I currently have a large and an xl bge. Love using them and get fantastic results with them. But i need more room for larger events. Looking at the Humphrey pits that are vertical and reverse flow. Will they produce the juicy meat that I am used too? I know there will be a learning curve with this, just don't want to spend my money and not like it because the end result isn't up to par with what i am used too. Never seen a pit like this or had food from one that I know of so I don't know what to expect. What you brethren think?
I am a Humphrey's owner....
I did research on different smokers for about 6 months and even went to others who had who had the other models I was looking at (Stumps and Backwoods). Although I could not test drive the Humprey's Down East Beast, I was able to see the Battle Box which was a smaller version of my cooker.
I can tell you that I purchased my cooker in February with virtually no waiting time and it was delivered to me within a week. I was well pleased with my purchase and the cooker performed better than I anticipated.
Today, I will have to say that with many many uses of the cooker, I am even happier with my purchase than when I first used it.
I would suggest that you review your needs and evaluate the smoker from that perspective before making your choice. Here is a link on "
Why I Chose a Humphrey's Smoker". Maybe this will help guide you in your choice.
I will say that if you purchase a Humphrey's smoker you will be happy with the quality and performance of the unit.
While it is not necessary to use, because the Humphrey's are very easy to regulate temperatures, I would suggest the use of a BBQ Guru to make everything super easy. I load the cooker turn on the Guru and get a good nights sleep. I find that now I can enjoy being part of the gathering rather than being tired from checking on the cooker.
Good luck in your choice...
Looking at getting a custom cubed version of the beast. The slide out water pan version of the beast has a heat diverter in it I believe. Can you put other liquids in the water pan for flavor? Or something besides water? I have seen where people put sand or fire bricks in there. What would no water do? Sorry for the abundance of questions, trying to get these figured out before I pull the trigger.
The water pan is a full sized stainless steel steam table pan. You could put other liquids in the water pan, but the inside of the cooker does not build up moisture. The cooker remains dry so do not think you would benefit from adding other liquids for flavor. I would suggest occasional misting rather than using a liquid in the pan for flavoring.
The water pan is designed to be used in the cooker and it does regulate the heat extremely well without steaming the meat. The flow of the heat from the cooker rises up the sides and then down across the meat to the bottom exhaust vent which keeps the water at the exhaust level and not rising to condensate on the meat.
You could ask Kevin "Smokinit" about a heat diverter, but I was always opposed to water pans, but this is a great design... Don't fix what isn't broken..