While there aren't a lot of folks on here who are into patio sized offset smokers, there have been some threads on various of this style cooker of late that prompts some further commentary. There are many variations in design, most dealing with intake and exhaust styles/designs, fire management features, and a wide variety of accessory type features. All of those features have their place and appeal for some owners, others, not so much. For this thread I'm going to focus on one design feature only; the transfer portal for smoke and heat from the firebox to the cooking chamber. Excluded will be the radically different designs such as offered by Goldie's BBQ as that is enough different to justify it's own discussion, preferably/hopefully by someone with first hand experience.
I'm going to include some links to YT videos that will do a reasonably good job of describing the "scoop" baffle, both for the sake of some clarity, and to save me keystrokes. Let's first describe the more common, basic and basic+ designs common to older, and often, lower priced offsets. The simplest designs just have a hole, often resembling a big smile, joining the firebox to the cook chamber. The heat and smoke flow through and do their thing. That hole, for the most part, doesn't affect flow much other than by virtue of its size. It has little to no regulation of air flow. As you might imagine, this results in a hot spot at the firebox end of the cook chamber. How big that hotspot is will be mostly determined by how big the portal is and how intense the fire is. In general, if the cook chamber is 48 inches long, the first foot or so is too hot to manage a good low and slow cook temperature. Some manufacturers deal with this by designing a pad/shelf to hold a water pan which acts as a heat sink to help control the temp. Some will also claim the evaporating water will help "keep the meat moist". To my thinking that's a dubious claim as the muscles of the protein will be contracting when heated, expelling moisture as well, so it's unlikely the protein can be both expelling and absorbing moisture at the same time. But that's an argument for another time. In an attempt to manage that hot spot, some manufacturers resort to variously angled plates welded above or below the portal to deflect the air flow, with some adding what are called "tuning plates" (mostly on units with a downward pointed deflector) which are intended to keep the air flow going across the cook chamber below the main cooking grate with the intention of evening the temperature from end to end. Some are a solid plate nearly the entire length of the chamber, some with holes to allow heat/smoke to release along the way. Others use multiple plates or sections of a long plate, that allow the user to adjust the amount and location of the heat release........thus the notion of "tuning". If you do your homework, you'll find all manner of opinions about how effective these types of "fixes" are, from some calling them worthless, to others claiming they're the answer to a maiden's prayer.................along with the whole spectrum of ideas/guesses across the spectrum between the extremes.
More recently, say the last few years, some manufacturers have chosen to experiment with, and then produce, baffles that are generally larger than the deflectors noted above, that direct more of the hot air/smoke higher up on the firebox end of the cook chamber claiming that it gives an improved convection effect, often in conjunction with a collector chamber at the bottom of the exhaust stack rather than just the round or square tube affixed to the end cap of the cook chamber. At a minimum these baffles extend to the height of the main cooking grate or higher in some cases. Presumably the manufacturer has determined how high to go with this "air dam" to achieve the desired outcome in temperature control. The best known manufacturers at this time who have offered units with this type of baffle system are: Jambo, Outlaw, Lone Star Grillz, and the latest announced, The Solution, offered by Mad Scientist BBQ, a well known You Tuber.
Here is a YT video by an enthusiast who likes to make videos describing features of various brands of outdoor cookers. He's not a dealer, or a renowned pit master, just an enthusiast much like most of us here on The Pit. His observations of actual configurations, mostly based on manufacturer pictures and description, are pretty good. Where he wanders off on accuracy is when he expresses opinions/conclusions not based in actual use, so keep that in mind.
BBQ Buyer's Guide to Scoop Baffle Offset Smokers (youtube.com)
Jambo claims to be the first to employ the scoop baffle design, and it's difficult to argue against that, but at this point that doesn't much matter. LSG uses the concept in two different models, and with two different configurations, perhaps driven by the chamber shape and exhaust collection design differences. The Solution adds the design configuration of punching holes in their baffle which may, or may not, make a significant change to the outcome at the cooking grate. They are not alone in having a baffle with this design element. Big Phil's, aka Blue Smoke Smokers, has come up with something similar that is free floating rather than welded in, so that you can change back and forth at will. Given that the use of 24" tubing is fairly common in this type of cooker, it's a device that may be used in other brands as well if people want to play with the concept. Here's a pic from their site:
And here's a video showing a biscuit test that will give a visual of the outcome using one in their cooker.
Blue Smoke Smoker Biscuit Test (youtube.com)
I can only speak personally to the performance of the Lone Star Grillz, 48" Texas Edition. The baffle on the TE goes higher than any of the others, including the 20" series of LSG. It extends to just below the upper grate. There is a small amount of radiant heat that makes the first 3-4 inches of the right hand end of the main grate slightly hotter than the rest of the grate. Based on actual measurement with a multi probe thermometer I can attest that the temp across the full width of the main grate remains within a narrow 10 degree band. The upper grate, given the height of the baffle, will run close to 100 degrees hotter when the main grate is between 250-275. Some might see that as a negative, but if you're cooking both beef and chicken during one session, that upper grate is a fine environment for the chicken cooking.
Whether or not any of these designs are more superior is up to the user. You makes your choices and you takes your chances. When I was doing my research for this style of cooker I was impressed by the greater use of space afforded by an upward baffle. The uniformity of temperature across the full width of the main grate was also appealing. To counter that, I can understand that some people would prefer working with a wider range of variability choosing to place varying proteins in appropriate locations to take advantage of the variety of temp zones. It's up to you which limitations you prefer.
