Lone Star Grillz Vertical Insulated Cabinet Smoker-For the new Owner

darkoozy said:

What a thing of beauty...ahhhh the temptation to buy more toys. Would be great for smaller cooks...

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Exactly my thought!

darkoozy said:

You know, I am still struggling with the notion of cooking in pans, even with the meats raised with grates sitting in the bottom of the pan. I need some heavy convincing

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As long as the meat isn't actually touching the juices in the bottom of the pan, what's the difference?

Have you ever even tried it side-by-side to see the results?

DaveAlvarado said:

As long as the meat isn't actually touching the juices in the bottom of the pan, what's the difference?

Have you ever even tried it side-by-side to see the results?

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Definitely have a point. I need to try side by side, is the only way I will convince myself...

I am the guy who orders 10lbs of burnt ends driving up from Austin...very passionate about good bark

darkoozy said:

You know, I am still struggling with the notion of cooking in pans, even with the meats raised with grates sitting in the bottom of the pan. I need some heavy convincing that a 20lb brisket will get the same even bark and smoke sitting in a foil pan vs sitting directly on the cooking grates fully exposed to the elements inside the smoker. Maybe I am over-thinking this? The only cut of meat that ever sees a foil pan is pork butt after its ready to get wrapped...

Until then, I have to suffer flushing out grease from the water pan...

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I have discovered that the bottom doesn't get the same amount of color even with a grate in the pan. Someone asked me why I care about the bottom of the brisket??? I didn't really know other than I care. That was when I decided to flip the brisket after the top got dark enough, about 4 hours in. The brisket didn't need to be wrapped and it only took about 30 minutes longer than not wrapping in BP. I cook at 300+ without water in my cabinet smoker. Brisket was still moist and the bark was amazing.

If you roll foil into balls, then place your rack in the pan will lift the brisket and butts up higher. That will crisp or bark the top and bottom mo better.

Pans are definitely the way to go, especially if you hate the clean up.

Anybody have pics of the delfector?

Smoke the Competition

This new mini ought to smoke the competition. The G2 Fatboy by Backwoods is $2645 and the BX50 by MeadowCreek is $2795. Neither is built with 11 gauge steel. Ought to be a no-brainer.

darkoozy said:

Ya, I can show you the smoker. Send PM and we can arrange something.

The heat deflector should not get in the way of the firebox. Perfect set of options.

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Darkoozy,

Nice meeting you today and a big thank you for letting me check out your cooker.

I'll be placing my order very soon.

Smoking Tunes said:

Darkoozy,

Nice meeting you today and a big thank you for letting me check out your cooker.

I'll be placing my order very soon.

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Was a pleasure...glad I could help.

I read through this entire thread & have a few questions.
I have been cooking off of 2-UDS's. I have been getting a lot of requests for catering & am needing something bigger & less maintenance to operate.

Everyone that has had my BBQ really likes the flavor profile that I have come up with.
Since this cooker basically cooks over open coals like a UDS, will my flavor profile change a lot?

I see that most people are saying that they are cooking on the top three shelves. In one post it was stated that they don't like to cook on the lower shelf as it seem to stem the meat. I realize that I can cook with out water, but I really like the idea of the temp control. Any thoughts on this?

I have successfully cooked 90+lbs of pork between my 2-UDS's. Will I be able to safely do this or more?
I am wanting to eventually buy a concession trailer & sell BBQ fill time. Is this a good choice of a smoker for that?

I know that I don't have many posts. I am more of a reading & learning type of person. I like what I have read about this smoker. The fact that the owner takes the time to post & answer questions says a lot about the smoker & owner.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm sure Ill have more questions as I go along.

wow, perfect size for me. do we know the cost? what size are the racks plz?

kawracr said:

Since this cooker basically cooks over open coals like a UDS, will my flavor profile change a lot?

I see that most people are saying that they are cooking on the top three shelves. In one post it was stated that they don't like to cook on the lower shelf as it seem to stem the meat. I realize that I can cook with out water, but I really like the idea of the temp control. Any thoughts on this?

