Buying an offset smoker in Europe - urgent help needed on assessing a specific model

[LordRiffenstein]

I got my Nette Lette in Jan 2018 and am very happy with it.
I got the 20" Long, so 1 meter cooking chamber in 6mm thickness.
Friend of mine got a smaller reverse flow version and also really happy with it.

The Nette Lette is def an oldschool type smoker.
The build quality is really good and their options are nice (heat management plate, thicker grates, 2nd grate etc.)

Let me know if you have any question.
I did research on this German forum, a lot of Nette Lette users on there.

 

[tocheos]

Thanks for all of your responses! I think I will go with BBQmates
The only think what I’m not sure about is the size:

BM S-4:https://www.bbqmates.co.uk/product/bm-s-4-reverse-flow-offset-smoker-new-new-new/
BM S-5:https://www.bbqmates.co.uk/product/bm-s-5-reverse-flow-offset-smoker-new-new-new/

Usually I’m a “the bigger the better” personality, but in this case in about 75% of all cooks I’m only cooking for me and my wife and sometimes other family members. Only the remainder would be large cooks for more people.

Concerning your experience, would the wood consumption of the S-5 be much higher than S-4?
I have really no clue how much wood an average cook in coolers of these sizes would need as I am currently using my electric smoker only.

Thanks a lot!

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

In US terms the BM S-4 is a 24x48 smoker and the BM S-5 is a 28x60. So the S-5 has a larger diameter as well as a larger length...that's really a large amount of extra capacity for not much extra money. With the bigger cooker you'll use a little more wood but not a significantly larger amount.

I'm not sure what the shipping is going to cost you, but I'm also a "bigger is better" because worst thing is that you buy a cooker and after a few months you outgrow it...especially when for a rather small price increase you could have gotten a lot more cooking space. Also, even on smaller cooks, the larger cooking area will allow you to spread the food out a bit more to make sure you're not crowding the cooker and impeding airflow.

That big cooker is about the size of my reverse flow offset and on a 12 hour cook I can get away with using 2-3 bags of wood this size : Bag is 40Lbs so about 18Kg.
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/western-oak-wood-mini-logs#repChildCatid=500232

Good luck on which ever smoker you choose but the more I look at those BM-S series cookers the better they look. I think you'll be happy with which ever you choose, but if you ever do decide that you want to do whole animals (like a pig or a lamb) you'll really want the extra cooking space provided by the S-5 model.

 

[Swine Spectator]

Does it make a big difference if it has 8mm (about 0.32") steel or an insulated box?

Here's another vote for BBQMates (#2). That looks like a much better design to me. I went from Klose direct flow with a 1/2" firebox (12.7 mm) to an insulated reverse flow Shirley. It is stunning how much more fuel efficient and even-cooking it is.

Specific things I like better about the BBQMates:
- Insulated firebox
- Heavy duty basket in firebox
- Square firebox
- Latching doors with gaskets
- Better hinges

The vents on the firebox appear to be a bit small, but the firebox is mounted low enough that you could mitigate this by opening the door a bit when extra air is needed. Read Aaron Franklin's book for more on this.

The convertability of the Nette Lette is interesting, but I am concerned that it would be leaky and difficult to manage.

We are looking at pictures on the Internet, so obviously you should try to see them in person of find reviews from actual users.

Good luck and keep us posted. :thumb: