EGG or Offset Smoker!

AlwaysGolf · February 2009

Have a friend/co worker that is in the market for a grill/smoker. I am trying to convince him that he should not go offset route but he says that he has always wanted one.

He has had food off my eggs on several occassions so he knows about food off the Egg. In the castrophic event that I can't convince him to give an egg a try, what are some of the things that he should look for in a offset smoker.

I told him that he would be able to do some of the things that I do on the egg. He says that he doubts that he would ever use an egg the way I use mine. I told him he would eventually.

Also being the nice person that I am I told him that he should buy a medium and if he didn't like it then I would buy it from him or get it sold really quick. :laugh:

Celtic Wolf · February 2009

Tell him to check David Klose's Site

He might want to look at the Traeger as well

That is if he insists on not getting an Egg. :woohoo:

Grandpas Grub · February 2009

I was about to buy an offset when I learned about the egg.

Having never used an offset, I would think it would take more 'watching' and probably wouldn't be able to control the heat as well.

There are a lot of championships that have been with offsets. The stoker and guru have setups for offsets.

There is the big drum also.

I would think thirdeye might have some good thoughts about this. If I have paid attention, he has drum smokers, some electric smokers and a bunch of others.

I am sure others out there have used a lot of different types.

Get him to buy the medium, as it may be at your house at some point in time.

GG

MilitantSquatter · February 2009

It all depends on what he really plans to do as far as cooking IMO(grilling, BBQ, etc)

Obviously we all love the BGE.

As far as an offsets, very few exist under $1K that are of decent quality. Usually the fireboxes on the lower end models are made of very thin steel which makes fire management a real challenge especially for longer burn times, colder weather cooks or full loads on the grate. You need to make a lot of modifications to get to a good place.

And these smaller models usually have a smaller cooking surface and you get hot spots closer to the firebox which make it hard to keep temps on that side below 250 deg.

I've had offsets... they're great but you need want to work the pits.. This Pitts and Spitts was the best I had.. very good quality, not cheap by any means but still not as good as a Klose pit and a lot of fun if you want to know how to work the fire

Chris in Gwinnett · February 2009

Hi Alwaysgolf- Not sure where you or your friend are located, (I am north of Atlanta) but I have a double door charbroil offset that I will let go very cheap- under $100 if he wants. This took the old backseat when I got the BGE. In all fairness, this has a been a very good smoker and I treated it for what it was, a stepping stone to see if it was worth it to me to invest more in my outdoor cooking habits.

GrillDaddy · February 2009

for the money I like/have a Char-Griller

http://chargriller.com/

Under $200,

AlwaysGolf · February 2009

MilitantSquatter-I was close to buying a Pitts and Spitts before I bought the Eggs. But the forum sold me on the versatility of the Egg and got both my larges for the price of one of the Pitts and Spitts.

Chris, located in Texas, so a road trip that far is out of the question. Thanks for the offer tho!

Some of the points tat everyone brings up is what I throw at him is that to get a really god one he could almost have 3 large Eggs with nice eggcessories

Hamilton · February 2009

I had an off-set before I bought my first Egg. The off-set got sold before I bought my second Egg. I'll never own another steel cooker.

BullyC · February 2009

Hi always golf

You did not say 2 things. 1 how much food does he want to cook at once? 2 Most important, How much can he afford?
Money no object, look at klose, Lang, even
a Yoder out of Kansas looks decent.
If budget limited then like other people,
get a cheap off-set. I saw a guy use one at a
competition and his ribs were good, not awesome but good. After all even though its awesome, with accessories, tax, were at
900 to a grand with egg. Last, let him do what he wants, you know some people never listen, ha ha take care Bullyc

belle's dad · February 2009

I've had a couple of Offset over the years. Living where I live, near that old Atlantic Ocean, I found that I was having rust problems - Decided the Egg was the way to go. Ceramic doesn't rust. I'll never go back to a steel cooker. The egg is so much more versitile.

Gordon
Vero Beach, Fl

TXTriker · February 2009

Hey MilitantSquatter, you still have that Pitts and Spitts? Same one, I gave finally, to a friend who lives down the street. He has a BGE and was going to give the Pitts and Spitts to his son. I had mine for about 20 years from back when lump was very hard to come by. All mine needed was some cleaning up and a fresh coat of black paint. I just don't have room for all those cookers. (a large and a small reside here now and the wife keeps eyeing the mini when we go to my dealers) Little did I know.

