For those of you a position like I was a few years ago, wanting to step up from your back yard grill to something that will allow you to properly BBQ, but don't want to spend a bundle of money or don't have the space for a huge smoker, I have got the perfect smoker for you. I bought the Bar B Chef (they sell a stater package for $30 bucks more, but it is not worth it, please check future post or e-mail me for specifics, I will tell you what you need to get started) from BBQ Galore and though a series of trials and errors, have gotten this think to work pretty darn well.
The Bar B Chef is a traditional style off-set smoker, meaning the firebox and smoke chamber are separate, allowing you to properly BBQ food via indirect heat. Basically, you build your fire on the left side in the fire box, this unit is not strong enough or big enough to burn wood alone, so use a good quality natural charcoal with some wood chunks. The smoke and heat is vented into the smoke chamber where you can cook a whole brisket and a chicken, about 4 slabs of ribs, 4 pork butts, or any other combination. I will provide tips for setting up the smoker in another post, but setup properly you should expect to get 3-4 hours of unattended smoking without too much change in temperature. Enough time to do pork or beef ribs, chicken, beef jerky, sausage, tri-tip, pork roast, prime rib and anything else you can think of, without needing to add more charcoal.
Due to the smokers relatively inexpensive price, it is made out of very thin metal, so it does not hold heat great, there are better units on the market, but not for under $1000. The Bar B Chef is a great way to experiment with a smoker and see if it is hobby you are willing to make a real investment in.
1 comment:
Ryan,
In your post (A Great Smoker (BBQ) For Beginners, The Bar B Chef) you say;
"Due to the smokers relatively inexpensive price, it is made out of very thin metal, so it does not hold heat great, there are better units on the market, but not for under $1000."
My family has a very long Texas tradition of being Barbeque-ers. I have family in nearly every town in Texas it seems, but most of us are in and around the Houston area for the past few generations. I reside in Conroe. My brother is a semi-professional, cook-off, cook. This weekend is the second weekend I have used my new pit. I purchased it last weekend for $925.00 (under $1,000.00). It is a Lyfe Tyme pit, it has a 20x36 cooking area and a 20x20 fire box and it weighs 450 lbs. It was made in Uvalde, Texas by Texans that have several generations of making these pits and they sure know what they are doing. The pit is made from 1/4" thick drill pipe and it is guaranteed for the life of the purchaser against burn-out. This size pit is the medium sized range of pits that they make for backyard barbeque-ers. Their pits are balanced so one person can load and unload them into a pick-up truck by themselves. I unloaded mine by myself and I'm not what you'd call "stout".
My point of this comment to your post, is to point out that you can get a very good, top of the line pit that is made in Texas, not made out of cheap metal, not made in China or some other foreign country, for under a grand. I did and the beef ribs (We don't eat pork, except bacon) I smoked Friday night and the 14 lb. brisket I smoked yesterday were the best I have ever done. This is the first double chamber pit I have ever had. For the past ten years I have been cooking on a New Braunfels grill that we paid almost 500.00 for ten years ago. It will still be used for steaks, hamburgers, beef knackwurst and possibly chicken, but it has a few holes rusted in the end where I have always built the fire, so we thought that it was time to move up to the real world style of barbeques. I was saddened to learn that New Braunfels Grills has been bought-out by the Char-Broil company (A bunch of Yankee Communists) and the fine product that was once New Braunfels Grills and made in Texas is no more. My dad had an old "Hasty-Bake" smoker that had an adjustable fire shelf and you could raise and lower with a crank handle on the side for either grilling or smoking. He sure turned out some great beef ribs and quite a few turkeys on that thing over the years. Well, that is all I had to say about your post, keep doing what you're doing and know that good quality things are still to be had out there at reasonable prices.
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