offset help for a newbie

[T1LL3Y]

hi everyone ive just joined the forum
im pretty new to smoking so looking for plenty of advise. ive been looking for my first porpper grill/smoker. I started by looking to get a brinkmann dual zone grill thinking I would b able to still use it as an offset smoker due to its size but by the time I came to buy it I couldn't find it anywhere. a friend of mine has recently just got the brinkmann gourmet bullet smoker and it works great. but after a lot of looking around I think I have decided to go for an offset. as I can smoke on it but also use it as a grill aswell. the question now is which one? they had a brinkmann trail master limited edition in my local Costco but again went to buy it and its not there anymore. was told they have been recalled due to faulty parts? so now the next half decent one I can find is the chargriller xl but have seen on youtube there are a few mods that need to be made. no matter where I look I cant seem to find anything really good apart from in the USA. im looking to spend around £300-£400 can you give me any advise on any better offsets for that sort of money? I like the cast iron grills on the chargriller but the legs on it look a little bit cheap. whereas the brinkmann had a quality allround feel and look but the grills were porcelean coated which I wasn't to keen on but I could be wrong. any help would be massively appreciated. thankyou.

[T1LL3Y]

y if this has been posted many times, had a quick look but couldn't find what I was looking for. help me please.

[Tiny]

Hi,
The folk are here are splendid, such that your question raises an moral dilemma.......most of us would not choose an offset smoker.....this makes giving advice tricky.

I am sure there are good ones out there but they are notoriously tricky to keep stable temps, if you compare to an bullet type or an UDS the heat goes straight up and this makes the temp pretty uniform in the chamber. I have an offset, albeit an cheap landmann Tennessee and it was frankly a complete pain in the buttocks. the variance from the fire box end to the chimney end was massive and thus almost impossible to smoke properly on, then its design made it a hopeless grill and it is now rusting in the bbq graveyard.

If there are some offset fans expect them to charge in shouting no tiny you are an blind fool, but I am not sure they will.

Buy an Weber kettle and look for an forum member called simple bbq who was selling a stacker for it to turn it into an smoker, I think this would be the best use of your £300.......

Just my personal opinions, no wish to urinate on yor offset party would just hate to see you make the same mistakes I have
Cheers
Tiny

[T1LL3Y]

Hi tiny, thanks for your advise, think you may be right, the last thing i want to do is get something thats going to be a nightmare to use. Ill have a look into the webber.