I've been smoking for the past 12 years in a 22 and 14.5 Weber smoky mountain. I love them! (By the way, also have a pit barrel cooker I use for a very limited set of uses (fowl, tri tip, things that need higher temps.) When I retire in a few years I have thought of going to an offset to have something a bit more realistic and a smoker that burns wood, not briquettes. The LSG's look awesome. Any other recs (I know this is an LSG channel, but the website does not allow posts to general wood/offset smokers.)
Another question - if I can get amazing ribs, butt, and brisket in the WSM is it silly to spend big bucks to go to real wood offset?
If you are already thrilled with the current food off the WSM, the value of an offset is lower. It is a tool for those that really enjoy the process of sourcing and prepping wood( do you have a local wood source and want to chop wood?) and feeding the smoker every 30-45 minutes over a long cook. It is also valuable for those that are not satisfied with their current flavor off coal and wood chunks.
If that is not fun for you, then offset wouldn’t be ideal.
The KBQ is also worth considering and very popular here.
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I spend more time talking people out of an offset. Especially when they start asking about a good offset that is less than $500.
There is something uniquely satisfying about feeding wood into a live fire for the duration of a cook, unless it is torching hot outside.
I'll opt for an offset if I need more capacity. If I can get some pipe at a great price to build or if something on FB Marketplace is too good to pass up.
I agree with Jerod Broussard - if your budget is super low, it may not be a good idea. I think some of the Old Country ones at Academy are cheap, and I hear you can add some modifications to them to make them run better - but if they're cheap, thin steel, you're going to end up fighting it more than loving it, I think. Also, some of those commercial ones aren't built with good proportions for airflow, discounting even the metal thickness and durability aspects.
I am prepared to spend in the 2-3k range. Is there one offset that is best at not needed fuel every hour? Capacity is not at all my issue. I make for my wife and myself and maybe some other people, With the 2 WSM's I'be made 2 butts and 2 briskets and that fed many people. It is expanding my expertise and hobby.
The key to success in an offset is the fire. You MUST maintain a good coal bed, then feed it continuously to both produce heat/smoke and continue to renew the coal bed. It's a never ending process. I'll expand below where no character limits.
If you're looking for a good offset that needs fed less than hourly, you're in for a tough time. It is just a limitation of the cooking method. Most of us 'offset guys' like tending the fire and adding wood. Sometimes you can get away with a 45-minute break - but honestly, if you're throwing huge logs on there that are going to burn for an hour or more, you're not likely going to get good clean smoke, and not likely to enjoy the results. Just my opinion.
I get spit wood delivered and have had great success, you should be able to find something decent for 2-3 K....I looked at Horizon smokers - that might work for you
Klose, Lang, M1 Grills, and Yoder also make smokers worth considering. Depending on where you live, there are regional options. But the biggest issues tend to be sourcing wood and the time tending the smoker so I’d give those some thought before really proceeding further towards picking out an offset.
Gear includes: Char-Griller's Grand Champ off set stick burner/smoker, SnS Kamado Deluxe, Weber 22, PBC, Victory gasser, Victory 36 griddle, Smoke Hollow electric smoker. ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4, Smoke, Signals, and RFX4, Meater+, SNS-500, roti fits 22 n gasser, Emeril countertop TO, InkBird Sous Vide, Potane Vac/Sealer. Fire&Ice griddle/cooler ensemble.
3-pkg of Collapsible Prep Tubs
Junior, Original, Xtra Lg. SS D. Norcross
Complete set (Tx PJ!) Wusthof Knives n block.
Dalstrong:
Phantom Series Paring knife
Shogun SeriesX 6" Chef knife
Gladiator Series 12"Cleaver knife
Just got into charcoal Dec ‘21 (PBC)
fav is brisky. Love Turkey on PBC. also Turkey in the glass,(any nice bourbon)
Bud has always been my barley pop.
Been smoking a handful of years, just got serious in the last two or three years. Thanks to AR n @glemn picked up an SnS Kamado for appx 1/3 price of new. I dont think he used it twice. Love AR! keep calm n smoke on! Miss you Bonesy.
$600.00 Chargriller GrandChamp. I won one back in Aug. Checks all the boxes. A Very fine stick burner indeed!
