$500 Pits.

I like the oklahoma joes longhorn. But i'd be happy with a oklahoma joes highlander. As long as it had all the mods done. I hear that they cook well with all the mods done. Basically just get the things sealed up tight so you can truly control the air flow.
 
In all of my research before I had my cooker built, the best one that I saw for the money was the Old Country Wrangler. Some say that it is smaller than a Pecos. Maybe a very little bit, but the Wrangler is 1/4" and that will give a new smoker better heat retention, better control and a better overall learning curve for a step up when it's wanted. Just my $0.02.
 
These are some good pits for the money. I would like to point out that some of the best q i have ever eaten has been on less pits than these, some truly downright POS pits honestly. Its all about the indian not the arrow.

I believe A Franklin got his start learning on a cheap offset worse than these. I would imagine his brisket ended up turning out okay.
 
I've got an OK Joe's that I got on sale from Lowe's. It was a little scratched up since it was a floor model, so they knocked the price down a little further. Think it was $395 out the door.

It defnitely has it's limitations, and I've had some frustrating nights/days trying to keep temp stable and the smoke clean.

With a little bit of experience though, it turns out good Q time and time again. Plus, for me, I feel like I learned a TON about fire management and how to cook by using this "cheap" cooker.

I think it's a great first pit, though it helps to know the limitations before hand so you have an idea of what to expect, and whether or not it's the right cooker for you personally.
 
I really like that Old Country Over-Under... We'll have to see what the wife's Father's Day budget is....
 
All the pits - well not over n under- will benefit and be easier to cook on with a convection plate or tuning plates - get end to end temps down to 20* difference instead of 75-100* Difference.

Also you cook in a Temp range of Target +\- 25* not a steady temp so temps will slowly raise and drop 50* as you add wood. On higher end pits its +\- 10/15*.
 
Totally Agree! I have a UDS, a Treager Texas and a 30x90 trailer. Each has it's pros and cons. I didn't start with a trailer rig. I started with a crappy brinkman 2 in 1. After finding a way to make some pretty decent meat I decided to upgrade. I built my own trailer rig, used it for two years, sold it and bought a Shirley. This is NOT for everyone. I do a lot of charity cooks at church and local schools, so for me it made sense. Bigger is not always better...at least that's what they tell me! :oops: A $500 dollar smoker can put out some amazing Q, and will do the job 99.9%of the time.
 
My first smoker was a Silver Smoker; did all the mods and learned about fire control with it. Turned out some great Q but used too much fuel. I've settled on Weber verticals and am quite happy with what I have, but I always wonder if I would have stayed with offsets if I had started with a mid-level rather than a COS. A friend has a Lang and I keep wondering what it would look like on my deck.
 
qnbiker said:
My first smoker was a Silver Smoker; did all the mods and learned about fire control with it. Turned out some great Q but used too much fuel. I've settled on Weber verticals and am quite happy with what I have, but I always wonder if I would have stayed with offsets if I had started with a mid-level rather than a COS. A friend has a Lang and I keep wondering what it would look like on my deck.
Click to expand...

Get ya One and keep the WSMs so you have Options........Every Man oughta have atleast 2 kinds of Cookers. :heh:
 
500 is a big buy. I just spent $400 on a 22 WSM that arives on tuesday, i can't wait! But it took some convincing to my wife to get it. It wasn't easy to convince her either. Took 3 whole days off together of showing her YouTube videos and customer reviews from multiple websites, all of which got 5 stars. And she still reminds me every day that she can't believe I spent $400 on a smoker.
 
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