Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Fred W]

Are you guys talking about this specific Brinkman Trailmaster? Or the more prevalent cheaper / thinner models?

The Trailmaster is a considerably heavier duty unit than the cheaper ones.

I do understand that the construction quality isn't all that great still (with gaps between parts that need to be sealed, etc.) but the longevity should be better than the COS.

But, in any case, I'm going to heed your warnings and pass on this Brinkman deal anyway. My ugly drum is working OK for now. And there is always an opportunity to spend more money on the hobby next year!

 

[ionbeam]

You may have just saved me $200.(but it will probably cost me a lot more next year

)

Is yours the Trailmaster version, Alan? Those are significantly heavier gauge steel than the less expensive Brinkman models.

I have read reviews where people have successfully used nomex and/or hitemp silicone sealant and got them pretty tight. Also, any of these offset smokers either need to be converted to reverse flow or use "tuning plates" to even out the temp in the cook chamber.

You won't have to worry about the cost next year, Brinkman filed for Chapter 11 last month.

Mine is an old Brinkman, Trailmaster wasn't an option at the time. There are some improvements in the Trailmaster such as the fire box entry point for the chimney and ash control, but damn, that lack of quality control, which is only under done by the design (a good idea which fundamentally doesn't work well).

Edit: I see Fred posted while I was rattling the keys.

So, I'll add that a tinkerer would be adding heat baffles in the cooking chamber, adding draft redirection, possibly relocating the chimney and extending it into the cooking chamber ~6 inches. The main cooking door just doesn't want to seal, nor does the side chamber door. Now it looks like the Traillmaster has added some extra convenience features which appears to be more points for air leaks. After all the extra work you will now have a smoker which probably doesn't work nearly as well as your Fugly Drum.

My smoker now has become a tool chest for my other grill. It does offer acceptable weather protection for my charcoal starter chimney, grill tools, paper storage for the starter and a good location to store split hardwood for the other grill. Just be aware that wasps and hornets think the Brinkman is the worlds very best habitat and the industrious little bustards can put up a 50 wasp nest in a week inside that hot, weather protected shell. Over the years I have often lifted the lid and been stung before I even had a chance to see the new nest. You've been warned

 

[Bounce]

Arrrgh... I'm wrestling with a purchase decision. I swung by the Home Despot on Monday to grab a replacement thermometer for the lid of my UDS (the original never did work right) and noticed that the had the Heavy Duty Brinkman Trailmaster offset grille that normally sells for $300 is on clearance right now for just $200.

Run away. I had a Brinkman once (different model) and they are that cheep for a reason. They're small gauge steel and can't hold temperature worth a damn. They have poor hinges and every door is a challenge to seal.

--update--

Just saw the other posts. Consider this a +1 to theirs.

 

[El Toro]

Are you guys talking about this specific Brinkman Trailmaster? Or the more prevalent cheaper / thinner models?The Trailmaster is a considerably heavier duty unit than the cheaper ones.

I do understand that the construction quality isn't all that great still (with gaps between parts that need to be sealed, etc.) but the longevity should be better than the COS.

But, in any case, I'm going to heed your warnings and pass on this Brinkman deal anyway. My ugly drum is working OK for now. And there is always an opportunity to spend more money on the hobby next year!

Mine were built back quite some time ago, and were quite thick ... probably at least gauge 11.

I also had the stainless steel liners for the fire boxes, and I had NO problems with longevity. These grills lived in their covers, but outdoors, year round, and although they showed some rust, I eventually gave them away to happy people.

I agree that they are better grills than smokers, but the need to cart off the ashes made me less enthusiastic about charcoal or wood for grilling compared to propane. Me 'n Hank Hill are wild about propand and propane accessories.

Aside from the issue of the cold weather, which makes it harder to control uniform temperatures at my target levels, my other problem with smoking is that I end up with a huge amount of meat, and I am less enthusiastic than I once was about prepping it and freezing it, or giving it away.

