I found the smoker on the left on the side of the road free for scrapping a few years ago and brought it home to try cleanings it up and smoking with it. I'd never smoked any meat before so I watched a few videos on fire management and got after it. I added small upgrade over time like gaskets for the lids, clamps for the cook chamber lid, and I extended the stack down to closer to grate level
Then one day I was getting ready to smoke a brisket and the whole underside of the firebox fell out, rusted clean through. I stacked fire bricks over the hole, smoked the brisket, and started looking for a new offset.
What I found in my research is what I believe to be the absolute best value offset smoker for less than 2k, if you don't have access to academy to buy old country stuff. The char griller grand champ xd, exclusive to home depot. It's not 1/4", but it's got most everything else people look for or upgrade on cheaper offsets like gasketed lids, grates level big stack, etc.
I would've loved to order a workhorse 1969 but compared to what I was using, this is still a huge step up and I'm excited to finish the burn off and cook some meat this week!
by rm45acp
8 Comments
I saw this at Home Depot. Post a pic or a short video when you get rolling. Happy Smoking!
Looks nice!
Thanks for the review. Looks nice. Enjoy it and share pictures.
That looks like it uses the same grill space as my Gravity 980. Now I want those grates!
Nice! I’ve got the Char-Griller Competition Pro and have been using it since last June. For a COS, I’ve been pretty pleased with it.
I have been looking into this as my offset let me know what you think of it.
I can vouch for the XD and its a really solid for the price. I would recommend watching “TonyToneBBQ” on Youtube. He has a ton of videos on the XD that are pretty in depth and will help you get a better understanding on the fire management, wood split size, and various cooks that you might think about doing. Happy smoking!
I’ve had one for a while now. Go ahead and take the heat deflector out, it gives you a hot spot about a third of the way in. Mine cooks best leaving both dampers wide open and the fire small, but the temp will run away if it thinks youre not watching. The charcoal grate in the cook chamber works great for grilling too. Keep it oiled and covered and it will last. Enjoy!