Live Stoner Chat Live Stoner Eats !!! Let's See what's for Dinner

[Dr.Bubbles]

I've had great results in my Weber Kettle with Baby Backs doing the indirect thing.....the problem with Brisket is that it's so damn big. It's only a couple inches thick, so a 10 pounder is like 2 feet long...You can cut the brisket pre smoke to make it easier than handle. Have the butcher separate the point and flat....it's a good idea anyways as they will finish at different times. Be sure to finish it with the long rest procedures described above in a cooler. I would personally try to find a little horizontal or vertical water smoker. The water bath keeps everything nice and moist. Use quality rubs....there is some world class ones available online, like Killer Hogs which is pro grade competition BBQ rub. You can make your own once you do it a few times, and it's MUCH cheaper and more satisfying, but for your first couple smokes I would use something trusted. Rubs are real touchy as it's some potent spices like paprika, garlic & onion powder, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Always use brown sugar for BBQ, from rubs to sauces to marinades, brown sugar is superior for this type of role. So, if I was you, I would totally invest in a smoker. The first pic is a vertical water smoker. Brinkman is a cheap brand, Weber Smoky Mountain is a spendy one. I have heard some excellent reviews from a unit called the PBC, which is Pit Barrel Cooker, which is vertical. Check out the awesome website Amazingribs.com for the full breakdown on BBQ 101, as well as the PBC grill, which they HIGHLY recommend. That website is the BOMB for how to BBQ right. They get down to the science of what makes it tick. Marinades vs Dry Rubs vs Wet Rubs, how to reverse sear a 6cm thick steak, the importance of salt in meat, etc... tons of info. So, bottom line, to make EPIC cue, you're gonna need some kinda smoker. If you wanna just spend a few bucks and be done, you can't go wrong with a pellet grill like a Traegar. They take the mystique out of live fire cooking and produce top notch grub. Also super consistent with temps and what not. Not the cheapest though....there is also the Big Green Egg which is ceramic vertical smoker/grill all in one. $$$, but they last a few lifetimes if you take care of em. Also 5 star rated, like the Traegar. If u just wanna get into it cheap, look for a Brinkman or a horizontal smoker with a fire box. Get some quality lump charcoal, and some hardwood. Hickory is huge, mesquite makes some insane brisket, cherry is my all time favorite...other fruit trees work equally as well like Apple, plum, peach. Next step is to aquire some meats and a rub....also gonna need a finishing sauce. Thats about it. Cue is all about low and slow. Keep the sugar off till closer t the end or else you'll burn it. Keep the temp about 225°F for best results. Try out Baby Back Ribs, Pork Shoulder and Butt, Beef Brisket, Smoked Chicken quarters, ham...whatever comes in bigger size cuts will work well. Don't get impatient....it takes time, do score a chimney starter (eliminates lighter fluid), and once u blow your own mind, you'll be hooked for life. Give it a shot dude....it's really not hard.

There called KAAHBS Joe

 

[Olde School Player]

Brisket is weird....eating it is one of the most enjoyable eating experiences ever but weird folks act like u need to go to BBQ college to have a decent one. I made me very first Brisket almost two years ago, and it was quite literally some of the best meat I've ever eaten. Mine was a 12.5# packet brisket from a whole animal butcher. For those who don't know, brisket is two parts: The Point, and The Flat. Packer brisket is both parts. Think of it like this, the flat is about a perfect square, a little more lean, and the point is close to an equilateral triangle and some nice rendering fat in there. Easy way to tell which cut is which, the point costs more per pound. The big packer brisket is a flat with the triangular shaped point on the top, and is creeping on ten pounds or more. Best of both worlds. Anyway, these "Brisket Masters" seem to think there is NO WAY that someone who wasn't born with an extra toe can make edible brisket, let alone legendary status brisket. It's not hard....just follow the guidelines, use a good tested rub, and keep it under 225°. I used choke cherry that I cut from a tree job for smoke and ran it at 215-225° for about 11 hours. Then just wrap it in foil, REAL good....then wrap it tight inside a beach towel..... put the whole mess in a small dry cooler....wrap that up again and let it rest for 8+ hours without opening. It should still be hot 8 hours later. I've heard ALL KINDS of people talk about "the stall"....lol....it's just a MINOR inconvenience. Folks act like it's just impossible to make. Mine was truly epic....and better than all 3 of the local BBQ joints I've got brisket from, that are "BBQ Masters". I'm jealous bro....lol...I LOVE me some brisk. That's my two cents on cows on the smoker.

