Announcing the new Smokeslinger Liberty 94 offset smoker!

[realdocBBQ]

Alright, I've kept my mouth shut long enough about this pit!

Check out the new Smokeslinger Liberty 94 backyard offset!

I got the chance to play with this a few weeks ago down in Kaufman, TX at the Smokeslinger headquarters. It's a beast and in my opinion is one of the top backyard offsets in the industry. At nearly half the price of a Franklin pit, and 50% larger, I think it's a freaking steal!

This is a 24x48 cook chamber with a 24" firebox, it's 94 gallons (hence the Liberty 94 moniker) in the cook chamber. With a really cool vertical baffle, it leads to absolutely amazing even cooking throughout the cook chamber. I mean incredibly even. The pics of the 'biscuit test' on the website for Smokeslinger are from my camera, and it is awesome! The Solution pit by Mad Scientist made some waves with its vertical baffle, that also achieves great even temps - it has holes in the baffle, 7, if I remember correctly. The Liberty 94 actually uses a pair of pinwheel dampers in the baffle, so you can dial in the 'tuning' just right. I can't remember if they are 3" or 4" dampers, but they damned sure do their job, and do it well! Our biscuit test was amazeballs!


As you can see... the cooking is perfectly even from end to end!

ALL ¼" steel construction, all American made right there in Kaufman, TX by Smokeslinger. This is Dustin, the owner of Smokeslinger along with the Liberty 94 at our inaugural cook.


As you can see, the grates are all steel roundbar as well, not expanded metal. 5" stack, stack damper with a slight lip, stack bolts on and is removable. The production run version won't have that same solid bottom, it'll have the Smokeslinger Liberty 94 logo laser cut - oh, did I mention the parts are all laser cut? Not plasma. Dustin's laser is freaking awesome!

The welds on these things are incredible, these guys are GOOD! I wish like hell I could weld HALF as well as they do!







So as I mentioned above, the Franklin is under 60 gallons (20x42) at $5150, The Solution is 78 gallons (24x40) at $2499. The Liberty 94 is 94 gallons (24x48) and is $2899.

[Skip]

Very nice cooker!

[J-Melt]

That looks amazing! One of these years I would love to go for a good offset.

[fitzoo7]

What does this mean?

”The Liberty94 Offset Smoker includes a revolutionary FlowTuner Baffle Plate.”

[Henrik]

This sounds great and all, love the welds and what I’m seeing, given I’ve built more than a few smokers myself. BUT: you can’t mention the baffle and not show any photos of it. C’mon, gimme!

[realdocBBQ]

Actual real life picture of the FlowTuner baffle plate!



Actually, when I was down there it was all still super secret squirrel stuff so I did not actually get a pic of it, I don't think.

Lemme go look through my pictures...


Here's a pic of the probe port:


Actually, that little flapper I think is now going to be a Liberty Bell - that was something we talked about down there.

Hinges:



Undercarriage:




Firebox door:



Cook chamber door stiffening gussets:


What else, what else...

Oh, the door trim welds. So here is how I like to do mine:




And here is the Liberty 94...



A coincidence??? Lol I think not!

Actually, I like to think they liked my design element, but really theirs is a bit different. They are actually cutting that whole square section of door trim out of 1/8 plate, I think, along with holes for the attachment, then plug welding it onto the door. That's right, each of those holes are laser cut and then plug welded. I believe they were talking about adding some more of that design element on the cart, as gussets down by the wheels, like here:


Not sure if they ended up doing that or not, but it would be a nice look. I actually suggested they take that theme further and put a couple of 1" or 1¼" straps with those same plug-welds around the top half of the firebox, I like the look of it. Like metal bands on a barrel or chest, ya know? I don't think they're gonna take my suggestion, though. lol But anyways, keeping that design theme of the plug welds. I think it's neat. Almost a steampunk kinda look.


Anyways, that's a few more pics and stories.

[Oak Smoke]

Dang I just checked maps and it’s only 2 hours and 30 minutes away! I don’t need one but I sure want one. I could go right by Meat Church on the way. That’s a super clean layout!

