April 4, 20187 yr I’m interested in getting a vertical smoker. The pit I currently have is one my buddies and I made back in shop class 20 yrs ago. It’s still works great but it’s just not big enough to cook multiple things at once. I’m looking to cook 4-5 briskets at once with summer events coming up. Any input on makes/models, past experiences cooking with them, etc would be appreciated. I prefer the offset style but curious if those have a pretty significant temp differential from bottom to top. Thx.
April 4, 20187 yr If you get a vertical, get one that is insulated. A bunch of brands on the market (Pitmaker, Backwoods, PitsbyJJ) but I prefer Pitmaker. Things are built like a tank and as long as you maintain them, they'll last forever. They make two models of vertical, the safe and the vault. The safe will hold 4 briskets, the vault will hold 10. The safe actually cooks a little more evenly than the vault does, the vault runs a little cooler on the middle rack than at the top or the bottom (maybe 10 degrees).
April 4, 20187 yr I bought this back in OctoberBeen pretty happy with it once I got the gauges figured outIt’ll hold 6 brisketsSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
April 4, 20187 yr Dumb question amnesty since I've never used a cabinet. Can you use wood or does it have to be charcoal?
April 4, 20187 yr 3 hours ago, kevwun said: Dumb question amnesty since I've never used a cabinet. Can you use wood or does it have to be charcoal? an insulated cabinet will run on charcoal and or wood chunks most folks run bed of lump charcoal and a chunk or 2 of wood
April 4, 20187 yr Hmm now I'm intrigued to try out a vertical smoker. Currently have a 18.5" WSM but this looks good to cook more than a brisket and pork butt at once. Following
April 4, 20187 yr Author Those Pitmasters and LSG’z are gorgeous, but really out of my price range. Was looking to spend $750 max and that includes any mods I’m going to do to it. I can’t envision myself using it more than 6-8 times a year. If I find myself using it more and more, I’ll definitely upgrade to a higher end model. I know most low to mid price range vert smokers are going to need some extra maintenance like adding food grade sealer and nomex gaskets around the chambers doors. I can probably insulate it myself too, although I’m not sure what you should use for that. Thx for all the input so far.
April 6, 20187 yr I was all stoked and ready to buy the Old Country vertical yesterday until I actually saw it at Academy. Nothing against it other than the size... I just don't need something that big to feed the family (it's 5'+ tall) and I'll never cook 4 briskets at a time... going to get a WSM 22" instead... Edited April 6, 20187 yr by Grimas
April 6, 20187 yr 26 minutes ago, Grimas said: I was all stoked and ready to buy the Old Country vertical yesterday until I actually saw it at Academy. Nothing against it other than the size... I just don't need something that big to feed the family (it's 5'+ tall) and I'll never cook 4 briskets at a time... going to get a WSM 22" instead... I may have to go look at it. Having a 22” wsm, it’s fine usually. Problem being when I want to do say a brisket, pork butt, and 4 racks of ribs. I can make it fit in the wsm, but it is a chore with rotating and racks and all that. A little more space would be nice, plus access without having to shuffle grates. I’m still debating though, and have all the time I need to figure it out. Been looking at a Lang as well. Also, when I’m firing up the pit more times than not I’ll cook enough for several meals. Might as well since it’s running. So that would help as well. See TX’s 2nd pic above with different stuff on different racks. Edited April 6, 20187 yr by thunderlounge
April 6, 20187 yr Leftover bbq is never a bad thing. It's also never a bad thing to have the capacity to cook more than you think you'll ever need. It opens up more opportunities to use your pit when you can feed a lot of people. That's a big plus if you're like me and look for excuses to make bbq.
April 6, 20187 yr What are the performance benefits of a vertical VS an offset? I'm thinking of building a super cheap homebrew smoker this summer and probably need to nail down some of the tradeoffs before I get into the actual layout. I've only used a cheap offset, a pit barrel, and at this point the Smokenator on a Weber Kettle (which works ridiculously well, all things considered).
