Old Country Pecos Smoker Question

[Sandridge87]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I am looking into getting a stick burner and the Old Country Pecos has caught my eye due to price point and a lot of great reviews. I have looked at other Old Country models and my question would be, other than an upper rack & the thickness of metal, are there any other differences between the Pecos & the Brazos? They seem to be almost the same size and I didn't know if it was worth the extra money to go to the Brazos.

I am also thinking about holding off on a stick burner and saving back some cash to get a custom built unit instead. I don't know there seem to be way too many options when it comes to smokers. Anyway I appreciate any information you can give me.

Thanks

 

[ChetPunisher]

Brazos is 1/4 steel all the way around. Pecos is 3/16 I believe.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

The Brazos has a 6" diameter stack. I believe the Pecos is 5" . However, both have a 4.5" exit port for the stack.

I've not done a comparison of cook chamber length. I know the Brazos is 40" with a 36" grate. Not sure the Pecos is the same.

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

I had a Pecos for a while. It is a nice cooker. No bells and whistles, but a good solid cooker. The only problem I had with it was temperature swings. I found that I had to use very small splits to keep the temperature from getting too hot on me. The kindling cracker is very helpful. I had to use small splits and feed them every 30 minutes or less.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

I had a Pecos for a while. It is a nice cooker. No bells and whistles, but a good solid cooker. The only problem I had with it was temperature swings. I found that I had to use very small splits to keep the temperature from getting too hot on me. The kindling cracker is very helpful. I had to use small splits and feed them every 30 minutes or less.

i feed splits more often than 30 minutes on my Brazos. More like every 15 to 20 minutes.

There's gonna be temp swings on any offset, the goal is to keep them small.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Brazos is 1/4 steel all the way around. Pecos is 3/16 I believe.

The Pecos is closer to 1/8th. The Wrangler is 3/16.

 

[a7las]

I've had both the Pecos and Brazos and other than the temperature swings and the upper grate both units run the same and you can make great bbq on both.

If you are thinking about getting a custom smoker built get a Pecos and use it to bridge the gap. You can find good deals on them used. Also, this will allow you to get some practice with a stick burner to determine if you're really about the stick burner life without investing as much.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Steel gauge is listed in specs on Academy website

Pecos - 14 gauge with 11 gauge doors

Brazos is 1/4”

They are almost same size -

Wrangler was 11 gauge with 3/16” cook door, Wrangler II is 14 gauge with 11 gauge door like Pecos

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Steel gauge is listed in specs on Academy website

Pecos - 14 gauge with 11 gauge doors

Brazos is 1/4”

They are almost same size -

Wrangler was 11 gauge with 3/16” cook door, Wrangler II is 14 gauge with 11 gauge door like Pecos

I've got an older model that's a cross between a Wrangler and a Pecos. It has an upper rack and is all 11 gauge. At the time it seemed like it was called a heavy duty 20 inch. I bought it in 2011. They made a 16 inch model at that time.

 

[Sandridge87]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I greatly appreciate your comments. It will give me plenty to think about. For the last 5 years I have been using a Char griller Pro ( I got this for free) with the bolt on smoke box (without any modifications). After looking into the materials to make it work some what correctly, I am going to have a few hundred into it.

If i went with a custom unit what would you all recommend? Just to let everyone know I am not in the market for a reverse flow. I would prefer a standard flow unit that would also be enough to cook for a small family gathering. I am not looking for anything massive, just a backyard stick burner.