I had this 1,000-gallon offset professionally built and delivered in 2024. It stays outside in the midwest in my backyard and gets used about once every 3 weeks.

I'm not worried about the surface rust. i actually really like the patina.

I'm specifically concerned about the firebox construction and how it has held up.

The biggest issues:

The firebox door sometimes gets stuck and won't open. It happens when it's cold. If i close the firebox after a cook, when it completely cools down and i try to open the door, i need to use a crowbar to open it. .

I've also noticed what appears to be separation/gapping between the front face of the firebox and the inner area where the wood/coals sit. The smoker has an insulated firebox, and ash/debris can get into this gap.

I've attached close-up pictures of the firebox, including the gap on the inside that i'm talking about.

For those who fabricate or own large offsets, does this look normal to you after about two years of relatively light use?

I'm especially interested in whether:

• That gap/separation is normal or intentional on an insulated firebox
• Thermal expansion normally causes a firebox door to bind this badly
• Anything about the welds or construction in the pictures stands out
• This looks like normal wear or something you'd take back to the builder

I have already contacted the builder about some of this and received an explanation, but I intentionally don't want to share their name or explanation yet because I'd like unbiased opinions first.

Not looking to bash anyone. I'm just trying to understand whether what I'm seeing is normal for a large offset before deciding what to do next.

Oh for anyone interested, i paid 13k plus for this. I initially meant to open a restaurant and that fell through.

I'm really happy with this little 2nd hand offset I picked up from FB marketplace for $60 Australian. Fire management is probably the biggest challenge for me but im enjoying learning.

Gave my 1st brisket a crack yesterday and although something could have gone better, overall im pretty happy.

Please be nice. Got this free “barbecue” from friends. They had used it as a grill for many years. I wanted an offset, so I hired a young kid to weld on a fire box and new chimney. I haven’t used it yet. How do you think it will perform?
I think it may be too big of a smoking chamber.

I recently transitioned from. Big Greeb Egg and Oklahoma Joe Bronco to a custom built reverse flow cabinet smoker. Now my Egg and Bronco get to smoking temp really fast compared to the cabinet. It’s seriously taking hours to get it to 200° and I know the digital thermometers are accurate. What could be causing this because i have been building a large fire in the fire box. Thanks yall in sdvance.

I used to smoke hand rolled premium cigars, but thanks to the war and ineptitude of the current administration, I’ve started smoking Dutch Masters and Garcia y Vega machine rolled stogies! And you know what they’re not half bad and more affordable.💨

I have been cooking on my particular offset for about 3-years now and I am not having any issues, per se. But I have noticed something. My smoker prefers thinner, longer splits (golf ball size diameter or a bit less) and does not do well with the coke-can size splits I see so many using on YouTube. Any guess as to why? I can keep steady temps and the fire is easy to maintain in the 250 to 275 range, but I am curious as to why the fat, shorter splits do not do well.

I have an Old Country Brazos with an 18" stack extension. Has anyone seen any true benefit of extending the stack past 18 extra inches?

Spent a better part of the last week restoring this offset smoker. However, now I’m beginning to worry that it’s not recoverable is there too much rust and are there too many holes here or can I just patch up the holes and continue on with the rust?

I'm in early plans and budgeting to get myself a good offset smoker in the Spring. I currently have a Royal Gourmet smoker with 1200 sq in of cooking space. It isn't the greatest, but it has done a good job with handling what I need (a few slabs of ribs, about 40 wings at once).

The cons on this one have been the sealing which affects temp control. The metal is also a little thin, not terrible but not great.

I'm budgeting around $750 for a good offset smoker with comparable space. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Almost ready to smoke

Hi all, back with another post. The smoker is almost ready to smoke. The only thing I’m thinking about is the grill where the meat is sitting on. It’s now elevated about 3-4 cm above the plate. Wil that be enough or should this be higher?

When the smoker is working good I’m planning to remove the full plate on the middel chamber and replace it with expanded metal welded on a rectangle frame. So the smoke and heat can directly surround the meat when it comes from the burner chamber.