Myron Mixon BARQ 3600 and Smokin Brothers thoughts

[JoseGator]

Hello brothers of the flame!

I have been eyeing a cooker that can handle a whole hog 50-75 pounds not huge and could handle multiple briskets/butts at the same time. My church is doing a whole hog competition and most teams will be using the “caja China” which is basically a roaster. (Point of information I am in Miami which should explain the previous sentence). I called Myron Mixon smokers and after some conversation we felt the 3600 would be the best addition to my stable of cookers. (Price tag is shocking at $5,500 delivered) I would love suggestions for others to look at or thoughts on these. It will be my first pellet smoker. As far as other cookers I own the SNS kamado, a Weber kettle, The barrel, a Blackstone so more of a charcoal and wood chunk based cook.

thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Jfrosty27]

No thoughts other than $5,500 for a pellet cooker? Yikes!!

[JoseGator]

Yes I agree. I spoke to the Smokin Brothers and there was a lot of upgrades to stainless steel plus the dimensions make it a much larger cooker. But I post the price as I am open to suggestions. Including non pellet. Definitely not a stick burner but anything charcoal , gravity fed that I can use a fan and my FireBoard to help maintain temps is in the running. The event is April 22 so also lead times would matter.
Thanks for looking and thanks for the help! I would much rather be out far less

[Jfrosty27]

I have a Recteq. Love it. The RT-1250 might do the job size wise and for less than half the price. Longgggg warranty too. You could most likely have it in two weeks or less.

The RT-2500 would definitely work and again, far less expensive. Not sure about lead time on the model though.

[STEbbq]

With that short a lead time, virtually all of the best pellet smokers like LSG or MAK wouldn’t have anything ready, and they would be half the cost of the $5500 you have been quoted. I would give MAK and LSG a call and see what they have available and at what price point though. Recteq is probably the only other pellet smoker that comes to mind that may already have something in stock that meets your needs at a fair price point.

Meadow Creek could be an option for charcoal.

https://www.meadowcreekbbq.com/catalog/pig-roasters/

Frankly though, for this type of investment, I would investigate renting a dedicated pig smoker (usually your pig provider will know where to find one locally) and give yourself a chance to get something like a LSG pellet smoker with a longer lead time.

[STEbbq]

Some really good information here:

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-recipes/going-whole-hog-what-you-need-know/

[kenrobin]

Your church is having a whole hog competition is the part that caught my attention! That's awesome!

[Donw]

When I first read whole hog I immediately thought of Meadow Creek as @toolongtotype above mentioned. Then I saw pellets and said shoot. Benefits of using charcoal is that you can control the areas receiving the most direct heat.

[STEbbq]

Thanks D.

[JoseGator]

Not married to going pellet. I am actually hesitating since I am a charcoal and wood chunk type of guy.