JeffRaines
Found some matches.
Hello again -
At my last post, I was still looking to purchase an offset. While my budget was up there, honestly the only thing that would fit into my budget would’ve been the OC Pecos - and at $1200 shipped I just couldn’t swallow that for something that was less than 1/4” construction.
There were a plethora(relatively speaking) of barely used OKJ highlands around me used for cheap so I ended up picking one up that looked to be in great shape for much less than new - it’ll suffice for now.
I’ve done a few cooks on it so far - the longer cook I did on it with a butt was the least painful in terms of fire management but I was running 275-325 which is where it seems this thing wants to run. Running charcoal and splits. However, after about 2.5 hours my coal bed is dying out and I need to re-up with a fresh bed to keep the splits burning cleanly(also to note - I found a source for wood and have cut the splits down to about 8” long and 3”ish inches thick at most so I’m not trying to run big splits here). I also keep the firebox side door open 2-3” to promote good airflow.
In any case, the more reading I do on these styles of smokers the more it becomes evident that AIRFLOW is king, and it seems some folks have had good results putting in a bigger stack to achieve this goal. I have a friend who welds on the side who wouldn’t mind installing a bigger pipe(and moving it to grate level) for no charge other than some frosty beverages.
My questions is this - should I go 4” or 5”? My thinking is going 5” and having the option to use a damper if there’s too much flow. You can always restrict the flow, but you can’t make a 4” flow like a 5”.
I may end up throwing some other mods at it at a later date as well as my work always has steel of some sort laying around(truck shop - it’s never anything big enough to construct a smoker unfortunately).
Thanks for the help and advice guys. I’ll leave you with a pic of the butt I smoked this past weekend pre-wrap. I will say the chicken quarters, butt and whole chicken I’ve smoked with this thing have been the best barbecue I’ve ever made. I’m gonna try a brisket on Friday!
At my last post, I was still looking to purchase an offset. While my budget was up there, honestly the only thing that would fit into my budget would’ve been the OC Pecos - and at $1200 shipped I just couldn’t swallow that for something that was less than 1/4” construction.
There were a plethora(relatively speaking) of barely used OKJ highlands around me used for cheap so I ended up picking one up that looked to be in great shape for much less than new - it’ll suffice for now.
I’ve done a few cooks on it so far - the longer cook I did on it with a butt was the least painful in terms of fire management but I was running 275-325 which is where it seems this thing wants to run. Running charcoal and splits. However, after about 2.5 hours my coal bed is dying out and I need to re-up with a fresh bed to keep the splits burning cleanly(also to note - I found a source for wood and have cut the splits down to about 8” long and 3”ish inches thick at most so I’m not trying to run big splits here). I also keep the firebox side door open 2-3” to promote good airflow.
In any case, the more reading I do on these styles of smokers the more it becomes evident that AIRFLOW is king, and it seems some folks have had good results putting in a bigger stack to achieve this goal. I have a friend who welds on the side who wouldn’t mind installing a bigger pipe(and moving it to grate level) for no charge other than some frosty beverages.
My questions is this - should I go 4” or 5”? My thinking is going 5” and having the option to use a damper if there’s too much flow. You can always restrict the flow, but you can’t make a 4” flow like a 5”.
I may end up throwing some other mods at it at a later date as well as my work always has steel of some sort laying around(truck shop - it’s never anything big enough to construct a smoker unfortunately).
Thanks for the help and advice guys. I’ll leave you with a pic of the butt I smoked this past weekend pre-wrap. I will say the chicken quarters, butt and whole chicken I’ve smoked with this thing have been the best barbecue I’ve ever made. I’m gonna try a brisket on Friday!