April 6, 20187 yr Old Country made (and may still) an offset vertical. Firebox on the side, into a vertical cooking chamber. As for difference, it depends. At the basic heart of it, for a vertical you need some type of diffusion to disperse heat evenly. That’s why you see a plate above the fire of a vertical, or a pan above the fire in a WSM. Offsets can have tuning plates, for example. That’s kind of the premise of a reverse flow offset. Heat travels under a plate to the opposite end from the firebox, then up to the cooking chamber and back to the firebox side to exit the stack. It’s all the same goal though, and that goal is to heat the chamber as evenly as possible. As for an advantage of one over the other, it’s all about knowing how your pit cooks and using that to its potential. People win competitions using a WSM just like people win using a Lang, Jambo, or a $25k trailer.
April 6, 20187 yr My gut (and some heat transfer classes) tell me a vertical smoker with no line of sight to the hot fuel would be pretty ideal. By "no line of sight" I mean a blocking plate that only allows smoke to flow up the perimeter down low in the chamber, or maybe a pair of 50/50 grates that are "out of phase" with each other. Above that the smoke and heat would just need to be able to recollect more uniformly up past the meat and out a central stack.
April 6, 20187 yr Subscribed. Going to replace my kind of shitty stick burner I've massaged along for a decade and the cabinets are intriguing. But geezus they want a lot of money for what is essentially a mini fridge.
April 6, 20187 yr I made my UDS (ugly drum smoker) for about $100, starting with a clean $25 barrel. And it is ugly, but I've cooked a lot of good stuff in it. Fantastic for ribs, especially. If you feel like making something on your own that isn't that difficult it's a good way to go, pretty much same deal as a 22-inch WSM. Get a barrel that already has a lid and there's no cutting, except for a few holes with a hole saw and drill. No welding at all.
April 6, 20187 yr I like my WSM, but as I mentioned I'm looking to expand capacity a bit as well as make it easier to access what I have cooking. Having a brisket and a butt on the bottom rack, and ribs on the top rack is a bit of a chore when the brisket/butt are done but the ribs aren't. So now you're doing the grate shuffle. It's also more difficult to spritz the bottom rack when the top rack is loaded. Obvious answer is to time it different, but that isn't always a perfect solution.
April 7, 20187 yr I hate my Pit Barrel Cooker. Top feed is really risky -- major flareups can (and do) happen when excess oxygen floods the barrel. I thought I was gonna burn the place down once. It's also very difficult to control temperature in general.
April 7, 20187 yr Offsets can have tuning plates, for example. That’s kind of the premise of a reverse flow offset. Heat travels under a plate to the opposite end from the firebox, then up to the cooking chamber and back to the firebox side to exit the stack. . I’ve never had good luck with baffles and tunes by plates. It helped but there were still some odd temp gradients. ... Jimmy,Unless you have a compelling reason to build, I would suggest getting a WSM. Cooking on it is stupid easy.
April 7, 20187 yr The plates in my offset do a pretty good job of evening out the heat. It did take 3 or 4 times of using it before I got them dialed in though.
April 7, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, William_Cannon said: I’ve never had good luck with baffles and tunes by plates. It helped but there were still some odd temp gradients. ... Jimmy, Unless you have a compelling reason to build, I would suggest getting a WSM. Cooking on it is stupid easy. I've had mine less than 1 day and I love it
April 8, 20187 yr On 4/7/2018 at 9:08 AM, William_Cannon said: I’Jimmy, Unless you have a compelling reason to build, I would suggest getting a WSM. Cooking on it is stupid easy. My compelling reason is that it seems like a fun project. I'll scrap it if is sucks.
April 8, 20187 yr The only time I ever had a flare up in my UDS was the one time when I decided to not use a water pan. I can get it going and it pretty much holds wherever I want it within 10 degrees for several hours. The main difference between a UDs and a WSM is the lack of a side door...and the cost.
April 11, 20187 yr FYI: visited pitmaker today. I was told they expect to raise their prices in two weeks as their metal supplier is hinting about a material cost increase.
