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Traditional offset vs vertical offset vs other variations

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    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.

    #2
    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.

    Comment


      #3
      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.

      Comment


        #4
        Vertical offsets can provide more even heat than horizontal offsets simply because heat rises.

        Comment


          #5
          I prefer vertical smokers. Even heat and smoke distribution, higher capacity to footprint ratio. Only downfall is dripping on meat lower.

          Comment


          • Anthonyf
            Anthonyf commented
            Editing a comment
            How do drippings onto lower meat affect the meat? Does it cool the meat or give it another meat's flavor?

          • lostclusters
            lostclusters commented
            Editing a comment
            Ruins the bark.

          #6
          If you are doing say pork butt and a brisket... It can be an issue. Those two flavors clash

          Comment


            #7
            Originally posted by texastweeter View Post
            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.

            Comment


            • texastweeter
              texastweeter commented
              Editing a comment
              Gotta have the right size smoke stack for proper flow... Agreed

            • PaulstheRibList
              PaulstheRibList commented
              Editing a comment
              roger that texastweeter

            #8
            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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