Lone star grill ivc mini or large

[gregory15690]

i am looking at getting a smoker and narrowed it down to the lone star grillz IVC. looking at the spec the large is 603.00 more over the mini after shipping. is it worht the extra 600.00 to go with the large? i dont ever plan on cooking for anybody beside the family. dont ever see me making more then a couple briskets ,. maybe 4 racks of ribs at one time. i dont really see me needing the extra room in the large but for the 600.00 difference its hard not to. you get double the size for 600.00 amount. and does the large use more fuel? would it be a waste to throw just one brisket on such a large smoker?

 

[Inthewoods]

I've owned two. Looking back I would have been happy with the mini, but fer the price difference I went large both times and I have zero regrets. Both models are fuel efficient and I've thrown two racks of ribs on one of six grates and it is humourous, but fuel wise once it's up ta temp the cooker doesn't care if it's two racks or twenty. Though I've never had the mini I am fuel conscious and it burns the same amount of fuel per hour regardless of empty or full. The water feature may influence or change that, but I've never cooked with water in it.
If I ever in need of a third it would again be a large.

-D

 

[Nuco59]

The LSG website says the mini holds 20# fuel and will go 18-24 hours While the lg holds 40 pounds of fuel and will go 30-35... so the mini is more efficient... not sure the difference will ever matter.

I'm not in the camps of "go big or go home" - or "buy once, cry once" - or "get twice as big as what you think you'll need" - or "better to have the space and not need it"... the sayings go on and on. BUT - you are already in for a good chunk of $$- if the $630.00 won't cause you any pain... go for the bigger unit. And if you still go with the Mini, I'm surely not going to be disappointed in you

 

[Kaptain Kadian]

Yes, get the large. I bought my large before they made the mini. I thought that I would never fill it up, but I have filled it up multiple times since I got it. It uses very little fuel. If you have space for it, get the large.

 

[bonehead762]

I bought the large and I only cook for my congregation every so often. For my wife and I and maybe to take meat to a few friends, I find it very nice to have the room. A couple half chickens, couple racks of ribs, pork loin roast, prime rib, you can fit all of these or just a couple. It’s very nice to have the room. I definitely like the large for the room.

Just mho. Ymmv.

 

[Bacchus2b]

The Large is REALLY large and weighs almost 1,000 pounds. I kept mine in my garage and had to buy a ramp just to get it over the garage lip, even with a comp cart!

The quality is second to none, and if I had to do it again I would buy a Mini on a comp cart with off-road wheels just for ease of moving.

 

[ew1439]

I bought the large first and while the space was nice for the extremely rare time I would utilize it, the weight of it was a killer. I got it originally with just the caster wheels and that alone limits where you can move it. I cleaned it religiously (Ash Pan /charcoal basketarea) and that has some heft to it...kudos to LGS on the build. I ended up selling it and got the mini with the same layout, cart, shelf, extra shelves but this time, got the off road tires and have been way more satisfied. The tires make moving it easier (as does the weight reduction), tires raise everything up a lot higher for cooking, and since the ash pan and charcoal basket is smaller, it's a lot easier for clean up.