Ohh, when it comes to barbecuing, I haven't changed a bit!
When I smoke meats, the entire upright chest is packed!
I've used this style smoker since about '91.
The original that I had lasted 20 years. It was a New Braunfels Bandomir smoker. Made in New Braunfels TX!
Incredibly well-built, hence the long life.
The W.C. Bradley Co., parent company of Char-Broil, purchased the New Braunfels Smoker Company in 1997.
Manufacturing of New Braunfels smokers ceased in 2004 when W.C. Bradley moved all production to China and retired the New Braunfels Smokers brand.
They started making it again about 6 years ago. it is now marketed under the Oklahoma Joe name. They even kept the same model name Bandera .
The quality is nowhere near the same in material and execution. On these Chinese made crap Smokers, you do have to do fairly extensive mods.
The paint is pure poop! I stripped mine and repainted it with header paint After fully stripping the exterior and sanding it down.
With the crappier material thickness and assembly techniques, neither of the doors/lid actually fit Flat and flush. I fixed that with a call to The guy that owns the boiler company that used to do a lot of my opening up for Internal inspections, He sent me a two of adhesive and ribbon rope to make a gasket for both.
Now the damn thing will actually work like it's supposed to.
I bought mine 560 years ago when I found it at Wally World. Totally surprised the hell out of me. Evidently it had been there for a while and hadn't sold and they had it marked down! I paid roughly half the price of what they sell for now. I haven't seen any in the stores. To buy it directly from them now.
Anyone interested in them, here's the link It's still an excellent design and very easy to master. But you will have to modify it
The unique design of the Bandera® Vertical Offset Smoker gives you smoking versatility and maximizes food capacity. Built with durability in mind, learn more.
www.oklahomajoes.com