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Phaddie

Knows what a fatty is.
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Hey guys,

I have a Louisiana grills, cs-450 for about 7 years and I think I am outgrowing it.

It is a bit small and I really want more smoke flavour.

My wife has offered to get me a new smoker for my birthday next month. I was going to pull the trigger on a Lang or Horizon offset. I would love to develop a new skill and cook with actual fire.

They are expensive to get shipped here to Canada though and I am not sure I would love being tied to feeding the fire every 30ish minutes.

My question is, are there smoker variations that would give me better smoke flavour but not be as hands on?

Or should I just do it and grab a Lang?

Thanks in advance

Phad
 
Look at the IVC's (Insulated Vertical Cabinet) smokers. Top brands include Lone Star Grillz, Humphreys, Ironside, T&K, Cascade...
General consensus is smoke flavor nearly as good as stick burners but in a set it and forget it package.
 
Ok cheers, I will look into IVC tonight. Maybe more of them will be available in Canada!

Phad
 
Lang don’t ship into Canada. I talked to Ben Lang a few months ago when I was considering one. They ship to the closest point in the US to you and it’s up to you to go pick it up. That’s impossible right now with the border closed.
 
thedude9999 said:
Lang don’t ship into Canada. I talked to Ben Lang a few months ago when I was considering one. They ship to the closest point in the US to you and it’s up to you to go pick it up. That’s impossible right now with the border closed.
Click to expand...

Weird. I spoke to him today on the phone and he said he ships to the Canadian depot in Niagara Falls. I may have misunderstood him though. Horizon will ship directly to my home. I am trying to find a Canadian custom manufacturer to get one made here, but I am not sure I am knowledgeable enough to judge the quality.

What did you buy instead? And do you know if Lone Star Grillz ships to Canada? I have not heard back from them yet.

Phad
 
+1 for an insulated cabinet smoker. Up north this will allow you to cook throughout the year..even during those frigid winter months. I would suggest looking into Ironside Smokers as they build insulated cabinet smokers which can be ran like a stickburner, or can be ran with charcoal and wood chunks like other cabinet smokers.

www.ironsidesmokers.com

Here's a short video showing the smoker being run as a stick burner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGw5u8shhiQ

So that would be my recommendation...plus they're only about a 13 hour drive away from Toronto, so the shipping wouldn't be too bad (or you could just take a road trip and grab it yourself). The cool thing is that Ironside gives you the option to use it as a stickburner when you have the time, and as a charcoal cooker when you don't have the time to watch it. Or you can do a hybrid cook where you cook for a few hours on wood splits, and then throw in some charcoal and treat it like a charcoal cooker.

Offset smokers are my favorite type of cooker to use, but 90% of the time I put my food on my cabinet smoker because it gives me time to take care of other things while I'm cooking.
 
I am going to agree about the cabinet style smoker, and suggest a Meadow Creek BX25. Well insulated and probably the size you are looking for. They are located in Lancaster Pa. but may have a dealer close by. Check them out.
 
I am a HUGE fan of the insulated cabinet smokers.
I run a Deep South GC28 and use mini splits in it.
 
I see you are currently running a small pellet cooker and want something bigger that gives better smoke flavor and is hands off.

Have you considered a better pellet smoker like a MAK.
At about 9:10 in this video https://youtu.be/l6JZwO0HKhk Baby Back Maniac said the MAK gives him more smoke flavor than his wood burning horizontal offset.
The MAK price includes free shipping to the lower 48. Toronto is near the border. I wonder how much more the shipping could be to get it sent to Toronto.
 
Shadowdog500 said:
I see you are currently running a small pellet cooker and want something bigger that gives better smoke flavor and is hands off.

Have you considered a better pellet smoker like a MAK.
At about 9:10 in this video https://youtu.be/l6JZwO0HKhk Baby Back Maniac said the MAK gives him more smoke flavor than his wood burning horizontal offset.
The MAK price includes free shipping to the lower 48. Toronto is near the border. I wonder how much more the shipping could be to get it sent to Toronto.
Click to expand...

While I won't argue that MAK provides more smoke flavor than other pellet cookers (this seems to be pretty widely agreed upon), there is a missing element here when BabyBackManiac mentions that his MAK is giving more smoke flavor than his offset. That missing element is that when you're running a pellet cooker you put food in and walk away. When you're running an offset smoker you're out there every 20-30 minutes (for most offset smokers anyway), adding small pieces of wood, knocking the ash off the wood, or just generally checking the smoker. Doing so for a long period of time your taste and smell senses are prone to getting "overwhelmed" by the smoke. I've got a couple different offsets and 99.9% of the time they are churning out thin, blue smoke and the smell is amazing....so I love to sit out there and just soak up that aroma. When I go to taste my BBQ after smoking on my offset I often can't taste any smoke flavor at all...but my family (and all my customers...BBQ food truck) can absolutely taste the smoke.

