kettle is dead - I need something nice for the patio. I'd love a Lang Patio, but not crazy about giving Ben (although I like him) 2k.

looking to spend a few hundred bucks - any input on what is great for that price in an offset?

the Chargriller is ok, but seems real flimsy. Is the Bar-B-Chef® Offset Smoker better?

Is there something better yet?

HELP PLEASE! Brad

Dont know so much about the b-b-chef but for the price the chargriller will do a nice job. And the cast iron grates, once seasoned, are fantastic. Not even fish will stick...

If you get the CG let me know and Ill give you some pointers on how to make it sing.

Champ,

I have a chargriller pro and I love it.

Hia Champ..I moved this to Charcoal smokers, as that's pretty much what they be. I'm not familiar with the BB chef, but they look pretty comparable. Consider grill space and metal gauge as two important criteria at this point...

I do love my chargriller, but like Rich said, "grill space" when I first started smoking it was fine, but now since I am an addict, I am constantly running out of space... But for the $ she was perfect for me.

have you checked these out??
http://www.biggreenegg.com/
might be the ticket for what you need. I am not familar with the others and not this one either. but have read a lot about it and am considering one If I can not get a drum built out of a casing.
good luck..

I am not familiar with the BBC... but I own 3 CGs.

I think you'll get the most bang for the buck with the CG. They easily can be modified to really make them smokin' machines. There is a sticky in this section that covers a bunch of mods for it.

Hia Champ..I moved this to Charcoal smokers, as that's pretty much what they be. I'm not familiar with the BB chef, but they look pretty comparable. Consider grill space and metal gauge as two important criteria at this point...

Rich youre gonna get me on my soap box again...The CG makes a very fine stick burner with just a little practice.

if you want grill space - then get the chargriller outlaw and a seperate sfb.
I can cook for 20 on my outlaw no problem.
Hell the warming rack has more cooking space than most grills - ideal for low and slow grilling with smoke (And no I don't know why it's not allowed to be called smoking :-)

Rich youre gonna get me on my soap box again...The CG makes a very fine stick burner with just a little practice.

Not that you could ever prove it. :cool:

Theyre both junk!

Build 2 drums and use the other hundred bucks for meat! :thumb:

I fired up my CG late this morning to cook some chix & ribs. After waiting for an hour to come up to temp I gave up on the CG, slid out the coal tray and slid it into my fridge smoker. Not sayin you need a fridge smoker ( I'm just spoiled by mine) but the CG is all around a POS as a slow roaster goes IMO.

If you get one I'd skip the side box and just use it for grillin. I haven't used my UDS yet (still building the coal basket) but for the cost I have into it so far I'd suggest building one for the longer roasting.

I was lucky, I have an unlimited supply of food service oil barrels so no prep work is involved. Without that, they look like there would be a little dirty work but aside from that, not hard at all to build.