Reverse Flow Cabinet Smoker (CASCADE SMOKERS)

First I have heard of cascade but I have a lot of experience with variety of vertical cabinet. My favorite being pitmaker vault and that thing was 1000lbs of awesomeness. Temp control was easy and got significant burn tine using bbq guru. Wont a lot of trophies on that thing before selling

Looks like cascade uses similar RF method and has welded in divider. Pitmaker was stainless steel pan welded in with drain. I never used as water pan though. I put two foil pans in it for easy cleanup. The cascade continental looks to be similar size of vault. I had temp probe on center of 5 racks and there was maybe 10-15 difference top to bottom of CC

Some use snake method and I found that wasting space. Filled whole pan with lump and dumped 1/4 chimney on corner nearest air inlet. Used torch to preheat walls and was up and running in 30min

Cascade looks like well built unit and if it runs half as good as the vault it will be a worth while purchase. Hope this helps



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Look into reviews of the LSG IVS and Humphreys Smokers. Although you may not be purchasing them it would give you an idea of how this pit runs, i have never heard of cascade either. Oregon to Alaska would definitely be cheaper than TX or Maine. Good luck on your search, these looks pretty solid though.

Run a search on the forum here and you’ll find lots of glowing reviews of Cascades. Here’s one to get you started.

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272450

They were my number two choice but I live in the Midwest and went with a more local maker T&K Smokers. You can’t go wrong with insulated cabinets for the reasons you mention. It takes a while to get 500 lbs of steel up to temp with just charcoal, but mine can then hold for 12 to 16 hours with no fire management. Most are built as reverse flows (heat flow top to bottom and back up) so the temps are within 10 degrees top to bottom rack.

There seems to be great reviews of Cascade here on the forum but I don’t have any experience with them. IVS sounds like a good choice for cold Alaska! One thing I can think of is that Ironside Smokers has a charcoal/pellet/wood IVS and I think they’re from MN, and so experienced with smoking in cold weather. Maybe worth a look? I’m sure shipping is insane but you only buy these things once, right?

Heard nothing but good things on Cascade smokers. I bet you would be happy with that decision.

I’ve heard glowing reviews from cascade. I’ve eyed one myself. I’m sure you won’t regret it. BTW, what’s the shipping costing? When I was stationed up there, shipping was always so expensive. Loved it there, though!

I received my Cascade back in early March and have been cooking, learning, and enjoying since. Rob's a good guy and very helpful with any questions you might have. He can send you specific pics if you have questions about things not shown on his site. I bought the Que Deville but had some mods and extras. Mine is wider, and I opted for the cart and some other upgrades. I run a snake type burn with the charcoal and have made 10-12 hour cooks at 250 and only used a little less than half the fuel. Keep in mind that I live in southern California and don't fight any outside temps. Once I get it set to temp, it just runs along without any issues. When I open to wrap or turn, etc. I may need to dial it back a bit to avoid a runaway temp, but I usually only have to watch it for 5-10 mins and then it settles back in and I can ignore it again. So far the only real complaint I have is that the top got a very small chip in the powder coat during the shipping. I was able to fix it myself and didn't make a big deal about it. Stuff happens. If you have any specific questions, let me know. I'll answer if I can. I know there are a few others on the site who own them as well.


Good Luck.

Use mine regularly since I got it. Think it produces great food with minimal effort.

Checked temp on all three grates when I first got it and they were pretty even. Haven’t done that since. I almost never use more than one grate.

Rob is great to deal with. Highly recommended.

utahjed said:

Does anyone have experience with RF IVS's they are willing to share? or direct experience with Cascade smokers? how well do they cook? even temps? produce clean smoke/taste? produce good smoke ring?

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I've owned just about every type of smoker there is including 3 insulated vertical cabinets one of which is a Cascade Smoker (I won't name the other two).
My cabinet from Cascade Smokers is by far the best smoker I've ever owned. I find that I get a smoke profile as good if not better than my stick burner without near the effort a stick burner requires. I haven't used any of my other smokers since owning my Cascade Smoker as my results have been consistently great with minimal effort. I think the quality and the fit and finish of my Cascade Smoker is second to none. The smoker is heavy in fact my smoker is heavier by far when compared to other cabinets with similar cook chamber size. I can move my smoker effortlessly on hard surfaces with the standard casters, I wouldn't attempt gravel or grass. If moving across gravel, dirt or grass I think they offer all terrain wheels but it wasn't needed in my case.
In short, if you're looking for an extremely fuel efficient smoker that's built like a tank and provides excellent results you'll want to take a good look at a Cascade Smoker. If you're looking for a smoker you can toss in the back of your pickup truck for a camping trip I wouldn't recommend it.

