What is it like cooking on an offset and is it worth it?

[razor488]

I am curious about the level of commitment required to use an offset smoker. My only experience has been with the Big Green Egg and Pit Barrel Cooker where a single load of fuel usually lasts the entire cook.
I am intrigued by the Millscale 94 because of its high quality and its use in many high end BBQ places but I am wondering how difficult it is to use?

Some basic questions

• - How much wood is required for a typical cook and how much does the wood cost?
• - How difficult is it to maintain temperature?
• - How often do you need to manage the firebox/temp?
• - Is buying/storing wood a big hassle?
• - Do you typically stick to cooking with one type of wood?
• - Is the result of the food that much better than other methods like a pit barrel cooker?

 

[sackedbysapp]

I’ll say this, there no greater feeling than cooking in a stick burner. Cause your involved. The smells. Friends hanging around smoker. Is lot of work. But nothing can duplicate the taste of a stick burner.

 

[pjtexas1]

I guess I'm just used to doing it, so I don't get the sentiment that it's hard work. Maybe at first, when you're lost and figuring out fire management. I have literally every type of cooker they make. Sure pellets, insulated cabinets, barrels, and gravity feeds are simple. But offsets aren't impossible. Cook at 275-300 and 6-8 hours you're done. Cook at 225 and you'll be losing a lot of sleep. It's not for everyone. The biggest issue is, can you get wood locally and at an affordable price? Feeding the fire every 30-45 minutes... Does that sound like a pita? If so, it's not for you.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[Beentown]

I am curious about the level of commitment required to use an offset smoker. My only experience has been with the Big Green Egg and Pit Barrel Cooker where a single load of fuel usually lasts the entire cook.
I am intrigued by the Millscale 94 because of its high quality and its use in many high end BBQ places but I am wondering how difficult it is to use?

Some basic questions

• - How much wood is required for a typical cook and how much does the wood cost?
• - How difficult is it to maintain temperature?
• - How often do you need to manage the firebox/temp?
• - Is buying/storing wood a big hassle?
• - Do you typically stick to cooking with one type of wood?
• - Is the result of the food that much better than other methods like a pit barrel cooker?

- I use 4 sticks (16x2x4) and a chimney of charcoal to get started. Then it is adding 2 sticks (on average pending species of wood) every 30-45 during the cook minutes. If I don't cut it myself then I pay $225 - $300 per cord of select cut wood. I grew up rural so wood contacts aren't that difficult.

- Maintaining temps on my Shirley is super easy. Just use some common sense and see what works for you. I am of the troop of wide open exhaust and controlling temps by fire size.

- Buying/storing a big hassle? Depends on you. For me its nothing but that depends on your make up and how much space you have. I season my own wood if I cut it or not because EVERYONE says that their wood is seasoned, and it really isn't. I take mine all below 20% before using. 15-17% preferred. So I have racks with ready to use and others drying for the next couple years.

Oak and Sugar Maple - 2.5 years
Hickory - 1.5 years
Apple, Peach, and Cherry - 6 to 9 months

- I use a mix of wood often. In a "Pepsi Challenge" those eating your food couldn't tell the difference in flavor of different woods if all are properly seasoned. I feel like cherry gives off a better color and hickory smells the best. But again, it would be hard for 99.5% of people to tell the difference.

- Yes, the results are worth it if you have the time, for me. For us to determine what the time you use to cook is worth is hard to do. I have/cook on a Recteq (pellet), Humphreys cabinet, Assassin Grill, Shirley Fab, Webers, UDS, and many others. I weigh out the weather, what else I have going on, to determine what cooker I use. Flavor wise it is in this order for me:

Stick Burner
High flow coal cooker with wood chunks (UDS or other non-insulated cooker)
Insulated cooker that uses coals/wood chunks
Pellet cooker

 

[long haired hippie]

That's what Q'ing is all about. Get a hammock and maybe a wireless thermometer and kick back & Q. Otherwise, use yer oven.

 

[Cookb4]

For me cooking on an offset is all about love of the bbq making process. I love tending to the fire and general standing around the smoker. I bought a pellet smoker and hated it because I like the hands on process of an offset and the pellet cooker was set it and forget it. If you’re a heads on kind of person you will like the offset.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

At first, I struggled with it a little. I've got a Franklin that's very similar in design to the Millscale. I find myself adding sticks more like every 20 minutes, but as I've gotten better I know how to set up a longer burn if I need it for a break and I don't have to watch it like a hawk like I did the first few cooks.

 

[rque]

I love my offset! I just wish it hadn’t come in October when I only had 1-2 months of good weather left. Right now it’s under 12-18” of snow and single digits out. Anyway, the flavor profile is completely different than the Pit Barrel Junior I have and I also prefer the bbq I did in those 2 months on the offset much more than years of SnS/Smokenator smoking.

Wood is a highly localized question. We have lots of maple, oak, and cherry up here and that’s what I decided to start with since I already have a bunch of it around. We also have a lot of apple orchards so I want to source from them next. I tried some post oak and pecan from a major internet kiln dried purveyor and I wasn’t convinced. So before you get an offset, hunt around for some wood.

As for the process, I love hanging around the pit, watching the wood burn and if it’s cool out tending to the fire pit as well. Sometimes time is tight, so I’ve not been ashamed to do a hybrid cook. Anytime a protein gets wrapped I just throw it in the oven and move onto whatever else it is I need to do (and clean the pit out). Cheating? Maybe, but if it’s that or no bbq you know what I’m choosing!

