My offset smoker cracked right down the middle during a brisket cook

Last Sunday I was six hours into a 14-pound brisket for my nephew's birthday party and heard this loud ping sound. Walked over and saw a hairline crack running from the firebox all the way up the cooking chamber. I think it was from old metal fatigue mixed with me running it too hot chasing clean smoke. I tried patching it with high-temp RTV on the fly but it just bubbled and let smoke out everywhere. Ended up finishing the brisket in my buddy's electric smoker which felt wrong but it turned out okay. Now I'm shopping for a new rig under $800 and wondering if I should just go with a cheaper offset or try a vertical water smoker instead. Has anyone else had a weld or metal give out mid-cook like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinson.holly1mo ago

Cracked a weber kettle right at the handle while searing steaks once a couple years back, sounded like a gunshot and the whole lid just kind of slumped sideways. I ended up using some old roofing flashing and sheet metal screws as a patch for about six months before I finally replaced it. It's funny how you get attached to a smoker even when it lets you down like that, feels like a betrayal almost. But I'd say if you're under eight hundred, watch the used market for a month or so, people sell nice offsets all the time when they realize how much work they are.

nina_sullivan611mo ago

Oh man, I felt that whole "betrayal" thing way too hard. Honestly, I had a old offset that rusted through at the firebox after three years, and I stood there in the yard staring at it like it had just insulted my whole family. Ngl, I tried patching it with furnace cement and a soup can once, which lasted about two cooks before it fell off mid-brisket and I just stood there smoking mad, not even meat smoke. Tbh, my girlfriend asked why I didn't just buy a new one and I told her it's like a truck you've had forever - you know it's junk but you trust the junk you know. But yeah, she's right, I should probably just watch the used market like you said instead of crying over a metal box.