Are you glad you swapped?

[MedicMike]

For those of you who may have gone from standard offset to RF, are you happy with the swap? Do you prefer the traditional offset? What are the benefits of a RF vs standard offsets? I’m considering making mine a RF I’m waiting on a builder to call me back. I already have all the material. I just need someone to build it for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dacolson]

For those of you who may have gone from standard offset to RF, are you happy with the swap? Do you prefer the traditional offset? What are the benefits of a RF vs standard offsets? I’m considering making mine a RF I’m waiting on a builder to call me back. I already have all the material. I just need someone to build it for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Personally, I prefer the standard. I know a couple guys on here love the RF. With my current standard offset smoker with the throat baffle, I feel like I have much finer control over heat control and can maintain much tighter temps left to right. I will say I spend a bit more time tweaking the stack damper to nudge temps one way or the other, but that may be just because it’s so responsive to the adjustments that I can help but tweak it constantly. I’m really happy with this one over my first which was an RF. Temp adjustments were slow and even with a shadow plate, I got more of a hotspot next to the FB than I do now. Time will tell but that’s my opinion right now after a 10 or so cooks on the new one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dacolson]

That said, you get the chance to compare them side by side and sell the other to pay for more meat! [emoji491]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Big T]

I'm in the RF camp because once it's dialed in I just have to add a couple of splits about every 45-60 minutes and it stays right at my desired temp. My old standard offset seems really touchy with even the smallest adjustment and if my splits aren't really close to the same size it tends to sway the temps. My RF is on a trailer so I can tip the nose up or down a little and get my temps within 5-10 degrees from end to end. Also something that seems a little strange is that my RF doesn't seem to dry out whatever I am cooking as much as my regular offset does. However with all of that said, I recently acquired at 250 gallon tank and I plan on building a standard offset using all of the information that I've learned over the last several years. It's like dacolson said above, there are diehard fans of both types of pits so you really just have to try them and see what works best for you.

[towtruck]

I have a hybrid reverse flow/center feed and I have a covered Santa Maria style and I now have a brick wood fired oven and they will all get it done. Each has a learning curve to it and each has its own way of making the meat just the way you like it. I bet I can cook a whole chicken on each one and make them come out close enough to the same that nobody could tell which one was cooked in each pit.

What I am doing now is using each pit for what it does best and I will use the selected pit for how much of one meal I can do in it at one time. I can cook hamburgers, French fries, and corn on the cob in both the covered Santa Maria and the pizza oven. Or I can do ribs and corn in either the reverse flow or the covered Santa Maria. My big hunks of meat get slow smoked in either pit but I won't bother cooking them in the pizza oven. Right now I'm using the snot out of the pizza oven because I have free fuel for it as I run charcoal in the other two. Plus I am learning how to use it since it's new. I have all my bases covered now. The covered Santa Maria has a small spit in it for turning chickens and I will be making a longer (4') spit to turn bigger meats in the future.

Of my three pits the reverse flow/ center feed is the hardest to get right but I can also dial in temps to the degree. My covered Santa Maria is not anywhere near as air tight as the reverse flow but it is the most versatile of them all and I could live with just it alone. The pizza oven is just plain amazing to cook in. I can cook anywhere from 200* up to 1000*.

Find a style you like and stick with it....or be like some of us and have many to choose from. I have my smokers on a trailer and the pizza oven in the back yard so I'm covered for cooking away from home or at home.

I do a mean try tip on the Santa Maria and my next one is going into the pizza oven. I did a prime rib in it that turned out great....I think the trip tip will be even better. It's just fun to try different methods to achieve the same goal.

[Dirtytires]

I own one of each and my standard offset hasn't been fired up in over 5 years. Main benefit for me is the constant temp across the entire cook chamber and the ability to use the entire grate without constantly flipping meat around to keep it cooking evenly. The RF also puts out a better tasting and moister meat....probably due to the juices vaporizing on the baffle plate. And it is worth mentioning that they are also super easy to clean up by simply scraping off the plate when done cooking. Temp is super easy to maintain and almost controls itself so those long cooks are no longer such a headache.

In my opinion, RF makes a lot of sense and eliminates many of the bad habits of a tradional offset without adding any drawbacks or it's own. Keep in mind you will need to re-learn your pit but I can't imagine any reason to regret a conversion.