Please Help Advise, Model 08 Vs Model 50

I have a Model 55 and like it very much. You can smoke enough meat for 25 people if you are using butts, briskets, etc. You can smoke 12-14 racks of baby backs in a hanging position in the 50 but not in the 08. Also the 50 takes up less floor space than two 08s. Going Cookshack with either configuration is the right choice. I've used wood smokers and water smokers(electric) and none compare to my Cookshack. I liked the 55 so much, I bought my brother in law a Smokette. good luck

CB
If capacity is a big concern,look long and hard at the 150,I think you'll get more bang for your bucks with it,I know I have.
Papa Shaka

cb.

How about some details on what you're trying to do with this. Are you smoking multiple cuts of meat? Large quantities of the same thing?

It will help me provide some response, just let me know.

Smokin'

I also have a 55 and really wish I had bought the bigger unit. The 55 is great but I wish I have bought the bigger unit.

From: CB
TO: Smokin' and other kind members replyn,

I will be cooking chicken chunks put on skewers, they're flat and pretty thin. I can lay them side by side and fit 6 - 8 on a shelf. I would like to pack the smoker as full as possible with as many skewers as possible.

Thats why I asked if anyone added extra shelves, and how?

Also, if there are problems with overloading a smoker?

All the comments are great and very helpful, thanks to everyone!

The shelves are not adjustable, at least as it comes from the factory. If all your doing is one type of product I'd go for one unit and keep the muss and fuss down to a minimum. If you want to cook something else, you'll need two. The chicken when it cooks drips and those drips create ugly streaks on beef and ribs so they don't necessarily do well together.

Basically I'd try to calculate how much you plan on cooking and determining how big a unit you'll need. You can take the square inches of the shelves (it's on the CS website) and calculate how many square inches you would have in one vs two smaller ones.

I'd have to check the inside I'm trying to remember which units have the removable side brackets. For now I remember the units have stainless steel slots that the racks fit it that hang down the side. Certainly someone could weld more slots for more shelves to fit it. You might even be able to contract CS to help with that.

The CS will do a great job on Chicken. Because of the construction/insulation it tends to keep the humidity level pretty high.

With chicken on a stick, you might be able to do as with jerky: Lay it out on fine grid racks that are smaller than the 14" x 14" smoker racks, then pile 3 or 4 of these small racks on top of each other and set them on the smoker rack. Could probably fit as many as 12 in at once. Plenty of smoke seems to get in and around the pile, but you might want to switch around the piles to even out the doneness.

Maybe Stogie's tried this with chicken. He's got a picture of the jerky stack on his web site.

Go to one of Stogie's posts and click on his email.

I'm sure he would be glad to discuss his thoughts with you,since it is close to his jerky apparatus

Here's Stogie's site with picture of racks

I own two cookshacks, a model 50 and the smokette. I much prefer the model 50. With two heating coils in the model 50 rather than the one in the smokette, the heat seems to stay more consistent. The main reason I prefer the larger model is because I can cook pork ribs by hanging them in the model 50; results have been far superior for me compared to laying the ribs on a shelf.

As an example, I participated in a school fundraiser this weekend and cooked 50 lbs of pork loin for a tasting event. I put 35 lbs in the model 50, and 15 lbs in the Smokette. Neither smoker was completely full, but I had manageable loads with good heat distribution and excellent results.

Most of the time I will use the model 50, even if I am only cooking a small load. I just like it better. But I regularly cook brisket and turkey for the same event. With the different cooking times, I can put seperate product in each cooker and achieve the best results. However, I could cook both at the same time in the model 50, as the model has excellent heat recovery after opening the door.

The moral of this story is that if you buy one cooker, I recommend the model 50 (or 55). If I had it to do over, this would have been my first purchase. The smokette can be a lower price alternative for extra needs, and makes an excellent holding oven for large special events.

Hope this helps rather than confuses.