TXTriker · February 2009

Tell your friend that I, like MilitantSquatter, had a Pitts and Spitts offset cooker. The Cadillac of cookers. I finally gave mine to a neighbor to give to his son who could not afford an egg. I gave mine up for a better cooker after keeping it for 20 years.

NibbleMeThis · February 2009

I have an offset smoker and a large BGE.

I would suggest that he google things like "smoker modifications" and see if ANY come up with recommendations for the Egg as compared to offsets. You can find TONS of recommended modifications for offsets about tuning plates, welding in baffles, having someone torch cut, reweld, and lower your exhaust pipe to grate level, and things like that.

If he is hell bent on getting an offset, then I'd recommend a reverse flow smoker (where the firebox and exhaust are located at the same end with a sealed baffle between the top and bottom of the cooking chamber except at the far end).

Celtic Wolf · February 2009

Gawd that thing makes me cringe!!!

AlwaysGolf · February 2009

I think tomorrow when I go in to work I will offer to let him cook on my Eggs so he can see how easy it is and how versatile they are or come over and help me on Sunday when I will be cooking ribs, butts and chickens for the inlaws to take back with them.

He only wants to spend about $700 so I told him he could have a large and some accessories for that much, even told him to hold out until the Texas Eggfest and pick up a demo even cheaper.

dhuffjr · February 2009

I know a few folks that have backwoods smokers....the smallest unit starts a bit higher than 700 though....and it is not "offset".....but it will cook very nice.

I'd get an Egg though.

Cactus Doug · February 2009

Almost bought an offset instead of the egg. I was looking at Klose and Pitts and Spitts. There are many good pits out there for every budget. I don't think you can beat the versatility of the egg for a single cooking device. Good luck just my 2 cents.

Michael B · February 2009

As others have brought up, the offset will give you more capacity, and will require MUCH more tending. ie, no sleeping during the overnight cooks.
Some of the better offsets are: Diamond Plate, Klose, Lang, and Pitts and Spitts; but with the right mods, even a Brinkman S&P can be made serviceable.
The Smoke Ring Forum would be a good place for your friend to learn more about offsets.

RVH · February 2009

I purchased a Horizon RD Special from our local egg dealer. We had a terrible ice storm and I lost several acres of hickory,pecan and oak trees. Getting an offset was all I could think of to make me feel better about the carnage...I now have a million years supply of wood. Turns out this is a good thing because the offset burns about a truckload's worth when doing a butt cook. The egg's fuel usage is absolutely miserly by comparison. The temps require constant monitering: you can't walk away for long. It has been much more difficult to produce good food on the offset. It can be done, but requires much more effort. On the plus side there is enough room inside to park a Volkeswagon.
Bottom line for me is that for cooking, the egg can't be beat. For staying up all night, fending off racoons, and getting rowdy with friends, the offset is kind of fun to play with...once in a while.
You and your friend should come up the Oklahoma Eggfest, and take a look at the offset offerings up fron in the showroom.

fishlessman · February 2009

an offset would be good for someone with no hobies, me, i set the egg up for an overnight and go to bed, check on things around 4 in the morning, jump in the boat and come back around noonish and eat. i would like a small offset to fool around with for shorter cooks like ribs, but ill wait til i see someone tossing one

Single Action Egger · February 2009

I had two off-set smokers. The first one was a New Braunfels offset from Home Depot. The second one was a very nice LyfeTyme smoker from Uvlde, Texas. Very Heavy, with good capacity. Thick Steel.

It was fun to fiddle with but I could never get good quie out of it. Seemed to take a long time to get light, and I could never keep the temperature stable. I never had a sufficent supply of wood so it wasn't used very often. I took it with me to Virginia, but only used it 2 or 3 times with not very good results. Never had the patience to constantly tend to it to keep the temperature stable.

When I left Virginia, I didn't take the smoker with me. One of the gentlemen helping me load the truck advised leaving the smoker unless it was my most important possession; he said if it got loose in the truck it would destroy everything. I left it.

Within 5 months I had an egg and haven't looked back. I made better burgers, steaks and pork than I ever made of my offsets with limited fuel.

Now I do admit that it is fun to play with the fire on an offset. Nothing like a fire. Maybe I need to get one of those BGE Chimnea's....

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