I don't t know what else it's called. I would ask for a whole packer brisket. I'm sure they will know. It's about 7-10# of flawless meat when cooked right. You GOTTA smoke it, and for authentic 'Texas Brisket' you don't use sweet rubs or sauces....more peppery and savory. It's good sweet too though, so try it both ways. Also, you can't go wrong with burnt ends....look that up if ya do some brisket. It's easy, sweet and mind numbingly delicious.

There called KAAHBS Joe

@Dr.Bubbles I couldn't agree more about how the "Masters" glorify brisket, and how 99% of what they say is Bullshit. I try to cook mine around 280 but the offset smoker I bought is not airtight, and precisely regulating temps is difficult, so I keep it between 250 - 300F.
But to the point of culinary magic masters, any meat cooked in a real pit smoker is glorious, but outrageously difficult to regulate. I don't care what any expert says, the precise regulation of heat is about as much bullshit as "you can only grow cannabis with one type and strength of nutrient".
This past holiday season I bought a book written by multi-time world champion Pitmaster Myron Mixon. He recommends completely different temps for cooking brisket in a pit versus in a smoker. In the pit, he recommends cooking at 275F / 135C for three hours, flip it / mop it and smoke for 5 more hours, mopping every 30 minutes.
No brine, no injections, just start by a good vinegar rubdown followed by a generous rub of salt and pepper - nothing else.
(Of course, he lost some credibility with me as a pitmaster - virtually every recipe in his entire book says mop it with vinegar then rub it with salt & pepper).
Use an instant read thermometer to be sure the meat reaches 205F / 95C internal temp in the point end, then pull it, wrap it in foil, and let it sit for two hours. Slice against the grain & eat it. (He omits the blanket wrap / rest for that method, and doesn't use foil until the cooking is done).
But with his smoker method, he still uses a vinegar rub then salt & pepper dry rub, and heats the smoker to 350F / 175C. Drop the brisket in the smoker fat side up for only 2 & 1/2 hours. Then he places it in a heavy foil baking pan, covers that with foil, and cooks for another 1 & 1/2 hours, or until internal temp reaches 205F / 95C. Then he leaves the brisket wrapped in foil, and wraps it in a blanket to rest for at least two hours.
So these two methods couldn't be further apart, could they??? So much for six-toed masters!!!!! Even a world champion can't agree with himself on the "right" way to do it!!!

Me, I do love the electronic meat probes with a remote monitor. I do try to maintain 280F smoker temp, but a really don't worry as long as I stay between 250 and 300F.
And far as rub, I'm going to try the simple vinegar spritz with a kosher salt & coarse grind pepper rub - one day maybe. Especially with pork.
But my brisket rub has an ancient secret family recipe of eight spices. The exact ingredients are guarded in a radioactive vault that's guarded by rabid rottweilers and

surrounded by a moat full of g​

onorrhea infected alligators (what's meaner than a gonorrhea infected alligator? the Guy who infected him). If anyone wants the recipe just ask.
But I've also used my pork rub which actually really does use a secret recipe of 14 spices, and the brisket tasted about the same with either rub.
If anyone wants that recipe it will cost you a quarter. You can just owe me as long as you promise to pay me some day.

Now with all my wandering, there's still points to be made - and the main one is exactly what you said about all the masters being full of it as to how hard it is to cook brisket.
Cooking low and slow makes a difference in tenderness. If you have that much time. But there is one trick that helps move this along - keep reading.
Pick a rub that's not too sweet (mine DOES have some brown sugar in it but it's not sweet) or just use salt & pepper, or buy any "world famous" rub.
Start with a healthy spritz of apple cider vinegar to make it stick, or better still rub it down with regular yellow mustard. This doesn't really add flavor, it just makes the dry rub stick. Or use spicy brown mustard if you choose. That['s the whole point. If you use any reasonable commercial beef dry rub, or make your own from a good recipe, and then smoke it and cook it sort of slow it will melt in your mouth and taste great. The masters can kiss my hairy ass, it ain't that hard!!!
Three things I do believe make a huge difference -
1- Cook on the smoker until the internal temp of the meat at its thickest part reaches 165. At this point, beef is safe to eat, but more importantly, the smoke ring is set and the meat stops taking any more smoke. Any further time on the smoker should be foil wrapped to keep the brisket from drying out. But to make it easier on yourself and shorten cooking time, you can wrap it in heavy duty foil, lay it in a pyrex dish or big turkey pan, whatever fits, and finish cooking in your kitchen oven set to 295, until the internal temp of the meat reaches around 200 (190 is good, 205-210 is good, whatever).
I have used an electronic probe in my gas oven - set to 295 - and the actual temp varies from 275-310F - that's close enough. The other probe stays in the meat until it reaches around 200F.
2- Take it out of the oven and wrap the foil covered meat in a heavy old towel & drop in a cooler for at least a couple of hours to rest. This step is critical, don't cheat!!!!! Cheat with the oven inside.
3- Slice the meat against the grain. This makes a huge difference. Brisket is a tough cut of meat, the front chest muscle - biggest muscle on a cow. Unless you rest the meat, and cut against the grain, it can still be chewy. But cook it to the right temp, rest it and slice across the grain and it will almost melt in your mouth.

