Vertical Smoker: Pros/Cons

[Don Hornleone 530]

I’m interested in getting a vertical smoker. The pit I currently have is one my buddies and I made back in shop class 20 yrs ago. It’s still works great but it’s just not big enough to cook multiple things at once. I’m looking to cook 4-5 briskets at once with summer events coming up.  Any input on makes/models, past experiences cooking with them, etc would be appreciated. I prefer the offset style but curious if those have a pretty significant temp differential from bottom to top. Thx.

[ChampKind 1314]

If you get a vertical, get one that is insulated. A bunch of brands on the market (Pitmaker, Backwoods, PitsbyJJ) but I prefer Pitmaker. Things are built like a tank and as long as you maintain them, they'll last forever. They make two models of vertical, the safe and the vault. The safe will hold 4 briskets, the vault will hold 10. The safe actually cooks a little more evenly than the vault does, the vault runs a little cooler on the middle rack than at the top or the bottom (maybe 10 degrees).

[TXLNGHRN10 341]

I bought this back in October
Been pretty happy with it once I got the gauges figured out
It’ll hold 6 briskets




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[TXLNGHRN10 341]

3 racks, a water / drip pan and 6 hooks for hanging sausage

[kevwun 15963]

Dumb question amnesty since I've never used a cabinet.  Can you use wood or does it have to be charcoal?

[Both Tacos 1825]

Check out Lone Star Grillz for their insulated cabinet smoker.

[TXLNGHRN10 341]

3 hours ago, kevwun said:

Dumb question amnesty since I've never used a cabinet.  Can you use wood or does it have to be charcoal?

an insulated cabinet will run on charcoal and or wood chunks
most folks run bed of lump charcoal and a chunk or 2 of wood

[utee05 9]

Hmm now I'm intrigued to try out a vertical smoker. Currently have a 18.5" WSM but this looks good to cook more than a brisket and pork butt at once.

Following

[Don Hornleone 530]

Those Pitmasters and LSG’z are gorgeous, but really out of my price range. Was looking to spend $750 max and that includes any mods I’m going to do to it. I can’t envision myself using it more than 6-8 times a year. If I find myself using it more and more, I’ll definitely upgrade to a higher end model. I know most low to mid price range vert smokers are going to need some extra maintenance like adding food grade sealer and nomex gaskets around the chambers doors. I can probably insulate it myself too, although I’m not sure what you should use for that.

Thx for all the input so far. 

 

[Grimas 671]

I was all stoked and ready to buy the Old Country vertical yesterday until I actually saw it at Academy.  Nothing against it other than the size... I just don't need something that big to feed the family (it's 5'+ tall) and I'll never cook 4 briskets at a time...  going to get a WSM 22" instead...

Edited April 6, 2018 by Grimas

[thunderlounge 8053]

26 minutes ago, Grimas said:

I was all stoked and ready to buy the Old Country vertical yesterday until I actually saw it at Academy.  Nothing against it other than the size... I just don't need something that big to feed the family (it's 5'+ tall) and I'll never cook 4 briskets at a time...  going to get a WSM 22" instead...

I may have to go look at it. Having a 22” wsm, it’s fine usually. Problem being when I want to do say a brisket, pork butt, and 4 racks of ribs. I can make it fit in the wsm, but it is a chore with rotating and racks and all that. A little more space would be nice, plus access without having to shuffle grates.

I’m still debating though, and have all the time I need to figure it out. Been looking at a Lang as well.

 

Also, when I’m firing up the pit more times than not I’ll cook enough for several meals. Might as well since it’s running. So that would help as well. See TX’s 2nd pic above with different stuff on different racks. 

Edited April 6, 2018 by thunderlounge

[kevwun 15963]

Leftover bbq is never a bad thing.  It's also never a bad thing to have the capacity to cook more than you think you'll ever need.  It opens up more opportunities to use your pit when you can feed a lot of people.  That's a big plus if you're like me and look for excuses to make bbq.

[jimmyjazz 46526]

What are the performance benefits of a vertical VS an offset?  I'm thinking of building a super cheap homebrew smoker this summer and probably need to nail down some of the tradeoffs before I get into the actual layout.  I've only used a cheap offset, a pit barrel, and at this point the Smokenator on a Weber Kettle (which works ridiculously well, all things considered).

[thunderlounge 8053]

Old Country made (and may still) an offset vertical. Firebox on the side, into a vertical cooking chamber.

As for difference, it depends. At the basic heart of it, for a vertical you need some type of diffusion to disperse heat evenly. That’s why you see a plate above the fire of a vertical, or a pan above the fire in a WSM. 

Offsets can have tuning plates, for example. That’s kind of the premise of a reverse flow offset. Heat travels under a plate to the opposite end from the firebox, then up to the cooking chamber and back to the firebox side to exit the stack. 

It’s all the same goal though, and that goal is to heat the chamber as evenly as possible.

 

As for an advantage of one over the other, it’s all about knowing how your pit cooks and using that to its potential. People win competitions using a WSM just like people win using a Lang, Jambo, or a $25k trailer. 

