Time to get serious about a new smoker.

[Drunk Tank]

Yeah, I like the design alot. Many great features. I ordered mine with 2 expanded metal racks for the bottom instead of the chrome rack shown. Also, it comes with a 10 year warranty on the body and a 3 year warranty on the components.

[FN Phat]

:condom:

That thing is bad ass. You can see the difference in the heavier gauged metal.

[TripletDaddy]

That looks sweet. The extra racks make it mostly unnecessary to mod like you would a Traeger or Memphis.

What was the price on that baby?

[TripletDaddy]

Never mind. I just saw the price. Starting at $1299, so Im guessing $1500 with all the goodies?

Do people in cold climates get the thermal jacket? I wonder if that helps cut down on the cost of pellets.

[Drunk Tank]

Never mind. I just saw the price. Starting at $1299, so Im guessing $1500 with all the goodies?

Do people in cold climates get the thermal jacket? I wonder if that helps cut down on the cost of pellets.

Yes, you are right on the money as to cost. $1299 for the base model, $100 for the second grate, $89 for the direct grill package + shipping ($135 to my door). Other options are the fitted cover ($119), thermal jacket ($199) and a competition cart ($599). I am adding about 40lbs each of hickory, applewood, cherry, pecan and the new charcoal pellets (all BBQr's Delight) to the order to save on freight.

I did not opt for the thermal jacket. Don, the owner Yoder & Atbbq.com didn't recommend it unless I was going to frequently use the smoker in sub 40° weather. I only know of 1 person who has the thermal jacket and he said it "greatly" reduced his pellet consumption. But he lives in Nebraska and cooks in freezing weather. I have been told that the Yoder is a pellet hog compared to insulated units such as the Memphis and Cookshack models but consumes just slightly more than a non-insulated smoker (Traeger, et al.).

The comp cart is a different chassis for the smoker, designed to make it more portable for those who travel to competitions. I really wanted it, but @ $599, I am going to pass. I could possibly fabricate something similar for less anyways.

[Drunk Tank]

My smoker arrived today! :clap:

I didnt want to seem like I was totally geeked and freak the delivery driver out by taking his picture, so I snuck a shot of the Fedex truck from my office window.



It was really well packaged and on a pallet. I convinced the delivery driver to take it to my back patio, but we couldnt get the pallet jack all the way back there, so I had to unpack it on the side of my house. That was quite a chore by myself, but managed to finally wrestle it off and into it spot on my patio. The thing weighs over 300 lbs.






Control Panel:

[Drunk Tank]

The top shelf slides out and has catches welded on the sides so the shelf doesnt tilt.





The chrome shelves are really solid. The fram is 3/8th solid chrom bar and the cross bars are 1/4" solid bar.



Here you can see the RTD placement for the controller, the fire pot, and the adjustable baffle.





The drip pan/heat deflector is very stout. I believe it is 10 gauge steel. Alot thicker than the Traeger.



Here is the grease drain. I like that it is a welded in channel that is angled toward the opening.



Here all the grates and heat deflector are installed. Thats alot of cooking area.




Here is the direct grill set up. The heat deflector is removed. I wish they made a half size drip pan to fit under the rack on the right side of the smoker when the grill grates are on there. I will probabbly have one made.




I burnt it in @ 350° for an hour or so per the mfg directions and cooked some salmon on it for tonights dinner. I am pretty excited to start cooking on it. I am very impressed by the build quality and craftsmanship of this thing.

[TripletDaddy]

Here is the direct grill set up. The heat deflector is removed. I wish they made a half size drip pan to fit under the rack on the right side of the smoker when the grill grates are on there. I will probabbly have one made.

holy crap! that thing is ridiculously awesome. I'm jealous.

can you educate me on the setup above? Is that one side to get grill marks on your steak? what else does it do?

[Drunk Tank]

holy crap! that thing is ridiculously awesome. I'm jealous.

can you educate me on the setup above? Is that one side to get grill marks on your steak? what else does it do?

It is a direct grill zone. The grates are "Grill Grates" (www.grillgrate.com)

It is a direct grilling zone set up which is directly over the fire pot. It is used for grilling/searing just like you would on a traditional grill. The grill grates are used without the heat deflector in place so they get much hotter. I am planning on cooking a couple ribeyes on there in the next couple days to test it out.

Here is a pic from Grill Grate's websire that shows an overview of how they work.






[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wPPXfiuGQs"]GrillGrate 2 MIN TV SPOT Spring 2010 - YouTube[/nomedia]

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A22r6sbt1Yc"]GrillGrate, Deal or Dud?? Fox News 8 - YouTube[/nomedia]

[CJF]

holy crap! that thing is ridiculously awesome. I'm jealous.

can you educate me on the setup above? Is that one side to get grill marks on your steak? what else does it do?

Those are the grill grates I told you to get. The custom made tool is awesome, especially for things like burgers. I love them. Every pellet cooker should have grill grates.

[CJF]

Sweet setup, DT. Looks very nice. Is the fire pot on the side and not in the middle?

[Drunk Tank]

yes, it is on the left side of the cooking chamber.

[CJF]

yes, it is on the left side of the cooking chamber.

Seems like that would make it more difficult to maintain steady temps throughout the cooker. The fan system must be very nice.

[Drunk Tank]

Seems like that would make it more difficult to maintain steady temps throughout the cooker. The fan system must be very nice.

I am going to test that tomorrow. I think I read somewhere that it has a 125CFM fan. I anticipate that the left side will be slightly warmer than the right, but not much.

[FN Phat]

Sweet set up, DT. I expect that we will be seeing a fair share of food porn from you the next few weeks.