Looking at a LSG offset

[Spartan Smoker]

Congrats on it finally arriving bud. Mine is still about 4-5 weeks out

 

[DaveAlvarado]

It's FARKING amazing to say the least. Arrived flawless.:clap2: I'll do a full detailed thread on it tonight. I had my dad take pics with his DSLR and I'm waiting for the pics. I have a few on my cell so here are a couple teasers. :becky: Holds temps so even all across that it's not even funny. Stay tuned until tonight.......

I keep telling myself I don't *need* to spend that kind of money on a smoker. And then you go and post pics of *exactly* what I'd buy.

You're not helping. :biggrin1:

 

[titan7]

Wow!! Looks awesome, I have been dying to see your pics and review as I am about to order the same pit.

 

[oldbill]

Wow!! Looks awesome, I have been dying to see your pics and review as I am about to order the same pit.

Infectious,... ain't it?!? LOL!:-D Chris is gonna get tired of makin' those things if we keep ordering them at this rate!

 

[titan7]

So, I got the okay from the wife to put the LSG order in. I am set on pretty much everything except the firebox.
24x24. (I thought 24x30 but do I really need that room?)
Options:
folding front table
Ball valve
Cool touch handles on the stack handles.
1 probe port at the mid-point side
Pull handle

Items I am still unsure of:
1/2" fire box over 1/4". Still unsure on the pros/cons
One thermometer vs two.
5" casters vs 8"

 

[darkoozy]

If you are going to move the smoker at all, you want the 8" locking casters. These smokers are very heavy, and you won't be able to move it with 5" casters.

You want the largest cooking chamber so you can fit 2 full size pans in the smoker. I would get 2 thermometers, helps eye ball temps on the fly.

As for the firebox, I will let others chime in...

Good luck on the purchase, you gonna love it!

 

[oldbill]

So, I got the okay from the wife to put the LSG order in. I am set on pretty much everything except the firebox.
24x24. (I thought 24x30 but do I really need that room?)
Options:
folding front table
Ball valve
Cool touch handles on the stack handles.
1 probe port at the mid-point side
Pull handle

Items I am still unsure of:
1/2" fire box over 1/4". Still unsure on the pros/cons
One thermometer vs two.
5" casters vs 8"

I guess the size of the cabinet depends on what you think you may want to do with your pit in the future. Will you be cooking for large numbers like for your church gatherings, weddings, family reunions, catering or will you be doing primarily small cooks for your own household?
I decided on the larger cabinet because I have a HUGE family and they like to come to my place for holiday gatherings and other special occasions as well as an interest in dabbling in vending/catering. Besides with an additional $175 you gain a lot of cooking space, you're already spending a couple to three grand so why not get the extra room?:wink:
The 1/2" firebox to me is definitely worth the extra cost, I love having that extra thermal mass because once it's thoroughly heated it helps to keep the pit cruising at my cooking temps in all kinds of weather, it has to be really rainy, cold or both for my pit to lose cooking temp. and the one thing that will wear out with rust or warp with high temperatures on a pit the fastest is the firebox, so doubling up on the steel has ensured that I won't need to worry about those things,... at least not in my lifetime anyway!:mrgreen: As an added bonus, with the extra thick firebox the fuel consumption is much less, especially with the oven sitting on top of it. Heat from the fire is held in on all sides first by the 1/2" steel of the firebox and then by the oven which captures the heat off the top and allows it to radiate through the shared wall of the oven and the cooking chamber to help further maintain temps. Plus the extra steel is great to hide behind in a gun battle, (ya never know when there might be another Comanche uprising or some girl's jealous husband or boyfriend is after you)!:razz:
On the wheels I opted for the 8" casters for easier mobility and they have the locking ones now that I would definitely recommend.
I decided on the three thermometer configuration so that I could see the temps from left to right as well as top to bottom all at once, it's pretty cool to see exactly whats going on in the pit after any slight adjustment of the tuning plates and it gets the process done quickly without having to use cheap oven thermometers or anything else.
So at the end of the day I took into consideration what I would be using my pit for and how to get the most out of the size footprint that the pit would consume on my patio and the result is a combination of a smoker, an oven and a grill that I will have for a lifetime, that has countless uses and scary cooking capacity depending on how it's set up.:grin:

 

[ssv3]

^^^
What Bill said. Solely on the weather down here and having the oven on top of the box is the reason I didn't go with the 1/2" FB. Having fired her up twice so far, she has been really easy to bring up to temp and maintain temps with a stick every 45 mins. I was anicipating a lot more fuel usage but it's been excellent. Yesterday I used a total of 7-8 sticks and maintaing 265-ish the whole 5-6 hours that's including starting the fire. No temp drop the whole time while opening and closing the FB door at all. Like Bill has said it pretty much goes on autopilot once it's up to temp. Again, not sure that you really need the 1/2" for DOWN HERE ONLY since it doesn't really get cold, rainy or windy. As far as FB longevity that Bill said that is a whole another story and completely your call. Basicall it wouldn't hurt to have the 1/2" if you chose to.

Defintely get the extra thermometers for the different types of cooks you'll be doing on this versitile pit.

