I ordered a Char Broil Bandera and it arrived with major damage. When Char Broil would not replace the entire unit but only the pieces that were most obviously damaged, I just disputed the charges with Master Card and got my money back. Since then I have been searching for a Bandera alternative. This week I talked to the folks at Old Country about making their Bandera clone for me since I live over a thousand miles from the nearest Academy and Academy does not list the Old Country Bandera clone one their website so that I could order it from them . Although it is not part of their standard package for Academy, the people at Old Country said that they could do what the baffle was designed to do spreading the heat and smoke by installing a plate on one of the lower racks that has holes drilled in it of varying diameter with the smaller holes nearest the opening from the firebox and the larger holes furtherest from the opening. I have no idea what the range in hole diameters is or how many holes per row there are but the concept would seem to work over a wide range of hole diameters considering the baffle designed for the Bandera is a pretty gross method of control. A bigger concern that I had is that with the thin gauge firebox welded to the smoke chamber, it would seem the installation of fire bricks in the firebox would be essential to preserving the firebox from burnout because once it goes, the whole smoker is likely toast.
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