That's a big factor in why I've switched to things like racks of lamb, beef ribs, St. Louis style pork ribs, ducks, steaks, and such.

Someone asked about smoking turkeys.

I have never been happy with smoked turkey ... regardless of who did the smoking. I guess I'm just not a fan.

Anything that you have to brine up or inject to get it through the time and temperature profile needed for thorough cooking is less appealing to me. I really watch my sodium, and so this has an impact on my rub recipes. Turkeys are problematic ... of course YMMV.

 

[Fred W]

Couple of comments:

From what I can find about the Brinkman Trailmaster, it appears that this is the same grill as the Oklahoma Joe Highlander, which is Char Broil's top of the line horizontal smoker. Both grilles get pretty decent reviews on the various meat smoking forums, but all of them need to be modified (as pretty much any offset, side fire box, horizontal grille will need to be). You don't get into a "turn key" reverse flow horizontal until you are spending about a grand. The big difference between these mid-tier grilles and the expensive pits is the fireboxes are not really heavy gauge enough for stick burning without shortening the life of the box.

For smoking turkeys, I've done a couple of whole breasts now (on the bone) rather than doing the whole turkey. I think that is probably easier since the thickness is more uniform, so you don't have to worry about drying out the wings and legs while waiting for the thicker breast meat to cook. The ones we did were very nice, and not all that much effort. Dunking the breast in a cooler of brine overnight is not a real big deal, IMO.

YMMV

 

[Knifemaker]

So who's smoking their Turkey this year? Any good recipes or methods you've tried?

I'll be smoking up four of these puppies:

https://www.butterball.com/products/turkey-roasts-and-whole-breasts/boneless-savory-herb-turkey-breast-roast-frozen

They have already been brined, and come netted for cooking. I'll likely roll them in butter and oil, use a rub and then smoke them at 230-244 until interior temp hits 160-165.

Photos to follow...

 

[TomInPA]

Fred, mine was a slightly different design with I think 14 ga sheet metal. The Trailmaster is thicker and has an improved chimney, but it's still not a reverse flow. In this case, considering your talents and interests, better is probably not good enough. I think you have to step up pretty far in price to get an offset smoker that is worthy of mods and has controllable heat and smoke and fairly even temperature distribution. Also, the colder it gets, the harder these units are to manage as heat losses are high.

 

[El Toro]

What I'm using now is from Masterbuilt, extra wide.

I've had a couple of these over the years. The one I currently have is about 6 years old and is as good as the day it arrived and got placed on the covered but not enclosed back porch.

I just checked the reviews, and there are a lot of folks who complain about them for rusting out in two seasons, but I did not have the experience with either of mine. The first one is gone, but it got given to a friend who needed one when I did not need one, and later I bought the one I've got now.

I like the vertical style, and all of the racks. I think that it has something like 6 racks and 2000 square inches of space.

You can set it up with different rack heights, which I sometimes do to accommodate larger things, like briskets, or shoulders or prime ribs. But most of the stuff I smoke these days can fit in with uniform spacing.

There is a smoke pan right above the burner, and I usually use soaked chunks of hickory or pecan. There is a liquids pan right above that. You can put water in the pan, and that is the easiest to clean up. The pan tends to evaporate, holding things closer to my ideal temperature of 200 to 220 F. And it also tends to catch rendered fats.

Sometimes I'll put wine or beer in the liquids pan, but if you do this, you have to pay attention, because if the wine or beer evaporates, the solids that precipitate out are fuel, and will char up and give off their own smoke, which is never as pleasant to the taste as the smoke from hickory or pecan. I generally check the pan every hour or so, and fill it up with a long spout watering can.

