re: Offset Smoker Recommendations

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Looked at some RF too. My impression is that reverse flow is only meaningful on large scale cookers. You get better temp consistency but can sacrifice on flavor.

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A lot of the reverse flow can depend on the plate under the cooking grate. I’ve seen a lot of them from well known builders that really reduces cooking time due to radiant heat from the reverse flow plate.

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I haven’t used one but the Old Country Brazos is the best value 1/4 inch steel offset you can purchase. Mad scientist recently did a video on them.

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Yep. Came here to post this. Best bang for the buck IMO. Especially the second generation.

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Yep. It’s a good size for a backyard smoker. The only thing about them though is that you have to make a couple modifications in order to get the most out of them. For instance, it has a baffle plate that needs to be removed which requires an angle grinder, Dremel, or torch. If you want even temperatures across the pit also the smokestack is very short, but it is super easy and cheap to make an extension out of a Couple parts from Lowe’s.

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They recently came out with a second generation that fixes most of the deficiencies from the first (including the baffle)

Check the link on Bigfish's original post for a review on the 2nd gen.

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Why is that good? Don’t you want the heat to come from the smoke and add more smoke flavor?

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The only scenario I can see would be this example: you put a brisket on the grill. Your pit temp is 250. The heat coming off of the plate would be 300 under the brisket but the heat on top of the brisket is only at 250.

So now you have a brisket cooking on the bottom at 300 and the top at 250. Yes, that can speed it up but I don’t see the benefit if it does.

I’ve had issues with this in my pit, but the heat coming off the plates caused the meat to burn on the bottom if I had the pit temp too high. Am I getting radiant heat and is it speeding up my cook? I don’t know. I can’t tell if it is.


As far as heat and smoke goes, you want heat from any source. Doesn’t matter what the heat source is, heat is heat (unless you’re using humidity or other factors to change the heat and environment). The science of smoking is that you want to smoke it with smoke to add flavor. After a certain temperature of the meat, the meat stops letting the smoke flavor it. This is why it’s not an issue to cook a brisket on a smoker and then halfway through, wrapping it in foil or putting it in the oven.

Its been a few years since I researched but those yoders used to get crappy reviews. I’d dodge those.

I second the Klose. I went with this one. I visited the shop before ordering and added custom features I saw on other pits they built.

LINK /

Gator Pit would be a close second. I like the look of their meat slinger pellet pit.

Check out Shirley Fabrication.

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Old Country Brazos

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They recently came out with a second generation that fixes most of the deficiencies from the first (including the baffle)

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Wasn't aware of the new generation model, mainly because I'm pretty happy with mine and I've "learned" it. Wow! That price though! Basically twice what I paid.