One of these days I'm going to build me a small masonry pit in the back yard. Then I'll also have to build a fire barrel to burn my green wood down to usable coals. Then I'll have to get a big shovel to throw the coals under the meat. Then I'll have to invite everyone over for a 24 hour drunk fest of beer drinking and rattlesnake stew eating while we smoke a whole hog. Until then I'm going to love my offset smoker because I can smoke a brisket or three, or two or six Boston Butt pork roasts, and get that done from late morning to early evening without staying drunk all night.
Unless I want to stay drunk all night. Then I will.

Last tip - leftovers!!!!! I love my vacuum food saver. Freeze as many helpings as you have left.
The easiest way to reheat brisket is to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then take the sliced brisket out of the vacuum seal bag and place in a single layer in a pyrex baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with beef broth. Seal the top of the dish with foil, try to get this as snug and well sealed as possible without losing sleep over it. Bake in the oven, pre-heated to 350F, for 30 minutes. When removed from the oven it's ready to eat, and will be every bit as moist and tasty as the day it came off the smoker.

 

[Olde School Player]

@Dr.Bubbles WOW, Man, I'm gonna ask Myron Mixon for my $25 back & just give you the money, that was a great post.
As to "...paprika, garlic & onion powder, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Always use brown sugar for BBQ, from rubs to sauces to marinades, brown sugar is superior"
Looks like somebody swam the moat, bribed the rottweilers with some brisket, and published part of my rub recipe!!!
That smoker in your pic looks a lot like my Oklahoma Joe. By the time I put $60 worth of gasket & baffle mod's to mine it turned out to be a pretty decent smoker. But MAN does the thing eat charcoal. First time I smoked in it I used two 18lb. bags. & still had trouble maintaining temps above 220F. Second time I started it using charcoal & for the rest of the burn used nothing but wood & was a much happier smoker. That & a few microbrews and some Green Crack made the day!!! and that brisket in my previous post.

 

[chefdave]

I've had great results in my Weber Kettle with Baby Backs doing the indirect thing.....the problem with Brisket is that it's so damn big. It's only a couple inches thick, so a 10 pounder is like 2 feet long...You can cut the brisket pre smoke to make it easier than handle. Have the butcher separate the point and flat....it's a good idea anyways as they will finish at different times. Be sure to finish it with the long rest procedures described above in a cooler. I would personally try to find a little horizontal or vertical water smoker. The water bath keeps everything nice and moist. Use quality rubs....there is some world class ones available online, like Killer Hogs which is pro grade competition BBQ rub. You can make your own once you do it a few times, and it's MUCH cheaper and more satisfying, but for your first couple smokes I would use something trusted. Rubs are real touchy as it's some potent spices like paprika, garlic & onion powder, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Always use brown sugar for BBQ, from rubs to sauces to marinades, brown sugar is superior for this type of role. So, if I was you, I would totally invest in a smoker. The first pic is a vertical water smoker. Brinkman is a cheap brand, Weber Smoky Mountain is a spendy one. I have heard some excellent reviews from a unit called the PBC, which is Pit Barrel Cooker, which is vertical. Check out the awesome website Amazingribs.com for the full breakdown on BBQ 101, as well as the PBC grill, which they HIGHLY recommend. That website is the BOMB for how to BBQ right. They get down to the science of what makes it tick. Marinades vs Dry Rubs vs Wet Rubs, how to reverse sear a 6cm thick steak, the importance of salt in meat, etc... tons of info. So, bottom line, to make EPIC cue, you're gonna need some kinda smoker. If you wanna just spend a few bucks and be done, you can't go wrong with a pellet grill like a Traegar. They take the mystique out of live fire cooking and produce top notch grub. Also super consistent with temps and what not. Not the cheapest though....there is also the Big Green Egg which is ceramic vertical smoker/grill all in one. $$$, but they last a few lifetimes if you take care of em. Also 5 star rated, like the Traegar. If u just wanna get into it cheap, look for a Brinkman or a horizontal smoker with a fire box. Get some quality lump charcoal, and some hardwood. Hickory is huge, mesquite makes some insane brisket, cherry is my all time favorite...other fruit trees work equally as well like Apple, plum, peach. Next step is to aquire some meats and a rub....also gonna need a finishing sauce. Thats about it. Cue is all about low and slow. Keep the sugar off till closer t the end or else you'll burn it. Keep the temp about 225°F for best results. Try out Baby Back Ribs, Pork Shoulder and Butt, Beef Brisket, Smoked Chicken quarters, ham...whatever comes in bigger size cuts will work well. Don't get impatient....it takes time, do score a chimney starter (eliminates lighter fluid), and once u blow your own mind, you'll be hooked for life. Give it a shot dude....it's really not hard.