Hose the whole thing down with avocado spray oil. Touch it up with a china bristle brush. Spend the extra $$ on protein.
So let me understand this - you folks with an offset are feeding the fire every hour? So If I start a brisket at 9 pm for a 17 hour smoke, so that it comes off at at say 2 or so for a 3 hour rest in the faux cambro, you are rising every single hour throughout the night? Far worse than a baby or a puppy. Perhaps I need to reconsider.
Smoker: Lyfe Tyme Offset. Firebox 16" Diameter X 16" Long. Cooking chamber 16" Diameter X 32" Long
Grill: Lyfe Tyme 16" Diameter X 24" Long.
Thermometer: Maverick ET-732 and XR50
For smoking, I am a committed stick burner.
For grilling, it's all about charcoal. Almost always HEB brand mesquite charcoal. If not that, then Kingsford mesquite charcoal.
For me, there is something almost spiritual about the long cooks and close attention that offsets require. If you think that is something you might interested in, then go for it. If you're not, you might, and I can't believe i'm saying this, consider a pellet smoker (I firmly believe that any time someone uses a pellet smoker, the terrorists win).
I just got my LSG 20X42 offset about 10 days ago and I love it. I had a Lifetyme offset that I wrung everything possible out of so I've being doing this for awhile. I wouldn't Jones too much over a particular make. Pick one that is built close to you to keep shipping cost down. Any of the major brands are going to perform well.
I just don't understand the comment that you can get the brisket on at 6 am and eat dinner that night. My dinner time is about 7 or so. I've never had a brisket finish in 13 hours. Is it so different in an offset?
Did one in 10.5hrs yesterday, 18 lbs. Of course, then I held it long overnight. But yes, it can be done. Not even pushing temps, but did use a foil boat. That helps a lot, or if you wrap in paper or foil after the stall.
In the LSG thread, you will see that many LSG owners cook at 250-275. In the short time I've had my LSG, I find that works best. This shortens the cook time. Another technique I've used for quite a while is this:
Once my cook gets throught the stall, I put the brisket in a pan and cover, not wrap, with foil. I then put it in the oven at 275 and finish there. This not only saves time, but saves on fuel as well. Once you get through the stall, you've pretty well gotten plenty of smoke.
If you're a process person an offset is a fantastic tool that will challenge and, if you learn well, reward you with some excellent bbq. All we humans, when first we venture into an unknown product/process, don't know what we don't know. For some it's an adventure to test again and again to find what the limits/outcomes are.........good or bad. For others, ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes, and they learn just enough to satisfy whatever level they settle on. That's pretty much why you'll find a wide range of advice/opinions. Some seek to justify their own choices, others don't know or have any interest in knowing, any more than the "basics". Some can be content with the performance of cheap offset smokers (COS), others find their deficiencies annoying and seek a higher level of performance. Both will satisfy the people who cheer for them, but their standards are most likely very different. How you match up with either group is part of your challenge.
Depending on how deep you dig you'll possibly find that the folks who fiddle with COS offsets are often doing modifications to "improve" the results. Some are successful, at least to their chosen standards, others less so. The higher end units aren't immune to mods, but because they are usually better built, and perhaps better designed, they are less subject to that sort of thing. Again, where you fit in that spectrum is part of your discovery.
In addition to my comment above about having to repeatedly tend to maintaining the fire there are a fair number of other variables available for the cooking process. Some of them are based on the design of the unit, e.g. what path does the heat/smoke take to the cook chamber. In some designs, as one example, a 36" cooking grate might only have about 24" of best use space because the first foot or so is too intense of a heat path to not damage the protein being cooked. On others, it's less of an issue because the builder has added components to mitigate that intensity.
One of the factors that I found to be greatly undervalued in most of the research I did prior to getting in the offset game, was the impact of how a fire is managed. Most everyone comments on the need to manage the fire to maintain a level of consistent temperature, but little is discussed about how the size, shape, and placement of each of the splits of wood can change the outcome. As an example, on my Lone Star Grillz I can build a fire that will leave almost no smoke flavor on the protein, and conversely, by changing the configuration of the split placement, I can impart a greater level of smoke flavor. Metering the intake and exhaust air flow plays into that, but it can also be done without changing any intake or exhaust damper positions. It took me a fair bit of digging through various resources to figure that out. But, I'm one of those process people who enjoys the challenges and rewards from tinkering.
