Looking to buy a good thick heavy steel BBQ pit, main chamber with a firebox would be perfect. Somewhere south would be great, but have yet to see anything other than the Academy/Home Depot cheap ones. My parents have one made from a place in Uvalde that is perfect, but have not been able to find anything similar..Thanks for any help...
Try Cabela's in Buda. They have a solid-looking one from a company in Laredo, Old Country is the brand name, and it is very reasonable. They also have one with a vertical smoker attached to the left side.
Magnum Custom Trailers in Austin (several locations) sells Lyfe Tyme pits (that are made in Uvalde). I got this one there:
I think that the place is called "Georgetown Grill and Fireplace" or something similar. Just go north on 35 and take the Westinghouse exit and stay on the service road. You will see it on your right. I wouldn't buy anything without atleast looking there first.
Traffic, Thanks, that is the company that made theirs. Exactly what I was looking for!!! I will give magnum a try...Nice setup by the way!
My only complaint with a lot of 'factory' rigs is the little shelf in front of the food chamber area... Way too shallow. On more than one occasion I've lost a brisket or chicken to that problem. I don't know your budget, however HEB has an offset unit (looks like the LifeTyme if you removed the center horizontal section). It's about $ 350.00 or so... made in China, I'm sure. I'll try to get a pic of it & post.
My skillz don't quite match the level of my pit. But I'm working on it. hornian...I'm sure you could smoke circles around me if you used this pit. fluff - glad to help you out. When you mentioned Uvalde I though LyfeTyme might be what your folks have. I do remember seeing the HEB on 620 (almost across from Magnum) advertising a sale on some of these LyfeTyme pits, so maybe you could get a deal. Keep in mind they are incredibly heavy.
I inherited a Lyfetyme that is not quite the one pictured with the chimney, dayum, but just below it. I am very excited to be able to screw up some meat in the process of learning what to do. With Orangeblood and hornian as my willing or unwilling tutors I cannot go wrong...well, I should not be able to go wrong but I will find a way. In one day I went from having no bbq pit at all to having a bitchin Lyfetyme.
I've found that it's pretty hard to screw up brisket or ribs if you smoke them according to "conventional wisdom". I've had very good luck -- rarely transcendent, but always very good -- using some variation of the basics. I suppose having a decent smoker helps. Traffic's rig looks like smoker heaven. I can't imagine how much it weighs. I almost killed myself dragging BBQ Galore's modified "Bandera" into my house, and that's a lot smaller than the behemoth shown in this thread. I'd need to hire a 3-man moving crew if I went for something like that.
austintexas - that is the exact one I want....hopefully I can find that one somewhere...where did you get it?
fluff, That is exactly the rig that I just gave to Loopy. Sat in my backyard for the last 7 years and I used it no more than 2-3 times. It became much easier to use my trailer pit when smoking, so this one was essentially abandoned. It needs a bit of TLC, (new handles, cleaning, re-blacking, and seasoning), but it is still solid structurally. Love the looks of that rig Mike.
Orangeblood - I think that it will last forever with a little bit of care... Traffic/austintexas - When you want to cook hamburgers or steaks, do you build a fire in the firebox and grill there? Does anyone ever build a fire in the main chamber and grill there, or is that a no no?? Sorry if it is a stupid question...
fluff - I do all my non-smoking in the side firebox. It works really well for two or three good sized steaks. I never grill burgers (for some strange reason), but I'm sure it would work well for that too. MikeUT00 - that is a sweet looking pit. Where did you get that? Love the Longhorn touches. hook 'em
fluff - I seem to recall austintexas mentioning that he got his pit from his father. They do have that same style at Magnum Custom Trailers. And to reiterate....these are so heavy. I actually hired a moving company to pick it up from Magnum and deliver it to my house. Mine weighs about 500 lbs.
fluff, yes it was a hand-me-down from my late father. That pit and my baseball tickets are my trust fund. My pops was the greatest It's a Lyfetime. Google it or check Magnum. The handles are different from Traffic's because the wood rotted over time and I had to weld some new ones on. Did it myself, which was scarry, but got the job done. Here's a closeup of the new handles: That pit is about 17 years old. I grinded a lot of the rust off of it and repainted it, hence the "character" you see. It will hold your target temperature for hours. Next to my wedding ring, it's my most prized possession. Mike, that pit is unreal. My jaw dropped when I saw those pics.
I will post a before and after pic of my new Lyfetyme (ty sooo much Orangeblood). I plan on putting some fresh paint on it after some sanding on the rust which is not bad but I want it purty. It needs handles but I am going to go ahead and get replacement handles from Lyfetyme to keep it "stock". I went to OB's knowing I was getting a smoker. I had zero idea it was a Lyfetyme.
Loop, IIWY, I'd wire brush it but not sand it. Don't worry about the exterior exept to get the green mossy parts off. If you want to go hardcore on the sanding thing, then you can borrow my 4-1/2" grinder & put a wire wheel on it. If we can arrange a time, I can load it in my truck & get it moved to your place...
You might tryTexas-Tailgaters.com I've had my two pits (one for the backyard and a second for my truck receiver) for several years and have enjoyed the cooking results, durability, and price!
Hey fluff, I have an offset-firebox set-up similar to some others posted above. The firebox has a lid that opens and a top grate (not all of them have this), and I generally do all of my grilling on that side. But, a couple of times when I've needed extremely large amounts of grilling space, I've also built charcoal fires in the main smoking chamber, and it works fine. The keys are to have a grate at the bottom of the smoking chamber to keep your coals off the bottom, which is essential for air-flow. Also, you should clean it out immediately and don't let the ash sit on the bottom of your main smoking chamber.
Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread...I ended up going to Magnum today and shelling out the cash for a brand new Lyfe Tyme, 20x40 with an offset firebox, similar to Traffic's but no vertical smoker. I am super excited, now just need to figure out what I want to cook... Anybody have any suggestions for seasoning it? It pretty much just says to build a good fire with a decent wood and smoke it for 5 hours or so... PS, if you are in the market for a new pit, magnum has tons of Lyfe Tyme's and according to the Lyfe Tyme owner, they are currently backordered 4-6 months from the factory...
Well, I guess I'm just a tad late with my photos. Granted, these aren't Lyfe Tyme units, however for the price conscious they are probably good deals. I am fairly sure they're made in China, so you can make your own determination of this is a good or bad or otherwise thing. ^ White & blue price tag is for unit below - side by side: ========================================= ^ Yellow price tag is for unit below - "vertical" smoker: ---- I am actually considering this vertical unit for my house; I tried a rear ended chicken tonight (see other thread) & the charcoal grill lid was too shallow. Plus, I had a hard time keeping the temp below 350 - learning a few things about this grill.
You guys aren't telling fluff where to buy a smoker, you're posting Smoker-porn. Some of you even posting your loved ones racks . All these put to shame the one we bought this year w/ our income tax return.