I'll have to add to the kudos for the Cascade Smoker. My experience is pretty much the same as the other commenters.

After 2 years of regular use, I cannot find any faults in the design and function. I have not used the offset since I started using the Cascade, and I'm getting it ready to sell it. After steady use, I cannot detect any rust or deterioration of any kind in the Cascade, which is a rare experience for me with consumer products.

Today, it is not often that you find a product that lives up to or exceeds its claims.

Incidentally, I use the Auber 2615 controller, which probably isn't necessary for temperature control on this unit, but it is nice to keep track of the cook while I am away from the house during the day. You can expect ±5° control with this setup.

This is the first cooker I've heard of that people report equivalent flavor profile to an actual wood burning offset. Assuming it's true, makes me wonder why I'm still using mine.

luv2smoke and Porcine, I was reading your posts from back in 2018 when Porcine bought his. If you don't mind, please elaborate more on flavor profile compared to offsets you've used. I am genuinely interested.

I've had one on order since June. Supply shortages have extended the wait time several weeks but it's finally done and they just received my final payment for it. After reading some of these comments, I'm sure I made the right decision in getting a Cascade. Really looking forward to using it. Rob even added an option I didn't buy due to all the delays.

DL said:

I've had one on order since June. Supply shortages have extended the wait time several weeks but it's finally done and they just received my final payment for it. After reading some of these comments, I'm sure I made the right decision in getting a Cascade. Really looking forward to using it. Rob even added an option I didn't buy due to all the delays.

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Congrats. Which model?


Never owned a stick burner to compare. I came from a UDS which I felt made some great tasting stuff. the cascade smoker is better in every way compared to the uds in use and what it produces except portability and cost.

Odered the Quemiester. Its the smallest one but will be fine for me. Over half the cost was raised by my coworkers as a retirement gift. Need to make them all some food when I get it.

DL said:

Odered the Quemiester. Its the smallest one but will be fine for me. Over half the cost was raised by my coworkers as a retirement gift. Need to make them all some food when I get it.

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Congrats! Those must be some very decent co-workers. I imagine you will be quite happy with the cooker. :-D

The Lone Star Grillz IVC is the other one to consider but, it is in Texas so you will have some extra shipping.

If you preheat the cabinet, it will cut down on the charcoal you burn.

Cascade is essentially a custom builder so, I would talk to them about any features that might be worthwhile in Alaska. Things that come to mind are thicker insulation and different cook chamber dimensions for something like Caribou shoulders or cold smoking salmon.

robertm said:

This is the first cooker I've heard of that people report equivalent flavor profile to an actual wood burning offset. Assuming it's true, makes me wonder why I'm still using mine.

luv2smoke and Porcine, I was reading your posts from back in 2018 when Porcine bought his. If you don't mind, please elaborate more on flavor profile compared to offsets you've used. I am genuinely interested.

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For me it has all to do with the size of wood chunks used. Charcoal burns hotter than wood that is used in a stick burner therefore the combustion air being introduced to an insulated vertical cabinet will be a lot less to maintain lower temperatures than a stick burner would need. A stick burner needs a lot of air to burn the splits of wood cleanly, too little air results in a dirty fire. With my cabinet I start my fire with the least amount of charcoal that will get my smoker up to temp in a reasonable amount of time that way I have a small amount of charcoal burning that requires more air to maintain temp rather than a large amount of charcoal burning that needs very little air air to maintain temps. With a small charcoal fire that requires more air to maintain temperature and using small wood chunks the wood chunks are able to fully combust (like a stick burner) rather than smolder. I find this method easily replicates the wood flavor profile of a stick burner as the wood is able to combust fully and to me the biggest benefit is I don't have to slave throwing sticks of wood in a stick burner every 1/2 hour or so. I can control the amount of wood flavor I want simply by the amount of small chunks I use.
Often times I see people in videos using huge chunks of wood in their cabinets or even pieces of wood that are appropriately sized for a stick burner and my thoughts are that there is little chance they're achieving a clean smoke profile.