Cheap offset questions....

[Whitewookie]

I've pretty much always either used gas grills or Weber kettles. I've been pretty much exclusively using the Weber for the last several years.

Lately I've been thinking of giving some offset smoking/bbq'ing a try. The question I have is, are the CharBroil offsets any good for a cheap entry-level offset. I don't want to sink a lot of money in until I am sure this is the direction I want to go.

Will one of these C.B offsets work for a couple of seasons of learning and deciding?

I sure wish Weber made an offset... I really love their products and their dedication to keeping everything American made...

VR,
Harold

[Diesel Dave]

They're not real bad, I have one I've been cooking on for years.

There are some inexpensive modifications you can make to improve the quality of the cooks. So in my usless opinion go for it.

[grillinguy247]

You can get a smoker made from 3/16 steel at Academy. Imo the cheap offsets will give you a bad perception of sick burning.

[peeps]

have you searched craigslist for a nice, heavy steel, used offset? worst case you can sell it for the price you paid.

[gtr]

The catch with that is - cheap offsets can actually turn some people off to offset cooking. They can be hard to maintain temps due to being thin and leaky. Heavier weight smokers, which would obviously be more pricey, are actually easier to run because they are designed to do so. That said, if you can run a COS (cheap offset) you can run just about anything. It depends on the type of cooking you want to do as to whether or not you want to go this route. I started with COS, but a pretty decent one that isn't made anymore (NBBD) and I enjoyed it enough to get a bigger and much better one. The COS's these days are more thin and leaky from what I understand.

IMO offsets are a great way to cook and probably my favorite, but it's not for everybody. There are mods you can do to a Char Broiler and I'm sure there are many, many people who enjoy cooking on theirs. I will say that I occasionally see a post by someone who gives up on offsets because they had bad experiences with their COS, and I've seen other people just fall in love with it - but I believe this may be more rare. It basically comes down to whether or not you want to spend time around the cooker or not. I love to when I can, and on busy days when I can't I use a vertical.

[Pete's Meat]

I've been using a brinkmanship smokin'pit pro for a few years now and it's done me good. I scored it for $20 on CL so I couldn't resist.
It's been great to learn on, but after 3 years I'm ready to move on to something bigger and better, I just need to get my wife on board with that idea

[sliding_billy]

+1 for going with a mid range 3/16 one if you want to toe the waters (or find something on CL).

[legendaryhog]

Go the craigslist route and get a used one, the thicker the steel the better. You can always fix a rusted one up, ie, scrape the rust off and repaint, make mods, etc., but you can never make the steel thicker. I would try to find at least one that is 1/4" thick. The 1/8" steel cheapo's are a waste of money IMO.

[Shagdog]

I agree with everything these guys have said. The chargriller is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it's high maintenance, leaky, and damn near impossible to maintain a consistent temp for more than 20-30 minutes right out of the box. Seems like its always getting hotter or cooling down. On the other hand, it's great fun. If you like tinkering with your grill a lot, and can learn from your mistakes, the thing is a good time. I learned a ton from my chargriller about fire management and just the basic ways to make it sing. I've made some killer Q on it, but to get there you need to be fairly dedicated to it.

The general mods most people use are a must. They really help. Count on spending some more cash on upgrades.

In all, if you're interested in moving on to a real stick burner, I'd say a char griller will not give you the best impression of what cooking on a real stick burner is like. It's much more difficult to use. Endless leaks, huge temp differences side to side, and super thin metal all make a chargriller an experience all it's own.

[Bludawg]

JM2C Look at a CHARGRILLER they are put together better thicker and cost less than a Char Broil especially in the firebox.

[Whitewookie]

Thanks guys. Gonna check around and do some research on CL/EBAY. Turns out my daughters S.O. Is thinking of relocating to where he can't have a grill (THE HORROR, THE HORROR) and might give me a COS. So if that happens I'll get to check one out for free and put a little more info in the ole data bank....

VR, Harold

[Gulf]

They're not real bad, I have one I've been cooking on for years.

There are some inexpensive modifications you can make to improve the quality of the cooks. So in my usless opinion go for it.

What are some of these "inexpensive modifications"? Here is what I am working with, an Outdoor Gormet (http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_513601_-1__?N=578846087&affcode=42&kwid=ps_cse&cid=PLA%7CGoogle&gclid=CKP8g8rgsLsCFWRk7AodbSQApQ). I haven't even hooked a bottle up to the gas side. They market this as a charcoal grill. I have been using charcoal and wood in the offset box to "try and keep" a constant temp with a little smoke. The right side of the grill is open and gets radiant heat from the offset. That side is very hot compared to the left. I was thinking of putting some kind of deflector in it to help even the heat out. Any suggestions?

[okiej]

I have been using a Brinkman Smokin Pit Pro (SNPP) for years. It is a hard way to learn, but I love to play with fire so I never really cared or even understood how difficult it was till recently. I am a huge fan of offsets myself. And yes a few mods will help it immensely, but it will still be more work than other options. If your up for it and willing to learn from it, I'd do it. Just don't want to see anyone get a bad idea of offsets based on a COS.

[SmittyJonz]

What are some of these "inexpensive modifications"? Here is what I am working with, an Outdoor Gormet (http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_513601_-1__?N=578846087&affcode=42&kwid=ps_cse&cid=PLA%7CGoogle&gclid=CKP8g8rgsLsCFWRk7AodbSQApQ). I haven't even hooked a bottle up to the gas side. They market this as a charcoal grill. I have been using charcoal and wood in the offset box to "try and keep" a constant temp with a little smoke. The right side of the grill is open and gets radiant heat from the offset. That side is very hot compared to the left. I was thinking of putting some kind of deflector in it to help even the heat out. Any suggestions?


Difusser plate, extend chimney down to grate.

[okiej]

A deflector will help, anything to shield the heat from the firebox. You might want to search tuning plates, or look at the Horizon Convection plate for an example of how others deal with this.

[Gulf]

Thank's Ya'll,
I'll be experimenting tomorrow with some type of temporary deflector!

I've got 10 lbs of leg quarters dry bining :-D

[SmittyJonz]

Try this Cheapo :

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Brinkmann-Trailmaster-57-in-Vertical-Smoker-855-6303-S/203703110/