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My offset smoker rusted through after just 2 years
I bought a cheap offset smoker from a big box store back in 2022, thinking a $250 pit would get me started. Last weekend I went to fire it up for a brisket cook and noticed a dime sized hole in the firebox. The metal was just paper thin and completely rusted out. I patched it with some high temp epoxy and a steel plate but it only held for one cook. Saturday it blew out again during a pork shoulder smoke and I lost the whole cook. That convinced me to stop cheaping out on gear. I ended up ordering a 1/4 inch thick reverse flow smoker from a Texas builder. Has anyone else had luck patching thin offset smokers or is it always a losing battle?
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nora_park724d ago
Oh man, I've been there and patching thin metal is just a temporary fix at best. The cheap steel on those budget smokers is like working with foil, it'll keep rusting around your patch no matter what you do. You made the right call going with a 1/4 inch build from a real fabricator, that will actually hold up for years instead of seasons.
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