How has your Humphrey's smoker held up over time?

I can't answer regarding the stainless steel issues, but I'm the third owner of a Qubed Pint that was used in competitions by the two previous owners so it's had a lot of cooks on it. The inside is blackened from heat and smoke but everything is still square and solid. The outside has a couple of tiny dings in the sheet metal but basically looks like new except for those dings.

Cleanup is pretty standard. I don't use water so I foil my water pan - toss the foil afterwards. Some things I cook in pans others just don't cook right unless they're on the grates and getting air/heat flowing all around them. After everything is out of the smoker I usually let it run for an hour or so to cook off anything left on the grates then brush them with a welding brush to knock off any thing clinging to the grates. Wipe them down with a paper towel when I'm setting up for the next cook. If that doesn't do it I pull the racks, lay them out on my drive way and hit them with a softscrub pad and some dawn and hose them off.

When I'm in a hurry I sometimes preheat the cooking chamber with a weed burner, that burns off anything on the grates pretty efficiently too

It's built like a tank, which I discovered when I tried to move it by myself from my carport up a few steps to my back porch. After a couple of failed attempts ended up building a ramp

I have the Down East Beast for over 4 years now, and I have never had to clean the inside of the smoker. I do pull the shelves out when hot and clean them after every cook. A quick rinse and a quick brush and they are clean.

If I had to do it over again, I would go with stainless shelving, only because they clean well even when cold.

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I'm cooking in pans, clean out any ashes that are left right after I cook, and give her a wax at least every other week. You can keep it just as clean not cooking in pans but it would take just a little bit more elbow grease. Its easy upkeep. Other than a couple very minute cosmetic blemishes my cooker is pristine.

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emt1844 said:

Hi BBQ Friends,

I'd like to know how difficult a Humphrey's smoker is to clean after a cook, maintain, and keep in good shape over time? People sometimes say "this is the last smoker you'll ever need", and I'm trying to find out how true this is. How well do they hold up over the years?

I'm particularly interested in a Pint with the stainless steel interior and front face options, so if you can answer the above with this in mind, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for any info.

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I'm curious about the Backwoods units as well. While I think I would really like an LSG IVC, I'm thinking that much capacity is just plain overkill since most of the time I cook for just myself and rarely need to feed small groups.

The paint, as has been mentioned in the past, is not the best and i have a few places, mainly around the top of firebox door that need to be touched up. The firebox door itself is difficult to keep clean, unless you get the basting tray. Regular maintenance and cleaning are very simple and only require a little effort, maybe 10-15 mins. after a cook (and smoker has cooled).
basically pull hot coals, brush off grates while hot, let cool and remove ash. You can pretty up and wipe it down every cpl. cooks to keep it purty. That's it.
Stainless interior IMHO is not really necessary unless you plan on only occasionally using the cooker. Once it seasons up, you don't mess with it. I scrape the scale off if it is flaking, which might be every 10 or so cooks, and brush it out.
I really enjoy my Pint, completely happy with my Humphrey, and glad i bought it. Now i just need me an assassin charcoal 48 with the vpan and i will not buy another cooker, (at last that is what i tell the Mrs.)

BillATL said:

Cleanup is pretty standard. I don't use water so I foil my water pan - toss the foil afterwards.

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Whats the impact of cooking with an empty water pan in this cooker? Do you need to wrap meat? Or i guess how does it change other aspects like temp or style of cooking in the smoker?

yellow_curry said:

Whats the impact of cooking with an empty water pan in this cooker? Do you need to wrap meat? Or i guess how does it change other aspects like temp or style of cooking in the smoker?

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There are two reasons (that I know of) that people put water pans in a smoker. First is to keep the cooking environment humid. You can google this and find lots of argument about whether or not it's necessary. I'm not going to argue that either way, but I live where it's always humid and don't find a big difference in the outcome either way.

