Getting the itch for a new smoker

I've had a Big Green Egg (BGE) for a few years and have loved it. It probably isn't going anywhere, just going to change roles a bit.

I've really gotten into BBQ and smoking very heavily in the past couple of years and want to take the next step - competition cooking. I've pitched a weekend business idea to my wife and she's not against it (entirely); I just don't think that's happening any time soon. I have roughly 0 experience on a big smoker. I had roughly 0 experience with charcoal a few years back when I bought the BGE and now I'm confident in my abilities to cook with charcoal & wood.

Now the conundrum. I'm between a water smoker, an offset stick burner, and a gravity fed smoker. For the water smoker, I think I would go with a Backwoods Smoker, for an offset stick burner probably a Lang or a Jambo, for a gravity fed it would be one of the Stump's models. Does anyone have experience with any of these types of cookers or even better, experience with the specific cookers I've mentioned.

I appreciate any thought and insight on the matter!

Man I just wrote a full page answer I guess i took to long writing it and it didn't post. Cliff notes are as follows: For noncompation propane fired smoker . Most compatitions only let you use wood are charcoal. I've cook on the same team for 20 years 4 cooks a year. You have to be deticated to tending fire ALL night , you spend a lot of money to win a trophy and some $$. It never covers the cost of cooking. Offset is strickly for smoking anything you would do in an oven. I'll post more info according to what you are looking to do from here.

My plans aren't to make any profit by cooking competitions. It's mostly to get out compete. I love cooking and I love competing, so why not marry the two?

I have no problem tending fires and missing sleep overnight - it's all part of the skill involved.

Do you have any experience with a water cooker or a gravity fed smoker? As I understand it, the gravity fed units are going to produce similar results to offset stick burners - both are a pretty dry cooking environment. From everything that I have been able to gather about it, it seems like generating bark on either a stick burner or gravity fed is easier, but maintaining moisture is more work on a long cook like brisket. As I also understand it, water smokers are going to keep the environment humid so the moisture content is better, but the bark is harder to generate.

I've only tried water in my offset pit once , but I did incorperate the baffle so I could put water in it if I wanted to . I put water in it one time and didn't like it with in the first minute. It got to hot and started steaming and I didn't want steamed meat . I don't know a thing about the gravity fed pits. All we use here is offset . If you want to have fun only cook at small cook offs up to 30 teams. You will meet some of the nicest folks and the smaller ones are easier to get set up at . The big one I've cooked in Galveston County Fair and Rodeo has upwards of 300 teams cooking . It's very loud , very smokey , the crowd is huge .

Yeah, I'd have to imagine that water in an offset is probably not where I'd want to be, those pits are designed to have a nice dry burning atmosphere and the water steaming is probably not what you're after. I do think that an environment with water in it keeps a more stable heat element, which is important to me since we get some pretty wild temp swings outside (I've had temp swings of 50+ degrees in a cook) from time to time.

After doing a fair bit more research and some digging around at forums and on craigslist, I think I'm going to go with 2 smaller units, both used if possible. I think if I were going with a big single, I'd go with an offset stick burner, but since I don't have the space or the vehicle to deal with that appropriately, smaller cookers are going to be my way to go. I also feel that in the long term, I'll be headed toward a stick burner, but I'd still like to get to learn how different cookers work so I can figure out what will work best for me.

I've found a Stump clone (gravity fed) that's about 4 hours away from me for $600 and a Backwoods (water smoker) that's about 8 hours away for $1200; hoping that both of these work out.

My birthday was over the weekend and this itch was scratched
We went to a distributor and I was eyeing a smaller model when my wife said, "Why don't you just get the big one instead? It's a lot nicer." Sometimes my wife is just plain right :lol:

This is a Backwoods Smoker, the Competitor model. It weighs roughly 350 pounds and is totally awesome. I did a short burn in at 350* on Saturday, then put on a pork butt to start the seasoning process. On Sunday, I smoked a brisket, pork butt, 2 racks of ribs, and 2 chickens. Oh and I made a pot of beans, some jalapeno poppers, and some potatoes au-gratin all in the smoker. This thing has amazing capacity and is absolutely fantastic.

Man that's a nice one . Let's see the operations and inside pics. I've got an old commercial freezer I'm trying to get turn into a smoker for the house.

Awesome!

Here are a few pictures I thought I'd share with the new smoker. I'm still definitely off a bit with cooking on it, but anything worth doing is worth taking the time to learn how to do it.

For the record, the pic of the ribs at the bottom is only the ribs with a simple glaze, they are not coated in any red bbq sauce for that appearance - this is the look after glazing and straight from the smoker.

I'd eat it . [-o<

Thanks. That means a lot coming from a Texan, especially one that's done some competition cooks - I know you folks know your Q.

:beer: Looks great - very nice smoker - When is the BBQ party :beer:

Another good site is Smokedmeatforums.com and 3Men.com. I sure would love to smoke some fish . If anyone is ever down here in Texas (Houston / Galveston ) come get you some Pecan wood . I've got more then you can haul , but you'll have to bring me some Apple , cherry , alder or whatever ya'll use.

I've been drooling over a new pit for Gator Pits Party Smoker with the upgraded 24" x 40" cooking chamber. I'm hoping maybe in the two years I can squirrel away the money for one and pass along my modified Chargriller offset to friend or family.

Those Gator Pits sure look nice, I'll have to check them out on my next smoker :twisted: ; I think if I were going with an offset stickburner like that though, it'd be awfully hard for me to not go with a Lang.

Paul Marx - I cook mostly with Oak as we have loads of oak trees around here. I'd definitely bring you some, but there's a huge movement right now locally to not transport local wood across state lines due to concerns about certain types of beetle larvae. I'd hate to even think about being the person who was responsible for bringing some hateful beetle plague to Texas.

Lang is a good cooker....but put it beside a Gator Pit and you will see the difference in craftsmanship and attention to detail. Gator Pits are built to order...Lang is more or less a mass produced pit.

I would take either one myself. Lang is a little cheaper, Gator Pit is a little better quality. Tough call.