 

[El Toro]

FWIW, my Brinkman horizontal offset smokers had excellent sealing. The lack of uniformity in temperature was not due to the poor sealing. It was due to the basic design of one end of the larger cylinder being near the fire box, and the other being near the flue. I know that the vertical smoker has the same potential issue, but for whatever reason, I've had more uniform cooking in the vertical unit.

I've run large scale commercial smokers too, with pork butts (shoulders). These do generally require a fair amount of tending to get good uniformity of the cooking, but if you can keep the box in the 190 F to 220 F range for the whole cooking time (typically 12 hours), and if you've wrapped the shoulders and moved them around after the 4th or 5th hour, things usually work out.

Marshall makes some nice smokers and they build them in the USA, but compared to what we've been talking about, they're a bit pricey ($1K to $2.5K, depending on size and model).

In the last 20 years when I've wanted a smoker, I've gone to either Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas. They both offer regular sales, and a wide range of decent units.

 

[Knifemaker]

Fred, I came like this close //...to buying a Brinkman Trailmaster. I researched for several weeks and in the world of COS's...it did seem to be at the top of the heap....for the price. Most who had one said after sealing it up and and adding some kind of baffle system, the pit worked great. These are also basicly the same as the Oklahoma Joe pits...both of which I believe were built by the same folks who now own Horizen Smokers*

I planned on getting one and converting it to a reverse flow smoker. Which with paying a welder for the work, and adding in the mods needed (sealing leaks, etc) would have added around 200 bucks to what was a 300 dollar smoker.

Only real complaint I saw was many wished the firebox was bigger and opened from the side...

But, before I took the plunge my wife said "You should just have that guy make you what you want...it'll be your birthday present." (She's my wife and I'm keeping her )

My pit cost me $750. Which I think was an awesome deal. I don't know if you have any pit builders in your area, but as you do have a decent drum smoker that seems to do the job... if I were you and wanted a reverse, I'd save up the beans and get one from a known builder. I'm sure however you could mod out the Brinkman into a decent working pit, if you want to spend the time experimenting....

* https://amazingribs.com/bbq_equipment_reviews_ratings/grill-smoker-combination-grill-smoker/horizon-20-inch-rd-special-marshal

 

[kurbennett64]

Last year I deep fried 1 turkey and smoked another. This year I have a large crew over again and am just going to smoke them both. I will also post some pics as they cook up.

 

[Warpdrv]

Smoked a couple turkeys on the Pellet Pooper last year and they turned out fantastic...

Didn't brine - lightly stuffed them with fruit and seasonings, breast side down to get the juices flowing with gravity - lathered them up with a Stone Ground Mustard concoction I make for birds and Lambs.

They turned out fantastically... Was pleasantly surprised...

 

[Fred W]

Ok, know I said I was going to wait, but I also said I would never organize another NERDS event, and that is happening too.

I stumbled into an even better deal than that Home Depot Brinkman Trailmaster for $200:

The local Wally World had 3 Oklahoma Joe Highland model smokers on clearance for $180!! To my eye, the OK Joe looks like a slightly better quality unit than the Trailmaster was. It is all relatively heavy gauge steel (12 gauge), it has a good sized cooking chamber for backyard / family use , a reasonably big fire box, with both a top hinged lid with warming shelf and a side / end door for stick burning. I figured that, even if the firebox doesn't work out great, I could just get a bigger/heavier gauge one made up and bolt it up to this cook chamber and be money ahead.

The cooking chamber is a welded, one piece cylinder with a front hinged door let in, and some backing strips tack welded behind for a lip. It and the firebox upper doors fit relatively well, though I've already ordered a gasket and latch kit from bbqsmokermods.com to seal them up better. I assembled it yesterday and used black Furnace Cement to seal between the upper and lower halves of the firebox, and also between the firebox and the cook chamber.

In addition to the gasket kit, I also ordered the custom tuning plate from bbqsmokermods.com. It's a bit pricey, but they guarantee you'll have even cooking temps running that. I'm thinking that a tuning plate should be slightly more fuel efficient than a full-on reverse flow conversion as the smoke won't have as much distance to pass along cool metal walls of the chamber. Plus, I like the way the chimney hole is welded into the cook chamber and did not want to lose that.

