offset smoker choice

[1MoreFord]

I don't have any of these cookers but I will never have a high dollar cooker I can't adjust and control to my style of cooking; not just the builders way. I don't cook all things the same way!

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I don't know if anyone really knows what that means. Jirby says things about closing the stack damper to trap the heat in. To me that's always been a fallacy with grills at least. Early on when grilling I'd try to trap the heat in and it would just cut down the heat because it wouldn't feed oxygen to the fire. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can chime in. I think it's an incredibly complex topic. But people act like just because Franklin is no longer number 1, they can no longer cook brisket. I've never eaten at Goldee's but there's just no way in my mind it's somehow head and shoulders above what Franklin produces. I have been to Franklin.

Smoke level is all relative to what you like. I've been to other places like Pecan Lodge where they smoke the food pretty heavily and mostly its good, but I've been there where the brisket tasted like an ash tray. A lot of people can't taste that difference. I've eaten food cooked on Mobergs that has a very subtle smoke taste, but taste is absolutely tremendous.

One point I'd mention about convection. I've heard people say convection makes food cook faster, and I've heard people say it can make food cook slower. I don't know what to make of that.

 

[blackdogbbq21]

I don't know if anyone really knows what that means. Jirby says things about closing the stack damper to trap the heat in. To me that's always been a fallacy with grills at least. Early on when grilling I'd try to trap the heat in and it would just cut down the heat because it wouldn't feed oxygen to the fire. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can chime in. I think it's an incredibly complex topic. But people act like just because Franklin is no longer number 1, they can no longer cook brisket. I've never eaten at Goldee's but there's just no way in my mind it's somehow head and shoulders above what Franklin produces. I have been to Franklin.

Well said, I've experimented with adjusting the exhaust damper and I still need to learn more to speak on what i've seen.



I have had brisket from Franklin and Goldees they are both excellent and marginally different in my eyes. Franklin hasn't slipped it's still impressive to me the amount of food they make and how consistently good it is. Franklin is still great at what they do just other places do more than them now and the list seemed to reward that.

 

[rctyler89]

From what I can gather, the idea is on a pit that draws well enough you can close the damper enough to slow down the draw (thus not allowing all that stagnant heat to rush out with a higher draft), while still having enough draw to keep the fire lit. I'd imagine it lowers the temp of the pit more too, which is maybe how you can get away with much larger splits that way? My brother has a much cheaper offset, he's been trying it that way and claims it's cooking his food more evenly with more smoke flavor. There's been times he's had too dirty of smoke on his brisket, and other times it's been perfect. Whereas, on the Franklin "it just works" by default. I'm not needing to worry about dirty smoke because even with visible white smoke at times it never comes out dirty or acrid, and the color seems even throughout. It cooks my pork butts in around 6-8 hours, and briskets in around 12-14 (if I wrap later on in the cook)

However, that's not to say I'm always going to cook one way, I'm really trying to see how I can play around with different levels of draft on that thing to do what I want.

 

[gtsum]

I adjust my dampers and doors all the time on my workhorse 1975. Had it almost 2 years now and my food is better now because of adjusting (skater smoker has several good vids for visuals). It is pretty easy to control the amount of airflow and the intensity of the fire by adjusting the door and the stack...so yes, you can run at 275 with a mild fire, or you can run at 275 with a much more intense fire (which sometimes will result in burnt edges if cooking too long like that). Having the ability to adjust based on circumstances is great imo. There are a few things I wish the Workhorse had (front shelf, lip to stop grease from going back into the firebox...the new ones have this I think?).

 

[Hinds15]

eep:

https://youtube.com/shorts/NwRpYLz0qBI?feature=share