Taste Difference, Reverse Flow or Standard Offset?

[Headgear]

I have always wondered if there is much, if any difference, in the flavor of the food from a regular offset vs one with reverse flow. I have recently gotten a cabinet, reverse flow, offset, but never had a regular open left-to-right offset to compare. I would think that it would be pretty much the same when it comes to flavor. I have heard about the differences like more even heat and ease of fire management and things like that. But do you guys who have experience with each think there is any difference in the end product? Just wondering... Thanks

 

[bonz50]

I have a traditional offset (Oklahoma Joe Longhorn) and my brother has a Shirley 24x36 cabinet reverse flow offset. I personally haven't cooked on his nor him on mine but I've had product from both. I think mine tastes better and other people have told me as much as well but that may be because of different cook techniques and variations of the rub so I wouldn't put any stock in that as any gospel on which is better.

in all honesty I wouldn't think the taste would be that different, maybe reverse flow would be a touch mellower on smoke flavor? and I would think that the RF would not draft as quickly and maybe is a bit more efficient from a wood consumption point of view? those are just guesses tho

 

[Kevin James]

I have both. I got the reverse flow first, then a traditional flow. In my experience its just down to personal preference and there are positives and negatives to both. That said, after doing some upgrades to my backyard and creating a dedicated "smoking oasis", I now only have room for one, and the reverse flow is temporarily residing at my brothers house and I intend to sell it.

I do feel I get a much better smoke flavor out of the traditional flow, and I like that it is also a top down cooker which works better for my style of cooking as I like to cook briskets fat cap up, and that is non-negotiable. For me, fat cap down = no bueno puto.

The reverse flow has more even temps across the grate which is a huge advantage there, but I came to realize that for me personally there is way too much radiant heat coming up from the bottom off the reverse flow plate, and that does not fit my style of cooking. The reverse flow does cook a brisket much faster though at roughly 8 hours vs. 12 hours on the traditional flow.

 

[ttkt57]

I have both. I got the reverse flow first, then a traditional flow. In my experience its just down to personal preference and there are positives and negatives to both. That said, after doing some upgrades to my backyard and creating a dedicated "smoking oasis", I now only have room for one, and the reverse flow is temporarily residing at my brothers house and I intend to sell it.

I do feel I get a much better smoke flavor out of the traditional flow, and I like that it is also a top down cooker which works better for my style of cooking as I like to cook briskets fat cap up, and that is non-negotiable. For me, fat cap down = no bueno puto.

The reverse flow has more even temps across the grate which is a huge advantage there, but I came to realize that for me personally there is way too much radiant heat coming up from the bottom off the reverse flow plate, and that does not fit my style of cooking. The reverse flow does cook a brisket much faster though at roughly 8 hours vs. 12 hours on the traditional flow.

That's a very good summary.

 

[Headgear]

I have both. I got the reverse flow first, then a traditional flow. In my experience its just down to personal preference and there are positives and negatives to both. That said, after doing some upgrades to my backyard and creating a dedicated "smoking oasis", I now only have room for one, and the reverse flow is temporarily residing at my brothers house and I intend to sell it.

I do feel I get a much better smoke flavor out of the traditional flow, and I like that it is also a top down cooker which works better for my style of cooking as I like to cook briskets fat cap up, and that is non-negotiable. For me, fat cap down = no bueno puto.

The reverse flow has more even temps across the grate which is a huge advantage there, but I came to realize that for me personally there is way too much radiant heat coming up from the bottom off the reverse flow plate, and that does not fit my style of cooking. The reverse flow does cook a brisket much faster though at roughly 8 hours vs. 12 hours on the traditional flow.

I'll be. I did not think there would be much of a noticeable taste difference. But two pits will fit on my patio. :wink:

 

[Fishwater2002]

I will throw in my two cents here as I own a Shirley similar to what you are ordering. We are really splitting hairs here & some of it is a psychological thing of justifying our purchases or preferences. I’ve had charcoal cookers for years & lusted after an offset for at least the last two years, I asked if the product is that much better with an offset vs charcoal cookers. Honestly yes, it’s better but not THAT much better, again we are splitting hairs. I love this site because it’s fellow geeks like myself who also like to split hairs but not many outside of this world can tell the difference in the end product.

I don’t own a regular offset but have had plenty of food off of them, it’s really about the cook & not the cooker. There are plenty of us that can produce incredible Bbq on a Weber kettle as an example, the food I make isn’t thousands of dollars better when I use my offset vs my kettle. I enjoy the process of using the offset, I feel it keeps me more engaged with the cook & that alone probably produces better results. The longer I spend in this hobby the more I see that it’s about the journey of learning vs what equipment I use, I just prefer to use the best that I can afford & that alone makes me happy.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Just to add to the discussion not ALL reverse flow smokers have a massive plate on the bottom. Johnson Smokers uses a RF pipe to transport the heat and smoke to the opposite end of the firebox, and this reduces the "radiant heat effect" you'll find on most RF offset smokers. As such I can cook fat cap up, or down, as I desire and I've never burned the bottom side of my meat.

