New Old Country Pit - Over n Under - I like it

I purchased the Over n' Under a few months ago and have been pleased. Week before last I did a cook where I did some bacon wrapped chicken thighs empty the pit. Put in some wood gave it about 15 min. and I put in a Pork Loin and a couple hours later put in Pork Ribs everything turned out great. Total smoke time on the loin was around 5 hours.

I did not have an issue bringing the pit back up to temp after emptying the cook box.

An important thing that I learned was to allow the metal to soak in the heat and stabilize before opening the first time or putting on any meat do that and there are no crazy swings.

On my second cook with the smoker I put the meat in the box without allowing sufficient time for the metal to soak in the heat and as a result could not keep temps stable at all.

smittyjonz said:

it's a stick burner and you should cook in a stable temp range not a steady temp
target temp +/- 20-25* . So if target is 275* you add a split or 2 at 250* it climbs to 290* slowly falls back to 250* repeat. You will have to figure out its timing by cooking on it a few times - might need to add wood every 30 minutes, maybe every 45
minutes maybe every hour.

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yep!!

I am also new to this BBQ Forum, and became a member to try to learn more about this Over and Under BBQ Smoker by Old Country that is sold by Academy; before I purchase one. My questions to all those that already own an Over and Under; and have cooked on the O&U for a time is how is this pit weathering the fire storm after a number of uses? Are you happy with your purchase of the Over and Under and would you do it again?? Has anyone had problems with warpage of the top firebox door? Any problems with warpage and leakage on the smoke box door and how were these problems solved, if in fact that could be solved? I noticed that the ash clean-out door is much thinner than the fire box and I ask if this ash clean out door has started to warp from the heat of the fire box and what other problems and/or mods have been made to improve the pit; in addition to the metal support plate in the bottom of the firebox, which I agree needed the angle iron supports. Also what are the negatives, if any, of the O&U that users have found? And is this $500 purchase of the Over and Under worth it? I'd love to have a nice heavy reverse flow BBQ smoker, but I have a hard time investing big money when I will only use my smoker several times a year.
I am thinking that a $500 investment for the Over & Under would last a good number of years, given that one would keep it covered and protected when not in use.
Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Tomas

I've got an Old Country Wrangler and I love it. I do wish the cooking chamber was about 6" longer, but it works good. It took a while for me to get the fire management down, but I've gotten pretty good with it the last few smokes I've done on it.

SmityJonz I know know why this beauty gave you a stiff neck until your head swelled up tighter than uncle Dicks hat band! This is one fine pit!!! Today I had the pleasure to inspect one and play with her rack and caress the inside of her firebox, this gal is put together for long hot nights stuffed full of meat I must have her and make her mine.:biggrin1:

I go to Costco every Sunday with my wife and this past weekend there was this salesman for Traeger. I am sure y’all are familiar with Traeger and their products but I was not. All I saw was a bbq pit and so my attention was caught. I had never heard of these wood pellet grill/smoker that requires electricity. My wife loved the idea of me “setting and forgetting” and spending a little more time watching the games or whatever event we were cooking out for. So much that she suggested we purchase it. The unit retails at about $1,000 and if purchased there at Costco they would knock off $200. Something about it just didn’t seem right. I felt like I was cheating on the art. I love to chop down trees by axe, splitting some logs, using m chimney smoker to get a fire started and babysitting temperature gauges over a few cold beers.
Anyways, since my wife was already on board with buying a new pit, I went over to Academy just to take a look at an Old Country Pecos I had seen a few months back. While there, the Over and Under caught my eye. The design is very interesting and I am more used to offset smoker. I figured, I will go online and research this smoker but to my surprise there isn’t much information out there. That is when I came across this forum. I thoroughly enjoyed the forum and found it to be very informative. I will be needing help mastering the art of bbq’ing and figured this forum would be a resource.
Sorry for the long post but being a new member (and this being my first post), I figured I shouldn’t just barge in but rather give y’all some background as to how I ended up here. Today, I plan on buying the over and under and plan on stopping by here every once in a while to ask for advice. Thank you for your time and I will be drinking an ice cold beer for y’all this weekend.
-Marco
(No offense intended for those who are fond of the wood pellet electrical grill/smoker. I looks to be ingenuity at its best but it is simply not for me at this time of my life.)

marco08 said:

I go to Costco every Sunday with my wife and this past weekend there was this salesman for Traeger. I am sure y’all are familiar with Traeger and their products but I was not. All I saw was a bbq pit and so my attention was caught. I had never heard of these wood pellet grill/smoker that requires electricity. My wife loved the idea of me “setting and forgetting” and spending a little more time watching the games or whatever event we were cooking out for. So much that she suggested we purchase it. The unit retails at about $1,000 and if purchased there at Costco they would knock off $200. Something about it just didn’t seem right. I felt like I was cheating on the art. I love to chop down trees by axe, splitting some logs, using m chimney smoker to get a fire started and babysitting temperature gauges over a few cold beers.
Anyways, since my wife was already on board with buying a new pit, I went over to Academy just to take a look at an Old Country Pecos I had seen a few months back. While there, the Over and Under caught my eye. The design is very interesting and I am more used to offset smoker. I figured, I will go online and research this smoker but to my surprise there isn’t much information out there. That is when I came across this forum. I thoroughly enjoyed the forum and found it to be very informative. I will be needing help mastering the art of bbq’ing and figured this forum would be a resource.
Sorry for the long post but being a new member (and this being my first post), I figured I shouldn’t just barge in but rather give y’all some background as to how I ended up here. Today, I plan on buying the over and under and plan on stopping by here every once in a while to ask for advice. Thank you for your time and I will be drinking an ice cold beer for y’all this weekend.
-Marco
(No offense intended for those who are fond of the wood pellet electrical grill/smoker. I looks to be ingenuity at its best but it is simply not for me at this time of my life.)

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There are days/nights when you are able to do a fully hands on cook, time when you can be somewhat involved and others when you need to just use your smoker like an oven (not just set and forget but also quick to cycle up and down). That's why you get multiple cookers. :mrgreen:

Love the setup Sliding_billy and I hear you. I'm newly married and don't exactly have time every weekend to fire up the pit. I am also a bit new to smoking so I want to start Q'ing the traditional way then venture onto other methods once I get the hang of this tough, although I understand this may take a while.
I will take plenty of pictures and hopefully will be brave enough to post them. This is the first big pit I purchase and I've never even smoked a brisket. Good be with me on this journey!

marco08 said:

I've never even smoked a brisket.

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Welcome and you need to fix that asap:biggrin1:

Went into my local Academy a couple of days ago & noticed they had these for sale along w/ the OC Pecos. So it seems like these are a new addition to their lineup

How do these pits or other Academy smokers compare to a Char Griller with offset box?

So what's the verdict? Do i go buy one this weekend?

Bay-B-Baq Junkie said:

My wife just bought me one of these for a combination birthday/early Father's Day present. Ironically, she bought it for me on Mother's Day... Just got it all seasoned and ready to go yesterday. Planning on doing some baby backs tomorrow or Friday.

The only issue I've got with this unit right out of the gate is that the charcoal/wood tray in the firebox is somewhat flimsy. Not bad enough to be a deal killer by any means. It just could've been built a bit sturdier imo. It was an easy fix with a little welding and some 2 inch angle and eighth inch flat stock. Other than that, I'm very happy with this unit! The first two pics are of the tray as it comes from the factory.
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