons I guess.
Click to expand...

I guess if it didn't get 115 degrees here in the summer I might like an offset a just a little more.
 
I have 4 Char-Grillers and I love them I have 2- Char-Griller Outlaw’s with offset and 2 - Char-Griller Professional with offset. I still use these in my comps but they are the ones that got me rolling in comps, the thing with the Char-grillers, they are a great little smoker but you will need to make some mods to them to be GREAT little smokers. The grates that come with them are thin and are spot welded to the ash collector pans they are very crappy you will need to replace the main chamber pan and grate with a heavier grate also putting in a heaver ash pan is not a bad idea I made an insert with a piece of a metal from a 55 gal drum, welded on some angle iron and then welded a re-bar coal grate to it for the main chamber in the offset box I got rid of the grate and made a coal/stick box to fit into the chamber so I could add more fuel just be sure to measure so it does not sit above your cast-iron grates. You probably also have the pull out ash bin on your firebox there new models have this they use to have a swing door which I loved it had less air leakage, so I modified the ash pan from a pull out to a swing door on my Professionals. Last but not least you can purchases a simple Temperature Controller I use the pitmasterIQ and there has been recent talk here on the site about them, several brothers and sisters have purchased them http://store.pitmasteriq.com/index.html IQ-110 Temperature Controller, it looks funny as hell but it works and for around a $100 dollars a pop in beats the price of a Guru. You will also want to replace the temp gauges that come with them and are defiantly a piece of crap! I will get some pics taken and send them to you either in a PM or I will just post them I would do it now but I am in the office I wonder if they would let me go home and take some? Will that’s my 2 cents and I stepping off my soap box all in all the char-griller is not a bad unit if you take care of it and it will take care of you, cover it in the winter and steel wool and sand the rust and paint it with some high heat paint in the spring and she will love you for a long time and make you some awesome que
Hope this helps
Mike /RR
 
No offense to the champions of the almighty UDS, but there are other options Gambler. I'm about to dash off to the airport so I can't be too wordy, but if you look around here you'll find some mods you can make to your chargriller that will improve its performance. Then, while you're building your UDS, think about this: I think the cheaper offsets (Chargriller, Brinkman, NBBD) are "dirtier" cookers than the bandera clones (offset verticals, if you will). I believe this because I've cooked extensively on both and inevitably, my NBBD deposits more "particulate matter" on the meat. I think this is due to the shorter distance heat, smoke and ash have to travel as they cross the meat. More fallout I guess is how I'd word it. But with some mods, you can prevent this and turn out wonderful Q. I'll try to weigh in with more info later if you're interested and I'm sure there are many Brethren with good CG tips; for now welcome aboard and good luck with your UDS build...:becky:
 
I forgot to mention you should also put in a baffle from the firebox to the smoking chamber, but these are things you need to tune to your smoker each one has its own personality you just need to find it and make it a better person err grill :laugh:
 
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