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View Full Version : Thinking About Pulling the Trigger on an Old Country Pecos - Any suggestions?


Moose
09-21-2017, 07:31 PM
I had a long talk with ssv3 the other day about the flavor profile/benefits of a stick burner, and am really close to buying this online and having shipped direct, since there's no Academy stores anywhere in CA. It seems a number of folks here are really happy with them, but I have a couple of concerns.

1. There's no guarantee I'll wind up with a good unit, and I'd hate to be stuck with one with poor welds and ill fitting cook chamber and firebox doors. If I inspect it before I sign off on it when they deliver it, and find it to be defective, I can refuse the delivery because it's damaged, right? Also, how can I ensure the local delivery company uses a truck with a lift gate?

2. Another concern is variable temps between one side of the cook chamber to the other. It sounds like some tuning plates would solve the problem, correct?

3. Any other mods I should be considering that will help bring this smoker to its fullest potential?

4. I'll certainly want to get thermos for the cook chamber door, though I'm a tad concerned about the thickness of the door. Any suggestions on what will be best to drill these holes?

I really like the price point of this cooker, and if I sell my Kamado and UDS, it will basically be very little out of pocket for me.


Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

SmittyJonz
09-21-2017, 07:45 PM
I don't know if you're allowed to refuse it or not I would assume you could . Even the worst ones I have seen I could tweak . 14 gauge you could drill With a decent unabit and oil.
Do not buy gauges from Academy get the river country or teltru from Amazon.
Tunning plates or a convection plate and you can get the temp difference down to 15-20°
I did it on a Oklahoma Joe Longhorn with two cookie sheets and a disposable pan water pan
Only other mod is going to be the fire grate - you can use the grilling grate (expanded metal) in the top of the firebox - move it down turn sideways or you can make you an expanded metal grate or mod the existing one.

You might also consider Oklahoma Joe Bandera from Lowe's or Walmart

KevinJ
09-21-2017, 08:12 PM
Make the drive north and get you a KAT (http://www.katbbqsmokers.com).

holdenf92
09-21-2017, 08:19 PM
Just my two cents. If you can swing paying for the Brazos I think you'd be a lot better off. Its the only 1/4" stick burner available in a big box store that I know of. I spent a lot of time researching before ordering mine recently and I put my hands on both the Pecos and the Brazos in an Academy store before I made the decision. I just feel like the investment is a lot more worth it. The Pecos is a lot thinner and while it is a much better choice than an Oklahoma Joe you'll still have to deal with a rusting firebox and temps that fluctuate wildly because of the thinner metal. I am a half broke college student and I ordered mine with Paypal credit, which gives 6 months no interest, so I am just going to pay about 175 bucks a month on it, instead of forking out a thousand up front.

Now, a word of warning on the shipping whichever pit you choose. Academy uses a freight shipping service for their bulk items called CEVA, and all you have to do is a quick google search to see how horrible their reputation is. Case in point, I ordered my pit on September 7 and I still haven't received it yet. It was originally supposed to be delivered on Sept 14, but their tracking system is so slow the tracking number Academy gave me never even registered that the order was in their system until the day it was supposed to be delivered. Needless to say there was a delay. and somehow the shipment got diverted all the way to Ohio from Atlanta when I am in Louisiana, which made no sense to me. Anyway, I am supposed to finally get it Monday or Tuesday so I'll let you know what happens. If I had known it was going to be like this I would have gotten a friend to let me borrow his truck or something, but I ordered online because I had no way to transport a pit that heavy home from the store. Good luck with your decision. Whichever pit you choose will be way better than what you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot. Oh and if you do choose to get an Old Country pit you'll need to buy your own thermometer because it won't come with one. If you have any other questions just let me know!

