I am new to smoking and want to get a offset smoker type for about $500.00. I want aqt least 3/8 or 1/4" thick if I can find that for under $500.00. I have looked at Academy, but want to know if there is a place that I should go to look at smokers or have one built? Any help will be appreciated.

Academy has some good options. A basic weber is hard to beat for the money amd an offest will be better. Don't plan on keeping one for long. You'll either get bored or want an upgrade soon.

I bought an older New Braunfels offset from a member here for $150 a while back. It is an older one, 3/8" plate, very heavy. After 2 or 3 cooks I was ready to scrap it, wouldn't hold heat, fuel just smoldered, etc. I did a LOT of reading and found a few mods that were cheap and made it a dream to cook on. I lowered the stack to grate level inside, raised the stack outside, built a "charcoal box" out of expanded metal that would raise the fire 4" off the bottom. I made a convection plate out of some scrap I had and now I wouldn't sell it for $500 because I couldn't replace it. Whichever one you buy just make sure it isn't the stamped steel "Big Box" ones, they just cannot hold heat and will rust through before you ever get it to work.

Tuning plate(s)

Stack before(Rigged to see if it made a difference)

$12 worth of exhaust parts and a little rigging for "roof"

Finished products

Nice Stoney! What does raising the outside stack do?

I dont know from personel experience but a friend of mine loves his ugly drum smoker. They are cheap and might be a good option to learn on.

Thanks. I was having trouble getting it to draw smoke so I started playing with the stack, it seemed the higher I raised it the better it drew smoke. It may be a mental thing but it is sure working better now than it did with the small stack on it.

Cool. Thanks I have one with a shorter stack that doesnt cook very well so I was just curious. Im gonna give it a try.

Raising the height of the fire grate helped a lot too

Dad has an old new braunfels smoker like the one above. It is a cooking machine as it came new.

I love the New Braunsfel offset with the stand up box, used it for years until I built me a big pit

I have a New Braunfels vertical smoker, it doesn't draw smoke very well at all, seems a lot comes out the door. But, after a few mods this thing rocks, although it uses a lot of wood to maintain temp. A good size brisket will cost me about $40 worth of wood

Holy crap! What kind of wood are you using?

Typically pecan, apple, or cherry wood. It's not cheap around here and you have 2 options; either buy the small pieces in a bag or pay for split and dried logs, both are costly

Also, 500 degrees in my fire box equates to about 150 degrees in the smoke box, therefore a lot of wood is required.

Buccee's actually has some pretty nice options

Buckeyes or Academy. The Old Country line at Academy is a good deal for the money.

Did you find a smoker? I saw a post on Texas BBQ forum that looked very similar to your post here. If that was you congrats and good luck with it

Smoker to last a lifetime.

http://www.smokeyjoesmokers.com/products.html

I have not bought yet. I am leaning toward the Old Country Wrangler at Academy sports. The cost is $499.00 and is 3/16 thick steal.

Depending in how big you need to go, I'd look into a Big Green Egg. You'd spend a little more than $500, but you can smoke, grill, and bake pizzas. I absolutely love mine and it's the easiest smoker I've ever run. I can get mine to temperature and not touch it for 16 hours.

LyfeTyme BBQ pits out of Uvalde, TX makes a real good pit!

I had to make the same decision last year for a deer lease smoker. After extensive research I decided on the Old Country Pecos. I was looking at the Wrangler as well but can't remember what made me choose the Pecos. But I really like my smoker. I added an additional thermometer towards the end just because that's I place the meat. I also like the grilling grate on the firebox. Cooks great steaks and burgers.

I got the Wrangler at Academy and got it reduced by 20% because the floor model had surface rust on the grates. $399

My Brinkmann Trail Master Limited Edition does a good job for what I use it for. I think I paid 300 for it.