Advice

[LA Pork Butt]

After reading your posts it seem like the real issue is buyer’s remorse. You simply regret spending the money when you now believe you could have accomplished the same thing for less money. I don’t think there is a cure for this, so just call it up to experience. Next time you are considering a purchase ask the Pit, and they will give you some great things to consider as you think it through. It was a good decision when you made it, but now you are looking in the rear view mirror.

[Walt Dockery]

It doesn't have much to do with the smoker itself, its just that there are so many options.

Why do you think so many here have MCS?

It sounds like it does what you want it to do. I have two great cookers already (M grills M1 Stainless and Kamado Joe Jr) and still find myself watching and reading smoker reviews constantly. I've bought and sold multiple cookers just because. I bought a Yoder YS640 a few years ago and sold a year later because I didn't like it, even though most people here love it.

At the end of the day, you can make great BBQ on a weber kettle. Harry Soo wins competitions on a WSM. The quality of food is mostly determined by the cook. We pay more for cookers because of a few objective measures (capacity, longevity/durability, convenience) but mostly because of subjective factors. A $40 Timex will tell you the time just the same as a Rolex.

If you were previously running multiple kettles at once, to me it would be worth it to have a cooker with the capacity to do it on one. Don't feel guilty about spending some extra money for those subjective things, either. Build quality, looks, fit and finish can and do have value.

[Cubbiehawkbbqfan]

I was seriously looking at Humphrey's for a while and joined their facebook fan/owners page. If you're on FB, go ask them questions, they all own and most all of em love em. I bought an offset reverse flow, because honestly I wanted the one I ordered and couldn't see myself jumping ship. Otherwise, I was gonna buy a Humphrey's. They're beasts and they work great. Rio Valley Meat just won the American Royal in 2020 and he definitely uses one of em. Go ask one of the guys using em and they'll give ya some advice on what you're looking for. Good luck!

[jfmorris]

This is good advice. There is a lot of difference from one brand or type of charcoal to the next. Having bought many hundreds of bags of KBB over the decades, I've now gravitated to B&B lump, char logs, and briquettes.

A bed of char logs topped by a layer of B&B lump and some wood chunks would probably make for a very long burn in an insulated cabinet smoker.

[jfmorris]

Wow! Just looked at the specs on that bad boy. It *IS* a beast! Huge!

There's been a lot of times I would have killed for a smoker like that, when cooking for 80 to 120 folks. Sure would have been easier than manning the offset and multiple kettles all night long...

[The Marshal]

May I suggest that you experiment with different fuels? I recently used B&B Oak Lump for the first time, and it really made a difference in the Pork butt. Also a woodier flavor than the Kingsford Professional ....

[jfmorris]

I think you hit on a key point. The bbq result will be the same or similar, but you got the capacity thing licked, and that Humphrey’s will run more stable and longer than a kettle for sure. I would just play with the water pan - try a cook of say a single butt with no water or less, and see what happens.

I bet chicken would be better at 350 with no water. Pork and brisket - try 250-275 with the water. I think a water pan limits your upper temp, since steam is about 212F...

[Old Glory]

Just like cars, a Chevette will get you from point A to point B, but a Cadillac will get you there in style.

[Old Glory]

You can run the Humphrey's up to 500. They are good pizza cookers. Amazing turkey cookers. They run on charcoal and chunk. Taste will be the same as a Weber and SNS. The key benefits over a Kettle is the insulated box which gives you consistent temps, efficient burns, and allows you to easily manage the fire in all weather in all seasons. These things are built in Maine and used Year Round. It is an upper tier cooker.

[SchweinStein]

jfmorris I really appreciate your time in writing back. Let me respond.

1) How hot to run a cabinet smoker:

All my cooks thus far have been at 225. Full water pan. I was thinking of running my next cook at closer to 275 to see if I better bark formation and possibly how it changes the flavor. I typically run my weber cooks a bit hotter. I saw a youtube video of a humphrey's owner who never uses the water pan at all. Says that due to the size and type of smoker, there would be enough moisture in the air because of the amount of food. I'm new to using as much water as this thing holds. Thinking maybe using less water IE, enough water for first 1/3-1/2 of the cook time, maybe the results would be better/different. Worth a try.

