Lone Star Grillz Vertical Insulated Cabinet Smoker-For the new Owner

Nice. I need to get a weedburner. Even if it didn't work, it'd be cool to just burn stuff.
 
Internal Temp

My 1st brisket (12lbs) on the Vault, I put on at midnight. I had the GURU and temp at 225. It got to internal temp of 164 with-in 4 hours. Wrapped and I thought cool...It will be ready in bout 4 to 6 more hours....Nope...got to 180, dropped to 177 and stayed there....long story short, after 12 hours cook time it got to 202....
Thought that was a fluke...well at BBQ Comp....13lb prime brisket, at 225...went on at 1040....woke up at 1245 and internal was 168....thought thermometer was messed up. Got another digital and a manual and all with in 2 to 3 degrees of each other. Wrapped, went back to bed....vault stayed at 226 all night.....got up at 5, internal was at 178, and it stayed there for about 4 hours, and then climbed, took off at 11am at 203 internal. So right at 12 hours cook time. Moist, great ring, tender as heck.
1. I have Never had a brisket get to wrap temp so fast
2. Never had one that stalled at such a high temp...Anyone else gone through this?
 
I had weird stalls happen on my offset when I used to cook low and slow but not consistently. They say every brisket is different. You really should try the bludawg once.:grin:
 
jrben1 said:
The temperature of a propane torch with air is about 3600 degrees F and can be used to braze steel.
Doesn't anyone worry about the stress on the steel from going to ambient temp to 3600 degrees? Especially with repeated usage?
Click to expand...

Hi Bob,
I am not blasting my grates with full bore flame, I tend to aim for between the grates and I do not linger the flame for long when hitting the grates straight on.
 
Bucking Good BBQ said:
My 1st brisket (12lbs) on the Vault, I put on at midnight. I had the GURU and temp at 225. It got to internal temp of 164 with-in 4 hours. Wrapped and I thought cool...It will be ready in bout 4 to 6 more hours....Nope...got to 180, dropped to 177 and stayed there....long story short, after 12 hours cook time it got to 202....
Thought that was a fluke...well at BBQ Comp....13lb prime brisket, at 225...went on at 1040....woke up at 1245 and internal was 168....thought thermometer was messed up. Got another digital and a manual and all with in 2 to 3 degrees of each other. Wrapped, went back to bed....vault stayed at 226 all night.....got up at 5, internal was at 178, and it stayed there for about 4 hours, and then climbed, took off at 11am at 203 internal. So right at 12 hours cook time. Moist, great ring, tender as heck.
1. I have Never had a brisket get to wrap temp so fast
2. Never had one that stalled at such a high temp...Anyone else gone through this?
Click to expand...
I get stalls at 180 all the time.

Your cook looks fairly in line with others I've done.
 
Rain Storm

Had one heck of a gully washer yesterday while smoking some loin back ribs. It rained so hard that some cold water must have got inside even though the exhaust vent was half closed.
I was running at 225 degrees with the Guru damper choked down to 25% to prevent overshoot. The temp dropped down to 207 on the Guru and 200 on the TelTru, but came back pretty quickly when I opened the Guru damper all the way, then stayed there.
I thought the cooker handled it pretty well. I had an offset that was not insulated, and a rainstorm would suck the life out of the fire pretty quickly.
A bird cage might be an attractive option when buying the cooker, like those on the Gator Pit Rebel.
 
BBQ Guru Tip

I had been having a problem with my Guru overshooting the temp. I found a tip on another thread in BBQ Brethren that makes a lot of sense and seems to have solved my problem. This is a direct quote from that thread:

"It also has a memory feature ("anticipatory" as fwismoker pointed out) so it learns how long it takes to adjust the smoker to drops or spikes in temperatures. If you start the Guru long before the cooker comes to temperature, it will assume this is the required time for adjustment. I find it best once the smoker comes to temperature, unplug the unit for 30 seconds and then restart it. It will start with a fresh memory at that point."
 
jrben1 said:
I had been having a problem with my Guru overshooting the temp. I found a tip on another thread in BBQ Brethren that makes a lot of sense and seems to have solved my problem. This is a direct quote from that thread:

"It also has a memory feature ("anticipatory" as fwismoker pointed out) so it learns how long it takes to adjust the smoker to drops or spikes in temperatures. If you start the Guru long before the cooker comes to temperature, it will assume this is the required time for adjustment. I find it best once the smoker comes to temperature, unplug the unit for 30 seconds and then restart it. It will start with a fresh memory at that point."
Click to expand...

