A buddy told me to ditch my offset for a drum smoker, I laughed at him

My friend Mike kept saying his ugly drum smoker made better ribs than my fancy offset. I told him he was nuts, I had temp control dialed in. Last Saturday I finally did a side by side with the same rub and wood. His drum put out a way better bark and the meat was juicier, mine was drier on the edges. Has anyone else switched from an offset to a drum and stuck with it?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_green8226d ago

Does that offset temp control actually give you better airflow for smoke flavor or is the drum's geometry just trapping heat and moisture more efficiently without you having to fiddle with dampers all day? I turned my old offset into a planter after three years of chasing thin blue smoke when the drum just sat there doing its thing with less wood. The drum's real win is how the fat renders straight down onto the coals instead of pooling in the cook chamber and steaming the meat.

paulw6326d ago

Chasing thin blue smoke" man that rings a bell. I went through the same thing with my offset before I switched, spent half my time dialing in dampers just to get consistent temps. For me the drum's geometry does trap heat and moisture better without all the fuss, I toss a chunk of wood in with the charcoal and get clean smoke without babysitting it. The fat dripping straight on the coals gives that instant sizzle and vapor, way better than the greasy stew I got in my old offset's cook chamber.