Sprayed all over the inside with canola oil, and ran a short (~ 4 hour) seasoning smoke using the small minion method charcoal box that I'd made for my little COS. The only smoke leakage I saw was at the edges of the doors where I'll be sealing with the gaskets and RTV. I had reasonably good temperature control just using the vent in the firebox and adjusting the draft on the chimney pipe.

At some point I'll have to figure a way to fully seal the edges of the firebox end door and install a couple of pipe thread nipples and a ball valve for more precise air control when burning charcoal. I also need to tap and install a ball valve on the grease drain bung in the bottom of the chamber as that is obviously a big air leak.

I also still have the gas burner that I used in my little COS and may use that option for really long cooks as that will provide a steadier temperature than the burning charcoal or wood.

Here she is:

Cooking Chamber

Firebox with my small minion charcoal box inside. Need to make a much bigger one.

I'll probably never use those cooking grates, I just stuck them in there to store them for now

End door on firebox has the main fire vent. (note furnace cement shrunk a little after curing)

This end door is going to be a big benefit IMO, for burning logs. Just need to get the edges all sealed up somehow for when using charcoal.

I like the way the chimney mounts, too. There is just enough space between the chimney pipe and the bung welded into the cook chamber to slip a 90 degree elbow in from the inside, to lower the venting level down to the cooking grates. I need to order a 3" aluminum (non galvanized) 90 degree vent pipe elbow to do that.

Can't wait till I get all the mods done and get my first cook done on it!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Why wait till the mods are done? Cook on it tonight.

 

[Fred W]

Enabler!

PS - This winter I'm thinking of taking advantage of the cooler temps and smoking up either some Buckboard (pork shoulder) or Canadian / Back (Pork loin) bacon. These will be a big hit with the fat conscious ladies around here that loves their bacon. Plus pork belly is 'spensive.

Still researching the curing process, which doesn't seem all that daunting.

 

[ionbeam]

Ok, know I said I was going to wait...I stumbled into an even better deal...The local Wally World had 3 Oklahoma Joe Highland model smokers on clearance for $180!!...
...the firebox upper doors fit relatively well...used black Furnace Cement to seal...

....The only smoke leakage I saw was at the edges of the doors where I'll be sealing with the gaskets and RTV...

At some point I'll have to figure a way to fully seal the edges of the firebox end door and install a couple of pipe thread nipples and a ball valve for more precise air control ...grease drain bung in the bottom of the chamber as that is obviously a big air leak.

Firebox with my small minion charcoal box inside. Need to make a much bigger one
End door...(note furnace cement shrunk a little after curing)

...Just need to get the edges all sealed up somehow...

...slip a 90 degree elbow in from the inside...

Hello, Santa, I need....

Congratulations on a project which will keep ya busy during the snow season. BTW, let me suggest a DIY pulled pork kit....

Add water, corn and time.

Your new horizontal smoker has more seals than ODOT.

 

[hppants]

I've got that same sized BBQ pit - I've had it for 20 years. Amazingly, it's still in fantastic shape.

I'd happily give it to anyone who would be willing to come by and pick it up. I just don't cook on it anymore and certainly don't want to throw it away.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Enabler!

Yea, and?

 

[Fred W]

Enabler!

Yea, and?

Thanks?

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Enabler!

PS - This winter I'm thinking of taking advantage of the cooler temps and smoking up either some Buckboard (pork shoulder) or Canadian / Back (Pork loin) bacon. These will be a big hit with the fat conscious ladies around here that loves their bacon. Plus pork belly is 'spensive.

Still researching the curing process, which doesn't seem all that daunting.

In case you want to take on some American bacon:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/scrap-iron-chefs-bacon-recipe.html