I'm going to include some links to YT videos that will do a reasonably good job of describing the "scoop" baffle, both for the sake of some clarity, and to save me keystrokes. Let's first describe the more common, basic and basic+ designs common to older, and often, lower priced offsets. The simplest designs just have a hole, often resembling a big smile, joining the firebox to the cook chamber. The heat and smoke flow through and do their thing. That hole, for the most part, doesn't affect flow much other than by virtue of its size. It has little to no regulation of air flow. As you might imagine, this results in a hot spot at the firebox end of the cook chamber. How big that hotspot is will be mostly determined by how big the portal is and how intense the fire is. In general, if the cook chamber is 48 inches long, the first foot or so is too hot to manage a good low and slow cook temperature. Some manufacturers deal with this by designing a pad/shelf to hold a water pan which acts as a heat sink to help control the temp. Some will also claim the evaporating water will help "keep the meat moist". To my thinking that's a dubious claim as the muscles of the protein will be contracting when heated, expelling moisture as well, so it's unlikely the protein can be both expelling and absorbing moisture at the same time. But that's an argument for another time. In an attempt to manage that hot spot, some manufacturers resort to variously angled plates welded above or below the portal to deflect the air flow, with some adding what are called "tuning plates" (mostly on units with a downward pointed deflector) which are intended to keep the air flow going across the cook chamber below the main cooking grate with the intention of evening the temperature from end to end. Some are a solid plate nearly the entire length of the chamber, some with holes to allow heat/smoke to release along the way. Others use multiple plates or sections of a long plate, that allow the user to adjust the amount and location of the heat release........thus the notion of "tuning". If you do your homework, you'll find all manner of opinions about how effective these types of "fixes" are, from some calling them worthless, to others claiming they're the answer to a maiden's prayer.................along with the whole spectrum of ideas/guesses across the spectrum between the extremes.
More recently, say the last few years, some manufacturers have chosen to experiment with, and then produce, baffles that are generally larger than the deflectors noted above, that direct more of the hot air/smoke higher up on the firebox end of the cook chamber claiming that it gives an improved convection effect, often in conjunction with a collector chamber at the bottom of the exhaust stack rather than just the round or square tube affixed to the end cap of the cook chamber. At a minimum these baffles extend to the height of the main cooking grate or higher in some cases. Presumably the manufacturer has determined how high to go with this "air dam" to achieve the desired outcome in temperature control. The best known manufacturers at this time who have offered units with this type of baffle system are: Jambo, Outlaw, Lone Star Grillz, and the latest announced, The Solution, offered by Mad Scientist BBQ, a well known You Tuber.
Here is a YT video by an enthusiast who likes to make videos describing features of various brands of outdoor cookers. He's not a dealer, or a renowned pit master, just an enthusiast much like most of us here on The Pit. His observations of actual configurations, mostly based on manufacturer pictures and description, are pretty good. Where he wanders off on accuracy is when he expresses opinions/conclusions not based in actual use, so keep that in mind.
BBQ Buyer's Guide to Scoop Baffle Offset Smokers (youtube.com)
Jambo claims to be the first to employ the scoop baffle design, and it's difficult to argue against that, but at this point that doesn't much matter. LSG uses the concept in two different models, and with two different configurations, perhaps driven by the chamber shape and exhaust collection design differences. The Solution adds the design configuration of punching holes in their baffle which may, or may not, make a significant change to the outcome at the cooking grate. They are not alone in having a baffle with this design element. Big Phil's, aka Blue Smoke Smokers, has come up with something similar that is free floating rather than welded in, so that you can change back and forth at will. Given that the use of 24" tubing is fairly common in this type of cooker, it's a device that may be used in other brands as well if people want to play with the concept. Here's a pic from their site:
And here's a video showing a biscuit test that will give a visual of the outcome using one in their cooker.
Blue Smoke Smoker Biscuit Test (youtube.com)
I can only speak personally to the performance of the Lone Star Grillz, 48" Texas Edition. The baffle on the TE goes higher than any of the others, including the 20" series of LSG. It extends to just below the upper grate. There is a small amount of radiant heat that makes the first 3-4 inches of the right hand end of the main grate slightly hotter than the rest of the grate. Based on actual measurement with a multi probe thermometer I can attest that the temp across the full width of the main grate remains within a narrow 10 degree band. The upper grate, given the height of the baffle, will run close to 100 degrees hotter when the main grate is between 250-275. Some might see that as a negative, but if you're cooking both beef and chicken during one session, that upper grate is a fine environment for the chicken cooking.
Whether or not any of these designs are more superior is up to the user. You makes your choices and you takes your chances. When I was doing my research for this style of cooker I was impressed by the greater use of space afforded by an upward baffle. The uniformity of temperature across the full width of the main grate was also appealing. To counter that, I can understand that some people would prefer working with a wider range of variability choosing to place varying proteins in appropriate locations to take advantage of the variety of temp zones. It's up to you which limitations you prefer.
). Offsets are very much about air flow (among other things). I've learned on my TE that I can induce a draft that resembles a steam locomotive at full throttle. With a hot fire and full open exhaust I can get almost no flavor at all on a protein as it burns too efficiently. I had to learn to throttle down and arrange the splits for better smoke flavor.
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