Old Country BBQ Pits PECOS | Burn-In, Seasoning & Initial Review 

Great advice man! Bought one a year ago and I love it! Instead of tuning plates I am using the burner grate in the cook chamber and the sear grate as the burner grate with amazing results. 1. Better air flow to the wood 2. More even heat to my cook chamber

I almost purchased one of those smokers a few years back but a Yoder magically appeared. Good walk through.👍

I just saw one of these today at Academy. I went in looking for an Oklahoma Joe offset and I ran into the much bulkier Pecos and decided to do a little research before buying. Your review was the first one I saw on youtube. Thanks for the insight.

I went to three different Academys and a Buc-Ees (they also sell Old Country brands) in the Jacksonville area looking for a Pecos smoker with the least amount of build errors. The last Academy I went to had two Brazos smokers that were absolutely perfectly built. The store manager gave me military discount so it went home with us for $900. I've had it for a year now and it works GREAT as is, but I do get a bit of overcooked tough meat on the bottom of briskets. Your mod vids are awesome, seen em all now. Fixin mine up this weekend. Might do a vid of my own. Thanks.

Thanks Bro, as someone from the UK we are learning a huge amount from you USA guys. Your honest and straight forward review is very helpful, keep up the good videos

Extend the stack & you will see a big difference

If you remove the charcoal grate and move it into the bottom of the smoke chamber, just in front of the baffle, It makes a great tuning plate to regulate the temps from the left side (cool side) and the right side (hot side). Usually it is always hotter the closer you get to the firebox.

Dangit man. At this point I’ll never find an offset smoker really worth some money. $500 and have to worry about welds and gaskets? I get it it’s a budget smoker. I guess I’ll have to spend the 2 grand on loaded brazos?

I’m thinking about getting one of those, thanks for the tips and what to look for. I’m pretty good at finding defects, you would think it would come with the gasket and thermometer. The weld leak you could probably use high temp gasket sealant for smokers to fix it, anyway thanks again. There’s an Academy about 2 hrs from here, next trip to my sons house, I’ll stop by and check them out.

Great quality and informative video man. I’ve seen these at Academy and have always had an interest in them. Sounds like all the upcoming mods and work you mentioned will have it dialed in and running real good. Thanks for sharing! 👍

I have had the same smoker for almost a year..here's what I've found thus far.... Full splits of wood kick my ass. Started cutting them down a bit, 1000x easier to manage my fire now. Added a pair of tel-tru thermometers, LavaLoc fire seal tape/gasket to seal the gaps, and a pair of 12×12×1 patio bricks just to get the oil to flow. Had the same problem as you did. Spent a lot of time watching a bunch of youtubers smoking brisket and ribs. Get a stainless bowl to use for your water pan. It's an absolute must have.

Hey great review, I definitely aspire to have an offset at some point. I’ve gone with the RecTeq RT 700 pellet grill for my first larger backyard smoker. I know Old Zcountry has an even heavier steel model that’s more expensive. Do you think it’s worth it in terms of the quality of the barbecue you get?

10/23 Ain't nothing changed on the welds (lol) picked up the best of four, missing one of two welded nuts & bolts on swing shelf. How does that happen (lmao) and on the cooking chamber slide out bracket laying on baffle on right, welds were so bad and skimpy it never made shipping i guess. But also like yourself, They cut a deal on spot. The manager was ready to send it back, He ended up cutting me 30% off + another 10% for first responder + $15 for opening their credit card. Walked out for $299.99. Needless to say I grabbed it lol. While on the way home for $25 had a local muffler shop hit all welds as they all kinda looked crappy/weak. Just seasoned, just subscribed, and making a material list! Thanks for videos!!!

Door needs a back stop, stack should be higher, need a rack for preheating wood,clean out trap door ? Keep wood at 10% moisture

You sold me brother! I seen the Pecos at Academy and really wanted it but had to do my Due diligence and came a crossed your videos (sold!) burning in mine now. Ty and please keep them coming!!

My Buc-ee’s has these exact smokers for $550! Such a deal I feel like!

Spot on about looking at different Acedemy for looking at the one that wasn't up to snuff because that's what I did and no problems with it I've done 0 modifications to it in the 3 years I've had it and I use it alot they are well worth the price.

I just bought mine. I appreciate the video. I also just subscribed hoping to see other videos what you have learned over the year. Thanks again and thanks for all the info!

Even though it’s not a perfect smoker for $400, you can afford to invest into it and make yourself a beautiful smoker

Great thorough review of the Pecos! Yes, I had to drive 400 miles roundtrip to Reno, NV to pick up mine. Totally worth it though. I love my Pecos more than anything I own right now haha. Thank so much for the shout buddy! Keep up the great work!!

Thanks for the review. I am down to this and one other smoker and leaning heavily to this one.

Love my Pecos! Had it for little over a year and a half now. Not going to lie, it was not easy at the beginning, took some trial and error to really understand how this thing likes to run.. It’s not a set it and forget it by any means. However, no lie, it has produced arguably my best tasting cooks, and that’s coming from not only myself but several other folks. You’re going to love it!