I am wanting to eventually buy a concession trailer & sell BBQ fill time. Is this a good choice of a smoker for that?

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Your flavor profile should stay the same.
No problem cooking on the lower shelf but the temp will be a little lower close to the water.
This unit is heavy and would be hard to load on a trailer without help. Might be better to have it permanently installed on a trailer.

Agree with jrben1. I went from a WSM to this smoker, and the flavor profile and style of cook remained the same if not better.

Several weeks ago I cooked about a 5lb brisket point on the lowest rack as the other racks were already occupied with other meats. The outcome was quite good actually, the point had the bark and texture I was expecting. Having it close to the water had no impact on the final product, just have to keep an eye on temps down there.

I have not cooked dry yet, so can't comment, but I am sure it will run fine with little or no management with the help of a guru. All my cooks are overnight cooks, as I prefer to cook large briskets, and I get plenty of sleep.

As for cook capacity, 90lbs could fill the top 2 racks with pork butts just fine.

I concur with having it prebuilt into a trailer, as this smoker is not that portable, and would require 2 people to get it onto a trailer for transport.

sparky' said:

wow, perfect size for me. do we know the cost? what size are the racks plz?

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Specs for the mini are on the web site now...

http://www.lonestargrillz.com/Insulated-Smokers.html

Scroll down to read all about it.

Thanks jrben1 & darkoozy! I think I have made up my mind that this is the smoker for me. I'm going to send a e-mail to Lone Star to get the process started.

I have read through most of this thread and am really intrigued by these smokers. I have cooked on uds and a big baby style smoker for years and am looking to go bigger. I can't seem to find much negative about the lsg smokers. I already have a guru with a 25 cfm fan, so I am set with that. My dad lives in Houston and has offered to pick it up and bring it to me in tulsa, so I wouldn't be out the freight costs there. Is there anything else that hasn't been mentioned in the thread that I should be leary about before I go forward with getting one? I know they are super heavy, but is it possible for a few guys to unload it from the bed of a pickup truck? I recently bought a huge gun safe that we where able to unload out of the bed of a truck, but it only weighed around 600 lbs. Thanks for the help.

Kaptain Kadian said:

I have read through most of this thread and am really intrigued by these smokers. I have cooked on uds and a big baby style smoker for years and am looking to go bigger. I can't seem to find much negative about the lsg smokers. I already have a guru with a 25 cfm fan, so I am set with that. My dad lives in Houston and has offered to pick it up and bring it to me in tulsa, so I wouldn't be out the freight costs there. Is there anything else that hasn't been mentioned in the thread that I should be leary about before I go forward with getting one? I know they are super heavy, but is it possible for a few guys to unload it from the bed of a pickup truck? I recently bought a huge gun safe that we where able to unload out of the bed of a truck, but it only weighed around 600 lbs. Thanks for the help.

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Pretty sure a couple of guys can manage it. You will definitely need to roll it down ramps to get it off the truck (get the larger wheels). Would be a good idea to remove the racks and firebox to lighten the load some too. They can total 100lb easy.

What are you guys doing about attaching the guru stand to the smoker if you have one? My guru stand on my 2 other smokers are bolted to the shelves, so the don't fall off. I asked Chris about it and he said to set the stand on the top or on a table.

Kaptain Kadian said:

What are you guys doing about attaching the guru stand to the smoker if you have one? My guru stand on my 2 other smokers are bolted to the shelves, so the don't fall off. I asked Chris about it and he said to set the stand on the top or on a table.

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I glued 6 small magnets to the bottom of my stand and I can mount it anywhere on my smoker. Normally it's on top but it is certainly secure.

Kaptain Kadian said:

What are you guys doing about attaching the guru stand to the smoker if you have one? My guru stand on my 2 other smokers are bolted to the shelves, so the don't fall off. I asked Chris about it and he said to set the stand on the top or on a table.

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I use one of these on my cabinet smoker. $8.99 at Harbor Freight. The magnets are really strong.