New to the hobby! Looking at Brinkmann 57" Vertical Smoker

Hey folks... I'm just barely starting with smoked meats, and all of a sudden I realize I should have done this a LOOOONG time ago.

I smoked a chicken about two weeks ago, without great results. I realized afterwards that my design of the smoker wasn't very good at all, and that I was relying on the grill dome thermometer. Well, a week of research at amazingribs.com followed by the purchase of a good dual-probe remote thermometer turned it around. I did a 4.5# pork shoulder last weekend and my wife's reaction was "so when are you doing another???"

Right now my rig is about as basic as one can get -- a propane grill with cast-iron wood chip trays that go over 1 burner while the other two burners are turned off, but it can hold 225 without a problem (though likely a big fuel waste). But I'm learning. I'll be doing a brisket this weekend or next, probably an overnight smoke while I make a batch of beer starting about 2AM alongside it. (Need to make use of time when my kids are asleep, right?)

I'm thinking I need to get some better equipment, though. My current rig is very capacity-limited, with only a single 16" x 18" cooking surface once I limit it to 1 burner. But I listen to, and agree with, the guy at amazingribs.com that says buying a cheap offset smoker is a bad idea. And I don't have $2000 for what I want.

That said -- he's got one "cheap" offset smoker on his site that gets a silver medal for value:

Brinkmann Trailmaster 57" Vertical Smoker

Available for $269 from Home Depot, and from everything I've read, a few simple mods should help make it nearly airtight and a pretty good rig. And with 5 ~18.5" circular racks, capacity shouldn't be an issue.

Thoughts? Anyone worked with this smoker?

It's almost as addictive as brewing, ain't it?

I don't have any experience with that unit, but I sure have been happy with my 18.5 inch Weber Smoky Mountain, which was about the same price. Two 18.5 inch grates, and I've had it go almost 24 hours on one load of coals. I've also done 15-hour overnight cooks in the middle of Wisconsin January.

JonM said:

It's almost as addictive as brewing, ain't it?

I don't have any experience with that unit, but I sure have been happy with my 18.5 inch Weber Smoky Mountain, which was about the same price. Two 18.5 inch grates, and I've had it go almost 24 hours on one load of coals. I've also done 15-hour overnight cooks in the middle of Wisconsin January.

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Thanks, and yeah it's addictive. I've been scouring the web like I did at the beginning of my brewing career! This weekend (and that brisket) can't come soon enough.

I really like the idea of an offset rather than a bullet, which is one of the reasons this intrigues me so much. And while all the reviews suggest it might need a few mods to seal up nicely, I'm not too scared of that...

Sounds like the area of a single grate is about the same between this and the 18.5 WSM. Any trouble fitting brisket or ribs on the WSM?

I do sometimes trim a little off of the flat of a brisket to make it fit. You can just as easily fold it over - I just like to grind my own beef for burgers and i just toss the brisket trimmings in with that.

You also have to kind of bend baby back ribs to make them fit. Although I did see someone here in HBT kind of coil up the ribs and stand them on their ends. Looks like a cool idea.

Other than that, no trouble. I can fit two spatchcocked chickens on each grate, or two pork butts. I've done a couple good sized hams, and even fit the Thanksgiving turkey on the grate with plenty of more room. Should be pplenty of room for ya on that Brinkman.

Smokingmeatforums.com is another good site to do research through. I used a bullet smoker on and off for 10 plus years. Mine was the old kind you had to lift the top section to refuel or re chunk , etc. Any way I went on a hunt for a good quality smoker I didn't have to lift things in and out of all time, and room for only 2 butts wasn't gonna cut it anymore. I purchased a Master Built XL 40, propane powered and have never looked back. 1330 square inches of cooking area. That's 9 or 10 butts, 7 or 8 briskets, 24 racks of ribs standing vertical, well you get it. I bought it at Amazon for $199.00 and used Amazon Prime to get 2 day free shipping. Many people like the electric models as they are more of a set it and forget it thing, but I cant take an electric smoker camping very well.
Both models aren't perfect but I am glad I bought what I bought.

MindenMan said:

Smokingmeatforums.com is another good site to do research through. I used a bullet smoker on and off for 10 plus years. Mine was the old kind you had to lift the top section to refuel or re chunk , etc. Any way I went on a hunt for a good quality smoker I didn't have to lift things in and out of all time, and room for only 2 butts wasn't gonna cut it anymore. I purchased a Master Built XL 40, propane powered and have never looked back. 1330 square inches of cooking area. That's 9 or 10 butts, 7 or 8 briskets, 24 racks of ribs standing vertical, well you get it. I bought it at Amazon for $199.00 and used Amazon Prime to get 2 day free shipping. Many people like the electric models as they are more of a set it and forget it thing, but I cant take an electric smoker camping very well.
Both models aren't perfect but I am glad I bought what I bought.

