Bought a $300 offset smoker on a whim, figured it'd be junk, but that thing holds temp better than my buddy's $1,200 rig.

Took 2 tries to dial in the airflow, but once I got a solid fire going it cruised at 250 for 8 hours straight without touching it. Anyone else find a budget unit that actually works?

3 comments

3 Comments

sanchez.pat2mo ago

Picked up a $250 Oklahoma Joe's Highland at a garage sale, figured it'd leak smoke everywhere. Spent $12 on some high-temp gasket tape and sealed the lid, thing holds 225 like it's got a thermostat. Buddy's Green Mountain pellet smoker can't keep up on windy days.

taylor_miller102mo ago

Buddy's Green Mountain pellet smoker can't keep up on windy days" - yeah but to be fair, those pellet smokers are basically glorified hair dryers when the wind kicks up. They just can't recover as fast as a firebox with actual logs.

sam_thomas2mo ago

So you're telling me a $300 smoker holds temp better than a $1,200 rig? I gotta call BS on that one. I've seen a lot of cheap offsets that look fine for the first few hours, but they start dropping 20-30 degrees when the wind shifts or the fire burns down a little. @sanchez.pat's gasket tape fix is a bandaid, sealing a leaky lid doesn't make the steel thick enough to hold steady heat overnight. Those budget smokers are just thin metal boxes that need constant babysitting once you're past the first burn.