Lang 36 Hybrid vs Lang 36 Deluxe Purchase

[Steve J]

Hello all,

Needing a little advice here. I currently have a 22" Weber Kettle and a K22 Pit Boss Kamado. While both are great at what they do, the bottom line is, they're both too small for my needs; I've recently been asked to cook by people-outside of my home, and the amount of stuff I'm asked to smoke, requires me to currently use both smokers at once, as well as doing multiple cooks on each. I was originally set to order the Weber Smoke Fire 36 as it looks to be pretty huge, however, I have concerns with new product launches/working the bugs out, etc. which brings me to the Lang situation...

I am considering purchasing either the 36 Hybrid, or the 36 Deluxe. One of the pros with having the Hybrid is that I could get rid of my Kettle due to the chargrill feature. This also allows me to smoke multiple types of meat at one time on the same smoker. On the other hand, I like the warming box feature on the Deluxe. Even more intriguing is that both smokers are the same price on the Lang website. Can some of you that have either smoker, chime in as to advantages, disadvantages, lessons learned, or "if I could do it over, I'd..." While I know that the 36 Patio is too small by itself, it helps that my wife told me that I MUST purchase any size larger than that.

Thanks in advance

 

[blake]

I don't anything about the Langs, but my move from kettle to Assassin 36 was seamless. I was saving up for a 48, but found a good deal on lightly used 36. It's been great for me.

 

[Stlsportster]

Frankly I’d get the 48 standard and a kettle. The warmer on the 36deluxe is very small. Two shelves each can hold a single half pan. I very rarely use it.

I know people like the chargrills but my perspective is that I’d rather grill on my Weber and have the extra smoking real estate.

 

[Dweverett]

I tend to agree on sticking with the basic smoker and going with a 48 if you need more room.

Nothing against Lang, great smokers, but if you are worried about space I'd also look at the new 36" Shirley's. More expensive than the Lang but more effective space -- actually a surprising amount for a 36"

 

[TropicDad]

I had a 36 hybrid deluxe, I rarely used the warmer. The chargrill worked good, no problems there. I'd recommend the hybrid over the deluxe. When I venture towards another Lang it will be the 48" original patio. My big problem was finding good bbq wood in my area, so make sure you can source what you want.



I will say the Lang produced the best bbq I have ever made, it really is a great smoker.

 

[Huskres]

Have you ever cooked on a stick burner? If you need to start doing larger quantities I’d look heavily at a cabinet or even an assassin 48” grill.

 

[WSM18Lang48]

To me the warmer box and char grills on the 36 models are too small. I recommend going with a larger Lang 48 original and getting a Weber 26 kettle.

 

[Sid Post]

As noted, one thing I really DO NOT LIKE about the Langs is their small warmer boxes.

Secondly, their smaller models are a bit narrow for my tastes so, with the 36" model, you really don't end up with a lot of cooking space which is why you are buying one in the first place.

At a minimum look at the Lang 48 however, you will be much happier overall (I think) with a cabinet-style smoker so you have the grate space you need while not taking up a whole lot of real-estate to park it.

If your budget is anywhere near $2K, a Shirly 36" patio is a good place to look. IVC's like Assassin start at ~$2500 and are local to you though they are gravity fed. For 'social' smoking where I want to be an 'active' socializer, a gravity-fed or pellet smoker is preferred. If I just want to hang out and enjoy the smoke and some beer, a stick burner wins every time.

Unless you are running a concession operation, I never really understood the desire to marry a charcoal grill to a smoker. Personally, my Weber Kettle would never get replaced with a 'hybrid' smoker.

 

[Stlsportster]

The depth of the 36 from front to back is about 18 inches. I can fit a well trimmed rack of spares front to back. Width I could fit 5-6 racks on the bottom barely. The top shelf of any smoker with a rounded back is smaller. I can fit 2 slabs on top at an angle.

Warmer box is useless for ribs unless you cut them. Then I could fit another slab on each shelf in the warmer.

So it all depends on what you need. I could fit 6-8 butts on the bottom rack.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Personally those charcoal grills attached to offset smokers generally aren't very user friendly, and they'll never give you the same control / usability you get with a Weber Kettle. I almost never used mine (Johnson Smokers Chargrill Trailer) because if I needed to add more charcoal I had to remove the cooking rack and doing that while it's hot is tough. Also, as others have said, a 36" cooker has a VERY SMALL amount of cooking space which can be frustrating.

Also, as already stated, that Shirely 36" is something you should really look into. The way they do their cookers you end up with a ton more usable cooking space than other similarly priced offset smokers.

Good luck moving forward and if your budget is tight keep your eye on the "General : For Sale" portion of this forum, as well as Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. You can get some solid deals on used cookers that would help you stretch your budget.

 

[jerryalan]

I was very close to ordering a Lang 48 (no warmer box) until I heard about Shirley. I inquired about their 24x42 model but the wait time was too long so Tyler told me about their 36" model. It's less than $100 more than the Lang 48 and has nearly 100 more square inches of total cook space in the main cook chamber. I now have a Shirley 36" coming. The company is between web developers right now so the info isn't there but if you do a YouTube search for Shirley 24x36 you'll find some videos. There's also a Facebook group called Shirley Fabrication Smoker Fan Page with some good info and a great community that can answer your questions.

 

[TheSmoke]

I would vote for the warmer because I use mine on every cook--as a wood warmer. That warmer gets me out of a lot of trouble. It's just the right temp to pre-warm my wood and make it catch faster, more easily, and with less smolder and creosote. If it rained (or snowed) on your wood the night before, you can keep a steady pipeline of wood in there. It's also handy for wood that is a little fresher than you might like. I also hang sausages in there and they come out great.