I would go with the Jambo. Not a fan of the vertical smokers for the reason stated above, the grease dripping down on the other meats which is fine if all the meats are the same type, say pork or beef, unless the grates are slanted slightly to allow the grease to run off the grates.
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I agree with others that while vertical cabinets have a lot of overall capacity, that temperature gradient from top to bottom makes a difference in what you can cook on each shelf, plus you really don't want all the grease dripping across 6 racks of food if you don't need that capacity all the time.
I have a small custom offset, that while not a "COS" is not made from pipe, but from rolled stainless steel, and I only keep using it because my dad designed it and built it around 1985. I only use it when I need the capacity its 24x36 grate provides, as the Weber Kettle with SNS is much more efficient, and to me, with charcoal and a few wood chunks, provides similar results. That said, if I do the fire management thing right, I have never had sooty black chicken come out of it, and most of the smoke comes from the stack, or around the firebox lid, which I could probably fix with high temp gaskets.
My short list of offsets includes Jambo, Lang and Yoder. I would love a 48" patio model Lang, or a Yoder Loaded Witchita. But fire management is an art, and takes more time than I have most cooks, so I can't justify it any time soon.Comment
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How about this one? ðŸ˜
I can do the vertical and horizontal thing at the same time
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Well, the one I want is very, very expensive. Won't be able to afford it until probably next year. So, I decided to fiddle with Bertha a little. I put an extension on her smokestack to see if an increased draw would help. Here's a video of her starting up:
Here's what she looks like while running, up to temp:
And the finished product:
A little better? My wife has yet to comment. It looks blacker in person than in the picture.Comment
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Ok, From the videos I gathered a few things. 1./Fire looks cold and not enough to be at 300+f to cook chicken. (check your pit thermometer in boiling water. 2./ Leaks everywhere on the main door and probably where it is bolted together to the firebox. Grind or wire brush clean the seal area and apply a bead of hi temp (Red Silicon) around it. coat the opposing door in fat or grease and lay a layer of film over it and close the door for 48 hours to set. 3./ Toss the extentsion. You have enough stack just make sure there is absolutely no restriction in the exhuast anywhere.Comment
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You know, the air leaks might be the whole problem. The lid has never fit right. I put some Lavalock on a couple months ago and it helped some, but the beads of silicone didn’t even touch the lid along the front. I’m thinking about maybe using some gorilla tape, just as an experiment. Get up to temp, put the chicken in, then tape it shut. Just for my own curiosity.Attached FilesComment
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Update: I added RTV on all the openings, pounded the lid as best I could, and added some closing clamps, not necessarily in that order. Hardly leaks at all, but still the problem persists. I was all set to haul it out on heavy trash day when I decided to give it another try. It was a very still day yesterday, hardly any wind at all. I was blowing on the fire to get it going and thought, this is stupid. I am a modern human. I have electricity. So I rigged a box fan to blow into the open firebox, on the low setting, and problem solved
I smoked a bunch of sausage and there's no black soot on the cutting board, and the fat is not grey. I controlled the temp by how much wood was burning.
Just thought I'd share. My theory is a decent pit would hold enough heat in the firebox and I won't need the fan, but for now, I can limp along with Bertha and the Box Fan until I order something better
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Never mind. Did a chicken today. Black and sooty and gross. Guess it wasn't the fan.Comment
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Block majority of hole connecting firebox to cook chamber with aluminum turkey pan. This will keep ash and shit off your mealsComment
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I had the same problem with the cos I am using. I concluded the issue was caused by the firebox not being high or tall enough to allow the fire to burn clean. The flames would lick the top of the inside of the box, cooling the fire, producing the soot. My solution was to move the fire inside the cook box. The fire burns better in there and it is more efficient. I also burn my wood to coals before adding them to the fire, also reducing the soot.Comment
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@1lsm If you could post good photos of the whole thing we could help sort your problem.Last edited by Ahumadora; January 2, 2020, 06:32 AM.Comment
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I'll post some more photos this weekend.The heck of it is, I can't tell by looking. There is zero visible smoke coming out, and yet the bird turns black. Very frustrating.
You know, with the sausage, I started with the coal bed in the barrel & then put the grate in, seemed to make for a hotter fire that way, and I used small beer-can sized wood pieces because I wanted to hit a low temperature. With the chicken, I started the coal bed the same way but used larger sticks to build a bigger fire so I could hit ~300 degrees. Maybe the chimney just isn't big enough to exhaust all the smoke from a big fire.I would love to replace the 3" stack with a 4 or 5" at grate level, but I don't know how to weld. I mean, I've done it before, but wow it was ugly. Is the Feldon calculator still valid? I need to measure & see what that says. Seem to remember a 3" chimney needs to be 36" long. That's why I added the extension. But even if the chimney volume is correct, it still might not carry enough CFM. I mean, a 1" pipe 20 feet high might make the calculator happy, but it wouldn't pass much air.
I've got an LSG picked out and I've got the money to order, but I'm waiting for my work schedule to clear up so I know I'll be able to pick it up. Waiting sucks. Build time is 12-14 weeks.Comment
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