[jimmyjazz 46526]

My gut (and some heat transfer classes) tell me a vertical smoker with no line of sight to the hot fuel would be pretty ideal.  By "no line of sight" I mean a blocking plate that only allows smoke to flow up the perimeter down low in the chamber, or maybe a pair of 50/50 grates that are "out of phase" with each other.  Above that the smoke and heat would just need to be able to recollect more uniformly up past the meat and out a central stack.

[pops 7044]

Subscribed. Going to replace my kind of shitty stick burner I've massaged along for a decade and the cabinets are intriguing. But geezus they want a lot of money for what is essentially a mini fridge. 

[DougO 5257]

I made my UDS (ugly drum smoker) for about $100, starting with a clean $25 barrel. And it is ugly, but I've cooked a lot of good stuff in it. Fantastic for ribs, especially. If you feel like making something on your own that isn't that difficult it's a good way to go, pretty much same deal as a 22-inch WSM.

Get a barrel that already has a lid and there's no cutting, except for a few holes with a hole saw and drill. No welding at all.

[thunderlounge 8053]

I like my WSM, but as I mentioned I'm looking to expand capacity a bit as well as make it easier to access what I have cooking. Having a brisket and a butt on the bottom rack, and ribs on the top rack is a bit of a chore when the brisket/butt are done but the ribs aren't. So now you're doing the grate shuffle. It's also more difficult to spritz the bottom rack when the top rack is loaded.

Obvious answer is to time it different, but that isn't always a perfect solution.

[jimmyjazz 46526]

I hate my Pit Barrel Cooker.  Top feed is really risky -- major flareups can (and do) happen when excess oxygen floods the barrel.  I thought I was gonna burn the place down once.  It's also very difficult to control temperature in general.

[William_Cannon 86]

Offsets can have tuning plates, for example. That’s kind of the premise of a reverse flow offset. Heat travels under a plate to the opposite end from the firebox, then up to the cooking chamber and back to the firebox side to exit the stack. 

. 

I’ve never had good luck with baffles and tunes by plates. It helped but there were still some odd temp gradients.

 

...

 

Jimmy,

Unless you have a compelling reason to build, I would suggest getting a WSM. Cooking on it is stupid easy.

 

 

[kevwun 15963]

The plates in my offset do a pretty good job of evening out the heat.  It did take 3 or 4 times of using it before I got them dialed in though.

[immortal13 4059]

1 hour ago, William_Cannon said:

I’ve never had good luck with baffles and tunes by plates. It helped but there were still some odd temp gradients.

 

...

 

Jimmy,

Unless you have a compelling reason to build, I would suggest getting a WSM. Cooking on it is stupid easy.

 

 

I've had mine less than 1 day and I love it

[Capt 235]

Two words

Liquid smoke

[immortal13 4059]

5 hours ago, Capt said:

Two words

Liquid smoke

Negged

[jimmyjazz 46526]

On 4/7/2018 at 9:08 AM, William_Cannon said:

I’Jimmy,

Unless you have a compelling reason to build, I would suggest getting a WSM. Cooking on it is stupid easy.

 

 

My compelling reason is that it seems like a fun project.  I'll scrap it if is sucks.

[DougO 5257]

The only time I ever had a flare up in my UDS was the one time when I decided to not use a water pan. I can get it going and it pretty much holds wherever I want it within 10 degrees for several hours. The main difference between a UDs and a WSM is the lack of a side door...and the cost.

[hornimal 80]

FYI: visited pitmaker today.  I was told they expect to raise their prices in two weeks as their metal supplier is hinting about a material cost increase.

[ChampKind 1314]

Lol. They expect a price increase because demand is so high for their product that they can increase prices.

 

In fairness to them, they have maintained pricing for years

 

 

[hornimal 80]

1 hour ago, ChampKind said:

Lol. They expect a price increase but demand is so high for their product that they can increase prices.

In fairness to them, their pits have maintained pricing for years

I’ve had my mind made up about a safe on a cart for a while, but victor sold me hard on the safe. after reading your comments above I’m back on the safe camp again. He did mention you guys were their first commercial application, so I’m going to trust the pro that has probably logged the most time on their pits.

[ChampKind 1314]

Do it. Or buy a used vault

[dcbc 14573]

On 4/6/2018 at 7:01 PM, jimmyjazz said:

I hate my Pit Barrel Cooker.  Top feed is really risky -- major flareups can (and do) happen when excess oxygen floods the barrel.  I thought I was gonna burn the place down once.  It's also very difficult to control temperature in general.

We have had pretty good luck with ours although currently, since we got a WSM 22, it's relegated to overflow of pork and chicken.  I did some good briskets on it, but they are much better on the WSM.  But you're right about the flare ups.  If you're taking something off to wrap for example, you have to throw the rebar back in the holes and put the lid on tight.  Just a pain, really.  But the chicken and ribs I made on it were pretty good.

Edited April 12, 2018 by dcbc

[hornimal 80]

13 hours ago, ChampKind said:

Do it. Or buy a used vault

pulled the trigger this morning on a safe with a cart.  they are so well built and versatile, some people have started using pellets in them.