I think I would extend the stack 3 to 4 feet first. The air flow might improve and eliminate the need for the tuning plates.

Love your Burial Brewing shirt, I’m from Asheville myself. Love the video!

So, I noticed you have very few Old Country Pecos videos and a lot of Weber smokey mountain videos, in your opinion does the smokey mountain grill get better results while smoking? I am in the middle, I had no luck with a pellet smoker, did not get the results that I got with an electric smoker. I want to go to charcoal/wood and I like the offset but I see more people gravitating to kettle/kamado style smokers. Are you using your OC Pecos ?

Are you keeping the WSM? I've liked your WSM videos. Look forward to see more of those as well as this new offset, especially how you mod it. Hope you have great cooks on it! Thanks for sharing!

I live in Southern California- I learned don’t take a chance and buy online- I was looking at the Brazos too

Great video. You make a great points on not buying a super expensive offset out of the gate.

Good video man, appreciate you putting in the time to make this you done an awesome job!

But I have no choice, no dealer near me.. to far to drive.. Now I'm scared what I will find wrong with the grill. Thank you for the video...

I see a lot of people wash theirs down with soap and water 1st. I was always told not to add water to any smoker not even to clean. What are your thoughts?

In Arizona and A LONG way from an academy. Think it is worth it to go for this guy?? Can't find one i lie as much Thanks in advance!

Did you also consider the Old Country Brazos, and if so what made you go with the Pecos aside from the price tag?

do you find that the Pecos seems to like 1 split at a time? .. video idea for fire management for Pecos?

Awesome. Thank you for the review. Much appreciated

Check out the Tip Top Temp. I kind of like a carb for your smoke stack. It opens and closes you stack based on the temp it sees. It's totally mechanical.

Thanks for the video, now I know I really want the Brazos

Hey Jon! I'm really excited for You! I know you've been wanting to get a stick burner and tame this beast........I have know doubt you will. 👍 There are a lot of positives with this pit.......no reason to spend a fortune or get something that is so huge it will only waste fuel. You made a good choice. I gotta tell you that I looked at these back when I wanted one. As You know.......fire management is the key and the fun part. 🔥👍 Metal On My Friend! \m/

Nice quality, like the cooking grill, and big wheels. Nice seasoning/first born session too!

excellent video

Straightforward. Good job

How many inches is cooking chamber steel?

Hey Raleigh smoke, I was curious 🤔🤔🤔what's your opinion on putting a water pan under the cooking grate in front of the cooking chamber opening and putting another water pan on top of the grate in front of the fire box opening but still leaving a gap from both sides to help mitigate the rush of heat that's creating the hot spot on the top grate by the fire box, and I'm also thinking about doing a reverse heat deflector in the fire box that's slanted on top of the fire box grate, since the heat travels up from the fire box and out of the opening to the cooking chamber, I'm no perfect pitmaster by any stretch I'm just hoping these minor mods help with the rush of heat from the fire box along with my modifications I got from you. 👍🏽👍🏽please let me know your opinion on this matter.

I bought an Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn and the manufacturer recommends using soap and water to clean the factory oil off, then dry it off. I'm a little leery of that though.

Great video and congrats on the new rig. Hope you enjoy it. Offset cooking will take some getting used to, but it's a lot of fun and the food always tastes amazing. I love my Old Country.

Got a question would you take that Grill to a backyard competition cuz I'm interested in getting one cuz I need another one and I wanted to know if it would be efficient to do a backyard competition

Great video. I'm in MI, and took the chance and had my Brazos shipped. My damper was bent to. I ground off the tack weld on the nut, put the damper in a vise and beat it straight with a mini sledgehammer. My wheels (if you want to call them wheels) are lop sided. I keep mine stored in the garage and is a real pain to roll around. Saw another video where a guy welded on large caster

Have you bought a charcoal basket for your Pecos? If so, what size did you buy?

They are definitely made in Mexico. Poor craftsmanship. Good thing I own a welder to re-weld the crappy tack welds that are broken with no penetration. I guess with inflation these days that what you can expect for your hard earned $500.00.

I know I'm a little late to the party but did you keep the cooking grates in the cook chamber when you did that burn?

Jon, or anyone else who has some smoker knowledge to share.....I just got a Pecos this weekend and did the burn in to get rid of the factory residue. My question is that I have some soot build up inside the smoker. I am wondering if I need to wipe that out before I do the seasoning, or will the soot not affect the seasoning process.

great video!

You just saved me thousannds, I was ready to spend $3000 on my first offset, but I think this is the way to go.

Def a starter smoker.

I'm new to offsets. I bought a oklahoma joes highland for $150 only used 3-4 times and I like it but wish it was bigger. Not a bad beginner smoker though. How are you liking that pit so far ? I'm I'm Goldsboro , not too far from you.

Good video, just saw these at academy today. I got a pellet grill now but thinking Of dabbling in the sticker burner realm