logan_mitchell•1mo agoProlific Poster

That $200 pit in Kansas City nearly made me quit smoking meat entirely

Went to a BBQ competition in KCK last fall and the guy next to me was using a homemade offset that looked like it was welded by a drunk teenager, and he STILL took home third place while my fancy store-bought rig put out shoe leather. How do you guys deal with the inconsistency when you're using a cooker that isn't from a big name brand?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_bennett1mo agoMost Upvoted

That line about the janky stuff outperforming expensive gear hits hard because I read this article a while back where they tested a $30 Walmart smoker against a top of the line Traeger and the cheap one actually held temp better. Kinda makes you wonder if we're all just paying for marketing and a pretty paint job.

reese_lee91mo ago

Funny how the janky stuff always outperforms the expensive gear.

the_jamie1mo ago

Wait, are you saying the janky stuff actually outperformed something expensive? lmao I'm blown away by this every single time. Like I still remember my buddy who spent like 800 bucks on some high end brand name thing and it broke in 3 months. Meanwhile I got some random Chinese knockoff for 20 bucks and its still running like a champ years later. Its just wild how much money people throw at "premium" gear when the cheap stuff does the same job or even better. I swear sometimes the expensive stuff is just for the flex, not for actual performance.