Watched a buddy ruin his offset smoker last weekend and I still can't believe it

My friend Dave from down the street got this nice 120 gallon offset smoker about 3 years ago. He always bragged about how he knew everything about BBQ cause he watched some YouTube videos. Well last Saturday we had a big cookout planned and he asked me to come help fire it up. He poured a whole 5 gallon bucket of charcoal in there and doused it with lighter fluid. Then he hit it with a propane torch and let the fire get out of control for like 20 minutes before he even put any wood on. The whole chamber shot up to 500 degrees and warped the firebox door so bad it won't close now. He was all red faced and swearing at me like it was my fault. Has anyone else seen someone mess up a good smoker by not learning fire management first?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbyd365d ago

Three years of bragging and he never learned not to dump lighter fluid on a smoker... I used to think anyone could figure out offset smokers, but watching that firebox warp changed my mind.

cole_walker263d ago

Tbh I used to be one of those people who thought anyone could handle an offset smoker if they had a little common sense. But hearing how he doused a 120 gallon rig with lighter fluid and let it scream to 500 degrees, yeah that changed my mind real quick. That's not a rookie mistake, that's pure stubbornness from binge watching BBQ channels instead of actually learning fire management. Some folks just can't be helped until they wreck something expensive, and honestly that warped firebox door is a $200 lesson he'll feel every time he tries to close it.