re: Offset Smoker (stick burner) Recommendations?

OC Pecos is identical to Brazos, but Pecos has thinner steel.

That all looks interesting, but I don't know if I want to take my angle grinder to this thing.

I'm still kind of skeptical if Academy will even get the OC Brazos that I ordered. I contacted the guy who makes the OC pits in Laredo and he said they aren't currently shipping anything...so we'll see I guess.

That other pit in the post above looks nice too. Not sure how I feel about dropping about $2 grand though on a sort of unknown builder.

Well, Academy came through and I got my Brazos Deluxe in.

I already did some ribs and a chicken on it and both came out good. I went ahead and added a smoke stack extension, which was super easy, giving me an extra 18". I added a damper to the top of it using a paint can lid, a screw, and a duct clamp.





I did notice that there was a huge temp difference between the firebox side and the smoke stack side. Smoke stack was 50-100 degrees hotter...which seems crazy. I took the tuning plate (that came with the pit) out mid-cook. I also started using the damper to cover the stack about 1/2 way and it seemed to help. The temps were only 25-50 degrees different at that point.

I think I may just go ahead and remove the deflector / baffle. It seems like that is the cheap / easy solution.

Nice. You'll enjoy it, and that will last you as long as you need it. Yeah, I'd remove the baffle on the Brazos if you can. Many manufacturers added them to protect the firebox side, but ended up forcing the heat further down, causing them to work almost TOO well. Similar to a reverse flow, but not. So you end up getting the heat flow coming up almost directly under the meat instead of over the top of the fat cap. It's a delicate combination of stack height and baffle length. Since you added a stack extension it's even more important to remove the baffle.

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ruger35

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How'd you go about removing your baffle plate? I can't find my angle grinder so used a dremel on each joint (2 total) on both sides of the baffle. I cut through both of them and was thinking I could just bend the plate up and down till it snaps off like in this video: LINK

But it will barely budge up or down. Maybe this is because it is a Pecos in the video and the metal is a lot thinner? Did you cut through the joints on the firebox too?

Update: I got the baffle plate off. I scored the weld joints at the top (against the firebox) with my dremel - there were 3 total. After doing this, it allowed some movement when I pulled up on the baffle, and I was able to bend it up and down a few times to snap it off.

I noticed a major improvement on temperatures across the grate. Temperature at the smoke stack end was now lower than the side closer to the firebox, as expected, but only by 10 degrees or less...usually was within 5 degrees, which is awesome.

I smoked a butt yesterday and it came out great. Thanks again to everyone for the recommendations on a smoker. I'm very pleased with my purchase.

I would go,with a Lang Patio Model, they are not,cheap but smokers are a definite you get what you pay for item.

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I just ordered the Workhorse 1969 in the wagon configuration. 3/8" steel versus 1/4" by Mill Scale and Moberg. Delivery in July, but hopefully worth the wait.

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I haven’t seen any of their workhorse pits in person, but some of the welds on their Primitive pits are still awful. I know it doesn’t always equate to functionality, but just didn’t hold up to the eye test vs a MillScale or Moberg. 1/4” vs 3/8” didn’t really matter, but I 100% agree the Workhorse pits are priced accordingly for their size. You’re paying for the whole “MillScale” lifestyle now. Though Matt and Caleb are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met.