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

[gwillis6]

I grill a lot so i'm looking for something i can grill with more than i smoke but i do smoke some as well. I've seen the Pecos and this one at Academy Sports. I like the Pecos but it is just meant to smoke, not grill in the main chamber. I need something i can grill with as well. I love the heavy duty cooking grates and the grill. My only question is can you use this Old Country Over/Under Smoker as a grill as well or is it just meant to smoke?

The top grate from the cooking chamber fits in the firebox for grilling. I did some ribeye on it over oak on Monday. It was delicious.

 

[gwillis6]

I like that grill, it reminds me of The Good One Smokers

That's why I bought it. I like the design of "The Good One Marshall" but didn't want to plunk down the $2500 asking price. This one may replace my UDS and my weber gasser.

 

[Hogfan2502]

Meant to grill in top of firebox. Has grates for it.

I went and looked at the Under N Over and you CAN'T grill on the top side. There are no Coal Grates under the grilling Grate. The employee said it isnt meant to be used as a grill but just a smoker. I think i may just go with the Pecos, even though its not meant for grilling either, and just use some old grilling grates from my old grill and use them as coal grates. I won't be able to grill with direct heat because it will probably burn the meat to quick, say burgers or chicken, but i can at least sear it. I will have to just do indirect heat to grill and work with it.

 

[Baby Back Maniac]

I went and looked at the Under N Over and you CAN'T grill on the top side. There are no Coal Grates under the grilling Grate. The employee said it isnt meant to be used as a grill but just a smoker. I think i may just go with the Pecos, even though its not meant for grilling either, and just use some old grilling grates from my old grill and use them as coal grates. I won't be able to grill with direct heat because it will probably burn the meat to quick, say burgers or chicken, but i can at least sear it. I will have to just do indirect heat to grill and work with it.

ok, I posted this earlier and then removed it. I think the previous poster was trying to explain that you can grill in the PECOS...not the over under. There is a grilling grate in the firebox of the Pecos.

 

[SmittyJonz]

No - you CAN grill in firebox of the Over n Under - big grill too. Look at pics in first few pages.

 

[SmittyJonz]

This is the pic of original FB- Grilling grates over fire grate- apparently now they made one longer shelf that is top shelf in cook chamber that can be placed in top of FB for Grilling.

 

[Smokenrt]

Does anyone know how many butts one of these will hold with both cooking racks?

 

[Bludawg]

10-12

 

[Smokenrt]

How big? I normally cook with 8+ pounders

 

[SmittyJonz]

How big? I normally cook with 8+ pounders

I think you could get 8ea. 8-10 lbrs on bottom shelf- 6 for sure.

 

[Smokenrt]

Nice. This might be my first stick burner. I'm wondering if you could fit 4 on the top rack & 6 on the bottom?

 

[fie1dy]

Well....... I am like a lot of others on this thread and have been watching it for a while due to the interest of this over/under pit. This is my first post and I am new to the art of BBQ with a smoker. I am great at grilling on my Old Smokey, but grilling is not that hard. I have been patiently waiting to see if Academy ever had a sale on the o/u pit, but I luckily stumbled on a deal yesterday. I found a guy on craigslist selling a practically brand new Old Country o/u. I was lucky and actually negotiated a price of $225. The only downfall is that I dont have the second top rack in the cooking chamber. It did however come with two large thermometers.

As of right now, i plan on getting home and putting some high heat to it tonight to get it all cleaned out (while consuming large amounts of beer). Tomorrow is going to be a trial run of some type of meat to gauge temperature (while drinking beer) and Sunday I hope to actually cook something that turns out edible (and still drinking beer). We will see.... Thanks for all the posts on this thread. It has helped a bunch is selecting and planning. Hopefully my picture posts..

 

[SmittyJonz]

Cool FNG! Keep us Posted! Brace/ Beef up the burn grate if previous owner didn't.

 

[fie1dy]

I am trying to get some high heat to clean the pit, but it seems to max out at 325... Not sure if I am doing someting wrong, but I have all the vents open and the burn box closed. I guess it will have to do. Ill try to season it this afternoon.

 

[SmittyJonz]

:heh:

 

[SmittyJonz]

Well fie1dy ?

 

[fie1dy]

While starting a bonfire, I noticed I could not get the two thermometers to register the same temp. In fact, the were off by 20-25 degrees. After further investigation once the pit was cool the next day, I noticed that the guy before me must have used charcoal in the smoking chamber and it clogged the vents from the fire chamber...... That was a hell of a cleanup and I had to wash it out. Threw charcoal in the fire box and started it up to dry it out yesterday and temps registered even and all is well. I guess you take some risks when buying a used pit. Looks like I will work on seasoning it this Saturday all day and cooking something on Sunday.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Glad you got it figured out.

 

[CasinoQ]

Just bought one of these last week, after much help from this thread. Thank you!

I ran two dry runs then did my first smoke on it this weekend (3 racks baby backs, 50 chicken wingettes, roll of Bologna and pan of beans).

The cooker gets up to temp very fast, I use almost a full chimney starter of Kingsford with 2 8-10 inch mini logs (Pecan) and that gets me to 275* with the vents about 1/2 open. I have to add a log or two (depending on size) about every hour to maintain the temp. I got it up above 300* a few times with minimal effort, slight adjustments to the vents bring it right back down. I' guessing I could get it up to 350* without risking getting the firebox too hot.

The only issues I have had thus far is that the right side of my cooker stays about 15-25 degrees hotter than the left side (using a maverick probe on each side to gauge) I'm not sure what the cause of this is, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I've tried moving the fire in the firebox to each side and that does not seem to change the temps on each side. Also, due to the design the back of the cooker seems to be considerably hotter so I had to rotate my racks of ribs once during the cooking process.

All in all, for a $500 cooker I'm very pleased with this product. This is my first stick burner, as I've smoked on charcoal cookers (Hasty Bake) prior to this. So far its very easy to operate

 

[SmittyJonz]

Good to Hear CasinoQ. Did you swap Probes from one end to the other and see if the temps swapped?