I didn't go with the locking casters since mine is pretty much going to me stationary BUT if you're going to be moving the smoker around OR you have even a slight grade anywhere DO get the 8" casters. It's pretty easy moving it around on even concrete surfaces but anything else you defintely need the bigger locking casters. The only reason I didn't get them was that I was worried about clearance due to moving the smoker from the side of the house and possibly hitting the gutters on the side due to it's height. Those 3"s mattered to me otherwise I would've got the 8" casters. So in short I would say yes on the bigger casters.

As far as 24x24 vs 24x30, the difference is really only 6" so not a huge difference in size but crucial in space when you need it and at $175 extra like Bill said IMO it's a no brainer.

Here are a few pics of the cook yesterday. A few too many beers so I let the ribs go a little more than they should've but..... Oh well!

Baby backs, center cut beef ribs, small but and a tri tip

Reverse seared the tri tip

Into the firebox for quick sear when it hit 130 ish inside

And done

The butt

Bone wiggled right out

 

[joelyrock1]

Oldbill and SSV3, what temps are possible in the warming box when they main chamber is at 250? I guess the question is, how low can the warming box get with the bottom damper closed and the side dampers shut? Is it truly a warming box (let's say 150-175) fully closed down, or is it better suited for more cooking space (smoking or otherwise)?

Beautiful pit, definitely a dream, and even went back and forth with Chris Goodlander a few weeks on it but the wife is keeping me at bay til at least the holidays are over (and probably as long as she can after that!).

Thanks!

 

[Friedturkeyspam]

Those look like real beauties! Making me hungry.

On the size issue, my 2 cents is to go larger if you can, it's alot easier to mess with the meat if you can spread things out a bit. I've got a 30" Diam 48" long cooking chamber on my horizontal OS built by Bell Fabrication and I seldom use all the space but have never wished it was smaller. 1,200 lbs makes it fairly tough to move around much but once it got onto my patio the moves have been a couple of feet.

Your results look great too!

Mike

 

[ssv3]

Oldbill and SSV3, what temps are possible in the warming box when they main chamber is at 250? I guess the question is, how low can the warming box get with the bottom damper closed and the side dampers shut? Is it truly a warming box (let's say 150-175) fully closed down, or is it better suited for more cooking space (smoking or otherwise)?

Beautiful pit, definitely a dream, and even went back and forth with Chris Goodlander a few weeks on it but the wife is keeping me at bay til at least the holidays are over (and probably as long as she can after that!).

Thanks!

Thanks!!

As far as temps in the oven, for instance on yesterday's cook while the main chamber was 250, the oven was at 225 with the bottom damper and both oven dampers closed. If I opend the the two oven dampers it will bring down the temp some more. If you need to bring it down to the 150-175 I would assume that you will have to open both dampers oven and possibly crack the oven door open a little bit. I may achieve with only the oven dampers but I still have to play with it so I can def let you know later.

OldBill had he's for a lot longer so I'm sure he'll chime in shortly.

 

[oldbill]

Thanks!!

As far as temps in the oven, for instance on yesterday's cook while the main chamber was 250, the oven was at 225 with the bottom damper and both oven dampers closed. If I opend the the two oven dampers it will bring down the temp some more. If you need to bring it down to the 150-175 I would assume that you will have to open both dampers oven and possibly crack the oven door open a little bit. I may achieve with only the oven dampers but I still have to play with it so I can def let you know later.

OldBill had he's for a lot longer so I'm sure he'll chime in shortly.

Really nothing to add to that, the oven is usually between 225 and 250 when using the main chamber and if you want to use the oven as a warmer just open the pinwheel dampers and crack the door a little as ssv3 said.:thumb:
A few months ago I held a cooked brisket in my warmer while a couple more were finishing in the main chamber. The pinwheels were wide open, the door was slightly ajar and the temp was about 170ish.:-D Something to think about though, is that since my firebox is 1/2", the steel plate covering it is as well and once that sucker gets hot it really radiates heat up into the oven, so when I have to crack the oven door to keep the temp down someone with the standard 1/4" firebox may not have to.:grin:
BTW ssv3,... Your pic of your fire above is an excellent example of what it's supposed to look like, a nice bed of coals and a single flaming split keeping it going!:clap2::thumb:

 

[joelyrock1]

Excellent info, gentlemen! It is appreciated!!

 

[ssv3]

Really nothing to add to that, the oven is usually between 225 and 250 when using the main chamber and if you want to use the oven as a warmer just open the pinwheel dampers and crack the door a little as ssv3 said.:thumb:
A few months ago I held a cooked brisket in my warmer while a couple more were finishing in the main chamber. The pinwheels were wide open, the door was slightly ajar and the temp was about 170ish.:-D Something to think about though, is that since my firebox is 1/2", the steel plate covering it is as well and once that sucker gets hot it really radiates heat up into the oven, so when I have to crack the oven door to keep the temp down someone with the standard 1/4" firebox may not have to.:grin:
BTW ssv3,... Your pic of your fire above is an excellent example of what it's supposed to look like, a nice bed of coals and a single flaming split keeping it going!:clap2::thumb:

Thanks brother! Wonder who taught me.:becky:

Great call on the oven temps. I gotta keep track of the oven temp with the pinwheels wide open. I had them shut since I wasn't really using the oven but to warm up sticks.