There's more, but I don't want to make it seem like a daunting task. It can be done simply, it just depends on your desire to seek boundaries.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
Successfully running an offset is not all about the end result, it's equal parts enjoying the process as well as the end result. Think of it as a rowboat instead of motorboat when you go fishing. There's something real, wholesome, and satisfying about using one to make dinner. This is purely my opinion and perspective. And I think if you master the art of fire control within your temp boundaries, and achieve a small and hot fire throughout your cook, the flavor is simply better than other fuel sources, it really is.
Gear includes: Char-Griller's Grand Champ off set stick burner/smoker, SnS Kamado Deluxe, Weber 22, PBC, Victory gasser, Victory 36 griddle, Smoke Hollow electric smoker. ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4, Smoke, Signals, and RFX4, Meater+, SNS-500, roti fits 22 n gasser, Emeril countertop TO, InkBird Sous Vide, Potane Vac/Sealer. Fire&Ice griddle/cooler ensemble.
3-pkg of Collapsible Prep Tubs
Junior, Original, Xtra Lg. SS D. Norcross
Complete set (Tx PJ!) Wusthof Knives n block.
Dalstrong:
Phantom Series Paring knife
Shogun SeriesX 6" Chef knife
Gladiator Series 12"Cleaver knife
Just got into charcoal Dec ‘21 (PBC)
fav is brisky. Love Turkey on PBC. also Turkey in the glass,(any nice bourbon)
Bud has always been my barley pop.
Been smoking a handful of years, just got serious in the last two or three years. Thanks to AR n @glemn picked up an SnS Kamado for appx 1/3 price of new. I dont think he used it twice. Love AR! keep calm n smoke on! Miss you Bonesy.
On my briskie, once I get to the stall, if I foil boat it n pull at 190 plus. Into the kitchen oven at the lowest temp, covered, usually 160-170. Then I can go to bed and wake in the am to an amazing waft of goodness.
I have held one for up to 12 hours. Must be covered. Or it dries out.
I believe 275 is to hot. You do you n play with it.
I eat everything I cook!
To answer your question, "if I can get amazing ribs, butt, and brisket in the WSM is it silly to spend big bucks to go to real wood offset"? Yes, it is silly to spend the $$ on an offset if you get amazing ribs, butt and brisket off your WSM.
I have the same equipment you originally posted (except I have the 18.5, not the 14.5 WSM) and a couple of offsets. I did not get amazing ribs, butts and brisket off my WSM's. Good but not amazing. I get much better results off my offsets. There is no way to get around tending the fire on an offset. Even with a KBQ with a temperature controller, you have to tend to the fire. As I like to say, "it is the cost of doing business".
For some reason, I foolishly thought the firebox was large enough to let a stack of wood last quite a while. That was silly, and also even if it did last, I think back to how much I used to fuss with a wood burning fireplace ...
Have cooked on exactly 3 offsets and one M-Grills M1 with its firebox.
The first offset made a beer can look heavy gauge and was basically a crap shoot - too hot, too cold, roaring or smoldering. Like herding cats. The second was a little better, unless it rained, got breezy, got moody, or I was slow with adding fuel.
The M1 worked great but kind of a pain to size the splits. It was fine with lump & wood chunks, but for a wood fire, the splits had to be perfect size. About 3" diameter and 8-10" in length. Not having a lot of space to fabricate wood splits, it was kind of a hassle so I'd default to lump & chunks more often than I wanted.
My current offset - I love it. It is a dream compared to the others. Build a nice coal bed and then it's happy all day. Full, fireplace-size splits, one every 45 minutes like clockwork. I tend to run it about 275-85.
I think firebox size matters. It's way more work, and less consistent, to maintain a tiny, hot, but not-too-hot fire. If you can maintain a solid coal bed and feed it full-size splits, I just enjoy that process much more than small, fiddly fires. Capacity, thickness, and how it draws are all important too, but if you're starting with a quality firebox, chances are those other variables are on point too.
It's no 250- or 500-gal pro rig like realdocBBQ builds in his spare time on a Sunday afternoon though. Someday.
advice on an eventual offset
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