looking for suggestions. i've been using WSM for years but thinking about changing up to an offset smoker (maybe reverse flow) - prefer wood/charcoal to pellets. only use the smoker about once a month so not sure a $2k+ smoker is in the cards but not sure how good the cheaper ones are. looks like the oklahoma joe longhorn might be a good compromise? hope this is the right place to post and appreciate any advice. thanks
Buy used. Have patience and monitor CL or Facebook Market. Take your time. And don't limit yourself to the higher dollar cookers. Anything used that you can flip and get your money back, will give you a chance to find out if an offset cooker is your thing.
I searched for a couple years and in 2018 , I found an OC Brazos on CL. A guy had bought it with Christmas money, cooked on it three times, and like the OP in this thread, decided an offset was not his thing.
I didn't know if an offset was my thing either. But I bought it for $600. Found out an offset is my thing. Loved the flavor of wood smoked barbecue and everything that went into producing it. From gathering the wood, to feeding splits...... the whole 9 yards.
I sold it a few months ago for $650. I got three years of lessens and a lot of good barbecue for basically free. And I probably let it go too cheap, it sold in one day.
I still look in on CL and FB maybe once a week. And I'm not seeing very much on the used market here in central Oklahoma. I think like everything else, there's supply chain problems and anything used is scarce and has gone up in value. This may not be the right time. Patience is a virtue.
