I usually do not do the review thing for products I buy but am going to make an exception on this. After my inital seasoning run and my first cook this past weekend I have to say that this thing works great! Very well built weighing in at just under 600 lbs. (probably over 600 now with the addition of fire bricks in the bottom of the fire box). All 1/4 inch plate construction. Nice basket for the fire which has been upgraded from the older models that had an expanded metal type grate. Arrived completely assembled and ready to go, all welded together with really decent welds. Cooking temps were easily controlled and very even side to side. The meat was unbelievable, chicken was perfectly cooked, slight smoke flavor and juicy is an understatement. Pastrami was smoked to 165 and then steamed in the oven until it was done at 205. Not an inexpensive toy but it will without a doubt last a lifetime.
No , I have a couple on my phone and will get them up here in a second. I thought that after I posted but had to wait for a moderator to get this up before I could edit. DONE : go back to original post , they are there.
You have me in the mood for some Boston Butts that are in the freezer bought on sale @.99/lb a while back . Time to fire up my trusty Yoder. I’ve never used a reverse flow burner but sounds like a great design.
buzz-saw Revisiting this thread. Could you kindly elaborate on why you like the reverse flow smoker over the traditional like my Yoder? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks!
Wow , looking back at this I didn't realize that I have had it this long. It is my first real smoker and prior to this I have had a weber bullet and a homemade one that I fabricated from a 55 gallon drum and an old propane tank , They worked but controlling the heat was tough. The Lang is/was a game changer. It is heavy weighing in at just over 650 lbs and is welded together , it is not a kit you assemble. I did add firebricks to the bottom of the firebox but other than that it is ready to go when it arrives. It holds the heat very well once up to temperature and once it is going a couple splits an hour is about all it needs , when burning there is little smoke if any at all , most of the time you just see heat vapors coming out so it burns very clean and the meat gets its flavor from the cooking process and not just from something like wet wood chips tossed on some charcoal. It is real BBQ. Reverse flow with a plate across the bottom to send the smoke down to one end then do a "U" turn before going out uses that heat twice since it crosses the bottom below the plate heating it and then back across the top over the meat. It was no doubt an investment and probably more than I need , but I am extremely happy with it. Not hard but it does take time since it is a stick burner. I almost went with a pellet smoke and glad I didn't. Besides I needed an excuse to burn wood in the middle of summer.
Thanks for the feedback. My smoker has the heavy “tuning plate” that smoke and heat travel under too, but also flows over the top as well. I can see where you would be able to hold temps a bit better with that configuration. My smoker is also very heavy built and is light years from the Lowe’s el cheapo’s that I started with years ago…though they still produced some darned good meat. Just had to feed them steadily to keep heat steady
