Matty814

On 9/24/2022 at 12:32 PM, panicproject said:

Hi all,

New here. Am gonna resurrect an old thread.

I've had a Landmann Kentucky for about 4 years. Tried using it once has a smoker. Struggled to get it going.
Since then it has been used purely for grilling. It's seen a lot of action.
Gave its a good clean this morning.

Now, I want to really get into smoking meat. Is it worth using this?
I have read about the problems and mods being needed as well. Am I just best off buying a PROQ or something similar and just keeping this for grilling?

I have bits missing as well. Top of the chimney has gone, inside shelves, including the rubbers etc.

Thoughts?

I done a few smokes on it, just pork ribs so nothing too advanced, but I found due to its rather cheap construction and how thin the metal is, the temperature is quite erattic and it is hard to keep a stable temperature. In the end I ditched it and got a Masterbuilt gravity fed which feels like cheating! I now just used the landmann for grilling.

Now this is just my personal expierience and I'm alos not an expierienced 'smoker' so to speak, so others may dissagree.

Hi all,

Got another one of those awkward questions! I currently have an offset but want to move to something a little more 'set and forget' as the weather is turning!

So have been looking at the Masterbuilt 800 if I went gravity or probably something like the Traegar Pro 780 if I went pellet.

Anyone have experience with either?

TIA

On 6/2/2021 at 6:21 PM, Ken™️ said:

 

Hi Matty, and welcome to the joy of the Landmann Kentucky.

It’s not a particularly good barbecue, in my experience, but perhaps because of that it is a great device to learn on...

It is leaky, so you have to learn how to control airflow (and probably invest in some  gasket tape).

It has a large temperature drop-off in the main chamber, so you have to learn about heat zones.

But it is also a jack of all trades, meaning you can learn how to grill, smoke, and low and slow with a single rig.

I used to be able to hit 225F pretty consistently about a third of the way into the main chamber when smoking from the offset. The rig does burn through a lot of fuel (like any direct flow offset), but if you make sure the briquettes have enough oxygen, hitting 250 or even 275 in at least a third of the main chamber should be doable.

Although I will say that 375 is not on the cards with the charcoal bed in the firebox. You would need to have the charcoal in the main chamber and banked to the end nearest the firebox to hit that sort of temp, and at that point it can become partly radiative (or direct) heat rather than convective.

Seal up the gaps, have a play around with some cheaper/more forgiving cuts, and get to know your rig. You’ll be churning out great food in no time. The best Côte de Boeuf, paella, and ribs I’ve ever done in my life were on the Kentucky. 

Hi Ken thanks for the response.

I have done the modifications suggested such use fire rope around the doors and lids (sill need to do the side of the main chamber) and I have silicon-ed all the over seams so like you say I think it is just a case of trial and error.

I was going to get a Boston butt and do some pulled pork as I heard its quite hard to mess up (although I'll probably manage it!) but need some good weather to align itself with when I have 6-8 hours of time to dedicate.

I think I will struggle with knowing when to add more logs/charcoal to the firebox but I guess that is all part of the learning curve!

16 hours ago, Icefever said:

Hi Matty....It's a steap learning curve dude......try this vid, it helped me at the start...

Ice.

Cheers Ice, where did you get your tuning plates?

Hi guys. So fired up my Landmann Kentucky yesterday for the first time to season it and try to get to grips with a smoker as I have never used one before. 

To start with I sprayed the inside with vegetable oil and put about half a chimney of briquettes in the firebox with the lid open and the cook chamber lid also open. Once the heavy smoke had dissipated I closed both lids and left the side door and chimney cover fully open. I had a probe at the fire box end (215C) and one below where the chimney is (98C) so had a temperature difference of 117C across the cook chamber. I let this pretty much run hot for the seasoning.

How do you guys control this when cooking? Has anyone used baffles to try and even the range? Also not sure how much charcoal I should be using to start as I currently have wood chips but think I'm going to move on to logs and just use charcoal for the bed.

After the seasoning process I tried a chicken wing recipe from mad scientist BBQ YouTube channel where you boil the wings for 7 mins then transfer into smoker at 375F and cook for 20 mins or when the wings reach internal temp of 185F. I struggled to get the chamber to 375F (think highest I got was 340F but I think I just didn't have enough fuel) and wings internal was only 157F so I finished them off by grilling them in the firebox and turned out ok.

Will try a cheap joint next before I move on to ribs/brisket. Any advice is welcome and appreciated and apologies for the wall of text!

Cheers guys, I ordered some oak chips from Amazon for the mean time to get me started but will also check out Smokewoodshack and get some different 'flavours'

Weather looks pretty terrible here for the next week or so but once it clears up I will get it fired up and let you know how I get on.

