Redesigned Lone Star Grillz 20" Offset Smokers - Review Videos

[AKMIMNAK]

Originally Posted by kingjman

I'm looking at that thing like, 'there's gotta be something I could mod on or for it'

....anything you're looking at that you would improve?

How rigid is that handle? Flex much while moving over rough terrain, or lifting?

I don't know how I could ever outgrow all that cooking area. Very nice.

The handle is rock-solid. Not an ounce of flex. I could pound on it with a hammer for a while and it still wouldn't give.

So far three annoyances I've encountered. All are small, and none make me regret the purchase, nonetheless:

1) The cool touch handles on the firebox and the griddle do, in fact, get too hot to touch without a towel or something. Six hours in, I've been at around 300 for most of the day, with a couple brief stints at 250. And the handles are pretty toasty.

2) The ball valve for draining the water and grease out of your cook chamber points straight down at the log rack below. Emptying it onto your storage rack is obviously......not good. Even if you don't use it for storage, no one wants to create additional cleanup by having your cooker spray greasy water all over itself. Rus Jones of Smoky Ribs BBQ & Southern Cuisine on YouTube added an elbow fitting to his 24x36 to make it point out the side at a 45 so it would drain properly. This is something I'd like to see Lone Star add right at the factory. It is very inexpensive and makes better sense than the current design.

3) Lastly, I scratched my paint preheating logs on the firebox lid. And I was being incredibly careful. That stuff is very easy to scrape up, even after seasoning, and I wish I'd known that before trying. An easy solution on these new 20" models is to put logs under the firebox on the log rack. Because the firebox is smaller on these 20-inchers, there's actually a spot to put logs directly beneath the firebox unlike the 24" models where the firebox goes all the way down to the frame.

I'll mention each of these in future videos as I develop my channel.

Thank you for your input and questions!

[AKMIMNAK]

Another thing I'll mention in a future vid: once you have your whole smoker up to full temp, right after you add a new log to a good coal bed, you can get that griddle well over 600 degrees for searing smash burgers. So definitively, you can smoke and griddle at the same time with no prob if you plan your timing right.

[Baychilla]

The first suggestion I have for any potential YouTuber is: Fix the sound. Invest in a shotgun (if you're always infront of the camera) or lavalier (if you jump around) mic. People on the tubes seem to be far more forgiving of video than they do sound.

At the end of the day - thank you for doing what others haven't.

[Baychilla]

Originally Posted by BillN

Great job on the videos, Chris will owe you for all the kudos your giving the new design.

I wish more MFGs would get behind productive YouTubers.

[Springram]

Originally Posted by AKMIMNAK

The handle is rock-solid. Not an ounce of flex. I could pound on it with a hammer for a while and it still wouldn't give.

So far three annoyances I've encountered. All are small, and none make me regret the purchase, nonetheless:

1) The cool touch handles on the firebox and the griddle do, in fact, get too hot to touch without a towel or something. Six hours in, I've been at around 300 for most of the day, with a couple brief stints at 250. And the handles are pretty toasty.

2) The ball valve for draining the water and grease out of your cook chamber points straight down at the log rack below. Emptying it onto your storage rack is obviously......not good. Even if you don't use it for storage, no one wants to create additional cleanup by having your cooker spray greasy water all over itself. Rus Jones of Smoky Ribs BBQ & Southern Cuisine on YouTube added an elbow fitting to his 24x36 to make it point out the side at a 45 so it would drain properly. This is something I'd like to see Lone Star add right at the factory. It is very inexpensive and makes better sense than the current design.

3) Lastly, I scratched my paint preheating logs on the firebox lid. And I was being incredibly careful. That stuff is very easy to scrape up, even after seasoning, and I wish I'd known that before trying. An easy solution on these new 20" models is to put logs under the firebox on the log rack. Because the firebox is smaller on these 20-inchers, there's actually a spot to put logs directly beneath the firebox unlike the 24" models where the firebox goes all the way down to the frame.

I'll mention each of these in future videos as I develop my channel.

Thank you for your input and questions!

Interesting.. my handles on my LSG VO never get hot. I put a small metal can that I hang on the ball valve handle. It is stuffed with paper towels to absorb the drippings. I have two wood racks (1/4 cord each) to store my wood. I do not use the storage rack below the cooker. There are other places to put your sticks on cook day in addition to the storage rack. As to preheating the wood, just remember the cooker is a tool. not a museum piece. If the best place to preheat the sticks is on top of the firebox, just know you will get a few minor scratches... after a while you can get some paint from Chris and make it new looking again if it bothers you . My LSG has an insulated firebox so preheating the wood on top of the firebox does not work. I preheat mine in the firebox at the front. Sounds like you already have found a solution to the issue. We are all nervous about our new toys.... just remember, it is all about having fun. So.. enjoy it.

