Yoder Smokers

[grubby]

Wanted to know if anyone out there has a Yoder Smoker and if they like it before I make the investment on one.

[boatnut]

Originally Posted by grubby

Wanted to know if anyone out there has a Yoder Smoker and if they like it before I make the investment on one.

gotta link? yoder? amish?

[Buster Dog BBQ]

I saw two of their pellet cookers this weekend and they were pretty nice.

[Gore]

Originally Posted by Buster Dog BBQ

I saw two of their pellet cookers this weekend and they were pretty nice.

Do tell....

[grubby]

Here is a link http://www.yodersmokers.com/

[BBQ PD]

Mike Davis seems to do really really well with his.

[jestridge]

I will never buy a smoker or a pellet smoker , but if I did I would look at these very close , the pellet was a nice looking smoker for a pellet , their other cooker look like top of the line stuff with a good price.

[ShutYrMouth]

their fire pits are pretty neat too.
dont know about their smokers, but i'm sure they're great.
if ya wanna come down to columbus, you can take my stumps or dp fat 50 for a test drive
anytime!

[Buster Dog BBQ]

Originally Posted by Gore

Do tell....

It was two levels heavy grates like you would find in a backwoods or offset.
Very heavy construction. The one drawback was maybe airflow. The exhaust was on the top to the right from the pellet chamber. Just curious how food on the top row will cook. I didn't take the grates off to look underneath. Unlike the Fast Eddy Pellet Cooker, this one didn't have direct over the fire cooking. It was big enough you could do 2 butts and a brisket.

[jestridge]

Those off set are nice looking. But all off set are basically the same , the main thing is the thickness of the fire box and cooking chamber, if you have these two factors you can make that sucker cook.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by Buster Dog BBQ

I didn't take the grates off to look underneath.

I did

They are very well built with a heavy body and lid. As Rod said, the grates are heavy expanded steel. Under the grates is a deflector plate that runs the length and width of the box. Under that the bowl of the box has the firepot on the left side and a baffle in the middle. The baffle was added recently to help with heat distribution and also help achieve higher temps for grilling. There is a grease drain opposite the fire box and a hook underneath to hang a bucket to catch the grease.

The pellet hopper holds 18 lbs of pellets and the pellet hopper lid overlaps the box all the way around so it should stay dry in wet weather.

Overall i was impressed. The smaller unit (480 sq. inches) weighs around 230 lbs and the bigger one (640 sq. inches) weighs over 300 lbs.

[brewman114]

I would recommend my Midnight Smokers, but I am a little Biased. Yoders are made here in KS and my cousin knows the family that owns the company. I have owned one and its not a bad smoker at all. BUT, air flow is a bit of an issue, at least with the one I had. When I went through the design process of mine I tried to resolve that issue that curses most offsets. Like I said they do build a quality smoker (but so do I). Enough with the sales pitch. I think you would be happy with a Yoder just depending on what you want out of your grill. Every smoker/grill has its own quirks and you just have to learn to use the one you own, they all work a little different. Talk of pellet in this thread? Are you in the market for a pellet or a stick burner, just wondering. I would always recommend stick burners, but it depends on your preference. I am actually in the process of designing a pellet myself even though I would probably always choose a stick burner over the pellet. Pellet smokers are awesome for the ease of use but I feel it takes a lot of the fun out of it. And stick burners make better food in my opinion.

[Jaberwabee]

Yoder builds great pits and the ys-640 is built like tank. There is still some learning and software tinkering being done on the ys-640, but that just impacts higher temps. Call and talk to Don, he is the owner, and a great guy and will answer any questions. They also own a store here in Wichita, and you can contact him there too @ www.atbbq.com

The stick burners are very similar to Horizon, but have small differences that make a big difference.

[fatguyputter]

Although I currently do not own one of these babies, I happen to live about 8 miles from where they are made.

And this will tell you how clueless I am, until the other day, I didn't even know about them. I happened to be walking through their showroom on business and noticed them. Let me just say, I am somewhat of a newbie when it comes to the various types and kinds of smokers (I currently have a WSM and a Hasty Bake), but I was absolutely taken back at how well these things were built. They are extremely heavy and extremely well-sealed. Any dummy can look at them and know that they are extremely well made. I personally, would be that dummy.

Yoder is an true Amish community that is highly regarded for their craftmanship in making things with their hands. They have several small town shops where people travel from miles around to buy their well made products. I have no reason to believe that the smokers would be any different.

Again, although I have been around some offsets on many occasions, these stood out to me as a high quality product. As far as how they work operationally I can't comment, but if it was half as good as the product was made it would be a "can't miss".

They did seem proud of their product from a price standpoint, by the way.

[grubby]

I am looking at the Yoder Cheyenne at Cabelas its a stick burner. Brewman 114 I will take a look at your Midnight Smokers.