100% I believe both Traditional Flow (TF) and Reverse Flow (RF) provide the same smoke flavor to the meat. The difference in technique is what's going to enhance how well the smoke adheres to the meat, and that's all on the pitmaster and how they run their pits.

 

[Headgear]

I don’t own a regular offset but have had plenty of food off of them, it’s really about the cook & not the cooker. There are plenty of us that can produce incredible Bbq on a Weber kettle as an example, the food I make isn’t thousands of dollars better when I use my offset vs my kettle. I enjoy the process of using the offset, I feel it keeps me more engaged with the cook & that alone probably produces better results. The longer I spend in this hobby the more I see that it’s about the journey of learning vs what equipment I use, I just prefer to use the best that I can afford & that alone makes me happy.

Fishwater, I could not agree with this more. I started with a very cheap offset, graduated to a Weber Smoky Mountain, then a Stump Classic, next was a MAC One Star, (which has a pork butt in it right now :clap2, and recently a Fat Daddy RF cabinet offset. Which by the way, I love but I need something more maneuverable, so I am getting a Shirly patio RF with the wagon wheel package and golf cart wheels. My point is, that these cookers are just like my golf clubs. Every one of them is better than I am. But like you, I love the process or journey, and that includes trying better and better pits to find what I like best. This whole journey has taken me over at least 30 years. As I became able to spend more and had more time, it always got better. But I think again as you said, the best and most noticeable changes have come from experience and not necessarily equipment.

Now that I have retired and have more time, I have found that not only do I like the taste of the food better from a stick burner, but I was very surprised to find that I actually love sitting for hours feeding the sticks to it. I did not see that coming. I am not one to sit or take it easy too much. I like to live the daylights out of life and I don't stop going until I am pretty much exhausted. Who knew???

Anyway, I do love good equipment and good food. I didn't think anyone was going to come up with earth-shattering differences between the two, I was just curious. I do love this forum too and all of you guys. Over the years I have gotten some really good info that would be hard to come across otherwise. I love to learn too and I also love the best equipment that I can afford, but one of the best things in life is to share what I have learned and what makes me happy, and that is what you all do. Thank you.

 

[Fishwater2002]

One other note that I forgot to mention, I tend to cook on the upper rack in my Shirley so I don’t have to worry about the underside of the meat receiving radiant heat from the plate, this also allows me to use a drip pan under the meat or even better a tray of beans.

 

[Headgear]

One other note that I forgot to mention, I tend to cook on the upper rack in my Shirley so I don’t have to worry about the underside of the meat receiving radiant heat from the plate, this also allows me to use a drip pan under the meat or even better a tray of beans.

Good to know. That's what I always do in my pellet smoker. I will try that in my current offset and my new Shirley when I get it. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Get’n Smokey]

So when your raised on RF you stick with RF

Unfortunately… I’ve never cooked on a offset

That’s one thing I’d like to do one day

 

[Headgear]

So when your raised on RF you stick with RF

Unfortunately… I’ve never cooked on a offset

That’s one thing I’d like to do one day

Offsets were a big step for me. I too always wanted to try one but I was always so busy. Back then I opted for more set-and-forget smokers. Which do still have their place. we have been watching quite a few Meat Church YouTube videos while we eat dinner. We saw one which was called, No Wrap Pulled Pork. It was done on a pellet smoker and he had a lot of errands to do, so he set it up at 200 degrees and came back ten hours later and the bark was very nice. But it was only 180 internal so he bumped it up to 275 and finished it to just over 200.

My wife wanted us to try that so we got an 8 pounder and I put it on yesterday morning. 200 degrees was not going to work. It was 15 degrees outside with a little wind. The cooking chamber was only 180, so I bumped it up to 215. That got the ambient up to 200. I still figured it was going to take too long so I went up to 225 and it ran around 215 to 220 as the wind slowly increased.

Then we left and had hours of errands to run too. At 2:00 we returned and the internal was only 162. So I took it up to 275, gave it an hour and it was still only 170 internal and we wanted to eat at 5:00. So I gave in and wrapped it and took the temp up to 350. I took it off at 200 internal and as it rested for 15 minutes it went up to 203 so I shreaded it to stop the over-run. It was perfect, had great smoke and the bark was phenomenal.

You obviously cannot do that with an offset. But they both have their place. After retiring I have more time and finally got an offset a couple of months and I love it. There is something so relaxing about minding the fire. We live out in the country and I can watch the birds at the feeder and I bring my laptop out to read a little and sometimes surprisingly never open it.

Long story short, I love the offset and food it produces and I hope you will too. I also love having the flexibility of a set-and-forget unit. Haha, even though that story of yesterday's cook took a lot of attention and fiddling because of the weather. There's a big difference between cooking in short sleeves in Texas and 15 degrees and blowing in Indiana. But that is all part of Qing.

Good luck and I hope you do end up with a nice offset.