I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker.
I have been using a cast iron smoker with a side fire box for several
years and it's just about worn out. Don't have the money to buy a new
cast iron smoker like the style Klose sells. Was checking to see what
other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
chicken.

Thanks

Jack

Well I know the little lady from Texas looked at me funny and said
"our going to cook Brisket on that" at the American Royal Invitational
refering to my Weber Smokey Mountain. But I'd still recommend the WSM
as my #1 choice. Great consistent results and very little effort
watching the fire. The WSM turns out championship winning Q including
Chicken & Ribs. If you still want a Bandera the good mods are on my
website.
~Konrad
http://www.TeddyBearBBQ.com

Jack > wrote in message >. ..
> I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker.
> I have been using a cast iron smoker with a side fire box for several
> years and it's just about worn out. Don't have the money to buy a new
> cast iron smoker like the style Klose sells. Was checking to see what
> other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
> chicken.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jack

"Braaivleis" > wrote in message
...
> Well I know the little lady from Texas looked at me funny and said
> "our going to cook Brisket on that" at the American Royal Invitational
> refering to my Weber Smokey Mountain. But I'd still recommend the WSM
> as my #1 choice. Great consistent results and very little effort
> watching the fire. The WSM turns out championship winning Q including
> Chicken & Ribs. If you still want a Bandera the good mods are on my
> website.
> ~Konrad
Well Konrad as much as I liked my Bandera(old model)--themWSM's can make
your life a lot easier for sure!! but when the wsm just won't do---there
are the Backwoods smokers!!!

Buzz in Wisc

"Jack" <> wrote in message
> I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker. Was checking to see what
> other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
> chicken.
> Jack

I have had mine for a couple years and completely satisfied. Did a couple
minor modifications to it that improved it imensley. If you get one, drop
a note and I'll explain them to you.
Bob

I have the NBBD baby brother, the NB Silver. It is the same identical
configuration,
just smaller. I did the smokestack trick and bought an extra fire grate. The
extra
firegrate allows me to use two at a time turned sideways in the firebox.
This strange
sounding gimmick raises the fire grate a considerable amount allowing much
more
room for ashes under the grate. I considered that a major flaw in the
original design
because it required frequent ash removal in order to maintain airflow. A
major benefit
of the NBBD design is it's facility to offset smoke, grill with direct heat,
or roast with
indirect heat. I have no intention to move up from what I have now, which
includes
and ECC (El Cheapo Coleman) gas fired bullet cooker.

M&M

On 2004-01-15, Jack > wrote:
> I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker.
> I have been using a cast iron smoker with a side fire box for several
> years and it's just about worn out. Don't have the money to buy a new
> cast iron smoker like the style Klose sells. Was checking to see what
> other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
> chicken.

Bought a Bandera last summer. If you are used to cast iron, you may be a
little disappointed with the Bandera. Even though it is very well made,
it's only 14gauge steel and is not very good at holding heat. This not
usually an issue in the summer. But in cooler weather, and with any wind,
the thing just loses heat like crazy. This translates to a real fuel eater.
OTOH, it does hold a lot of meat! So, look at your needs. If you are going
to do a lot of meat per batch, the Bandera is a nice rig. If your are going
to just do family sized sessions, a WSM may fit your needs better.

BTW, New Braunfels is now Char-Broil. On the good side, their customer
service is undoubtedly the best I've ever dealt with.

nb

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 22:16:11 GMT, Jack >
wrote:

>I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker.
>I have been using a cast iron smoker with a side fire box for several
>years and it's just about worn out. Don't have the money to buy a new
>cast iron smoker like the style Klose sells. Was checking to see what
>other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
>chicken.
>
>Thanks
>
>Jack

> Well Konrad as much as I liked my Bandera(old model)--themWSM's can make
> your life a lot easier for sure!! but when the wsm just won't do---there
> are the Backwoods smokers!!!
>
> Buzz in Wisc

Buzz you could not be more on target. The Backwoods is a WSM on
steriods and an awesome smoker. I'd love to own one.
~Konrad
http://www.teddybearbbq.com

Ditto what Bob said. Although I don't have the Bandera,
everything that he said applies to the NB Silver and NBBD
as well as the 'NOW' Charbroil Silver'

M&M

"Braaivleis" > wrote in message
...
> Well I know the little lady from Texas looked at me funny and said
> "our going to cook Brisket on that" at the American Royal Invitational
> refering to my Weber Smokey Mountain. But I'd still recommend the WSM
> as my #1 choice. Great consistent results and very little effort
> watching the fire. The WSM turns out championship winning Q including
> Chicken & Ribs. If you still want a Bandera the good mods are on my
> website.
> ~Konrad
> http://www.TeddyBearBBQ.com

I concur. The WSM has heat control far better than any entry level smoker I've
ever used. You will not be sorry.


