These are the units the pros use, the caterers and competitors at the major BBQ judgings. You will see them at small ballparks, tailgaters, state fairs, and on FoodTV. If your ribs are the best on the block, it may be time to start pulling a trailer to the horse show on Saturday. Many of these companies will be happy to custom fabricate whatever your heart desires. Please note that many of the commercial indoor units listed in the next section are also available on trailers. Because I have never owned a mobile unit, I have listed them below with little or no comment, and no "Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards."
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American Pride Smokers. Specialists in rotisserie units.
Austin National Smoker Company. These folks even have a large trailer with a cedar cabin and a smoker mounted on it. The cabin has a full kitchen with air conditioning.
Brinkmann. They offer three inexpensive units. Their Backroads model, shown here, is one of the best bargains on the market. 20" cooking chamber has a convection system to distribute heat evenly over 1000 square inches of cooking surface. Dual high-pressure burners for all-purpose frying. The firebox has a warming tray. Includes a log lighter system with control panel in firebox, temperature gauge, 40 x 20" slide-out work table and storage box and tie-down storage area. Made of 1/4" thick steel, fully welded. 2" square tubing trailer frame has 12" wheels. About $2800. For discount pricing and direct ordering from Amazon.com, click here.
Bubba Grills. A nice range of trailered units and even a few back yard rigs.
CookersAndGrills.com. Their design is quite clever. The chimney appears to be on the wrong side, next to the firebox. That's because there is a steel plate beneath the cooking grates that forces the smoke from the firebox the length of the chamber and allows it to enter the upper half at the end opposite the firebox. It then travels through the cooking chamber to the chimney. Heat radiates up through the plate for cooking. Chose a stock design or have one custom made to your specs.
Crown Verity. One very sleek stainless unit.
Gator Pits. A nice range of some serious mobile units including the fabled behemoth, the "Texas Legend."
Holstein Manufacturing. Several mobile grills, barbecues, and hog roasters.
Horizon Smokers. A respected manufacturer with a nice range of different trailer smokers.
Kingfisher Kookers. Serious, heavy duty steel cookers since 1938.
Klose Pits. Dave Klose makes some of the most highly regarded pits. Many of the top competitors use Klose pits. They are not cheap but fit and finish and craftsmanship are top notch. They hold up well and hold up their resale value. Klose also makes some of the craziest custom pits you've ever seen: A passenger jet shaped pit for Continental Airlines, a beer bottle shaped pit, a phone booth, a baby carriage, trains, you name it. Klose is a bit of a character, too. His personal smoker "Bling Bling" (below) has 24k gold plated wheels, satellite dish and DVR with Hi-Def monitor powered by solar cells, beer coolers, deep fryers, infrared grill, lighting, warming oven, lazy susan, and yes, even a dual stainless steel kitchen sink.
Lang Smoker Cookers. A nice range of inexpensive portable cookers from small 48" long unit to one with a roof and everything but the kitchen sink.
Meadow Creek. A wide range of options from small to large, from braziers to pit smokers. They are well-built, and their system of hinging two grates together so you can flip a whole mess of chicken or steaks in one easy motion is quite clever. Their Pig Roaster 60T is a nifty, low cost ($1,485) charcoal fired mobile unit that can barbecue and grill anything, and there's enough room for two whole hogs.
Old Country BBQ Pits. Prices start at about $2,000.
Peoria Custom Cookers. Higly regarded.
Pitts & Spits. Higly regarded production line and custom units.
Southern Yankee Bar-B-Q. A wide range of portables and custom models. These are the folks who built the famous Blindogs trailer on FoodTV, shown at the top of this page.
Texas Pit Crafters. One trailer-mounted stainless steel rotisserie pit.
Tucker. One basic model that is well thought out and well thought of. A red Tucker is pictured above.
This page revised 7/6/07
