pining for a bbq pit

I have joked about my toy smoker before. I bought the toy smoker when I wanted to try smoking and didn't want to invest heavily until I learn a few things and decide it is something I would continue to do. Now I know I would.


Like most things in life a lot of things are learnt from mistakes. I have purchase a few barbecue gills before. These included 1 propane and one very expensive natural gas built-in. All are purchase that I would regret later. With more experience I know I prefer ones that use wood or charcoal.

Having done quite a few kinds of smoked food and indirect grilling I now know I want a real barbecue pit for used in conjunction with my Weber grill. I was browsing on PBS's programs online recently and came across some short clips of Barbecue with Franklin. I have never watch his program before as they are not available from my local PBS affiliate station. Instead we get a lot of BBQ programs with this guy that turned me off with his constant claim of everything "classic". Viewing just a short segment of one clip I immediately knew this guy is "the real thing", and I want the same BBQ pit he used in the show. Of course for Aaron this BBQ pit is just a toy he use for the production of the TV programs. He runs a very successful BBQ restaurant in Texas.

So which is the BBQ pit he used and where can I get one? While you can clearly see the "Old Country" name plate in the video if you are observant, it turned out a lot of similar pits also claimed to be "Old Country". Not too familiar with BBQ pits doing a bit of research on the web I infer no one can really trade mark or copyright "Old Country". It is just a catchy term to suggest this kind of smoker/BBQ pits that are supposedly old American country creation. There are many manufacturers on the web that sells one that look remarkably similar, so where can I get one just like his?

By searching on the web and re-watching his videos I determine this is the same one Aaron use. While it is a very boring and exceeding long video I am thankful by watching it carefully that it give me ample clues it is the same one Aaron use in the show. Also I can see the heavy gauge construction and some less than obvious details of the product the merchant fails to provide.


so this is the one