Regular or reverse flow?

My purchase will only be for 2-8 people. Don't need a giant. Don't need a trailer style. I'm thinking 36"-42" grill width.

Looking at this model: Texas Offset Smoker

Want to start my fire with charcoal or a burner under wood and continue to burn wood for the duration. Smoking is the goal.

Thank you in advance for any & all input.

Traditional Offset pit will have a hot spot close to the fire box. Reverse flow will have a better heat distribution. That is really the biggest difference in my experience. The best advice that I would give on purchasing a smoker is get one with the thickest metal that you can afford. Thick metal will hold heat better and will be much easier to regulate temp. Also, try to get one where the doors seal up well with minimal smoke and heat leakage at that point. I would not purchase online without going to look at it to see how think the metal is and how well it seals up. I also like to have the thermometers at meat level, and not up above the meat. My big smoker is reverse flow, and has two racks. I have two thermometers on the lowest rack, and one on the highest rack. They all read different temps.

Unclebubba nailed it. I would go with reverse flow.

man, these look like SOLID cookers! keep us posted on your choice

This one looks pretty good. In Houston. Pits by JJ

Man I would look at this one. I love a big firebox. Fire needs room and some of these smaller ones just don't cut it. This one looks much more preferable to the one you posted.

I agree. Thank you for the input. I had just looked at these yesterday.

Welp I was going to say look at a Yoder but checking on prices these days, yikes !!!

I have a Durango 24 and it is made very well.
Their Wichita or Kingman sounds like what you are looking for.

Is Ramball36 still building smokers?

At that price; you’re in the game. 1/4” steel. Door/lid sealing is very, very important. Brands mentioned plus Klouse, Lonestar Grills, both at Houston are good. So is JJ. Cover a investment of this price if possible. With that said; true backyard bbqing is not easy. You MUST MUST like it. It’s a hobby, it’s fun, you like to sit around for hours and Jack with it. If you don’t like to do any of those things; get a pellet grill or gravity feed. It’s almost a must to watch the temp and fire every 20 minutes. You can stretch, but you need to buy several excellent temp probes. Reverse flow, offset, Webber kettle, hasty bake; it makes no difference…you must learn the pit and the hot spots. Use the biscuit method. And most of all, you must learn fire management, to attain clean smoke. It is the key. A clean fire can be very small or very large, depending on the pit. A small clean fire on a small cooker can produce great BBQ. A bad fire on a $3000 giant pit can produce crap. Watch Tuffy Stones video on fire management. Get a Kindling Cracker. And lastly, learn your wood.

And a 24” tube is a good choice. 16” and 20” work; but 24” seems ideal.

I bought a new 18x40 with an 18x18 firebox made of 3/16" thick iron 10 years ago. I use split post oak cut down to 6" pieces with my chop saw for excellent fire management. I use charcoal as a starter and add 3 chunks to get a coal bed to start and then add one piece at a time about every 40-45 minutes. Air flow is as important as anything else. I always have the fire box angle into the wind with the stack 100% open and adjust / open the door to the fire box enough to get the desired temperature. If there is no wind at all, you just have to make sure your fire gets as much oxygen as possible for a clean smoke. I`ve even used a small fan before. I also place 2 bricks about 3" in front of my meat as a heat shield and it helps from overcooking the point on my briskets.

I opted for the Traeger Timberline. My apologies to the firebox purists. I admit I prefer the "outdoor oven" aspect of set it & forget it.

Thanks to all for the input.

Now I know what Jason feels like every time someone shows up at his range with a cheap scope.

Hey, I understand. The only thing I have been very unhappy with on my RecTec is a pork butt. My ribs were awesome and brisket was good but I still prefer real wood over pellets. I’m actually cooking sliced pork belly on my RecTec as I type. Regardless of what you use, you can’t replace experience and always rest your briskets for as long as you can. I think the resting process is as important as the cooking process.

Not sure what brant mine is. I prefer normal flow, you can grill on the hot side and smoke on the far end. I find mine just smokes too much if I actually burn a fire in the firebox and still keep my temp low where I want it. I burn logs to coals and put coals/partial burning logs into box.

Sounds like the fire is deprived of oxygen. Open the stack all the way and have the firebox placed into the wind with door slightly open. If the stack is into the wind it can actually suck air the wrong direction and cause the fire to have dirty smoke.

It’s a smaller pit just a little open flame gets the temp up too high for brisket or similar.

At that price you can get something pretty dang good. Lifetime smokers have a great reputation and seem to last a lyfetime. I have an all seasons and love it for both bbq and smoking. The shelf setup makes it so much easier when cooking allot of food. This is the one I have but check out their other models. They also have good customer service. If you go this route, be sure you get the heavy duty one and not the lighter weight steel.

https://www.allseasonsfeeders.com/collections/bbq-backyard/products/48-x-20-bbq-pit-w-firebox