long story short, once up on a time i had a bandera and loved it(loved the cabinet style cook chamber, this is still true. i love me a cabinet smoker). but didn't know how to properly use/take care of it. so the issues i didn't know how to deal with lead me to deciding i needed a gasser(and that's as far as i'll go into my gasser phase). and so my bandera went on the curb. by the time i had second thoughts(less than 1 hr), it was already gone. i have since been using a wsm and weber kettles to good effect. however, the nostalgia/love of the bandera remained. i told myself that if i ever had the chance to get another i would. no luck on craigslist for a while.fast forward some years and banderas start showing up at walmart and a regional grocery store. hot damn! this is my chance to right all the wrongs. told the wife to collaborate with anyone who may give me a birthday present and ask that they all just pony up cash so i can get me another bandera. she agrees. a few weeks later i was cruising by academy and saw the Old Country BBQ Pits Smokehouse. Wow!, just Wow!. it was pretty much everything i wanted in a smoker(aside from a bit thin on the metal). so i did some internet research and within a few hours of seeing it, told the wife that i wanted the OC Smokehouse and not the bandera and that i would work OT to make up the difference between it and the $$ folks would be putting up for the bandera.
anywho, i picked up my OC Smokehouse a couple weeks ago. did a high heat burn/seasoning run last week. did a lower heat cure last night. gonna do my first cook on it on sunday(pork butt and ribs)
here are the pics....
loaded up in the truck
at home on the back porch
coated with canola oil inside and out. tel tru thermos installed(have to ream out the bottom port to get one to fit there) ready to season
briquettes fired in a chimney starter and tossed on fire grate, ready for wood
few splits on, all dampers wide open for high heat burn in
starting to get some color on the grates
burning hot so the oil bakes on to prevent rust/bake off nasty oil(prior to lighting it off, i used a nylon brush and soapy water to loosen up the manufacturing oil)
both stack wide open, clean burning going on
lots of wood on for high heat
grates getting a bit more color on them
first burn almost done. nice chocolate color on the grates
second burn in progress with 2gal of water in pan. temps running fairly even
low temp burn complete, pic of top grate
pic of bottom two grates after second burn
i'll do another thread on sunday for the first cook on it(ribs and pork butt)
anywho, i picked up my OC Smokehouse a couple weeks ago. did a high heat burn/seasoning run last week. did a lower heat cure last night. gonna do my first cook on it on sunday(pork butt and ribs)
here are the pics....
loaded up in the truck
at home on the back porch
coated with canola oil inside and out. tel tru thermos installed(have to ream out the bottom port to get one to fit there) ready to season
briquettes fired in a chimney starter and tossed on fire grate, ready for wood
few splits on, all dampers wide open for high heat burn in
starting to get some color on the grates
burning hot so the oil bakes on to prevent rust/bake off nasty oil(prior to lighting it off, i used a nylon brush and soapy water to loosen up the manufacturing oil)
both stack wide open, clean burning going on
lots of wood on for high heat
grates getting a bit more color on them
first burn almost done. nice chocolate color on the grates
second burn in progress with 2gal of water in pan. temps running fairly even
low temp burn complete, pic of top grate
pic of bottom two grates after second burn
i'll do another thread on sunday for the first cook on it(ribs and pork butt)
