Best Offset (Direct or Reverse) other than Shirley (2 years is too long of a wait)

IFlyEm

IFlyEm

Knows what a fatty is.
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Buddy of mine is looking for an offset. We wants to only buy it once so I figured I would ask here.

If you could pick one smoker strictly on the quality of the the smoker and it's results what would it be? We have a couple builders around here like J.H. Smokers (Justin is going to be building mine) but they are fairly new to the seen and he's wanting something more "proven."

I was thinking LSG or maybe Klose? He keeps looking at Langs. But they don't seem overly popular on here.

Thoughts?
 
Plenty of Good Ones . Lone Star Grillz is Hot Right Now.
Klose, Pitmaker, Kat, Outlaw, Johnson, many more
J&H out there in Cali is a small timer putting out some Nice Pits.
 
Last edited:
SmittyJonz said:
Plenty of Good Ones . Lone Star Grillz is Hot Right Now.
Klose, Pitmaker, Kat, Outlaw, many more
J&H out there in Cali is a small timer putting out some Nice Pits.
Click to expand...

Now you have to pick one. :thumb:
 
IFlyEm said:
He keeps looking at Langs. But they don't seem overly popular on here.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I've done a ton of research on this subject over the past few months and there are plenty of folks that love Lang Smokers, a bunch of winning competitors over the years, and at least one highly regarded Pitmaster/Restaurant owner (Bill Durney) who use them. I'm not sure why they don't get much love here, but I wouldn't disregard them for that reason.
 
BigThicket said:
I've done a ton of research on this subject over the past few months and there are plenty of folks that love Lang Smokers, a bunch of winning competitors over the years, and at least one highly regarded Pitmaster/Restaurant owner (Bill Durney) who use them. I'm not sure why they don't get much love here, but I wouldn't disregard them for that reason.
Click to expand...

They Work. Cook Good but fit n finish is Not on par with the Nicer Ones. Warmers are Tiny and you don’t have the options/custom things Nicer pits offer. There was a Shirley thread the other day and a Brethren who cooks on both a Lang and a Shirley said Shirley by a long shot.
Cabinet style doors have become Real Popular- what I’d want.
 
I would get a Built Rite Smoker. Donnie Boston does a good job (just kidding, he's a crook and a thief).


After having a Klose for a year. Here's my opinion.

I would pick a properly designed and drafting pit over fancy welds. I think these traditional pits like Gator and Klose are well built, but poorly designed. By "poorly" I mean they do work, but there's better designs out there. They (gator/klose) just have not evolved. Going forward for me, any traditional flow pit with that needs tuning plates or has the exhaust on top is a deal killer. The tuning plates kill convection and draft so you're now cooking with radiant heat. Might as well get a reverse flow. At least with a reverse flow you would still get convection and a draft. Then, the exhaust on top sucks all your draft right out the top instead of evenly across. That might be OK on larger pits. I'm convinced its a bad on small backyard pits.

For backyard pits my choices would be:

Moberg (he quit making them just now), the new LSG (even though I think its ugly as hell), Pitmaker Hitman or Sniper, Jambo, Outlaw Smokers. Im sure theres others out there. Maybe even keep an eye out for the new Franklin pits. I'd look for topflow design with side exhaust. I have not seen a Lang in action, but think a poorly built Lang might perform better than a well built Gator full of tuning plates.

Just my opinion.
 
Rockinar said:
I would get a Built Rite Smoker. Donnie Boston does a good job (just kidding, he's a crook and a thief).


After having a Klose for a year. Here's my opinion.

I would pick a properly designed and drafting pit over fancy welds. I think these traditional pits like Gator and Klose are well built, but poorly designed. By "poorly" I mean they do work, but there's better designs out there. They (gator/klose) just have not evolved. Going forward for me, any traditional flow pit with that needs tuning plates or has the exhaust on top is a deal killer. The tuning plates kill convection and draft so you're now cooking with radiant heat. Might as well get a reverse flow. At least with a reverse flow you would still get convection and a draft. Then, the exhaust on top sucks all your draft right out the top instead of evenly across. That might be OK on larger pits. I'm convinced its a bad on small backyard pits.

For backyard pits my choices would be:

Moberg (he quit making them just now), the new LSG (even though I think its ugly as hell), Pitmaker Hitman or Sniper, Jambo, Outlaw Smokers. Im sure theres others out there. Maybe even keep an eye out for the new Franklin pits. I'd look for topflow design with side exhaust. I have not seen a Lang in action, but think a poorly built Lang might perform better than a well built Gator full of tuning plates.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

That's a very interesting opinion ya just threw out there...and know I'm not being sarcastic.

I'm assuming ya have experience with both "direct flow" and "reverse flow"? Please expand if ya could! It's these types of opinions and discussion that really bring out the experience and the "been there, done that" of the forum!

For example...
I'm getting ready to throw a deposit down on a traditional smoker, something around 72" long. I'm not interested in even grate temps hence..."direct flow".

With that said, ya seem to have some thoughts on the designs of such and I doubt I would be the only one who would like to hear yers and others.

-D
 
It just depends on the size and budget. For me, I love my Shirley, but I get pit envy often. A Jambo is high on my list of wants, just so I can play with the cool kids at comps. lol

Right now I really like the looks of the hybrid Outlaw smoker. Kinda a patio and trailer smoker in one. Good luck on your search
 
Rockinar said:
I would get a Built Rite Smoker. Donnie Boston does a good job (just kidding, he's a crook and a thief).


After having a Klose for a year. Here's my opinion.

I would pick a properly designed and drafting pit over fancy welds. I think these traditional pits like Gator and Klose are well built, but poorly designed. By "poorly" I mean they do work, but there's better designs out there. They (gator/klose) just have not evolved. Going forward for me, any traditional flow pit with that needs tuning plates or has the exhaust on top is a deal killer. The tuning plates kill convection and draft so you're now cooking with radiant heat. Might as well get a reverse flow. At least with a reverse flow you would still get convection and a draft. Then, the exhaust on top sucks all your draft right out the top instead of evenly across. That might be OK on larger pits. I'm convinced its a bad on small backyard pits.

For backyard pits my choices would be:

Moberg (he quit making them just now), the new LSG (even though I think its ugly as hell), Pitmaker Hitman or Sniper, Jambo, Outlaw Smokers. Im sure theres others out there. Maybe even keep an eye out for the new Franklin pits. I'd look for topflow design with side exhaust. I have not seen a Lang in action, but think a poorly built Lang might perform better than a well built Gator full of tuning plates.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

my kinda post. first thought was "get the body bags" with the built rite rec, then you repeated what I was gonna say. hell, i even contacted moberg recently about a smaller patio pit and he said they were on hiatus for now. :(

i scour craigslist and facebook daily looking for a deal. for me, i dont really need a giant pit because 99% of my cooking is for 4, but I want one big enough to not swing temps tossing a decent-sized split on the fire. for those few times i do cook for more, it needs to be deep enough to handle a rack of spares or a brisket front to back.
 
I really examined the airflow of the offset, and commented on this in other threads. There's a lot to the air movement in terms of baffles and exhaust.

I saw the Outlaw and saw that they had all the latest thinking incorporated. Excellent intake control, as it's very windy where I am. I would buy it all over again.

And I only waited a week for mine
 
i love my LANG i don`t know where all the talk of poor quality fab. comes from the welds on my 60org. are proper and the construction is of good quality they cook like a champ if you want extras talk to them they do a lot of things they don`t advertise and i repeat I LOVE MY LANG :whoo::whoo:
 
If I didn’t go with Moberg then it would’ve been either LSG (not those new ones) or Jambo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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