CharBroil offset identical to BrinkMann SnP

[TasunkaWitko]

This appears to be the case?

Well, it looks like the beautiful Mrs Tas loves me after all - as you all know, my SnP suffered a major setback earlier this week:



I just received a text from WalMart.com telling me to go pick up this purchase, made this morning:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Char...coal-Smoker/13056698



This looks to be identical to my SnP (which, according to BrinkMann's website, has been discontinued), except that it's made by CharBroil, with a minor improvement or two: In addition to the coiled handles (which supposedly don't get hot, and are weatherproof), it also weighs 14 pounds more than my old SnP, so I am guessing (hoping) it is a little heavier-duty. I am also assuming (hoping again) my SnP mods will work with this.

I've downloaded the owners/users/manual for both, and will pore through them in order to do a comparison. Of course, the final proof will be after I am able to barbecue a mess of ribs or a couple of pork shoulders.

Does anyone have any experience with both in order to give me a comparison of the two (metal thickness etc.)?

It looks like my "bad week" is looking up - thank you, honey!

[curious aardvark]

you tell us :-)

[TasunkaWitko]

i need to pick the thing up after work and then assemble it, season it etc. before i know for sure - i was hoping a few of the knights of the round table might have some insight ~

[tenacious bee]

I compared the char broil to the char griller smoke and pro . I didn't think brinkman made a barrel smoker. What I noticed was the char broil was bigger while the char griller felt more solid and had cast iron grates. Don't remember what the char broil grates were made from.

[TasunkaWitko]

hey, bee - thanks for your comments. the model pictured above is nearly identical to the old brinkmann smok'n pit, which was a wonderful unit (even better with some easy mods):

http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards...._topic203.html

checking brinkmann's website, i see that it's discontinued:

http://www.brinkmann.net/products/ou...tem=810-3040-W

so i am THINKING (dangerous) that charbroil bought the "rights" or whatever to produce it, because it is/was a dang good model, especially for the price (140$ back then, 160$ now).

i don't THINK these grates are cast iron, which would be nice - they aren't on the SnP - but the ones i had were great until the tree fell on them, and i had no troubles with them. if all else fails, my son can cut some expanded metal to make a full-length grate (or even a half/half or three grates); i don't think that will be necessary, based on the grates i had before, but it would be a nice "luxury!"

[TasunkaWitko]

to clarify: the grates i'm referring to above were the cooking grates; the charcoal grate wasn't great, so i replaced it with an outstanding charcoal basket (see mods link above).

[tenacious bee]

I understand now. Sounds like a good unit for the price. Congrats. I may have to revisit this . Maybe one of the four walmarts within 30 minutes of my home will have one LOL !

[TasunkaWitko]

4 within 30 minutes? good grief, we literally have only one within a 130 mile radius.from home, and it's 25 miles from home. after the one in great falls (130 miles form home, you need to go well over two hundred miles form home to find another one (even more to the east)!

[DDave]

My cynical nature tells me that neither Brinkmann nor Charbroil made this smoker. It is probably manufactured by some factory and they are identical except for the nameplate and, now, the handles.

I also have the Walmart Brinkmann model and Taz is right. Not a bad unit for the price with the addition of a few mods. Plus the original coal grate is garbage but a charcoal basket is the way to go anyway.

Dave

[TasunkaWitko]

>>>My cynical nature tells me that neither Brinkmann nor Charbroil made this smoker. It is probably manufactured by some factory and they are identical except for the nameplate and, now, the handles.<<<

the same thought crossed my mind after i made the original post; if this is the case, that's perfectly fine with me, because i do love this unit after 3+ years of working with it.

[erain]

have one Taz, mine has cooking grates which are porcelain coated. they are a bit on the light side but when i found mine i picked it up just to mess with an offset...

[TasunkaWitko]

>>>porcelain coated<<<

yep - that's what they were in my SnP also, and that's what i'm expecting with this new unit. for the cooking grates, that's no real problem, since smoking chamber temperatures are never too high, and i have been quite satisfied with these porcelain-coated cooking grates and their ability to stay "new." like i said above, cast iron would be a nice luxury, but not necessary.

[shellbellc]

Congrats!!!!

[tenacious bee]

4 within 30 minutes? good grief, we literally have only one within a 130 mile radius.from home, and it's 25 miles from home. after the one in great falls (130 miles form home, you need to go well over two hundred miles form home to find another one (even more to the east)!

Yep, and they are building another one . That will give me a choice of two within fifteen minutes. Crazy isn't it ? This smoker seems like a pretty good deal to me. Post up your thoughts when you unbox it.

[TasunkaWitko]

bee -

assuming this is identical to the old BrinkMann SnP (and so far it looks like it is, and maybe even just a little better), this is definitely a great smoker to get, and highly recommended by me and many others here. no, it's not a 5000$ super-dooper smoker, but it's the ebst 150$ anyone could probably spend on one, especially with the addition of a few easy mods.

i'll post some thoughts when i get it together. right now my only two concerns are the thickness of the metal (which will hopefully be the same as before, or maybe even a little more) and whether the dimensions are the same so that my charcoal basket and manifolds will fit (from what i can see this should be no problem). if you do decide to get one, let me know, and i will be happy to share the things i've learned about it.