I had luck shutting down vents, when 100 from my target, and letting the Guru stoke the fire to my target temps. I have not had problems overshooting temps nor problems adjusting to open doors. When I open the door to access food, the temps do climb 10-15 degrees but then come down to target temps normally within 20 minutes. I do light about a dozen coals in one corner, fill with hot tap water, and leave all vents open until I am at 125, then shut things down.

I will be doing another cook this coming weekend, and use the same strategy, and see if I have a system going.
 
Ive been making a charcoal snake and filling up halfway to the to of each brick. I have been able to maintain 225-250 pretty easy with real good smoke density. My intake ball valve has a 1/8 opening and my top vent is open a little less than half. No water and I can use 10-12 lbs. Of charcoal for 12 hours. I like the bark with a dry pan versus wet pan.
 
Quick question for you guys, how hot does the outside of the smoker get when it's running? Is it safe to touch/bump into? I'm really going back and forth between one of these and a LSG vertical offset. It's partly a question of stick burning vs. charcoal burning, but there's also the consideration that when I fire up the smoker, there tends to be a party, or at least a family or two coming over. I don't want a kid or a dog getting burned if I can help it.
 
Waiting on mine, but in general insulated smokers aren't too hot to the touch. The area around the firebox will certainly be the hottest spots, but luckily it is at the bottom of the cooker.
 
I cook at 225...In the Texas sun, it's hot to touch, but you won't burn yourself. I would liken it to touching the black paint job on a car in the blistering heat.

In the shade or evening away from the sun it's mildly warm to the touch and you can leave your hand on it and won't be hot. I am sure the black paint in the sun raises it's temp a lot. In the shade it's mild to the touch and you will be safe and won't get burned or injured (even in the sun)

I would say it's fairly safe to touch or bump into. No more dangerous than your home oven.
 
DaveAlvarado said:
Quick question for you guys, how hot does the outside of the smoker get when it's running? Is it safe to touch/bump into? I'm really going back and forth between one of these and a LSG vertical offset. It's partly a question of stick burning vs. charcoal burning, but there's also the consideration that when I fire up the smoker, there tends to be a party, or at least a family or two coming over. I don't want a kid or a dog getting burned if I can help it.
Click to expand...

As others have said, no problem with the outside getting too hot that you will get burned I have not tested the business end of the firebox area but the upper sections do get hot when the cooker is in the sun, but you will not get burned.
 
Thanks guys. That's obviously way safer than touching a lit firebox, which I imagine is like touching the inside of a hot oven.

I'm still going back and forth on what I want to get, but hopefully I can make up my mind and call Chris with an order soon.
 
I'm in the same boat as Dave, I am in the market for in insulated smoker, I narrowed it down to TWO! LSG insulated cause of the efficiency, size and quality and Assassin Smokers cause of the efficiency, quality and build methods.
I've gotten into comps this year and a few family and friends catering parties, so I have to take those in to consideration as well(traveling/mobility). I haven't heard too much about LSG in comps but I wouldn't mind be the one to try them out in comps. I love the capacity of the LSG for the price looks like the best real estate and quality.
I understand I can not have my cake and ear it too I'm going to have to sacrifice mobility for an insulted smoker due to all the materials used. Although, I have noticed the LSG insulated mounted on a small jet ski trailer, that was interesting.

I will purchase a guru

Pros for both:
Many, too much to list

Cons:
Too efficient(might be a good think, just a learning curve)- LSG
Not enough smoke flavor- Assassin
Mobility- both
 
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