Hasty bake Roughneck

[Uncle Bob]

I'm only going to make a couple preliminary comments about this cooker as I only have two burn in cycles and one cook on it which isn't enough hands on to give a fair/decent review. As with any cooker, the comments of your fellow pit mates should be viewed through the understanding that favorable opinions should take into consideration, "compared to what?". Once I've had a chance to accumulate several types of cooks on it I'll do the kind of review I've done before.

One thing I can comment on at this point is the packaging. To be charitable I'll call it minimalist. A couple layers of foam on the box bottom, and one layer on the top, the sides are only protected by the single thickness of the cardboard box. It's good quality cardboard, but not sufficient for the rigors of common UPS/FedEx handling.
And those are the shippers HB selects to deliver. If you're lucky the path to your door will have responsible employees moving this relatively heavy/bulky package. The path to me was not so fortunate, and given the meager (in my opinion) packaging the outcome I experienced is likely more common. While the outside of the box didn't look destroyed it had clearly been dragged across various dirty floors on all sides and had a few very small impact marks around the sides. Once I took the hardware out of the box I could see a few small dings in the sides, one was an "outty" resultant from the components (packed loose with no padding) inside the main body shifting in transit. I have tools and experience that can deal with those minor dings so made the choice to fix rather than complain to HB. Part of the reason would be that any replacement would be sent in the same packaging and could easily end up in worse condition. When I assembled the lid to the body I discovered that the main body top opening was out of square............an indication that the package had been dropped (or otherwise abused) on one of the upper corners. Again, I have tools and experience to do this to remedy:


If you're someone with a high OCD quotient, this might not be something to acquire.

The second thing I will comment on is a personal choice thing, nothing to do with quality or performance. My only experience with Corten steel in the past has been architectural features where the rusting is considered an artsy thing. I'm not opposed to that for a cooker, but I'm taking this as an opportunity to experiment. I've coated mine with boiled Linseed oil, much like bare steel offset folks do, to see what kind of patina look will result. It won't make any difference to how it cooks, it's just a personal preference. Here's what it looks like after the initial burn in with the oil coating

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[Craigar]

Thank you Uncle Bob for the write up. I am very interested in how this story unfolds and will follow along very intently.

[ecowper]

That's a shame on the packaging/shipping. When I bought my HB Gourmet a decade plus ago, they packaged in a good crate and pallet system. It was shipped as freight, not via UPS/FedEx and I didn't mind paying that shipping charge at all.

[Brad Smith]

I assembled one of these in January but have not fired it up yet. The instructions, which I received via email from Hasty Bake, were sparse and a work in progress. For example, there are 2 washers included which are not on the parts list. I finally realized they were for the wheel kit, likely to sit between the wheel and the sheet metal of the box. But I did not figure that out until the wheels were on.

[Clark]

Uncle Bob Just curious whether or not shipping was included or extra? The Hasty-Bake store/plant often includes free shipping BUT charges $75 to deliver in the Tulsa County area.

I'm going to the Hasty-Bake store tomorrow for some rubs and sauces and I'm looking forward to checking out this new smoker.

[Uncle Bob]

Shipping is included in the price for the main unit, but they charge shipping for any accessories purchased such as the wheel kit, the extra level of grates, etc.

[ecowper]

That explains a lot. Shipping used to be extra. And it paid for true freight shipping. Free shipping …. Well, you get what you pay for

[Uncle Bob]

ecowper, true, but also in play is this thing has an advertised weight of 110# which is within the limits of UPS/FedEx while the larger cooker you have is probably outside those restrictions. But you're right, the LTL freight is often given better care along with the more substantial packaging.

[au4stree]

Uncle Bob, I'm on the fence between the Roughneck and a mini Chud box. I'm leaning heavily on the roughneck due to price difference. Curious if you still like your cooker and would recommend? Anything you've learned on this since owning it about a year now???

[Uncle Bob]

@au4stree I'll have to give you a mixed bag answer, starting with the qualifier that I haven't used this quite as much as I should have to be much of an "authority". It's lack of use isn't the result of not liking it, or any particular deficiency, just that I've had other distractions this past year....................especially the new to me LSG offset and another pizza oven. The use I've had has been decent enough. I still like the square shape and it's yielding a bit more working area than a roughly equivalent round device such as my Broncos. The distance from the fire to the grates is similar enough that they both cook comparably, though I think (which means I can't prove it) that the smoke path with the Bronco is somewhat better (more effective?) with the stack on top compared to the Roughneck venting out the back below the upper grate. But the smoke flavor from the Roughneck is satisfactory so far.

I mention the Bronco Pro first as that's the cooker I have more experience with and I think is a better price to value ratio than the Roughneck as long as the slightly less grate area isn't a deal breaker. The Bronco Pro also has the advantage that it works with a lot of gadgets/accessories made for the Weber kettle. The biggest advantage with the Roughneck is the large, square fuel box that can be accessed while cooking without removing the food. Given it's considerable size it hasn't required any refueling for any cook I've done which has maxed at 10 hours (which is also an easy time window for the Broncos without needing refueling). In fact, since most of my cooks are 5-6 hours or less, I've resorted to putting fire brick partitions in the fuel box to reduce the area to maintain a more efficient sized coal bed.

I've also thought about the comparison of a Roughneck to the Chud Box, I've not experimented to proof those thoughts. The CB is probably much heavier and not near as mobile, assuming one gets the extra cost wheel kit for the Roughneck. The deflector in the Roughneck is removable so direct fire cooking is a reality, and the large size of the fuel box will take wood splits less than 12" in length, so that's a good thing. With the optional second level grates on the Roughneck you could have a lot more working surface than what appears on the CB, though you might have to rotate product top to bottom grates to control outcome. The lower grate would require you to reach down in to move/flip/whatever the product on that level which wouldn't be the case with the CB. Given the heavier gauge metal of the CB it might hold up better to higher temp cooks if that's the objective. That's just a guess though. Fueling with the CB would be slightly easier since it's a straight, unobstructed access once the door is opened, whereas the Roughneck would require sliding the fuel box out as the sides are comparatively high (I use a metal automotive drip pan in front of mine for just such occurrences). As a thought exercise I'm not sure the CB has enough extra value to justify the cost compared to the Roughneck, but that's not a result of direct "competition" observations.

[au4stree]

Thank you for the response. You touched on some things I haven't considered enough. In passing I noted the access door for additional fuel, but ease to which this is done is important. One thing that keeps me coming back to the CB and Roughneck are made in USA. Of course, I say that knowing that I own plenty of items made elsewhere, that's just reality of our economy. But I do want to support them, if I can. Thanks again for your well thought out response and maybe you can get some......

[au4stree]

Sorry, I ran out of characters....
...can get some cooktime on the roughneck. I do like the patina that will develop over time. I have a Breeo fir pit and love the look of that on mine.

[stokester]

UB - thanks for the review.
Have you been able to get any more cook time on this? I ask because having just finished a 12-hour pork butt on the Weber with a SNS offset the idea of something that will hold temp over a longer period of time is on the horizon.

[Uncle Bob]

Sorry, haven't done any cooking on it since the post above, but I'll be doing a wing cook within the next week as a comparison to a CB cook I viewed recently. Doesn't address your expressed interest here though. Given the size of the fire basket you should easily get 20 hours of cook, especially if you're good at arranging a snake method. As a comp to the Weber with SNS, you'd have a ton more grate space, and the deflector would hold a water pan if that's important to you.