April 12, 20187 yr Lol. They expect a price increase because demand is so high for their product that they can increase prices. In fairness to them, they have maintained pricing for years
April 12, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, ChampKind said: Lol. They expect a price increase but demand is so high for their product that they can increase prices. In fairness to them, their pits have maintained pricing for years I’ve had my mind made up about a safe on a cart for a while, but victor sold me hard on the safe. after reading your comments above I’m back on the safe camp again. He did mention you guys were their first commercial application, so I’m going to trust the pro that has probably logged the most time on their pits.
April 12, 20187 yr On 4/6/2018 at 7:01 PM, jimmyjazz said: I hate my Pit Barrel Cooker. Top feed is really risky -- major flareups can (and do) happen when excess oxygen floods the barrel. I thought I was gonna burn the place down once. It's also very difficult to control temperature in general. We have had pretty good luck with ours although currently, since we got a WSM 22, it's relegated to overflow of pork and chicken. I did some good briskets on it, but they are much better on the WSM. But you're right about the flare ups. If you're taking something off to wrap for example, you have to throw the rebar back in the holes and put the lid on tight. Just a pain, really. But the chicken and ribs I made on it were pretty good. Edited April 12, 20187 yr by dcbc
April 12, 20187 yr 13 hours ago, ChampKind said: Do it. Or buy a used vault pulled the trigger this morning on a safe with a cart. they are so well built and versatile, some people have started using pellets in them.
March 27Mar 27 My dad has a Pitts and Spitts ultimate upright smoker. Maybe 15 years old and has been kept under a shed, not used much. He bought it used. It’s this one https://pittsandspitts.com/product/ultimate-upright-smoker-pit/ Will have to measure the size. Any idea how much I should ask for it? Not really finding anything online.
March 27Mar 27 4 hours ago, Borachio said: My dad has a Pitts and Spitts ultimate upright smoker. Maybe 15 years old and has been kept under a shed, not used much. He bought it used. It’s this one https://pittsandspitts.com/product/ultimate-upright-smoker-pit/ Will have to measure the size. Any idea how much I should ask for it? Not really finding anything online. I'd ask $1,500 and be prepared to come down to $1,000. I realize they're asking $4,600 new for what appears to be the 48x24" barrel, but for something that's 3/16" thick with a 1/4" firebox, that seems like a pretty high price. It's nice that stainless doesn't rust, but it doesn't seem to be the best material for holding a consistent temperature. But what it lacks in thickness, it seems to make up for in the cooking surface. So that's a plus. But it's hard to see how that vertical section does with the airflow. I'm just spit-balling on that price. For an apples to oranges comparison, I bought a new 48x24 (3/8" thick) pipe smoker spec'd out custom for me last year for $2,500. But maybe there's a market for a combo smoker like this that I'm not aware of. Edited March 27Mar 27 by dcbc
March 27Mar 27 1 hour ago, dcbc said: I'd ask $1,500 and be prepared to come down to $1,000. I realize they're asking $4,600 new for what appears to be the 48x24" barrel, but for something that's 3/16" thick with a 1/4" firebox, that seems like a pretty high price. It's nice that stainless doesn't rust, but it doesn't seem to be the best material for holding a consistent temperature. But what it lacks in thickness, it seems to make up for in the cooking surface. So that's a plus. But it's hard to see how that vertical section does with the airflow. I'm just spit-balling on that price. For an apples to oranges comparison, I bought a new 48x24 (3/8" thick) pipe smoker spec'd out custom for me last year for $2,500. But maybe there's a market for a combo smoker like this that I'm not aware of. I appreciate that info! My dad actually bought it at a yard sale about 10 years ago and I want to say he paid about $2,000 for it. Never used it. So that $1,000-$1,500 range probably sounds about right. Edited March 27Mar 27 by Borachio Forgot to include range
March 27Mar 27 1 hour ago, Borachio said: I appreciate that info! My dad actually bought it at a yard sale about 10 years ago and I want to say he paid about $2,000 for it. Never used it. So that $1,000-$1,500 range probably sounds about right. Dude. Your thinking is messed up. Unless you already 8 smoker/grill combos, tell pops you will give $500 and haul it off for him. Never know it may be exactly what you’re looking for. If not sale it for 1k and take pops out to a great bbq place.
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