There called KAAHBS Joe

@Dr.Bubbles I couldn't agree more about how the "Masters" glorify brisket, and how 99% of what they say is Bullshit. I try to cook mine around 280 but the offset smoker I bought is not airtight, and precisely regulating temps is difficult, so I keep it between 250 - 300F.
But to the point of culinary magic masters, any meat cooked in a real pit smoker is glorious, but outrageously difficult to regulate. I don't care what any expert says, the precise regulation of heat is about as much bullshit as "you can only grow cannabis with one type and strength of nutrient".
This past holiday season I bought a book written by multi-time world champion Pitmaster Myron Mixon. He recommends completely different temps for cooking brisket in a pit versus in a smoker. In the pit, he recommends cooking at 275F / 135C for three hours, flip it / mop it and smoke for 5 more hours, mopping every 30 minutes.
No brine, no injections, just start by a good vinegar rubdown followed by a generous rub of salt and pepper - nothing else.
(Of course, he lost some credibility with me as a pitmaster - virtually every recipe in his entire book says mop it with vinegar then rub it with salt & pepper).
Use an instant read thermometer to be sure the meat reaches 205F / 95C internal temp in the point end, then pull it, wrap it in foil, and let it sit for two hours. Slice against the grain & eat it. (He omits the blanket wrap / rest for that method, and doesn't use foil until the cooking is done).
But with his smoker method, he still uses a vinegar rub then salt & pepper dry rub, and heats the smoker to 350F / 175C. Drop the brisket in the smoker fat side up for only 2 & 1/2 hours. Then he places it in a heavy foil baking pan, covers that with foil, and cooks for another 1 & 1/2 hours, or until internal temp reaches 205F / 95C. Then he leaves the brisket wrapped in foil, and wraps it in a blanket to rest for at least two hours.
So these two methods couldn't be further apart, could they??? So much for six-toed masters!!!!! Even a world champion can't agree with himself on the "right" way to do it!!!

Me, I do love the electronic meat probes with a remote monitor. I do try to maintain 280F smoker temp, but a really don't worry as long as I stay between 250 and 300F.
And far as rub, I'm going to try the simple vinegar spritz with a kosher salt & coarse grind pepper rub - one day maybe. Especially with pork.
But my brisket rub has an ancient secret family recipe of eight spices. The exact ingredients are guarded in a radioactive vault that's guarded by rabid rottweilers and

surrounded by a moat full of g​

onorrhea infected alligators (what's meaner than a gonorrhea infected alligator? the Guy who infected him). If anyone wants the recipe just ask.
But I've also used my pork rub which actually really does use a secret recipe of 14 spices, and the brisket tasted about the same with either rub.
If anyone wants that recipe it will cost you a quarter. You can just owe me as long as you promise to pay me some day.

