I recently bought an Oklahoma Joes Highland offset smoker to find out if a cheap offset smoker can get the same results as a premium backyard offset and the first attempt did not end well.
I have a slate of modifications planned to solve the issues more common on a cheap offset smoker like my Oklahoma Joes Highland (1) un-even grid temps (2) poor combustion & fire management (3) smoke leaks and (4) lack of draw … come back February 5th for the rematch as I think for a couple bucks we can solve most of these issues
Rub details below
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Topic 3 – 3 recipes to get you started
Rub #1 (Lawrys & SPG house blend dry brine)
* 2 tablespoons salt
* 2 teaspoons white sugar
* ¾ teaspoon paprika
* ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
* ¼ teaspoon onion powder
* ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
* ¼ teaspoon cornstarch
Total 3.75 tablespoons home made Lawrys
Or 3 tbsp store bought lawrys
5 tbsp diamond kosher
7 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper
1 tbsp garlic
#SMOKINGDADBBQ #cheapoffset #oklahomajoes
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27 Comments
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Its never about the pit. Its always about the Pit Master!
Maybe lack of airflow under fuel contributed to ash taste? looks like you did everything right? temp too low? i have never had a bad rib cook with OK Joe. Brisket is another story!!
I have had a Highlander fot three years now and never had an issue with it and that might be because i used a grate in yhe firebox since day 1.
I use lump charcoal to get it to the right temperature then one stick of wood every 30 minutes. It's almost like clockwork the way I cook with it.
HOMIE DIDN’T EVEN SEASON THE GRILL.
Don’t wear a flannel if you can’t use an offset.
I think you're firebox is getting too much air and creating too much black smoke. It's harder to control the fire on these little cheap things with little insulation and air gaps everywhere. You're probably burning through wood pretty quickly. I'd use charcoal to maintain heat and add smoldering wood that was started on the side for the smoke flavor. Or just start a wood fire on the side and shovel smoldering coals as you need them. Putting dry wood in that thing is just going to result in a camp fire.
I always use the small grates in a V shape in the fire box. One on the bottom horizontal so i can pull ash below it and the other two in a V shape so the wood is some what self feeding and better airflow. So I can have a big enough fire and not get too hot I keep the firebox lid cracked by wedging a split chunk between the firebox lid to mix cooler air and allow some heat and smoke out through the firebox lid. If i need to control temp i use the stack damper to draw more or less heat from the fire box. (½-¾ open for mine) Side note I use the reverse flow highland, so I don't have the same temp difference in the cooking chamber and my air flow might not behave the same as yours. My temp difference left to right at the grate is still about 25 degrees.
I don’t think this guy knows how to use the smoker properly
If you don't have a charcoal basket, get two greats and interect them into a V shape, and burn you fuel on that. Maybe a tuner plate would help, if you cant find one you could improvice wilth a cookie sheet or the top of a broiler pan. Ive rolled with cheaper smokers, briskets are shady, but I can smoke ribs on anything with a lid and indirect heat. I don't want to question your wisdom and knowledge, but I feel like yiubperhaps did something wrong, and I feel like its the way you are burning that fuel. More charcoal less wood.
Man, all I saw was too much white smoke, and it looked like your fire was blazing almost all the time. You've got that water pan in the way so that all of the heat has to go under it and bake the bottom of the ribs. Get that thing out of there, and make sure you've got a good firebase, but not so much of a big fire. You really might want to consider changing the wood, if you're getting that much creosote. I use an original Oklahoma Joe but in the past I've gone through and sold two of the Oklahoma Joe's made in China. The thicker ones are of course better, but you can get excellent results with the home store Oklahoma Joe's.
Did he cook the paint? Since the fire was on the very bottom, did that get into the food?
I love how you laughed it off even while inside you were like 🤮
This is why the Masterbuilt was invented!!!
Nothing wrong with the okie. I few mods and they are golden. A higher price smoker doesn't make you any better food. It might hold temp better, but that's about it.
I have a "Joe's: and I love it.. Your first use should be @300-350 degrees for about 4 hours with no meat—-season your grill! Second, your top hat is wide open, should be about a quarter, just enough for decent flow.. Control your heat at the firebox. You should not have open flames, but rather coals, even when you add new wood, the firebox should be choked down enough that the new wood basically sucks up the coals. Similar process when you used the old charcoal grills, the fire would be there just long enough to start them and then the embers would travel to the new briquettes…
the way I get clean blue smoke is preheat splits in my grill @ 300 degrees , then placing one split on coal bed leaving door open until ignition …Ive also use smaller splits and not large chunks of wood…I also think thicker pit metal like 1/4" and slightly bigger cook chamber makes the process slightly easier as pit temperature swings are slower to change
Hi James. Thanks so much for the great content.
I'm a recent user of the Oklahoma Joe Highland smoker – I bought it last June, and used it through October (since Ottawa weather doesn't make for pleasant BBQing, I'm on hiatus 'till April).
I've gotten good results so far – I've never experienced the ashy tastes you describe. Perhaps the ashy taste is due to the smoker not being seasoned enough. The manual (page 3) suggests spraying with vegetable oil, then the seasoning process "should be sustained for at least two hours, the longer the better." Perhaps leftover manufacturing powders caused the ashy taste.
I experienced the same difficulties as you in managing temperatures and evenness, but I when I installed the stack extension, the problems became much easier to avoid. I'm planning on having a smoke collector installed this coming summer, because (as you pointed out), the placement of the stack is sub-optimal.
I'm using 8" sticks, but it looks to me like your 6" sticks would be much better.
Thanks again for the great content and the experienced tips and techniques,
Josh
Hi James great effort looks like some good suggestions bellow to help improve things thanks for sharing Cheers
When adding wood or charcoal, don't close the firebox lid until it catches a nice clean burn. If it smolders, you will see blue smoke from smokestack instead of a very light, wispy smoke. The blue smoke will make it taste like a dumpster fire.
Did you clean and season your smoker?
Hey James, I remember a while back in the comments you were talking about how you’re experimenting with this thermapen alternative. I see you’re using it again in this video, what are your thoughts on it compared to the thermapen? Thanks!
I have had this same smoker for over 6 years and I make a lot of ribs. I have never had that problem of taste. Now I do have a problem that after about 2 hours it is very hard to maintain 275-300 temp settings without constantly feeding the smoker every half hour. Sometimes I put a piece of metal in the firebox lid for more air. I just wish I could afford something like your other on. Also you can get some baffle plates to almost make it like a reverse flow.
Build the fire closer to the door, get an 18" extension exhaust pipe from autozone and place the water pan touching the chamber wall next to the fire pit. Damper on the stack 1/3 and firebox 1/8 with the amount of woof you use, world of a difference. Splits I use on this method are 12", angle them.
I added a full mod kit to my Oklahoma Joe. Seals, baffle kit with custom water
Pan etc. the baffle helped stabilize the heat difference. Been cooking wonderful tasting and smoky bbq ever since.
Nice, thanks for the post. Next, make beef ribs on it please
You might not have a good draw if you're getting soot like that, there's plenty of vids of people attaching longer pipe on their stacks
I have never used an offset smoker, but am currently reading Franklin Barbecue's book. If you haven't read it, it is worth it if you are getting into offset smokers. He talks about how to modify the cheaper offset smokers. The other thing is he does not like kiln dried wood. He actually prefers a little moisture in the wood. The amount you had to play with that fire is too much. You should be able to fill the fire box up more and control the temp with the damper on the chimney like you would on the Joe. I think the firebox being opened every 15 minutes contributed to the issue.