1st Smoker Purchase Help - Midwest Smoker?

[eurekasmoker]

HI everyone thank you for looking at this post.

Last year I was looking to purchase my first offset smoker but did not pull the trigger since my budget was rather low(500). My budget is around 3K this year but may go up to 5K but I dont really want to spend more than 3K or so unless there is a huge difference in quality/smoking.

I am looking locally in St. Louis MO and came to the following smoker if someone can chime in on it?:

https://www.stlbbqstore.com/midwest-smokers-2040-offset-wood-smoker/

Ther other smoker I am looking into if I want to spend 5K is the mill scale 94 gallon.

https://millscale.co/collections/cookers/products/94-gallon

 

[Fooball]

That Midwest looks like a great smoker for the money. Would really like it if it came in a 48" long model.

You may want to look into the popular Blue collar 24 x 48 smoker which starts at $1700 with 3/8" thick walls. Even with shipping from Texas, it may be worth it to you.

Add a few options and you still have a relative low price for a great smoker. Wish they had a choice of paint finish though. Check them out:

https://bluecollarsmokers.com/

 

[1MoreFord]

eureka, in your price range I'd be looking at Workhorse pits. Either the 1969 or the 1975.

https://www.workhorsepits.com/

 

[Pig_Farmer]

Also take a look at LSG. My friend has this one and he loves it.

https://lonestargrillz.com/collections/smokers/products/24-x-48-offset-smoker

 

[gtsum]

For similar price you can be in a workhorse 1975 and get a much larger cook surface and a much larger firebox (which makes it very easy to run and control temps). That local pit looks good, but I would want it bigger all around. St. Louis bbq store should carry the Shirley reverse flow patio also I think?


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[Big George's BBQ]

I believe Meadowcreek sells in your area Great smokers May be able to find a Shirley

 

[Connor_Macleod]

The 2040 from Midwest Smokers looks pretty nice, but 24x48 would feel much roomier. I agree Blue Collar smokers looks worth checking out. I have a 24x60 on order from Big Phil and will post photos when it arrives.

 

[SkaterSmoker]

You can't really beat the price for Big Phil's Blue Collar smoker, plus I think he wait time is pretty good. Workhorse is another very good option for under 3K. Check out the thread I posted of my Workhorse wagon, pretty impressive. Millscale's look awesome and have great reviews, but pricier. If your budget is in the Millscale range, I know Moberg recently announce their final production run of Sunny's backyard smoker - that this is a beast. Also, if you wanted reverse flow, the Shirley Facebook fan page has people selling used ones all the time - usually Shirley owner's selling their pit as they're getting a new one built. Good luck!

 

[1MoreFord]

Another brand of smoker I've heard good things about is Bellfab. They are reasonably priced and have a relatively short lead time. They're also heavy duty.

http://bellfab.com/index.html

 

[TheHojo]

Another option are the pipe style pits by Green Money Fab -he just posted prices on his IG page for both a 48 x 24 and 60 x 24 pipe style pit

He makes a nice pit - at a competitive price

 

[Jmgunn]

Another brand of smoker I've heard good things about is Bellfab. They are reasonably priced and have a relatively short lead time. They're also heavy duty.

http://bellfab.com/index.html

Just don’t special order one. Smoke master D on YouTube asked for a workhorse 1975 clone and his smoker looks super sketchy.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Just don’t special order one. Smoke master D on YouTube asked for a workhorse 1975 clone and his smoker looks super sketchy.

I just watched the video where Smoke Master D talks about his Bellfab smoker. I don't think sketchy is a fair description as the guy asked someone to copy the design of another fabricator, and then to do it for roughly $1K less. Are there any builders out there who would produce an amazing smoker under those circumstances? This really falls into the "should have just turned down the job" type scenarios. The smoker looks great and I'm certain it functions quite well.
The guy wanted a Ferrari but wanted to pay Corolla prices.

I was curious because I've never heard a single negative thing about Bellfab Smokers, so I was surprised to see someone make this type of comment.

I'm going to post the video here in case anyone else is curious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIAakk5P0zM&ab_channel=SmokeMasterD

 

[eurekasmoker]

Thank you everyone, I snagged up a Yoder Whichita locally for only $1K as my first offset smoker. It has the lower intake door as well, very excited!

 

[Fooball]

Thank you everyone, I snagged up a Yoder Whichita locally for only $1K as my first offset smoker. It has the lower intake door as well, very excited!

Good for you! Got a 1/4" steel cooker with no wait time or delivery charge. Sounds like a deal if it was in good shape. Post some pics when you get a chance.

 

[Dweverett]

Thank you everyone, I snagged up a Yoder Whichita locally for only $1K as my first offset smoker. It has the lower intake door as well, very excited!

I was going to say that once you factor shipping in the local option might be even more attractive — but $1k for the used one you picked up is even better!

Enjoy and post some pics once you get it fired up!

 

[didunoahme]

Check out Backline smokers in Texas, very close to big Phil’s. Also the primitive pit babe is pretty sweet

 

[didunoahme]

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