Now with all my wandering, there's still points to be made - and the main one is exactly what you said about all the masters being full of it as to how hard it is to cook brisket.
Cooking low and slow makes a difference in tenderness. If you have that much time. But there is one trick that helps move this along - keep reading.
Pick a rub that's not too sweet (mine DOES have some brown sugar in it but it's not sweet) or just use salt & pepper, or buy any "world famous" rub.
Start with a healthy spritz of apple cider vinegar to make it stick, or better still rub it down with regular yellow mustard. This doesn't really add flavor, it just makes the dry rub stick. Or use spicy brown mustard if you choose. That['s the whole point. If you use any reasonable commercial beef dry rub, or make your own from a good recipe, and then smoke it and cook it sort of slow it will melt in your mouth and taste great. The masters can kiss my hairy ass, it ain't that hard!!!
Three things I do believe make a huge difference -
1- Cook on the smoker until the internal temp of the meat at its thickest part reaches 165. At this point, beef is safe to eat, but more importantly, the smoke ring is set and the meat stops taking any more smoke. Any further time on the smoker should be foil wrapped to keep the brisket from drying out. But to make it easier on yourself and shorten cooking time, you can wrap it in heavy duty foil, lay it in a pyrex dish or big turkey pan, whatever fits, and finish cooking in your kitchen oven set to 295, until the internal temp of the meat reaches around 200 (190 is good, 205-210 is good, whatever).
I have used an electronic probe in my gas oven - set to 295 - and the actual temp varies from 275-310F - that's close enough. The other probe stays in the meat until it reaches around 200F.
2- Take it out of the oven and wrap the foil covered meat in a heavy old towel & drop in a cooler for at least a couple of hours to rest. This step is critical, don't cheat!!!!! Cheat with the oven inside.
3- Slice the meat against the grain. This makes a huge difference. Brisket is a tough cut of meat, the front chest muscle - biggest muscle on a cow. Unless you rest the meat, and cut against the grain, it can still be chewy. But cook it to the right temp, rest it and slice across the grain and it will almost melt in your mouth.

One of these days I'm going to build me a small masonry pit in the back yard. Then I'll also have to build a fire barrel to burn my green wood down to usable coals. Then I'll have to get a big shovel to throw the coals under the meat. Then I'll have to invite everyone over for a 24 hour drunk fest of beer drinking and rattlesnake stew eating while we smoke a whole hog. Until then I'm going to love my offset smoker because I can smoke a brisket or three, or two or six Boston Butt pork roasts, and get that done from late morning to early evening without staying drunk all night.
Unless I want to stay drunk all night. Then I will.

Last tip - leftovers!!!!! I love my vacuum food saver. Freeze as many helpings as you have left.
The easiest way to reheat brisket is to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then take the sliced brisket out of the vacuum seal bag and place in a single layer in a pyrex baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with beef broth. Seal the top of the dish with foil, try to get this as snug and well sealed as possible without losing sleep over it. Bake in the oven, pre-heated to 350F, for 30 minutes. When removed from the oven it's ready to eat, and will be every bit as moist and tasty as the day it came off the smoker.

Hey Olde School Myron is a pork master he is not know for Beef brisket or ribs , He is a great Georgia pork pit master, both shoulder, whole hog baby backs etc. If you ever mopped a brisket in texas they would laugh at you. Temp control is a art of knowing when to add and the dryness of the wood your using. This only comes with a lot of cooking time. Most home cooks aren't cooking hundreds of pounds of meat a day. If your temp is low add a lighter drier piece of wood, Also post oak and pecan are the only respectable woods to use for this as they are indigenous to central texas. I spent two years cooking BBQ in Austin Texas and left still feeling I needed another two to be good. Cheers Chef Dave

 

[Olde School Player]

@chefdave Wish I had pecan here, next drive thru Georgia I'm filling the back of my SUV. I have to settle for hickory here. Oak's not a problem but post oak, might as well be asking for mesquite here. I love apple & cherry for my chicken but can't agree more for your brisket.
Yeah, Myron even stated in his book that he never even tasted brisket until he started competing. But he figured out & won some awards for his brisket too.
I understand what you mean about still learning. I spent a lot more time riding the back roads of Georgia eating barbecue than I ever will put in smoking it.

I'll probably always be a rank beginner, but the good thing is, still putting out some tasty smoked meat!!!

 

[Ozone69]

I'd love to try a stick burner some day. Done the charcoal grill, and love my pellet grill, but would just like to have an offset barrel smoker at some point to try out and to really call myself a "pit master".