SmittyJonz
09-21-2017, 08:40 PM
The Over n Under is a BadAzz for only $100 more........

pjtexas1
09-21-2017, 09:11 PM
The Over n Under is a BadAzz for only $100 more........Bludawg's temps were pretty even across the grates as is on his over n under. He was really happy with it and it didn't have any air leaks that I could see.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

SmittyJonz
09-21-2017, 09:21 PM
jh smokers & welding fabrication is in Cali somewhere - check his FB page out.

ebijack
09-22-2017, 04:51 AM
IMHO, Since you are wanting to try an offset, I'd suggest one of the horizontal smokers from HD/lowes that will fit the bill. Buy that. If you want a vertical or over/under, then buy from Academy.
Talking thin metal vs 1/4" metal on horizontal offsets, I have not seen where 1/4" metal makes the "huge" difference in your cooks. if at all. I cook on my horizontal UDS offset. I don't get huge temps swings...fire management. I add splits almost the same amount/time as cooking on a 24X60, 30X80 Shirley. I cook on Shirley's/Lang's/other's most every year when we do our large Vet cooks. Sure the 1/4" will last almost a life time. The thinner metal offsets will last alot of years also and cost less. I don't buy into the "buy once, cry once". I did that. Didn't work for me. I don't care for that koolade.
IF you find you really love an offset, and want/need a better unit. Sell the cheap one and order one with exactly what YOU want on it. Built for you. If you spend the $$ first and don't like it. You are going to lose more $$ if/when you sell.
Just like kamado's, insulated verticals etc. Not all cookers are for everyone. Just look at all the cookers for sale here where they have only been owned less than 1 yr. Folks find out, that style/type cooker was not really for them. Or the size is to large/small and they are off to purchase again.

HogGrog
09-22-2017, 05:27 AM
Check this out Moose...
https://modesto.craigslist.org/for/d/bbq-pit-off-set-smoker/6296097120.html

Sopchoppy
09-22-2017, 06:30 AM
Check this out Moose...
https://modesto.craigslist.org/for/d/bbq-pit-off-set-smoker/6296097120.html

That's a deal if you are close enough and have a way to pickup.

tom b
09-22-2017, 09:55 AM
I'm far from an expert Moose but this set up get met pretty even temps end to end

https://i.imgur.com/ckuOgmRh.jpg

Moose
09-22-2017, 01:50 PM
Check this out Moose...
https://modesto.craigslist.org/for/d/bbq-pit-off-set-smoker/6296097120.html

That's a deal if you are close enough and have a way to pickup.

That's a little too far from here at 300 miles, though a decent deal for sure. Looks like the firebox and chamber doors are SS, which I've never seen before...

Fourwinds
09-22-2017, 02:48 PM
I've had a Pecos and I now have a 36" Lang patio. The thinner metal on the Pecos made monitoring and maintaining temps way more work than does the 1/4" Steel on the Lang. The Lang is super easy to cook with and requires little to no adjusting during a cook once you get it up and running. Just add wood every 30-45 minutes. Come to think of it, I use less wood per cook with the Lang than the Pecos as well. Guess the thicker metal has more thermal mass. If it were up to me, I'd look for any pit made with 1/4" steel before I'd buy the Pecos. It wasn't junk by any means. I've just enjoyed a heavier pit much more.

SmoothBoarBBQ
09-22-2017, 06:38 PM
Just a few days I stopped by Academy for the first time and just wanted to look at their offset smokers. That Pecos is pretty poorly built... super thin metal, the main chamber door had some big gaps due to the bend of the metal being off by a large margin. Then I saw the Brazos and that was a totally different animal. It has a nice sized firebox, a huge exhaust, and a decent amount of cooking space.

I'm part of the "buy once, cry once" camp so if you can up your budget I'd highly recommend going with the Brazos. Offset smokers are fun and they produce an amazing smokey flavor, but dealing with thin metal smokers with huge gaps in the doors can be a pain.

Blowin' Smoke
09-22-2017, 08:24 PM
I went by Academy this afternoon and checked them out. Like others have said the thinner metal on the Pecos seemed flimsy. The Brazos was much better, but it just didn't tickle my fancy. However I fell in love with the Smokehouse. May be adding it to my arsenal to replace my 18" WSM.