2)My friends didn't push me to the Hump because of taste difference between them. It was more of thinking: if people love the BBQ from the weber (IE charcoal) then its good enough. So why not up the capacity instead of running multiple kettles as I had been. I only have one friend who smokes meat and he uses a Traeger. My main conclusion from this was that I could make good BBQ that people loved and it didn't come from an offset wood burner.

3)I got the Humprey's Down East Beast.

After all the great feedback I received here, I feel better about my purchase. I plan on keeping it for at least the summer and then go from there. If I do eventually sell it, I will loose money, but I thankfully bought mine just before they increased their prices so I think that might help ease the pain.

[jfmorris]

SchweinStein you posed a couple of questions and comments I want to address:

1. Would running hotter in your Humphrey's cabinet help?

The issue may be CAN you run hotter. I think many of these cabinet smokers like to run in the mid 200's, and don't really run hotter than 300 or so at the most. The Humphrey's web page indicates the highest temp they are designed for is 400F. Getting there may require lighting more charcoal, versus using the "maze" they offer, or using minion or whatever other method you are using for the fire.

That said, I've done brisket and butts at 225, and I've done them at 300 to 325. I don't see a huge difference, and in fact feel that its a little more moist when done in the 225 to 275 range. I tend to go 250 to 275 most of the time.

2. Food tasting different on Humphrey's versus Weber kettle.

I am not sure how this would be, but many cabinet smokers are sealed up better than most kettles, so it may be more humid and moist in there. Technically if I setup my kettle using a Slow 'N Sear to keep the fire to one side, and the meat to the other, smoke and heat are going to be the same as in a Humphrey's with its "reverse flow" design, which is really just a heat deflector between the fire and the meat. Personally, I find some slight differences when smoking on my kettle, my kamado, or my offset (using charcoal and chunks versus straight wood), but would be hard pressed to tell the difference myself when doing a blind taste test. And I've smoked for large parties where I had 3 cookers going at once, and a load of butts on all of them. No one complained about any of the pulled pork or pulled chicken.

I speculate your friends who claim to taste a difference and pushed you towards the Humphrey's may have already owned such a smoker themselves, and were pushing you towards spending the money, as there is "no way a $25 kettle beats my $2000 smoker" could be a factor. Maybe I am wrong...

3. Folks don't care as much as you about how you produced the results.

I find this to be true. I am my own worst critic on BBQ results. The ribs I felt were sub par when I smoked 4 racks for the family a while back were in their words the best I had ever made! Why? I overcooked them, and they were too fall off the bone for my tastes. They felt that it was the best due to the fact you could literally pull a bone cleanly out, leaving a hunk of meat on your plate.

My wife, kids, parents and inlays don't care if I make it on the used Weber Performer I bought for $100 5 years ago, or if I make it on the $1400 SNS Deluxe Kamado, or if I make it on the 37 year old offset smoker one of my dad's welders put together in 1984. Its really about results, and having fun while cooking in my book.

Enjoy your cooker, and I envy you having something that will hold full size steam table (hotel) pans. I would like a cabinet smoker for that alone. I was going to buy a Camp Chef Smokevault 24 as an overflow smoker and a warming/holding place for steam table trays before my daughter's May 2020 wedding was canceled due to COVID restrictions. She had asked me to smoke pork and chicken for the event, to save money when feeding 200 folks, and I was going to get the Smokevault 24 based on capacity. Your cooker would put it to shame.

4. Joining this site.

I have learned SO much since joining here. It's certainly led to me doing more with the cookers I have, but also led to acquiring more cookers too!

Do you mind my asking which model you got?

Jim

[SchweinStein]

I really appreciate this feedback. Helps put things in perspective.

[SchweinStein]

I've found that most people I've fed are very happy with the food but don't care as much about it as me in terms of the details. What temps to you run on average with your cabinet smoker? I was wondering if running hotter in my Humphrey's would be an improvement.

[SchweinStein]

Thank you for the feedback! I bought the Humprey's in large part because other people were commenting on my BBQ that I was producing from my webers. Everyone who's had the food from the Humphrey's has really enjoyed it. Maybe I'm spoiled but its only marginally better than the webers. I don't blame the cooker or myself. Its more of the technique (Charcoal). Maybe I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I know wood fired truly is the best and I want the best for myself.

[SchweinStein]

Good points. To be honest, if I had joined this site before buying the humprey's, I might not of bought it. It doesn't have much to do with the smoker itself, its just that there are so many options. Cant help but think if I could do it over again with the new knowledge I have, would I? Probably not.