Ebay / Amazon Smoker Barbecues

fourmations

hi all

i was looking at the offset and upright smokers
on ebay and amazon

does anyone have one?

Im an experienced bbq'er and know the score on slow and low
ive done the big cuts, full chickens, rib racks, overnight cooks etc etc
I realise that these might need modification but id be fine on that,
I made a weber smokey mountain copy before, only way bigger,
it was brilliant but it had seen better days and was chucked

the only offset one ive seen was about 250 in homebase
and had a major design flaw (big gap in the lid when closed)
I like the idea of this design though as you can use it
as a regular bbq or a low and slow style, also like the
idea of charring items in the smoke box where its really hot
and then transferring to the main chamber to cook a bit slower

ive never used the upright ones but they seem very small
they are a copy of the Brinkmann one thats been around years
are they any use?

although i love bbq'ing i only realistically do it 10-15 times a year approx
i dont have the dollars to buy something thats very expensive
and cant justify it anyway, i usually have two bbq's as i often cook for lots of people,
i have a large oil drum style one for low and slow and a kettle for steaks and burgers


any advice welcome

cheers

Rew

I was wondering the same my self, also just spotted Aldi are doing one on Thursday...

https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/thur-28-april/products-detail-page/ps/p/smoker-barbecue/?pk_campaign=ie_product_newsletter&pk_kwd=2016-04-25_16-42

Rew

Which looks to be this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KING-Smoker-Barbecue-cooking-chambers/dp/B00JLGAFO0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1461601730&sr=8-7&keywords=smoker

fourmations

cheers rev

didnt spot that and im usually watching the aldi/lidl specials
i think ill give it a whirl!
will probably need a run over with a decent sealer but that no biggie

many thanks

dudara

We bought something very similar to the once below on Amazon for low money last year. It's actually decent, although it could do with a few more vent holes being drilled in it.

We wanted to test out some smoking, before we bite the bullet and buy a Weber Smokey Mountain.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/in1-Barbecue-Upright-Smoker-Grill/dp/B01D1NXZ5O/ref=sr_1_72?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1461704890&sr=1-72&keywords=Smoker+BBQ

deandean

I was looking at a full size smoker but in the end I bought a Nordic Ware 365 smoker. It's a blinged pot that you use on the hob. Its big enough to do 2 chickens. I can wet smoke and dry smoke. There are now fights in my house over the ribs.....goooood.

fourmations

thats intersting dean, does it not stink out the place?

I picked up that smoker in aldi today,
havent put it together but had a look at the bits
it seems fairlly decent quality, the steel is thin obvs but not paper thin
and much heavier than most cheapo barbies ive had
its heavy enough as well (23kg)
major snag, Its actually very small, ill post pics

ill assemble after work and report back

cheers

Rew

Did they have many out on the racks? The cooking area is 60 by 30 or something so not that big alright

fourmations

there was 7 there at 9.20am

yeah I didnt really cop how small it was
the chamber is not very big diameter either so not a lot of headroom
it'll be grand to have a go at anyway, ive never had an offset

cheers

Rew

Eagerly awaiting promised photos

fourmations

ill pop em up later

i did a burn off last night
its going to need the usual mods that folks suggest
(fire box basket, baffles and tuning plate)
in its stock form its hard to keep consistancy of heat
the smoke escape is not too bad actually
but ill run a bead of gasket seal on the doors, no harm

cheers

Theres a bbq/grilling thread here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055542022&page=22

Would also like to see some pics
Thanks

fourmations

ok here we go

standard 2l of milk for scale, told ya it was small
as you can see theres very little headroom using the supplied food grates
but you can remove these ans put bigger cuts on the charcoal rack
(they are marketing it as a full size grill as well and supply charcoal grates
for the food chamber also)

ill be doing a cook tonight

Johnnyhpipe

A lot of the cheaper offset smokers are essentially useless as they are poorly made leaving gaps in the lids. This makes it almost impossible to control temps for the desired time (usually 4-8 hrs depending what you're cooking) and will guarantee that your meat is ruined. I'm sure they're perfectly fine to use as a grill, but not for low and slow smoking. You need to spend a few quid on the offsets for that.

You can however modify the cheaper ones to give a decent seal but its more hassle than its worth. Best I've come across for the money is the upright Weber Smokey Mountain. I have a 47cm WSM at home and love it. Its very easy to use also as it holds the temp exactly as it should.

fourmations

hi

well i thought id report back
I did pulled pork yesterday

the addition of a coals basket make this very usable
it almost useless if you use the grate thats supplied as
theres very little distance between the grate and base
and it chokes itself out in the ash quite quickly,
(i bought a stainless shower accessory thingy in homestore & more)
using a basket allows you to keep good air through the coals
and keep the fire tall rather than spread out

quite easy to hold it at the magic 225- 250F but the fire needs attention
on the hour and uses a fair bit of fuel, i needed a hot clean fire

anyway I bought a full shoulder got it boned and trimmed off the fat cap
i divided it into two pieces to try reduce cooking times, rubbed it liberally
and rested overnight, it went on at midday and i did it for 8 hours
and then pulled it off the bbq and put it in the oven, i was running out of fuel
and light and sure all the smoking is long done by then, it was ready at midnight which is to be expected, it came out amazing and as good as anything ive had in a bbq restaurant, loads of "bark" as it was in two pieces

so basically it very usable with a basket added
the other mod thats common is to use a baffle
but this did not help at all rather hindered it
i think because the food chamber is so small its not needed
the heat was fairly consistant thourout the chamber
also a lot of people extend the chimney down to the grate
to keep more heat in it but the chimney on this is located on the end
and is mounted halfway down the drum and not on the top
so again i think that mod may be fruitless

time will tell it it falls apart but still well worth 80e imo

cheers

Johnnyhpipe

Nice! Nothing beats when pulled pork all works out!

Auscast

I did a pork shoulder in the Aldi bbq yesterday as well.
About 4 hours cooking time, using a mix of hard /soft firewood (cut down to large kindling size) bought from our local fuel merchant. I also used charcoal, and gorse to smoke with (throwing in a branch every 20-30 minutes).

The smoke flavour was a little intense from the wood, does anyone have a better idea? Should I just use charcoal and gorse next time? I'd like to find someone or somewhere I can get better wood to use.

Otherwise I'm impressed - it did a great job! The kids even enjoyed the sausages!

fourmations

hi

how did you cook a pork shoulder properly in 4 hours?
your smoked must have been seriously hot
was it proper pulled pork style (fall apart, all fat and tissue melted)

ive only ever used lumpwood charcoal and hickory chips/chunks
I have some cherry and apple chunks in my shed for about 5 yrs
ill try them on the smoker this summer, i dont know anything about using gorse but i can tell from experience how much hickory to use,
Im not sure you are supposed to use softwoods?


cheers