The second reason is to add thermal mass. Thermal mass absorbs heat when it is at a temperature less than its surroundings and radiates heat when it's at a temperature greater than its surroundings. Adding thermal mass to a smoker means it takes longer to heat up to your target temperature but once it's there it tends to stay at that temperature: too hot and the thermal mass absorbs energy; too cold and the thermal mass radiates energy.

So to keep a cooker at a nice steady temperature, more thermal mass is better up until the point that it's just takes too long to heat the cooker to temp. Water pans are nice to add thermal mass for a couple reasons. If you just add more steel to the cooker the thermal mass goes up but so does the weight. Since water is pretty easy to get and get rid of adding water when you're cooking and getting rid of it afterwards adds thermal mass without increasing the permanent weight of the cooker.

When you're smoking low and slow, water has another 'magical' property, Add heat to water and it heats up until it's at its boiling point - 212F at sea level. Keep adding heat and it evaporates but it doesn't get any hotter. So now you have a thermal mass that's very close in temperature to your target temps and will not get any hotter. Perfect.

On the other hand, dealing with a water pan can be a hassle. You've got to put the water in there and dump it out afterwards. As the water pan evaporates the amount of thermal mass in your cooker decreases. Let it boil dry and you can get a big temperature spike. Add a bunch of cold water and you get a temperature crash. And if you're trying to cook hotter than 212ish, you've got this thermal mass that's constantly trying to suck heat out of the cooker.

So, some folks forego the water and use other things for thermal mass - sand and firebricks are both popular. Fill the water pan with them and cover with foil. Easier clean up. Sand and firebrick will get hotter than 212 - whether that's good or bad depends on the temp you want the cooker.

For me, my Qubed Pint has enough thermal mass for the cooks I've done so far without adding water or anything else. If I really loaded it with meat or I needed to open the door a lot I might find out it doesn't recover fast enough but no problems so far.

BillATL said:

There are two reasons (that I know of) that people put water pans in a smoker. First is to keep the cooking environment humid. You can google this and find lots of argument about whether or not it's necessary. I'm not going to argue that either way, but I live where it's always humid and don't find a big difference in the outcome either way.
The second reason is to add thermal mass. Thermal mass absorbs heat when it is at a temperature less than its surroundings and radiates heat when it's at a temperature greater than its surroundings. Adding thermal mass to a smoker means it takes longer to heat up to your target temperature but once it's there it tends to stay at that temperature: too hot and the thermal mass absorbs energy; too cold and the thermal mass radiates energy.
So to keep a cooker at a nice steady temperature, more thermal mass is better up until the point that it's just takes too long to heat the cooker to temp. Water pans are nice to add thermal mass for a couple reasons. If you just add more steel to the cooker the thermal mass goes up but so does the weight. Since water is pretty easy to get and get rid of adding water when you're cooking and getting rid of it afterwards adds thermal mass without increasing the permanent weight of the cooker.
When you're smoking low and slow, water has another 'magical' property, Add heat to water and it heats up until it's at its boiling point - 212F at sea level. Keep adding heat and it evaporates but it doesn't get any hotter. So now you have a thermal mass that's very close in temperature to your target temps and will not get any hotter. Perfect.
On the other hand, dealing with a water pan can be a hassle. You've got to put the water in there and dump it out afterwards. As the water pan evaporates the amount of thermal mass in your cooker decreases. Let it boil dry and you can get a big temperature spike. Add a bunch of cold water and you get a temperature crash. And if you're trying to cook hotter than 212ish, you've got this thermal mass that's constantly trying to suck heat out of the cooker.
So, some folks forego the water and use other things for thermal mass - sand and firebricks are both popular. Fill the water pan with them and cover with foil. Easier clean up. Sand and firebrick will get hotter than 212 - whether that's good or bad depends on the temp you want the cooker.
For me, my Qubed Pint has enough thermal mass for the cooks I've done so far without adding water or anything else. If I really loaded it with meat or I needed to open the door a lot I might find out it doesn't recover fast enough but no problems so far.

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Bill - Best straight and direct answer I have read on the water pan issue! Thanks for the post!