Ok Joe vertical upright question

[lastmajordude]

I have my eye on a used Oklahoma Joe vertical bandora type smoker. It is in excellent shape. I have never used one but the price seems ok. Any feedback on quality, problems, positive’s is very my appreciated. Happy Friday dudes....

 

[1MoreFord]

The first thing to do is to determine if it's the new mfg Bandera or the original Vertical Roasting oven. The original is the better cooker assuming both would be in good shape.

The original is 3/16" thick, fully welded, has a round exhaust stack, and two small pipe ferrules attached to the LH side of the cook chamber to allow you to put the shelf there if you want to along with the two ferrules on the firebox. The other cookers are much thinner and the latest has a square exhaust stack.

Also there are three versions of the OK Joe ID plate.
The original has the name Oklahoma Joe's all inside an outline of the state of Oklahoma.
The next version which is made by New Braunfel / Char Broil has Oklahoma Joe's on it but part of the name is inside the outline of the state and part is outside.
The latest version looks like the one in the link below.
https://www.oklahomajoes.com/bandera-vertical-offset-smoker

 

[Seefyre]

I have the smoker you're asking about. I was once thee proud owner of a Shirley Fabrication so I have the viewpoint of having one of the best made smokers available.

The OK Joe Bandera is what I call a "disposable" smoker, that is to say you will not be handing this smoker down to family after your passing.

That being said, this thing produces excellent BBQ. Do the racks suck? (they have no restraint and can easily fall out if your not careful) Yes, they suck. Do you need to add gaskets here, there and everywhere? Yes, but it's not mandatory. Is the paint gonna last? nope- but if you treat it like a cast iron pan, it's not too bad.

My biggest complaint that I cannot do anything about is the vertical smoking chamber is too small. I often have to cut my rib racks and other large format meats in half.

Back to reality, it's a $450 smoker with a legendary form factor and it cooks great. It's not a pleasure to smoke on like my old Shirley, but I could buy 10 of these for the cost.

It's also cool that Bandera's have a cult like followiing with a bazzilion youtube videos on how to modify and make it yours.

~Cheers