Just something to consider. I've never used or seen a MAK in person but they have a stellar reputation on this forum and I'm sure that's well earned.
 
Shadowdog500 said:
I see you are currently running a small pellet cooker and want something bigger that gives better smoke flavor and is hands off.

Have you considered a better pellet smoker like a MAK.
At about 9:10 in this video https://youtu.be/l6JZwO0HKhk Baby Back Maniac said the MAK gives him more smoke flavor than his wood burning horizontal offset.
The MAK price includes free shipping to the lower 48. Toronto is near the border. I wonder how much more the shipping could be to get it sent to Toronto.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the video. I am not really interested in moving to another pellet cooker. I think I like the idea of something that can use charcoal or sticks. Lone Star looms awesome, but cannot ship to Canada. Found a couple local builders.

It's all very exciting.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
While I won't argue that MAK provides more smoke flavor than other pellet cookers (this seems to be pretty widely agreed upon), there is a missing element here when BabyBackManiac mentions that his MAK is giving more smoke flavor than his offset. That missing element is that when you're running a pellet cooker you put food in and walk away. When you're running an offset smoker you're out there every 20-30 minutes (for most offset smokers anyway), adding small pieces of wood, knocking the ash off the wood, or just generally checking the smoker. Doing so for a long period of time your taste and smell senses are prone to getting "overwhelmed" by the smoke. I've got a couple different offsets and 99.9% of the time they are churning out thin, blue smoke and the smell is amazing....so I love to sit out there and just soak up that aroma. When I go to taste my BBQ after smoking on my offset I often can't taste any smoke flavor at all...but my family (and all my customers...BBQ food truck) can absolutely taste the smoke.

Just something to consider. I've never used or seen a MAK in person but they have a stellar reputation on this forum and I'm sure that's well earned.
Click to expand...

I can say I've definitely found this to be the case, moving from a kamado to an offset. Leftover day I can taste much more of the smoke, and its very good smoke indeed.
 
Phaddie said:
Thanks for the video. I am not really interested in moving to another pellet cooker. I think I like the idea of something that can use charcoal or sticks. Lone Star looms awesome, but cannot ship to Canada. Found a couple local builders.

It's all very exciting.
Click to expand...

The Lone Star mini is at the top of my wish list. As pointed out Ironside is a 13 hour drive and can run on wood alone if desired. I would guess Humphreys in Maine and Meadowcreek (Pennsylvania?) both would be options for driving to pick up and save the shipping charge--plus would get to visit the shop and owners in person.
 
JeffinNE said:
The Lone Star mini is at the top of my wish list. As pointed out Ironside is a 13 hour drive and can run on wood alone if desired. I would guess Humphreys in Maine and Meadowcreek (Pennsylvania?) both would be options for driving to pick up and save the shipping charge--plus would get to visit the shop and owners in person.
Click to expand...

I cannot drive to the stated right now. And 2 grand USD was my max, so those cabinets might be out of my range. I did find these

http://muskokasmokers.com/

Right near me, not sure on quality though.

Phad
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
+1 for an insulated cabinet smoker. Up north this will allow you to cook throughout the year..even during those frigid winter months. I would suggest looking into Ironside Smokers as they build insulated cabinet smokers which can be ran like a stickburner, or can be ran with charcoal and wood chunks like other cabinet smokers.

www.ironsidesmokers.com

Here's a short video showing the smoker being run as a stick burner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGw5u8shhiQ

So that would be my recommendation...plus they're only about a 13 hour drive away from Toronto, so the shipping wouldn't be too bad (or you could just take a road trip and grab it yourself). The cool thing is that Ironside gives you the option to use it as a stickburner when you have the time, and as a charcoal cooker when you don't have the time to watch it. Or you can do a hybrid cook where you cook for a few hours on wood splits, and then throw in some charcoal and treat it like a charcoal cooker.

Offset smokers are my favorite type of cooker to use, but 90% of the time I put my food on my cabinet smoker because it gives me time to take care of other things while I'm cooking.
Click to expand...

you just possibly sold me my future smoker. i like the idea of a stick burner and insulated all in one. not certain if you can get a true blue smoke. excellent... the slugger looks like a homerun
 
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