Little company in a small town up the road makes a little backyard stick burner that I particularly wouldn't mind having...

 

[Dr.Bubbles]

Damn guys....this thread is really jumping with this live fire talk. A-Train would be proud. So with that said, me and the misses took a yonder over to our local BJs club to score some beef that we are going to make roast beef sammiches with later....anyway, we were wondering around the store and I came across something that REALLY jumped at me. And that is: Oklahoma Joe's Offset Firebox Reverse Flow Smoker. Wow. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger. We absolutely LOVE smoking, but HATE it at the same time because of the Brinkman vertical water smoker. That thing works magically and is quite friendly on fuel...BUT....it's a fuckin nightmare trying to keep a fire lit, no less pinned at 230-250° for 8 hours. Two problems, first is the size of the opening to get to the fire. It's like a 5x5" hole with a little door. Teeny. If you cut a tall triangle piece of cardboard and put a crease in the middle, I use it like a slide to feed the beast. I use homemade wood blocks about 1.5"³ which burn OH SO NICE. I also buy a bag of chips that are small like bedding would be for a small animal. I soak my blocks for an hour or so and leave the chips dry. When I need instant heat, I have lump charcoal and chips....when things are good, I use the blocks. The second problem is airflow....the fire just starts choking itself out after 4 hours. Even with a couple mods. There is nowhere for the ash to go. So halfway through, I fire my oven up to 250° and take everything out quick....get it in the oven...and completely start from scratch. Fresh full load of briquets in the chimney preheating...fresh water in the reservoir and clean out the fire bucket. It sucks, but that's the only way to maintain a proper fire in a Brinkman. Now on to the Oklahoma Joe.... wow.....for $279 that thing is freaking GORGEOUS. Nice heavy cast iron....good welds....awesome lid fit and finish, nice dampers, sweet firebox with the removable basket to keep away from my troubles of choking the fire out. I read up on some reviews when I got home, and with a few mods, this is a really decent quality piece of kit that should last 20 years if u don't leave it in the weather. Most of the 1 and 2 star reviews were from idiots that couldn't make a fruit salad if they lived on a fucking fruit farm, the middle of the road reviews were from idiots that CAN'T ADAPT...smoking is ALL ABOUT adaptation to the grill you're using. P.E.R.I.O.D. Every design has it's quirks and shortcomings...it's up to you to make it work. From modifying where vents are, to what size pieces of wood to use, to changing where the chimney pulls from with duct pipes...u might have to spend a couple hours playing around to really see the consistency and performance u were expecting straight out of the box. With that said, for <$300 brand new, this machine is looking like a super solid starting point for some world class BBQ loving. Some EXCELLENT points you made up there in your monster my sized post.....loving it. Myron Mixon has always been known for running his pit super hot, especially for brisket....he makes no secret about that...lol...unless it's total BS as to throw others off...which I don't believe to be true. Anyway, you should check out Amazing Ribs website, just from reading your post I can tell that u will literally be in pig heaven.

Some Sweet n Sticky Chopped Pork. Lots of Cherrywood bark and nice big pieces. Pulled pork can eat my ass and bawls as Mike Portnoy would say. Once u bust out a cleaver, ripped pork just isn't as satisfying in my opinion. I REALLY need to grab that thing from BJs....how u like yours?

There called KAAHBS Joe

 

[stedimed]

OH HELL!

 

[Olde School Player]