[realdocBBQ]

Ho ho ho, lookie what I found!!!!




There's your pic of the FlowTuner baffle plate. The dampers are the same type as on the rest of the Smokerslinger stuff, like you see on the outside of the firebox door. In this biscuit test they were 'half open', meaning about 1/4 of a circle. Fully open is 1/2 the circle flowing air.

We literally just 'guessed' at running them half open, since this was the first time any Liberty had ever had a fire in it and apparently guessed about right, as the biscuit test was incredibly even. Came out awesome.

The smileyface dampers Dustin has designed.



So this is a joint project sold under the Smokeslinger brand, built in-house by Dustin and his crew. This was designed together by Smokeslinger (Dustin) and SmokerBuilder Frank Cox, Frank handles the sales and marketing.

I personally think this is going to be a big deal and a great seller. Another new pit out on the market is the... umm... T exas Smoke King, I think? From M&M, the makers of the Goldee's offset. Personally, I watched the video Jeremy Yoder did on that one and it is a good pit, but several of the things they are really hyping about it seem gimmicky to me, personally. I mean, they're cool, I guess, but I don't see a lot of added functionality. Like the new door damper/air inlet - it's really big, a multi-bladed large pinwheel damper, but I don't see any added functionality, just the 'cool' factor. Additionally, the stack damper pegs to set it to the same place every time - for myself, I don't find it difficult to set my damper where I want it. Hell, I don't even use one, but that's beside the point. It's not like it's hard to eyeball 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 closed, so I don't see a need to have specific setpoints for it, plus it's going to change based on so many variables (temp and humidity, fire temp, etc.), I prefer having an infinitely adjustable damper rather than one with set points. And then you think about the cost, coming from M&M, you know it's going to be premium, and it is. Over $4k I think.

So anyways, I think the Liberty 94 sits in a niche - it's a super high quality pit, I literally would put the build quality up there with anything on the market. It's not as fancy and 'tricked out' as some, but it's super functional and very pleasing to behold as well. 1/4" steel cook chamber and firebox, laser cut parts and precision, a well-designed firebox and baffle, super even cooking, really, I think everything you could want - without the added premium of a name like Franklin, M&M, Workhorse, Mill Scale, etc. - sorry, nothing wrong with those guys, but Dustin and Frank are a smaller outfit, they don't have a giant corporate presence and marketing team to try to support.

The Liberty 94 I think is closest in size and functionality to the Mill Scale 94, which is $4950. Or the Workhorse Pits 1975 which is $4k as well.

So there ya have it.

I would like to have one, but I'm out of room, lol. Plus, it fits the same niche as my Duk backyard smoker, which works great for me, so I would have to sell The Duk and I'm just kind of attached to her, as my first completed build. lol

[Mosca]

I think it’s a marvel. It looks great, it looks well engineered, and it looks like high quality craftsmanship.

I’m curious about the economics involved. Is this company a metalworking shop with a line of smokers as part of an overall business plan? Assuming a markup of 100% (50% profit, which I think would be fair), how many smokers do they plan to sell each year, and for how many years?

It just seems to me that it would be a hard row to hoe, what with the investment in space, time, equipment, and manpower. The nut must be insane. I wouldn’t even hazard a guess what break-even would be, before declaring a profit. Even for a company whose main focus might be something else, like maybe building trailers or specialized truck bodies, diverting resources to hand built stickburners is a serious investment of resources. Uncle Bob?

[Uncle Bob]

You're correct that they often offer additional services probably related to agricultural needs of the nearby communities. Further south in the state they couple with oil drilling/production work.
This fellow offered a similar product a couple years ago for near $2k pricing. For comparison a company named Blue Smoke Smokers offers a slightly less content (with a long option list) for $2.1k currently. There are quite a few companies like this in Texas.

[Mosca]

Thanks for the insight. So, “A little, plus a little, plus a little, is a lot.” I did some research in the meanwhile, and see they’ve been around a while, and the company is “metal fabrication”, so a lot of what I was wondering can be accounted for with existing facilities and material and production costs. I can imagine the discussion: “Hell, we can build a better smoker than THAT. Joe, how much would it cost… how long… can we make something on it? Okay, let’s do it then!” Sounds like fun!

