Southern Pride MLR-150 Review

The wood burning Southern Pride MLR-150 is one of their smaller smokers meant for BBQ catering, competition and tailgating. The rotisserie design features four hangers with three 10″ x 22″ cooking racks per hanger. SP claims it can handle 16 butts (recently renamed Boston Roasts), 24 slabs of Saint Louis Cut Ribs (120 with 12 rib racks), 48 chickens or 8 beef briskets. Construction is all top grade 304 stainless steel inside and out.

A 10 gauge steel firebox with a 65,000 BTU electronic pilot gas burner eliminates the need to manually ignite the wood. The burner fires into the firebox, igniting wood or charcoal and assuring 100% combustion. The burner initially brings the internal oven temperature to the set point and continues to cycle as needed to maintain a constant temperature.

The racks move slowly on a rotary carousel as a single convection fans circulates heat and smoke around them. Not only does the rotary motion promote more even heat, it allows meats to self-baste as drippings are recirculated to the racks below. A foot pedal to advance the racks when the doors are open comes standard. There is an easy access convection fan door to facilitate removal of built up creosote. The video below is salesy, but informative and shows how these commercial capacity smokers operate.

Our posted MSRP is for the standard unit on heavy duty casters. A “four wheel competition turf cart” and glass display door (shown left) are available along with other cool extras like digital cook and hold control which allows you to program cooks by time. When the duration of the cook is reached, the unit can be set to automatically shut off or drop down to a set hold temp. A Competition Switch is available to comply with competition rules that don’t allow gas. After the wood or charcoal is ignited, flip the switch. It disables the gas burner but still allows the blower fan to work in conjunction with the digital thermostat. Pretty nice! Since a solid fuel wood fire tends to be dryer than gas, they offer a “moisture system” for additional humidity.

Warranty is one year for parts and labor.

Southern Pride does not sell direct. They have a network of distributers and service providers.