@Dr.Bubbles it's a good thing we can beg forgiveness because smoking weed makes you hungry, or the Moderators on here might be accusing us of turning this forum into a BBQ / smoker forum, hahaha.
I bought the Oklahoma Joe Highland a few years ago and have been pleased for the money spent. Yeah, I read the reviews and the serious smokemasters laughed at it. I guess I would too if I had $4K or more to spend on a heavier gauge commercial grade offset. But I have other things to do and other hobbies to spend money on, so for $270-ish I was proud to get away with so much less money spent. I'm an amateur, just love the taste of the meat and the challenge of doing it myself, so in all I love it.
I did read a lot of web forum reviews on how to correct the shortcomings of my smoker, and I spent (I think) about $60 more on modifications. The lids on the burn barrel and smoke chamber are not airtight, so I installed high temp gasket material (ACE Hardware) and gasket compound to tighten that up. The opening between the burn barrel and smoke chamber is too large, so I bought a sheet of 16gauge sheet metal to hand cut, bend & fit to reduce the opening size, and lower it to the level of ceramic tile smoke baffes - I got a couple of 18" square ceramic ceramic tile at Home Depot and cut them to 5 - 6" widths and (15? 16? long? I forget exactly) to act as a smoke baffle across the bottom of the smoke chamber (evens the heat from left to right). I bought some expanded metal ($12?) and cut / bent / wired together an 11" X 12" fire box that sits on top of the burn barrel grates. This keeps the wood from resting on the side of the burn chamber, and raises the wood up so that ash accumulation doesn't affect draw during a smoke session. I bought a dual probe ($40) and single probe ($20) electronic thermometer; use the single probe for the smoker temp and the dual probe for different ends of a brisket, or separate whole chickens or boston butt shoulder roasts.
Oh … add $30 more for a nice custom fit Oklahoma Joe smoker cover.
And heavy leather welding gloves ($20) that come up midway up the forearm, that was extra. And a pair of heat resistant silicon gloves (free at WalMart with a $10 veggie tray) for hot meat handling, love those.
And the best thing I bought - a bungee recliner for $50 at WalMart - most comfy yard recliner made. And a six pack of microbrew so I don't die of thirst when I'm stranded on the downstairs patio.
My brother in law saw mine, got jealous, and bought an Oklahoma Joe Vertical smoker. Square offset firebox, square upright smoke chamber. Works as good as mine but not as much room in the smoker. You can do a point & a flat brisket on one shelf if in two pieces. You can do two butt roasts or beer butt chickens on a shelf. Or three slabs of baby back if you have the racks that hold them up. It's about as good as mine use wise, just less capacity.
I wish I'd gotten the reverse flow model, you're smart to go that route rather than the Highland model I bought. And you may not need to do all the mod's I did. Probably yes to the door gasket material, but the ceramic smoke baffle across the entire bottom of the smoke chamber is taken care of in the reverse flow. I'm not sure about the extra sheet metal baffle between the firebox and smoke chamber. My guess is you will need that. If the opening between firebox and smoke chamber is higher than the BOTTOM of the smoke chamber baffle, you will need it. Let me know if you do and I'll give you specs on how to cut and bend the metal. And you will need a burn box to sit inside the burn chamber, but I think you said it comes with one of those? Again, if not, shout and I'll send you easy size specs to assemble one from expanded metal.
The end result, you will be very pleased with. But one thing I learned quickly, you can't feed these things enough charcoal. Use one full starter chimney to get it started, then start feeding it wood. I take standard fireplace length split logs & cut them in half or thirds and burn that for the duration. Well cured for the most part, but I always like to keep some green apple, cherry or hickory to add a little smoke. So build up your wood supply & get ready to become a stick burner!!! It's more fun anyway, I think.
And buy (or steal one from the kitchen) a metal meat loaf pan to sit on the smoker grate right by the end at the burn chamber. Fill it with water or apple juice - water mix at the beginning of a smoke. If it dries out add more. Helps keep some moisture in the meat.

Last suggestion I can make - I bought a small galvanized metal washtub (think it's referred to as a [HASHTAG]#1[/HASHTAG]? The [HASHTAG]#2[/HASHTAG] size is bigger) and a 3'X5' sheet of Hardibacker / concrete "Wonderboard" . I put the wonderboard down under the offset burner and sit the tub under the cleanout / damper opening. Protects my wooden patio deck and makes clean out super easy just in case there are a few hot coals remaining the next morning (never has been).

And in closing - really - seriously - I'm a pork butt / beef brisket guy. REAL Man. Drink beer, belch and fart all I want to (as long as no one's looking ) . Grab the old lady's ass whenever she dares walk by. But you GOTTA try the smoked salmon, it's not for wuss-es anymore. I don't eat enough fish but I'm gearing up for this once a week. Done it on the gas grill last time and it's done in 20 minutes. But I can't wait to try it in the smoker.
Otherwise, get the reverse flow OK Joe & you'll be glad you did!!!

 

[Olde School Player]

UNLESS you want set-it-and-forget-it automatic. Then you can't beat the Traeger pellet stove. That's thing's so automatic they won't let you keep your Man Card if you buy one.
Just kidding on the man card, but real point is, the OK Joe is hands-on. You can wander away for refills, bathroom breaks, maybe even a quickie if you hurry. But for the most part you're going to be tending the fire and have the temp monitor clipped to your belt.