[realdocBBQ]

Yeah Dustin and his guys build the regular Smokeslinger, something like a better version of the Chud box, it's quite versatile. But I do think they do other work, I saw some other projects and things when I was down there. But they're selling a lot of Smokeslinger Mini and Full size models these days, and I suspect the Liberty is going to be a good seller for them as well.

[58limited]

Looks like a great pit and definitely a better price point than many on the market. I think the reason my friend's old homemade offset (not nearly as pretty as the Liberty) cooks so well is the adjustable vertical baffle. A friend of his made the pit then basically moved off and left it. The vertical baffle is half moon shaped and is welded to a piece of rebar at the top. The rebar passes through two holes - one on each side of the pit right in front of the firebox opening - and has a bent handle that is held in place at whatever setting you wish by a saw-tooth piece of metal on the side of the firebox to hold the adjustment. I guess its not an infinity adjustment but the notches in the saw-tooth let you adjust the opening by about 1/2" for each notch.

I've told my friend several times that if he wants to get rid of the pit to call me first or I'll hurt him. You can totally screw up the fire several times during a cook - too hot, too cold, too much bad smoke; we tend to neglect it while doing other projects - and it still makes some of the best brisket that I've cooked.

[Beefchop]

That'll do the job my friend. I checked out their site and they have some pretty amazing looking grills as well. Hope you enjoy your new cooker. Congratulations!

[realdocBBQ]

Oh yeah I just remembered... Dustin told me he was waiting on a new riveting machine. So those plug welds on the door trim I think are going to become riveted in the future. Pretty cool.

[Huskee]

Nice! I'd cook on it. I'd want my firebox to also have a flip top though, plus side door. I love that stack, I bet it draws very nicely.

[realdocBBQ]

I guess I'm really sorry I didn't make this clear to everyone, since I've been attacked by a member in another thread. I really should have specifically said that I do not have ANY professional or financial relationship with either Smokeslinger OR Smokerbuilder. Zero.

We've talked about it. We've discussed it. I am a fan of their products and business, and I am personal friends with Frank and acquaintances with Dustin. That is it. I am a part of Frank's social media community and forum at SmokerbuilderU and Facebook, but I do that all on my own, on my own time, for the fun of it and because I like to help the community and share information, techniques and various tips, recipes, experiences, etc.

I do not get ANYTHING from Frank, from Dustin or either of their companies. In fact, when I have visited Frank and gotten parts and things, I have PAID for them, though maybe at a slight 'buddy' discount. He did give me some parts for a drum kit a couple months ago, because he had them left over and was passing through, so I'm looking for a drum to finish out that build for my buddy's shop.

I shared this news on my own - I was not ASKED to share it. I WANTED to share it and I asked permission from him for myself, because I think it's cool and I think it's a great product and 2 great companies to deal with. I think it fits a niche and is head and shoulders above some things out on the market, I would love to see some of my friends take advantage because I'm sure they'll be super happy with it.

But - I don't get ANYTHING out of this, except satisfaction if someone else is happy. And yes, even though we have talked about me taking on a role with the company, I don't think that's what I really want, and if I do, it won't be for pay, most likely. I don't get anything more from Frank's community than I do from THIS community - just being part of a community.

Sorry if I didn't clarify that in advance. <sigh> Some folks think everything is an attack.

[fitzoo7]

I’ll only forgive you if you send me an offset smoker.

I am willing to accept this smoker or the Franklin smoker.

[STEbbq]

To be fair, the “announcement” in the title plus the “I’ve kept my mouth shut” in the first line implied you had some kind of “special” relationship. The fact that you “may” take a job is also helpful information.

If you introduced this as “I have met these guys, and I really like their work, and they just released this new smoker” it probably wouldn’t have sent off “ad” vibes.

I got what you were saying originally so no worries but I can see how others may have read it differently.

[mrichie1229]

Its beautiful, realdocBBQ!