Oklahoma Joe's Bandera Offset Smoker - 16202020

This thing holds temp like a champ, heavy duty, clean up and maintenance is easy a little canola oil or whatever you prefer amd you're good. The only mod I felt was necessary was a latch on the fire box.

Got it a year ago as a gift .love it other then the fire box don't close all the way.so it don't smoke as well as it could have to put something heavy to keep it down all the way.

1 of 2 found this review helpful

After i use it 4 times, watch the paint and the rust.

1 of 2 found this review helpful

I Brought This 5/Yr Ago And Still Getting My Money's Worth

After reading the reviews, I decided on this smoker even knowing that the paint was not high heat resistant on the fire box. I just want to confirm that this is still the case, unfortunately. I use lump charcoal and hickory logs and the paint, as good as it looked originally, flaked off the lid in the first few burns. However, I did plan on customizing this smoker and was expecting it. As I assembled the smoker, I sealed joints with high heat sealant, added a felt gasket to the door and lid. And I bought high heat engine paint to sand and paint where the paint peeled. If I had to do it all again, I would have taken the firebox lid down to bare metal prior to initial assembly and painted it then. I wasn't expecting the full extent of the flaking of the paint, as I thought it would simply be centered on the top panel of the lid. It was far more extensive unfortunately. It affects the entire firebox, though for me the back wall was the least affected. As I knew what I was in for and still made the decision on this smoker for the overall build quality, I don't want to rate lower than 4 stars, but if someone new to smoking bought this as their first smoker without knowing about the paint issue, I can totally understand them being highly disappointed. I don't understand why the paint is so inferior. I assume the manufacturer painted the firebox with paint rated to what a low heat smoke would average at. But like, if I want to smoke poultry and get crisp skin, I'm absolutely going to pass that temp. So this to me is a glaring oversite on what is otherwise a well constructed cabinet smoker. If you don't want to deal with going turbo-nerd on your smoker and want it to just work out of the box without issue, do NOT buy this smoker. It will begin rusting after your first few uses.

Banderas smoker came in fast, "Good" Put it all together and ready to hand the door, smoke box out of kilter door would not close."Bad" Customer service expedited me a new smoke box came in and fit "good" performed a pre smoke on smoker, leaked from every spot that the was assembled together. Had to Permatex every section that went together, put OKJ gasket on door and smoke box lid still leaks , part 25 the fire box lid stop hinge broke fist use. Poor engineering, sloppy craftsmanship Great Marketing for the price your better off buying a different smoker. Customer service is the only redeeming part of this smoker.

1 of 2 found this review helpful

After unboxing everything, I discover the entire frame (the bottom 4 legs) are twisted, the tubing is warped and the welds are cracked. I thought maybe I could straighten it out and get everything to line back up, but as soon as I fixed one problem it would cause another. The entire unit was so out of alignment it became a lost cause, and since the bottom legs were so warped even if I got all the upper holes to line up the feet would not fit into the legs. I was really hoping the smoker would arrive, go together nicely, and I'd be breaking it in this weekend. Just very poor quality, plain and simple. This unit should have never left the factory and now I have to box up 200 pounds and return it. After now seeing the quality I don't want a replacement, I'll be going with another company.

2 users found this review helpful

I recently bought the Oklahoma Joe's vertical offset smoker the Bandera. I'm Oklahoma Joe's fan I have the horizontal 50 gallon drum offset smoker and I wanted to Bandera so I could do more hanging items. So I bought it and when it got here it sat in the garage for about a week as I did some online research on building through Oklahoma Joe's itself. The day came to build it and when I got to the door it was messed up it had been broken during shipping. To my very pleasant surprise and amazement when I got on the horn with Oklahoma Joe's not only did they take care of me customer service wise but because it was in my 30 day grace period of receiving the unit they immediately sent me a brand new box and brand new door to replace the broken items. Thoroughly impressed that I didn't have to fight to get something for a relatively expensive smoker though I have no doubt it will do its job as I mentioned above I already have an Oklahoma Joe product which I truly enjoy and it works great. Thanks Oklahoma Joe's

My buddy and I have had our OJ's for over 3 years now, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again. After a few quick mods, this baby will sit @ 225 for hours with little to no effort on my part. I honestly think these are very under rated for what your getting. With the square area of smoking space for food and the ease of use, it's probably one of the best smokers out there for the $$$$!!

I've had this for 3 years. Use 3m fire sealant on everything but the doors. Used door fire gaskets. Can not keep this thing at temp longer than 30 minutes. I do not think the steel is thick enough for a vertical chamber this size and the air flow it requires.

3 of 4 found this review helpful