Backwoods Smoker Fatboy Review
A nifty feature on this model is the optional inlet/outlet ball valve on the side that can be attached to a hose to keep the water pan filled, and then makes draining the pan easy.
Here’s a Backwoods Smoker video from our pal, Malcom Reed, with HowToBBQRight.com. Be sure to subscribe to The How To BBQ Right YouTube channel here.
Outside dimensions: 40″ tall including the stack, 24″ deep, 32″ wide with the drain valve (27.5″ wide without). Inside dimensions: 17.5″ tall, 20″ deep, 20″ wide. There are 4 racks 4.5″ apart, 19.5″ deep, 19.5″ wide. Approximate cooking capacity is 20 slabs of baby backs, 16 slabs of St. Louis cut ribs, 8 whole briskets, or 16 BBQ Boston butts. Standard features are stainless steel doors, permanent water pan, commercial fire grate, 2″ insulation. Options include a heat diverter plate above the coals, casters, permanent stand, removable stand, tie down handles, cover, thermostat controller, additional shelf sliders, up to 3 additional shelves, auto water filler and drain.
Product Information:
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Model:Fatboy
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Item Price :2,295.00
*Price Subject To Change -
Made in USA:yes
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Review Method:Cooked On It
We have hands-on experience testing this product. We have also gathered info from the manufacturer, owners and other reliable sources. -
Primary Function:Smoker
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Fuel:Charcoal
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Primary Capacity:Extra Large and Commercial (about 75 burgers) : 1521 square inches
Manufacturer:
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Backwoods Smoker
Backwoods makes a range of more than a dozen sizes of impressive, front-loaded charcoal or wood-fueled cabinet smokers in Louisiana. They can even custom build if one of their standards won’t work for your needs.
The small units are superb for home cooks, the medium size units are very popular on the competition scene and are favored by many top teams, and the large ones are used by caterers, whole hog cookers, and in restaurants. Mike McGowan and his team have been building these fine smokers since 1987.
There is a lower door for the fuel, and above the charcoal below the bottom shelf in the food chamber there is a large capacity stainless steel water pan that puts significant humidity into the atmosphere and keeps food moist. This moisture is both good and bad in that it takes longer to build a good hard bark.
They are built with three walls: The space between the outside wall and center wall is filled with insulation so the heat stays within the unit. They perform superbly even in freezing weather, We have tested that thoroughly in rough, Chicago winter weather with the G2 Party model they shipped us to try. There is an air gap between the center wall and the inner wall through which smoke and heat travel from the firebox in the lower compartment past the water pan up to the top of the cooking chamber. Smoke and heat enter the cooking chamber at the top of the side walls and heat also radiates through the inner walls. The chimney opening is at the bottom of the back wall so smoke and heat work their way down past the food from the top, exit the cooking chamber at the bottom, and then go back up the chimney. Because the duct from the firebox opens at the top, the top shelf runs a bit hotter than lower shelves.
Materials, welds, and bends are high quality. There are stainless steel protectors on the top corners, the door latches and gaskets close tight with a satisfying kerthunk. Shelves are heavy 304 stainless steel. Not surprising, these babies are heavy.
They come with high-quality Tel-Tru dial thermometers built into the doors. We have benchmarked them and found them to be surprisingly accurate, although we still recommend relying on a digital thermometer.
Backwoods Smokers have many many admirers, Meathead is among them.
Published On: 4/26/2013
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