_________
ht_redneck

Jack > wrote in message >. ..
> Thanks to everyone for the advice.
>
> On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 22:16:11 GMT, Jack >
> wrote:
>
> >I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker.
> >I have been using a cast iron smoker with a side fire box for several
> >years and it's just about worn out. Don't have the money to buy a new
> >cast iron smoker like the style Klose sells. Was checking to see what
> >other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
> >chicken.
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> >Jack

Surprised nobody mentioned looking at the faq for mods to smokers.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear but with all of the
suggested mods in the faq, those cheap offsets work pretty well.
Added some fiberglass insulation to my smoke chamber to smoke in the
winter and windy days to slow down the fuel consumption-really worked.
Not a Klose by a long shot but makes a hell of a brisket without
foil.

Jack > wrote in message >. ..
> I am thinking about buying a Bandera smoker.
> I have been using a cast iron smoker with a side fire box for several
> years and it's just about worn out. Don't have the money to buy a new
> cast iron smoker like the style Klose sells. Was checking to see what
> other folks think about the Bandera? I smoke mostly baby backs and
> chicken.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jack


I am way past late to this thread but, here's my dos pesos.
1) Nothing wrong with a Bandera..I have a NBBD and am pleased with it.
Yes, it is hungry for fuel but, there is always the Minion Method.
But, I'm not going past this price point. So, I've learned the Q'
craft plus a bit about thermal loss.
2) CharBroil service is mostly incompentent.
3) Good luck and have fun!

On 2004-01-21, Rob > wrote:

> 2) CharBroil service is mostly incompentent.

Yes, their aggregate brainpower may be less than that of a retarded house
fly, but what they lack in smarts is more than made up for in perseverance.
I spent 3 months trying to get missing part for my Bandera. Char-Broil sent
me enough parts to construct a whole n'other bbq, but they finally got me
the part at no cost to myself. Next time you call for service, try and get
a guy on the line. The ladies are all airheads.

nb

Rob wrote:
> 1) Nothing wrong with a Bandera..I have a NBBD and am pleased with it.
> Yes, it is hungry for fuel but, there is always the Minion Method.

Minion method, in a firebox? I tried it once just to see if it would work,
ended up with a very hot fire. Got any tips or hints I could try? Cuz right
now, my cooker will go through 15 pounds or better on a 10 hour cook.

TIA

Dale
--

"Duwop" > wrote in message
...
> Rob wrote:
> > 1) Nothing wrong with a Bandera..I have a NBBD and am pleased with it.
> > Yes, it is hungry for fuel but, there is always the Minion Method.
>
> Minion method, in a firebox? I tried it once just to see if it would work,
> ended up with a very hot fire. Got any tips or hints I could try? Cuz
right
> now, my cooker will go through 15 pounds or better on a 10 hour cook.
>
> TIA
>
> Dale
> --
>
>
That's why I use oak and cheap briquettes on the nbbd...about half and
half...seems like it takes longer for the oak to need restokin'.
BTW since I got the pottery I've only used the nbbd once when I needed to
cook a bunch of ribs.
Jack

notbob > wrote in message news:<tFBPb.98312$sv6.405803@attbi_s52>...

> Yes, their aggregate brainpower may be less than that of a retarded house
> fly, but what they lack in smarts is more than made up for in perseverance.
> I spent 3 months trying to get missing part for my Bandera. Char-Broil sent
> me enough parts to construct a whole n'other bbq, but they finally got me
> the part at no cost to myself. Next time you call for service, try and get
> a guy on the line. The ladies are all airheads.

nb-
I also have a similar tale with my NBBD and CharBroil gas grill. For
the NBBD I now have a "back-up" firebox. For the grill, they sent me
some long out of print grilling receipe book for my months of pursuing
missing parts. All at no cost. However, in the case of the firebox, I
did need to quote the paint clause in my warranty as the copy they
have on file is "conveniently" shorter in term than mine. Next time I
will demand a guy on the line and hopefully get a better result.