Longhorn01
09-23-2017, 09:38 AM
The Over n Under is a BadAzz for only $100 more........


Have had all types of smoker setups and the Over Under by far (in its price range) has maintained the most consistent temps out of all so far!

SmittyJonz
09-23-2017, 11:31 PM
Grilling Grate as a fire grate and fire grate as a convection plate........

Old country Pecos quick review!! - YouTube

Modifications to the Pecos smoker... - YouTube

SmittyJonz
09-27-2017, 08:40 PM
You Order it yet.......? Rather popular smoker......

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u645/bobjones79/2A1A85FD-8AA3-4B6B-AE5C-BA2B58603A7F_zps6squkyc1.jpg~original (http://s1326.photobucket.com/user/bobjones79/media/2A1A85FD-8AA3-4B6B-AE5C-BA2B58603A7F_zps6squkyc1.jpg.html)

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u645/bobjones79/EBB9B256-E6FD-4118-BB72-017708473D59_zpsvazyubnd.jpg~original (http://s1326.photobucket.com/user/bobjones79/media/EBB9B256-E6FD-4118-BB72-017708473D59_zpsvazyubnd.jpg.html)

Blowin' Smoke
09-27-2017, 08:44 PM
You Order it yet.......? Rather popular smoker......

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u645/bobjones79/2A1A85FD-8AA3-4B6B-AE5C-BA2B58603A7F_zps6squkyc1.jpg~original (http://s1326.photobucket.com/user/bobjones79/media/2A1A85FD-8AA3-4B6B-AE5C-BA2B58603A7F_zps6squkyc1.jpg.html)

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u645/bobjones79/EBB9B256-E6FD-4118-BB72-017708473D59_zpsvazyubnd.jpg~original (http://s1326.photobucket.com/user/bobjones79/media/EBB9B256-E6FD-4118-BB72-017708473D59_zpsvazyubnd.jpg.html)

Smitty I knew you had quite a collection...but daaaaaaaang :clap:

Moose
09-27-2017, 08:53 PM
You Order it yet.......? Rather popular smoker......


Actually...no. I wound up getting an OJ Highlander at Lowe's with a discount for price matching Wal Mart's current cost at $268. I'm planning on doing some of the popular mods including sealing to stop leaks, adding a tuning plate, an expanded metal firebasket etc. I would have had to do this to the Pecos anyway, so with the mods, I don't see how there would have been any major discernible difference between the two.

The main reason I went this route is I need to see the assembled smoker BEFORE I sign off on it, and I wasn't super confident if I went with the Pecos it would arrive in good shape, and if that happened, it would just be a big delayed PITA.

I'll have it on Monday, and thanks for asking about it, Smitty! You are one of our top offset experts and many of your threads were very helpful to me as I read through them. :thumb:

ssv3
09-27-2017, 09:08 PM
Congrats Moose and welcome to the stick side. :becky:

ssv3
09-27-2017, 09:11 PM
Just noticed they offer both OKJoe Longhorn and Highlander in reverse flow version? Never seen that before.

https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/099143/099143020525.jpg

Moose
09-27-2017, 09:17 PM
Congrats Moose and welcome to the stick side. :becky:

You played a big part in this Sako! Really appreciated all of your input! Time to put all that oak I had delivered to good use. :thumb:

ssv3
09-27-2017, 09:23 PM
You played a big part in this Sako! Really appreciated all of your input! Time to put all that oak I had delivered to good use. :thumb:

:thumb:

You're going to love the q off of it.

Moose
09-27-2017, 09:30 PM
Just noticed they offer both OKJoe Longhorn and Highlander in reverse flow version? Never seen that before.



They do, and the price difference is significantly higher for the RF.

tom b
09-27-2017, 09:44 PM
We have been loving ours Moose, I 'm sure you will too