Lone Star Grillz Vertical Insulated Cabinet Smoker-For the new Owner

[DaveAlvarado]

Wow! That bark looks awesome. I go into coma every time I cook...

Bummer its rained like every weekend here for the last month...getting withdrawals bad

You bought an insulated cooker...and aren't cooking in the rain? I'm confused. :wink:

 

[darkoozy]

You bought an insulated cooker...and aren't cooking in the rain? I'm confused. :wink:

Ya, I know.... Just a little over protected. And, when it rains, it freakin pours, and dont need a bucket of rain down the smoke stack and inside the smoker...

 

[lws]

Just got the email from Amber and Chris my 24 x 40 smoker it is in production Won't be long now

 

[harleykids]

This thread has kind of died hasn't it? As an up and coming LSG VIC owner, I wish there were more posts showing cooks, food, firebox burn arrangements, mods, etc!

 

[THoey1963]

It comes and goes, and a lot of cooks are just posted in a separate thread. Not much for me to say or do right now as my vertical offset is on order. I am sure I will be lighting the board up once I get word that she is being built.

 

[zanna5910]

These smokers look awesome. To you owners of either the regular or mini:

1. Has anyone done a biscuit test on one of these? What are the results?
2. Could you use the smaller fan on the mini or do you still recommend the 25?
3. With a guru attached, how good at "set it and forget it" cooking is this? Can it run overnight without attention?

Thanks! And more pics please!

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

Pretty sure I saw a guy do the biscuit test on this thread, and it tuned out all the same. I only have a regular, so can't answer the mini question. I don't think you can do an overnight cook with water. My temperature starts to rise as the water level drops. I think you would have runaway temps as you run out of water. They also burn more fuel if you use water and if you cook at higher temperature. They can hold up to a massive grease fire, as I found out yesterday.

 

[Rockin Ribs]

that mini was heavier than hell!!! me and my son wrestled it out of the back of my truck but im lucky I have a lot of concrete from the front of my home to the back yard where my big shop is. two men are not going to pick this thing up if so they can come to my home and mess with the large INSULATED SMOKER... not sure what we are going to do there.

 

[GrillsGoneWild]

These smokers look awesome. To you owners of either the regular or mini:

1. Has anyone done a biscuit test on one of these? What are the results?
2. Could you use the smaller fan on the mini or do you still recommend the 25?
3. With a guru attached, how good at "set it and forget it" cooking is this? Can it run overnight without attention?

Thanks! And more pics please!

1. Not sure

2. You should be able to use the smaller fan.

3. You can get an overnighter in with water if you have the heat deflector in place. Without the heat deflector the core of your heat is on the water pan and it will run out of water before morning.

 

[zanna5910]

What about without water, can it go all night unattended with a guru?

 

[darkoozy]

These smokers look awesome. To you owners of either the regular or mini:

1. Has anyone done a biscuit test on one of these? What are the results?
2. Could you use the smaller fan on the mini or do you still recommend the 25?
3. With a guru attached, how good at "set it and forget it" cooking is this? Can it run overnight without attention?

Thanks! And more pics please!

1. No clue, vaguely remember someone doing it, there is a slight temp variance between bottom most to top most shelf. I would say 5-10º
2. You could use a smaller fan on the mini, but I wouldnt. The larger fan is much better at pushing air and wont run all the time
3. I run with water at 225-235º and can get 6-7hours of sleep if the pan is full before I hit the sack with the heat deflector.

I have not run it dry yet, and would assume the guru can handle the cooker dry. This is based on my experience with the WSM. The guru can maintain temps regardless of the setup.

 

[backtroller99]

Just pulled the pin on two vertical insulated smokers. Been real nervous about getting them in and out of the toy hauler bbq trailer. I did order them with all options including the updated wheels. Has anyone have experience wheeling these big buggers in and out of trailers?

 

[SkylightQue]

Am looking am purchasing a LSG VI but cannot decided between sizes. I only need the mini size, but for the price difference it's hard to say no to the regular size. Is the larger size worth it? How much more fuel am I looking at using per cook vs. the mini? Also is there anyone in the Northern Virginia area who as one that I could take a look at ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

I was in your same boat on size. For the money difference I couldn't justify not getting the big one. I use fire bricks to snake charcoal around and cook with water. My last cook, I put around 25 or 30 lbs of charcoal in the box and cooked for 12 hours or so and had charcoal left over. Cooking with water uses a lot more fuel and depending on what temperature you cook at. I didn't think I needed a smoker that big, but already filled it up with 16 butts for a company lunch. Get the big one, you won't regret it.

 

[SkylightQue]

I was in your same boat on size. For the money difference I couldn't justify not getting the big one. I use fire bricks to snake charcoal around and cook with water. My last cook, I put around 25 or 30 lbs of charcoal in the box and cooked for 12 hours or so and had charcoal left over. Cooking with water uses a lot more fuel and depending on what temperature you cook at. I didn't think I needed a smoker that big, but already filled it up with 16 butts for a company lunch. Get the big one, you won't regret it.

I think the only concern I have is that if I am just cooking for the family and put on 3 racks of ribs... it seems like major overkill!

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

I started cooking more and vacuum sealing it. It has worked out pretty well. I can vacuum seal whole racks of ribs and just heat them as I need them.

 

[Smoking Tunes]

I had a hard time deciding between the mini and full size. After weighing the price difference I choose the big one.

Like Kaptain I cook way more then we can consume. I vacuum seal up meal size portions. My Mom, MIL and son who is off to college really appreciate the left overs (especially by son, he's sick of Roman noodles).. Just boil some water, plop the vacuum seal bag in for about 15 minutes and they have hot/fresh meal.

If I'm going to spend as much time cooking I want a lot of left overs. The only cost difference is amount of meat.

 

[pjtexas1]

I know most don't agree with this but here goes...

I like to cook more than I like to eat it. Not that I don't eat more than my share. My point is I enjoy firing up any of my smokers so much that I would rather do 1 slab of ribs and then do another a few days later. I have a sealer but have never vac sealed any meat. To me it's about the cook and not about saving a few dollars or having enough food so I don't have to cook again for weeks. To me that would be depressing and I would be itching like a crack addict.:wink: If I have left overs they usually get given away. Nothing wrong with saving time and money but for me its about the experience of cooking with fire. I have to add that I don't have any young kids and my work life is not very busy either so I have plenty of time.

 

[zanna5910]

If you ever think you will have a need for the bigger one and/or aren't concerned withy he price, then you should get the bigger one. You could get four briskets or eight pork butts (maybe more) in the mini at once, will you ever cook more than that? Ever?

People talk about there being not a big gap in price, I would disagree, it's about a 30% savings. The difference can get you a whole cyberq kit if you are into that.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[zanna5910]

Sorry, bad math, 15%ish