Rob
Q' 4 all

On 22 Jan 2004 09:09:03 -0800, (Rob) wrote:

>Next time I
>will demand a guy on the line and hopefully get a better result.

I'm trying to imagine how that conversation will go. I'm also trying
to figure out how insulting the customer-service worker will help
improve your chances of solving your problem.

Let us know how it works out for you.

--
Kevin S. Wilson
Tech Writer at a University Somewhere in Idaho
"Anything, when cooked in large enough batches, will be vile."
--Dag Right-square-bracket-gren, in alt.religion.kibology

On 2004-01-22, Rob > wrote:


> the NBBD I now have a "back-up" firebox. For the grill, they sent me

Yep. I now have two firebox lids. My problem was, the part I was missing
was never given a part number in the manual. The ladies would just send the
closest sub-assembly. I finally got some guy willing to look beyond the easiest
response and he did a database search. He finally found the part and sent it
overnight fedex.

Anyone got an extra firebox they wanna trade for a new firebox lid?

nb

On 2004-01-22, Kevin S Wilson > wrote:

> I'm trying to imagine how that conversation will go. I'm also trying
> to figure out how insulting the customer-service worker will help
> improve your chances of solving your problem.

How insulting is it to have a c/s person just shine you on while exercising
zero effort to think beyond the customer response guidelines and thus take
the path of least resistance toward collecting a paycheck? The fact I had
to play this game for 3 mos is pretty insulting. But, the solution to your
question is to just hang up and try again until you get some dude.

I confess, I was being a bit insensitive when I made the statement about the
ladies being airheads. I'm sure there are some smart ladies at Char-Broil.
Unfortunately, I never reached one!

nb

On 22-Jan-2004, "Duwop" > wrote:

> Minion method, in a firebox? I tried it once just to see if it would work,
> ended up with a very hot fire. Got any tips or hints I could try? Cuz
> right
> now, my cooker will go through 15 pounds or better on a 10 hour cook.
>
> TIA
>
> Dale

Sounds about right Dale. That'd be about 3 chimneys or maybe just a
little more. Minion works in my NB Silver, but watch that draft. Once
you let it get away from you it's Katy bar the door. You'd have to damp
it with water or something and that doesn't sound very pretty. Very soon
after startup, my draft is shut down to about an inch. Chimney is all the
way open. Using Royal Oak lump I can get away with adding unlit on
top of the fire if I don't let it get to low or use to much at a time. I
know
it sounds like some kind of voodoo, but after some bad times in the
beginning, I got comfortable with mine and have very little trouble with
it. No, it won't burn 8 hours without attention. Yes, I can cook for 8 hours
without cultivating an ulcer. (Beer helps). Count on using a lot of fuel.

M&M

On 22-Jan-2004, "Jack Sloan" > wrote:

<snip>

> That's why I use oak and cheap briquettes on the nbbd...about half and
> half...seems like it takes longer for the oak to need restokin'.
> BTW since I got the pottery I've only used the nbbd once when I needed to
> cook a bunch of ribs.
> Jack

I've been fortunate in that regard. TFM® visits Big Jim up north aways often
enough to keep me stocked with cheap (and good) lump. Big Jim is only
about 20 mi or so from the Royal Oak plant and he's been kind enough to
pick up a few 40# bags for us less fortunates to pick up at our leisure.
TFM®
has been kind enough to truck some back for me. (It's 120 mi to Big Jim's
and my truck gets 7 mi/gal.)

