Traditional offset vs vertical offset vs other variations
In looking at some smokers offered by many companies, I'm seeing things like traditional offsets, offsets with a warming cabinet, a vertical cabinet with a fire box to the side, and a vertical cabinet with the fire box below.
What are the advantages of all these different wood-burning smokers? Is the warming box just to keep stuff warm or do you actually cook on it?
If you have any experience with some of these different stickburn​​​ers, I would love to hear about it.
I can't really help you because I don't have a stick burner. However, someone will be along shortly to get you started. A warming cabinet is just that - a chamber to keep cooked meat warm. It can be used for that or for holding meat to improve tenderness after cooking -we call it holding meat here. You can get the temps high enough to cook in some warming cabinets.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
There’s not really no difference in the three that you mentioned except for the shape. I used the warming box only to keep things warm like ribs, beans, etc.
Started Low-N-Slow BBQ in 2012. Obviously, it's taken hold (in chronological order:
1.) A pair of Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5's
2.) #LilTex, a 22" Expensive Offset Smoker (looks like a Yoder Witicha)
3.) #WhoDat1, a HUGE Gravity Fed Insulated Cabinet Smoker (cooking chamber 3'x2'x6')
4.) A Full Size Commercial Dryer/converted to Vertical Smoker.
5.) Jambo Backyard stickburner (my FAVORITE Pit so far)
6.) GrillMeister, a huge 24"x48" Adjustable, Charcoal Grill from Pitmaker.com
7.) 22" Weber Kettle with Slow-N-Sear
8.) Vault insulated reverse-flow cabinet smoker from Pitmaker
9.) BarbecueFiretruck...under development
10.) 26 foot BBQ Vending Trailer equipped with HUGE Myron Mixon 72xc smoker is HERE, Oct 2016!
11.) Opened www.PaulsRibShackBarbecue.com Food Trailer officially in March 2017
12.) Austin Smoke Works 500 Gallon Propane Tank Offset Smoker, named "Lucille" as travel pit for PaulsRibShack, Oct 2018.
12.) Opening Brick & Mortar location at 4800 Nelson Rd, Spring 2019. Had a pair of 1,000 Gallon Austin Smoke Works pits, both in RibShackRed for our new place!
Fabulous Backlit Thermapens, several Maverick Remote Thermometers (don't use any remotes anymore), Thermoworks Smoke, Other Thermoworks toys, Vacuum sealer, lots and lots of equipment...
I'm loving using BBQ to make friends and build connections.
I have #theRibList where I keep a list of new and old friends and whenever I'm cooking, I make 1 to 20 extra and share the joy.
I prefer vertical smokers. Even heat and smoke distribution, higher capacity to footprint ratio. Only downfall is dripping on meat lower.
That is a significant issue if you are appearance snob in your barbecue. I, dare I say it outloud, LOVE IT when the barbecue looks perfect when it comes out of the cooker. When you do brisket or ribs, the 2nd shelf and below never look as good. For pork butts or chicken, eehh, I don't care so much. For this reason, I am on a quest to get a hugh offset, the 1,000 gallon propane tank conversion kind.
The folks who build and tune these in Texas have figured out some things to get those temps quite even across the pit. Speed of airflow makes a big difference. And, that faster airflow makes some BEAUTIFUL bark! My Jambo makes the prettiest barbecue I've ever cooked.
Re: the warming box - different designs do different things. Generally they are designed to keep cooked foods or sides warm, but some guys use them to dry jerky, fish, or cure sausage. I know that Meadow Creek has a "live smoke" option you can add to their warming box, and Shirley offers dampers to their warming box (optional) design directly from the firebox so you can cook or bake bread/pizza in the warming box like a vertical smoker (closing off the main chamber) or open the damper between the cook chamber and the warming box and draft heat through the warming box to cook foods at slightly lower temps in the warming box, or, close both dampers and draft through the cook chamber so the warming box is used to heat sides, pre-heat wood, or keep cooked meats warm. Theirs is the most versatile design I know of. Most traditional offsets will have hot spots in the cook chamber (closer to the firebox = hotter). Some guys like this because it gives you different zones to cook different meats, and others buy tuning plates or purchase a reverse flow design so the temperature in the chamber is evened out. I went with the reverse flow mainly because of the Shirley warming box design and it's versatility, but there's something to be said for a traditional offset with tuning plates because that gives you a lot of versatility with regulating your temps.
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