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Thanks. My brain told me "get a charcoal smoker, idjit!" even though I've loved the simplicity of the two smokes I've done on gas. And sharing the vertical design and front-door access should give it tons of capacity and easy access.

How well does it seal? Did you need to make any mods overall?

MindenMan,

Reviews from a few folks on the MasterBuilt say that they can't get the thing to stay below 250 on low... A little concerning.

Now, I know most people are probably looking at the built-in (totally inaccurate) thermometer rather than a calibrated one inside at grate level, so this might be nothing. I'm just wondering your take on it.

Also, looks like it's only $157 on Amazon right now... I was thinking of holding off until November to get a smoker, but that's just at the very high end of "impulse buy" right now!

. I love mine

I've been using a New Braunfels like this one https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...tMLYdzYeRbva-XAN1KMnurTFUz03oZyqU4OaVQpJJDN6g
for about 15 years and love it. The temp. control is basically adjusting the main inlet vent and the stack's vent. I can usually hold the temp at 200 for hours and hours using a decent size piece of hickory or oak. I've had nothing but compliments and questions about why I don't open a bbq smoke house. There are some great books on smoking as well, "Smoke and Spice" by Jamison & Jamison is my bible.

So the Masterbuilt GS40 has been ordered on Amazon and will be delivered to me sometime tomorrow...

Thanks for the recommendation!

JonM said:

It's almost as addictive as brewing, ain't it?

I don't have any experience with that unit, but I sure have been happy with my 18.5 inch Weber Smoky Mountain, which was about the same price. Two 18.5 inch grates, and I've had it go almost 24 hours on one load of coals. I've also done 15-hour overnight cooks in the middle of Wisconsin January.

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I also have a WSM and I agree with this. I have also done close to 24 hours smokes and overnight smokes.

Wsm!

Did you use the minion method for the 24 hour and did you add coals

And did you also have the round basket in?

I have a 30" masterbilt propane smoker that I got in a Black Friday deal for $100 a few years ago. I have since automated it, but I noticed in the beginning that if you didn't have water in the water bowl you would have the gas almost on minimum to maintain 230. With water, you would have to have it 2/3-3/4 open.

n240sxguy said:

I have a 30" masterbilt propane smoker that I got in a Black Friday deal for $100 a few years ago. I have since automated it, but I noticed in the beginning that if you didn't have water in the water bowl you would have the gas almost on minimum to maintain 230. With water, you would have to have it 2/3-3/4 open.

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Thanks. I'll definitely have water. These are known for having pans that are way too small, so I'm going to put in a bigger water pan.

Just rubbed the brisket, and I'm getting excited. Wife bought an 11.5 lb prime brisket from Costco. The marbling is exquisite!

I see people complain all the time about the little smoke leak around the door. Why? Yes, mine leaks a little and plugging all the "leaks" doesn't change the temperature, or the smoke density. There are many mods to the chip trays. Some use a cast iron pan as a chip pan, and swear by it. I tried the cast iron pan a couple of different ways, and couldn't track the temps I wanted. YMMV. What I did to mine was change the water pan to a foil throw away lasagne pan from the dollar store, and I baffled the heat around and above the water pan. On the water pan level I put foil in the front and the back, and the rack above, I put foil or each end. What it does if you were to look from the top down all you could see is the water pan. I was tired of food not cooking as evenly as I had wanted. Granted, I have ADHD and there always has to be something to do "better". By baffling the heat, I have to run the gas wide open to maintain 230 F. I have no problem holding 140-160 now with the baffles. I take a 9" cake pan, put 2 or 3 chunks of wood in it cover it with foil, poke a 1" or so hole in it and place the hole away from the fire, and can keep a wisp of smoke going for up to 2 hours. I quit using my propane powered bullet because I use the burner as the heat source for my home brew rig. PM me, and I'll take some pictures for you. BTW, congratulations on your smoker, the quality of food you can produce is amazing, and what a deal! Holy cow!
EDIT: I have done whole fillets of salmon cold smoking. Take the baffles and close them, throw a piece of foil over the burner, get a can of the wood chips of your choice, stick a cheapo soldering iron in it, and viola' a cold smoke generator. Cool, huh?

bwarbiany said:

MindenMan,

Reviews from a few folks on the MasterBuilt say that they can't get the thing to stay below 250 on low... A little concerning.