M&M

M&M Man wrote:
> On 22-Jan-2004, "Duwop" > wrote:
>
>> Minion method, in a firebox? I tried it once just to see if it would work,
>> ended up with a very hot fire. Got any tips or hints I could try? Cuz
>> right
>> now, my cooker will go through 15 pounds or better on a 10 hour cook.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Dale
>
> Sounds about right Dale. That'd be about 3 chimneys or maybe just a
> little more. Minion works in my NB Silver, but watch that draft. Once
> you let it get away from you it's Katy bar the door. You'd have to damp
> it with water or something and that doesn't sound very pretty. Very soon
> after startup, my draft is shut down to about an inch. Chimney is all the
> way open. Using Royal Oak lump I can get away with adding unlit on
> top of the fire if I don't let it get to low or use to much at a time. I
> know
> it sounds like some kind of voodoo, but after some bad times in the
> beginning, I got comfortable with mine and have very little trouble with
> it. No, it won't burn 8 hours without attention. Yes, I can cook for 8 hours
> without cultivating an ulcer. (Beer helps). Count on using a lot of fuel.
>
> M&M

What do you mean "sounds like voodoo"? It *IS* voodoo.

BOB

BOB wrote:
> M&M Man wrote:
>> On 22-Jan-2004, "Duwop" > wrote:
>>
>>> Minion method, in a firebox? I tried it once just to see if it
>>> would work, ended up with a very hot fire. Got any tips or hints I
>>> could try? Cuz right
>>> now, my cooker will go through 15 pounds or better on a 10 hour
>>> cook.
>>> Dale
>>
>> Sounds about right Dale. That'd be about 3 chimneys or maybe just a
>> little more. Minion works in my NB Silver, but watch that draft. Once
>> you let it get away from you it's Katy bar the door. You'd have to
>> damp
>> it with water or something and that doesn't sound very pretty. Very
>> soon after startup, my draft is shut down to about an inch. Chimney
>> is all the way open. Using Royal Oak lump I can get away with adding
>> unlit on
>> top of the fire if I don't let it get to low or use to much at a
>> time. I know
>> it sounds like some kind of voodoo, but after some bad times in the
>> beginning, I got comfortable with mine and have very little trouble
>> with it. No, it won't burn 8 hours without attention. Yes, I can
>> cook for 8 hours without cultivating an ulcer. (Beer helps). Count
>> on using a lot of fuel.
>>
>> M&M
>
> What do you mean "sounds like voodoo"? It *IS* voodoo.
>
> BOB

Humor me , treat me like the idiot I am and start from scratch for me
please. How do you pile the coal up in the firebox and how do you light it
and how/where do you add more?

Summer 2002 is when I got good with the intake damper and could finally go
over an hour with a load. Now I can get up to 2 hours, sometime more,
depending. Average would be 90 minutes I guess. Hows that compare using
minion method in a firebox?
Now I know I have a poorly built rig that adds to the troubles too.

Dale
--

Duwop wrote;
<snip>
>Humor me , treat me like the idiot I am and start from scratch for me
>please

Hoo boy. That's like asking grandma how she makes such good pie
crust when mama can't do it.

Okay, we'll give it a stab anyway. Mind you, we're talking about New
Braunfels/Charbroil offset smokers here. First off, I only use the firebox
for low and slow. Lean meat, steaks and birds I build the fire right in
the cooking chamber. Cook direct of indirect depending on what the
meat is. Steaks get seared over a volcano fire. Spatchcocked birds
get seared, then finished indirect with a more moderate heat. Whole
birds get cooked at 350° or so indirect all the way.

Minion in the NB offset; First, make sure you have enough space
below the grate to contain the expected ashes. I use two grates and
turn them sideways which gains extra space for the ashes. Dump
about two chimneys of cold lump in the firebox and hollow out a
depression in the middle. Fire up a third chimney of lump and get it
going good. Dump it in the middle of the cold lump you already put
in there. Open the chimney damper all the way and close the firebox
vent to about one inch. Wait just long enough for the cooking chamber
to get hot and put the food on. I have a big ole NB thermometer
mounted up by the chimney. When it reads 250° -> 300° you're good
to go. Resist the urge to speed things up by opening the draft up. You
don't want all that fuel burning at the same time. Don't open it up to
look at the meat or the fire. If the temp drops below 200° figure on
adding some more 'cold' fuel. If the temp goes over 300° you didn't
set that draft low enough. If you try to control the temp +- 10° the
guys in the white coats are gonna come and get you before very long.
Cook a lot and things will get better.