[pjtexas1]

The paint on the firebox is a known thing. I've seen it a few times. I wish i had remembered to post that in your other threads. Did it go all the way to the metal? I can't understand the hot cool touch handles. I've never heard that one before.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[AKMIMNAK]

Originally Posted by Baychilla

The first suggestion I have for any potential YouTuber is: Fix the sound. Invest in a shotgun (if you're always infront of the camera) or lavalier (if you jump around) mic. People on the tubes seem to be far more forgiving of video than they do sound.

At the end of the day - thank you for doing what others haven't.

I appreciate the input. I know virtually nothing about good A/V production and have wondered what is the minimum equipment I can get away with. Some of these BBQ guys are running $1,200 cameras, plus expensive mics and software, and their videos don't always seem to reflect that. So if I can invest in a few necessary options like you suggest and keep it cheap and simple, I'm game.

[AKMIMNAK]

Originally Posted by pjtexas1

The paint on the firebox is a known thing. I've seen it a few times. I wish i had remembered to post that in your other threads. Did it go all the way to the metal? I can't understand the hot cool touch handles. I've never heard that one before.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yes, it went all the way to the metal on at least one scratch. No worries, that's life. It was bound to happen eventually.

I'm wondering if the hot handles was because I had the firebox door cracked open several times today for airflow. I cannot remember if it happened right after one of those times or not, but it's possible. The outside of that firebox was reading 550 degrees at one point, so it could also just be that it made the handles straight up hot.

[AKMIMNAK]

Originally Posted by Springram

Interesting.. my handles on my LSG VO never get hot. I put a small metal can that I hang on the ball valve handle. It is stuffed with paper towels to absorb the drippings. I have two wood racks (1/4 cord each) to store my wood. I do not use the storage rack below the cooker. There are other places to put your sticks on cook day in addition to the storage rack. As to preheating the wood, just remember the cooker is a tool. not a museum piece. If the best place to preheat the sticks is on top of the firebox, just know you will get a few minor scratches... after a while you can get some paint from Chris and make it new looking again if it bothers you . My LSG has an insulated firebox so preheating the wood on top of the firebox does not work. I preheat mine in the firebox at the front. Sounds like you already have found a solution to the issue. We are all nervous about our new toys.... just remember, it is all about having fun. So.. enjoy it.

Good reminders, thanks for the encouragement. I tend to always ding my new toys right at the beginning, and then I'll go like ten years without another incident. Murphy's Law.....

[marvda1]

"2) The ball valve for draining the water and grease out of your cook chamber points straight down at the log rack below. Emptying it onto your storage rack is obviously......not good. Even if you don't use it for storage, no one wants to create additional cleanup by having your cooker spray greasy water all over itself. Rus Jones of Smoky Ribs BBQ & Southern Cuisine on YouTube added an elbow fitting to his 24x36 to make it point out the side at a 45 so it would drain properly. This is something I'd like to see Lone Star add right at the factory. It is very inexpensive and makes better sense than the current design."

I got an adapter and ran one of those short water hoses so mine ran off the patio.

[NYC ‘Que]

Where does the grease go when you’re cooking on the griddle?

[sthamm]

Originally Posted by AKMIMNAK

I'm wondering if the hot handles was because I had the firebox door cracked open several times today for airflow.

Were you having issues with the logs smoldering with the firebox door closed? Just curious. I own a 24x36 horizontal offset from LSG and have had issues with it. Fixed it by enlarging the air intake.

[sthamm]

Originally Posted by marvda1

I got an adapter and ran one of those short water hoses so mine ran off the patio.

Mind snapping a pic or elaborating on said adapter? I'd like to be able to do the same with mine.

[kingjman]

I see replacement grease buckets for pellet poopers a lot of places.

You should be able to hang one off the ball valve handle.

Or even a small cattle bucket from a farm supply store. TSC or FleetFarm.

If you're broke from the lsg purchase...make one from a large soup can and a hanger?

[Springram]

Originally Posted by sthamm

Were you having issues with the logs smoldering with the firebox door closed? Just curious. I own a 24x36 horizontal offset from LSG and have had issues with it. Fixed it by enlarging the air intake.

"Fixed it by enlarging the air intake" ..... how in the world did you do that?
Perhaps you are just opening the intake all the way?

My LSG vertical offset drafts like crazy. This is the first I have heard of an intake issue with any of the lSG smokers.