Edit:

My Inkbird IBT-4XC just arrived so that should give me something to play with until the sun comes out!

10 hours ago, Icefever said:

Glad you got one..now the fun start's.............first off that sealer look ok to me, they are a bit messy I've found but once theve set should be ok,

Chimney starter? I wouldn't be without one...they are a great bit of kit..https://www.google.com/search?q=Charcoal+Starter&client=firefox-b-d&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidmfiwudLwAhUbCWMBHZERAfIQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1366&bih=626

Easy way to start the charcoal chimney is on a small camping stove, a lot of us use them...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clas-Ohlson-Portable-Single-Camping/dp/B086N2PFZ7/ref=sr_1_31?crid=383AJOB1H42R0&dchild=1&keywords=gas+stove+camping&qid=1621314158&sprefix=gas+stove%2Caps%2C271&sr=8-31

Seasoning is where you start a fire and just let it heat up the smoker, it can help to clear any "crap" left over from when it's made.

100% on doing this, running an offset can be a tricky one at the start,  give it a go by all means, but hey throw a few chicken wings on they don't cost a lot and you get to have a snack into the bargin.....best of luck..

 

Ice.

Cheers Ice, good idea with the chicken wings too!

What type of wood do you recommend to get? If there is anything on amazon you know of I will order it together with the chimney starter.

Matt

Hi All,

I'm (relatively) new to the forums, I have met a couple people already who have been very helpful. 

I received my Landmann Kentucky offset last week and assembled it over the weekend, I have read the large thread with regards to the smoker I have so I am awaiting my stove rope for the recommended mods. I have a fair gap (2-3mm) around the chimney joint to the main lid so was looking for a sealant and found this https://shop.vitcas.com/heat-resistant-silicone-sealant-310ml.html if anyone has any comments or suggestions?

Should I also invest in a charcoal chimney starter that I have seen a few people mention? Also I have heard people talk about 'seasoning' their smokers, I assume it doesn't involve salt and pepper but is it something that is recommended? 

Inkman thermometer is also on the way so hope to give it a test run when the weather decides to behave itself, did plan on just trying to maintain temp without any meat involved so will see how that goes.

All the best,

Matt

On 5/12/2021 at 11:15 AM, tedmus said:

Plenty out there, depends on your budget really.

I can personally recommend Inkbird products, I've got a few. Decent quality and won't break the bank, then if you decide you want something a bit more complex you've not had a big initial spend. A 2 probe IBT 2X can usually be picked up for around £25. Inkbird usually release discount codes from time to time also.

Thanks Tedmus, I'm going to pickup a Inkbird IBT-4XC on amazon which has a 20% off voucher at the moment

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to the forum (have spoken to Ice before) and smoking in general! I have a Landmann Kentucky offset arriving on Thursday along with some materials for the suggest modifications. I'm after some recommendations for a good wireless/Bluetooth thermometer so I can hopefully do a test drive to figure out how to work an offset and maintain temperatures!

Thanks in advane

@Icefever Smoker arrives on Thursday and I'm about to order the stove rope, can you recommend a sealant if it is required? Hoping to get it built either this weekend or next and then will try out a test run with no meat just to learn how to control temperature.

Cheers

Thanks again Ice, your google clearly behaves better than mine!

I will get that ordered. Do you remember how much and what stove rope you used? I seem to remember on the other thread that someone mentioned using self adhesive ones rather than use silicon to apply it.

Cheers,

Matt

Me again!

The site that I saw the Landmann for sale is now sold out (people getting ready for summer I suppose!) I have found two other smokers at a similar price point on wayfair:

https://www.wayfair.co.uk/garden/pdp/tepro-biloxi-offset-bbq-pit-barrel-smoker-tepr1300.html

https://www.wayfair.co.uk/garden/pdp/symple-stuff-tennessee-offset-charcoal-smoker-u000653770.html

Does anyone have any views on these, do they seem 'too cheap'? I would assume that the mods carried out on the Landmann Kentucky would apply to these too so maybe I could make them work?

Thanks again.

Hi Ice,

Yes I think that was the thread I found on google that lead me here actually! I think I will take the plunge and get myself some of that fire rope and try not to make too much of a hash of it! Stay tuned for more newbie questions 😀

Thanks again

Hi All,

I'd like to get into smoking and have been looking for an entry level offset smoker. So far on my searches the Landmann Kentucky smoker and Chargriller pro have came up. I'm looking to spend around £200-300 but open to suggestions from you more seasoned smokers (pun intended). 

Thanks in advance.