Good luck

M&M

M&M Man wrote:
> Duwop wrote;
> <snip>
>> Humor me , treat me like the idiot I am and start from scratch for me
>> please
> Minion in the NB offset; First, make sure you have enough space
> below the grate to contain the expected ashes. I use two grates and
> turn them sideways which gains extra space for the ashes. Dump
> about two chimneys of cold lump in the firebox and hollow out a
> depression in the middle. Fire up a third chimney of lump and get it
> going good. Dump it in the middle of the cold lump you already put
> in there. Open the chimney damper all the way and close the firebox
> vent to about one inch.

Thanks, that's what I was lookin for. What the hell was all that
extraneous stuff ?

Dale
--

I apologize profusely for giving you more then you needed.
But then I didn't know how much you needed did I?

M&M

I have both the Bandera and the WSM.

The pro's about the WSM: It's like the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie;
basically you just set it and forget it. It's very forgiving. If you
use good basic BBQ technique, it'll put out a great product.

The cons: It's kind of small and manipulating large amounts of meat
is cumbersome. You have to take the meat off the top rack, find a
place to put it while you mess around with the stuff on the lower
lever.

But, if all you need to do is a few chickens, a turkey or two, a
couple of slabs of ribs, or other small amounts of product, it will do
fine. Mine gets used more often than my Bandera.

My bandera on the other hand is useful for large amounts of products.
Need to do 6 racks of spareribs? No problem. Four 20 lbs. turkeys,
again no problem.

The bandera will use much more wood or charcoal than the WSM. And you
can use the Bandera as a grill if you're so inclined.The offset fire
box is easier to work with once the smoking has begun.

Besides, when people see the WSM, they all say, "I got one of those
smokers (usually the Mecco or Brinkmann which look a lot alike). But
when they see the Bandera, they usually say something like "Damn! I
gotta get me one of those"

On 15-Mar-2004, BKahuna > wrote:
<snip>
> The bandera will use much more wood or charcoal than the WSM. And you
> can use the Bandera as a grill if you're so inclined.The offset fire
> box is easier to work with once the smoking has begun.
>
> Besides, when people see the WSM, they all say, "I got one of those
> smokers (usually the Mecco or Brinkmann which look a lot alike). But
> when they see the Bandera, they usually say something like "Damn! I
> gotta get me one of those"

What BKahuna said and;

My NB Silver doesn't have the vertical part like the Bandara, but otherwise
all comments apply. My NBS sits beside a gasser bullet labeled by
Coleman. People who see my setup never mention the Coleman (ECC),
but groove on the larger offset. Unlike many here who suffer from the
weather, my rigs are on a concrete slab inside a screen lanai. They
are relatively protected from the rain and wind. I've put pictures up on
ABF a time or two. Despite the fact that the ECC is easier to use, I
do almost all of my cooking on the NBS. Go figure. It uses copious
quantities of fuel and has to be tended at least hourly. But on the flip
side, the best pork ribs I have ever eaten have come out of that pit.
--
M&M ("The problem is that no matter what you do, there's
Sombody that won' t like it much") Tom Clancy

On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 09:42:36 GMT, "M&M" >
wrote:
> It uses copious quantities of fuel and has to be tended at least hourly. But on the flip
> side, the best pork ribs I have ever eaten have come out of that pit.

The nice thing about the offset fire box is that it makes it easy to
use hardwoods as fuel. Where I live, I can get all the free oak I
want. I always keep a small pile seasoned out back. I roll up my
Weber grill next to the bandera and build a fire out of Oak. . When
it burns down to coals, I scoop them up with a small garden shovel
with a long handle and add them to the fire box as needed.

Yes it kind of a pain to keep one fire going in the fire box and
somewhere else, but it's barbecueing. But I've gotten to the point
where I enjoy the hands on experience of making good 'que.

I once cooked a couple of turkeys on the smoker and maintained the
chamber temperature at 200-200 for 14 hours. It was lunacy! I worked
from 3:30 to midnight, got home, fired up the smoker, and stayed up
all night tending the fire (something that you don't have to worry
about so much with the WSM) and stayed awake smoking until later that
afternoon when we ate. I think I fell asleep face first in the mashed
potatoes.

My friends think I'm nuts - until they start eating!