Now, I know most people are probably looking at the built-in (totally inaccurate) thermometer rather than a calibrated one inside at grate level, so this might be nothing. I'm just wondering your take on it.

Also, looks like it's only $157 on Amazon right now... I was thinking of holding off until November to get a smoker, but that's just at the very high end of "impulse buy" right now!

Click to expand...

bwarbiany said:

Thanks. I'll definitely have water. These are known for having pans that are way too small, so I'm going to put in a bigger water pan.

Just rubbed the brisket, and I'm getting excited. Wife bought an 11.5 lb prime brisket from Costco. The marbling is exquisite!

Click to expand...

I don't put water in mine. I just use it as a grease catcher. Like I said, I automated mine, so it just chugs along; and I don't have to worry about where the valve is set. I only tried it with water one time, and swore I'd never waste that much propane ever again.

You state you "automated" yours; what does that mean exactly? I'm curious now.

MindenMan said:

You state you "automated" yours; what does that mean exactly? I'm curious now.

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I'm glad you asked! I just took a couple pictures of it to post on here. I bought a temp controller, thermocouple, junction box, solenoid valve, and various fittings. I took the propane line off the valve underneath the smoker, and put a T, a needle valve to control the pilot light, a solenoid valve to control the main burner, and copper tubing to the burner where the original propane line was connected. The needle valve has a smaller piece of tubing to be the pilot light next to the burner.







I'm sure I did a crappy job painting a mental picture of everything, so ask any questions you have.

n240sxguy said:

I'm glad you asked! I just took a couple pictures of it to post on here. I bought a temp controller, thermocouple, junction box, solenoid valve, and various fittings. I took the propane line off the valve underneath the smoker, and put a T, a needle valve to control the pilot light, a solenoid valve to control the main burner, and copper tubing to the burner where the original propane line was connected. The needle valve has a smaller piece of tubing to be the pilot light next to the burner.


I'm sure I did a crappy job painting a mental picture of everything, so ask any questions you have.

Click to expand...

So do you just have on/off control to the burner valve, or is it articulated to control the volume of gas going through? If it's just on/off, does this have any effect on the ability to generate smoke from the wood chunks since you're not applying constant heat?

It is just on and off. There is constant heat from the pilot light, that I keep fairly large so it won't get blown out, and the main burner stays on for a while til it gets up to temp. Zero issues with smoke.

Good looking setup you have there. I too wonder about maintaining smoke. Is the edge of your chip pan sitting over the pilot light to stay hot, or how does that work?

The pilot is right next to the burner in the front. The chips/chunks are usually right above it.

IMHO go WSM!

Once my MES goes out, if ever, I'll be going with.. Well, another one. It's almost mistake proof and 1. they have upgraded the unit, and 2. I'm about to experiment with other mods to it to produce very efficient cold smokes. $300 from Sam's and you get the same great smoke with 1/4 of the wood. One whole log will last me days of smoking, and I still get great smoke rings on long smokes and NEVER burn food. They are airtight. I use wood with charcoal. You'll spend less on electricity than you will fuel for any offset, as they are inefficient at best..

Now, I would go offset if I was doing whole hog or massive amounts of food. For that, there is no comparison to that design. For home use... MES can't be beat. Next time you feel like brining and smoking some chicken breasts, think about the difference between turning on an MES and gong through a handful of charcoal and wood chips or dealing with firing up that 57" smoker. You don't feel guilty smoking small amounts of food and it isn't a production.

Oh and.. NEVER cut the fat off brisket. Brisket is one of my specialities and I never have understood the logic in trimming 'some' of the fat. You still have a fat cap, any seasonings or rub still won't get to the meat.. Leave the whole cap and the bigger, the better. I look for briskets with full coverage of fat on one side, if it ovehangs the meat, even better. If you get cuts like that, after 18-24 hours of smoke it is never dry on my smoker.

Oh, for those worried about getting under 250 on an MES, you use an Amaze-n-smoker. Also, mine never has a problem staying under 250. It produces less smoke, so I add charcoal chunks to the wood. Not only does it produce a smoke ring on the food, it burns the wood when the element is out.

I don't smoke over propane for the same reason I don't grille over propane. It smells like ****.. Well, more accurately sulfur. Charcoal>propane. Even if that charcoal is ignited by an electrical element.