For me having both a charcoal smoker and an offset is great, two different tools and two different flavors. In the end though the offset is amazing and I’m a novice! IMO I’ve already outcooked our local joints so no regrets for me!

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

My daughter was home once when I was running my first stickburner.
She says "It looks tedious to me".
I said "No dear. It's therapy".
When the smoker is running, no other things matter. I can finally focus on what I love. And nothing else.

However...Since these days I'm (99% of the time) cooking for one, it's hard to justify the extra time that the stickburner can sometimes require.

A cold beer and a hot fire and I'm a happy man.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Plan on feeding a split every 35-45 minutes the whole cook............. getting wood around Ft Worth is Easy - Look on Craiglist - drive over and load up a face cord in your truck, get home and unload it and stack it - Great Fun............ some guys sell it delivered and stacked :

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/for/d/josephine-seasoned-oak-firewood/7430144779.html

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/for/d/euless-no-hidden-costs-seasoned-oak/7440064407.html

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/for/d/fort-worth-seasoned-firewood/7439623291.html

Since you are in Ft Worth and I'm in Burleson - Come over Thursday (BYOMeat) and I'll let you fetch splits from my backyard and carry them to driveway (about 14-16) and then you can sit outside sipping beer (BYOB) and smoking cigars (BYOC) and feed a split to BoomShuckLucka every 40-45 minutes for me while I watch TV inside........... :heh:

.

if you use enuff wood chunks (and so must cook a lil Hotter - 275-300*) in a drum smoker or cabinet smoker - you can get close to offset taste.........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FVPAThWbos


https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/oklahoma-joes-bronco-drum-smoker?gmc_feed=t

https://www.hunsakersmokers.com/

https://www.gatewaydrumsmokers.com/


.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I love my offset! I just wish it hadn’t come in October when I only had 1-2 months of good weather left. Right now it’s under 12-18” of snow and single digits out.

https://www.cardinalcarports.com/me...car-ports/combo-carports-metal-combo-carports

 

[blackdogbbq21]

The amount of wood used varies alot by size of pit, outside temperature, how seasoned the wood is. Wood is expensive in my area but last time i calculated it a brisket cook with wood worked out to be cheaper than a charcoal cook.



There is a learning curve at first but with a well made pit and some experience it's not hard to hold the temp where you want it.



I keep a pretty close eye on my pit while its running like checking every 15 minutes. I might not be adding wood but checking temps and seeing what the fire is doing.



Biggest hassle with wood is how far from smoker is it stored? How can you get to your wood pile, can you drive a truck to it or does the wood need to be unloaded and moved by hand? Does your supplier deliver or do you have to go get it and load a truck? I mainly cook with one type of wood but no harm in experimenting if you want



To me the results are totally worth it. I don't mind hanging out by the smoker or doing stuff around the house while I'm watching a 12hr brisket cook. I think the flavor is superior off a stickburner. Not to knock folks cooking on other types of pits.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I don’t keep a close eye on mine anymore- Sometimes the fire burns out and I have to pull over on the shoulder and reload it and re- light it……….

 

[Bacchus2b]

I am curious about the level of commitment required to use an offset smoker. My only experience has been with the Big Green Egg and Pit Barrel Cooker where a single load of fuel usually lasts the entire cook.
I am intrigued by the Millscale 94 because of its high quality and its use in many high end BBQ places but I am wondering how difficult it is to use?

Some basic questions

• - How much wood is required for a typical cook and how much does the wood cost?
• - How difficult is it to maintain temperature?
• - How often do you need to manage the firebox/temp?
• - Is buying/storing wood a big hassle?
• - Do you typically stick to cooking with one type of wood?
• - Is the result of the food that much better than other methods like a pit barrel cooker?

I've been fortunate enough to own a lot of different smokers and the answer to your question is "It depends".

- I live in Texas so wood is relatively easy to find unless you get hit with below zero temps for ten days and all the seasoned wood gets burned!
- My Shirley 24 x 36" is as easy as it gets to maintain temps. I start with a large charcoal chimney to get the smoker up to temp and add one small pre-heated split every 45 minutes to maintain 250 to 275 degrees with no effort at all.
- I store wood on a small wood rack no problem. Because I have a smaller firebox, I chop down my splits with a saw and kindling cracker.
- Personally I like Post Oak, Pecan, and Hickory, whatever is available.
- I have a PBC and it makes great food, albeit with a charcoal taste. For me the biggest difference with an offset is the great bark you get from the increased airflow.

 

[WeberWho]

I also have a Big Green Egg. While I absolutely love the Big Green Egg, I needed something else to play around with after 8 years grilling/smoking with it. I stumbled across a used Shirley smoker up here in Minnesota 4 years ago. I have zero regrets with the purchase. Just know it's nothing like a Big Green Egg. You will work for that smoke profile. The Big Green Egg is a set it and forget it type of smoker. Not with a stick burner. You will be tending and stoking that fire throughout the day while babysitting that chunk of meat. This was exactly what I was looking for in a smoker. That magical craft of fire and meat. The "art" if you will. It's so much more than lightning the grill, putting the food on the grill, and picking it up when it's done. It's all the steps in between that make running an offset enjoyable. Just make sure you're willing to take on those extra steps before dropping any real coin....