New Old Country Wrangler

[dsp2]

Wrangler arrived today. Came on a small truck on a pallet. The guys shrugged when they arrived saying they had no idea how they'd get it down. Was actually pretty dangerous. The one young man just let it tip down towards him and slowed its descent to the street. Somehow controlled it and made it down OK. It was then bumped a bit as he helped wheel it to my back yard.

One of the caps on one of the wheels is a little askew. That or the wheel itself is off? This scraped my driveway a little and also scraped my patio a little. Wife won't be pleased....or maybe she won't notice? Will check the wheel tomorrow.

Those aside, there are some other chips and imperfections, but otherwise the thing is a BEAST. My first offset. Looks and feels GREAT. Very solid. Can't wait to fire it up!

Note - though I now have the smoker, a cover for the smoker, a wood rack, and a cover for the wood rack, I have no wood. Ironically, I have about a dozen bags of briquettes plus a giant bag of lump. And some wood chunks. But never got around to getting splits. Crud.

Will fix that over the next couple days then fire this beast up. I have a ton of leftovers from two days of heavy WSM usage. So, it's not techincally urgent that I cook. I just want to!

I also ordered some gasket sealant. Thinking of firing it up once and looking at temps and smoke leakage then deciding if it's good enough or if I should try to seal.

One question - does this smoker need to be seasoned? I think I've read conflicting answers on that.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Yes to Seasoning. I'd wash it out with soap n water and a scrub brush then spray it all inside with cooking spray. if you don't wanna wash it out then wipe it out with a damp rag as there is usually metal shavings and cutting oil in it, then spray with cooking oil spray. I wouldn't worry about trying to seal it up. I would make a convection plate or tunning plates for it and maybe change or mod the fire grate for better ash control. Drill holes in it in between the slots or cut more slots or just use the FB grilling grate for your fire grate.

Firebox is gonna rust regardless. after a few cooks and it starts to rust, hit it with snadpaper or wirewheel then some Rust Inhinitor, then repaint. I keep a can or 2 of Rustoleum BBQ Paint around all time for this.

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[SmittyJonz]

I would not make a charcoal basket like this thread- but to each his own. He does show what he used for a convection plate. I have seen a few use the fire grate for a convection plate then use grilling grate for the fire grate.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173974

 

[pjtexas1]

Wise man once said "listen to smitty".

 

[Joe Black]

Smitty has it spot on as usual. I have the Horizon style convection plate in my smoker and it works very well. Also, I'm one of those that like a charcoal basket in my FB. I like the way it keeps the coals and the fuel together in a smaller space.

 

[angryelfFan]

Congrats! I want to get one. Debating on which Old Country to get. Do you feel you have enough cooking surface on the Wrangler?

 

[dsp2]

Congrats! I want to get one. Debating on which Old Country to get. Do you feel you have enough cooking surface on the Wrangler?

It is kind of funny. Not a huge amount of space in there. But for me, this should be perfect. If my past 20 years holds up, I only cook large amounts a few times per year. Otherwise, I'm cooking for like 2-3 people. More and more lately, I feel like I'm being wasteful lighting a huge fire for just 1 or 2 things.

So, this should be perfect for me. I also actually kind of wouldn't mind multiple temp zones. I am thinking of something like the 7 pound turkey breast I have in my fridge. I might want to smoke it low for a while then move it over to get some crisp on the skin.

We shall see. I also have an 18 inch WSM for when I want to cook more. The Wrangler/Weber combo should be way more than enough for what I need. I also have a small BGE, a 22 inch kettle, a Portable Kitchen, an Orion, an electric smoker, Jumbo Joe, and some Smokey Joe's. So while the Wrangler itself isn't huge, I have enough cooking space to feed the block. Would just have to manage a lot of fires at once

 

[Twisted T's Q]

does it have a drain in the bottom of the cook chamber ?