Chubby or Party

[reddog1473]

Great forum and BWS sounds like an awesome product. I am in between the Chubby and the Party but leaning towards the Chubby due to the cost. Are there an additional upgrades that are a must need for the Chubby? Will it be difficult to do small BBQ competitions efficiently with the Chubby? Are they both easy to move around?
So close to pulling the trigger just to finalize what I want and need. If anyone has any pictures of a Chubby and the Party loaded with food if you could post it that would be great. Appreciate your help.

[RickC]

The Chubby is a great starter BWS. I have a Chubby and can only speak for it, I have never cooked on any of the other BWS's. A Gator is on my wish list.
Options:
1. Heat Diverter, this is really a mandatory option and should be made standard.
2. 180 degree doors, nice, but not a necessity.
3. Some kind of a draft controller, I have a Guru and love it.

Amount of meat; you can cook up to 4 Boston Butts (bone in) or more if they are boneless. 4 about 35 lb. fills up my Chubby. Ribs, about 3 racks of packer (baby backs), because they have to lay diagonally on the rack. If you cut several bones off of them you could get 6 in. St. Louis style up to 9 racks in. It's a small cooker, but you can put a good amount of food in it. There are people that cook comps with it in KCBS and cook all 4 meats on the Chubby. It is very portable, only weighs a little over a 100 lb., I can toss it in the back of the car and carry it anywhere I need to go with it.

[Braddog]

Reddog,

Welcome to the forum. My instinct is to buy as large a cooker as you can afford. Having said that, either are great cookers and Rick gives you some real world experience in his reply.

I'd also encourage you to check out Old Dave's website. Old Dave is our Professor Emeritus of BBQ. He has a ton of posts & photos of both the Chubby & the Party. Lots of good info to be had there.

Here's a link to his site: http://olddavespo-farm.blogspot.com/

Good luck on your purchase.

Cheers,
Braddog

[Vinny]

Welcome aboard!

I know it's a chunk of change but I would reccomend the Party over the Chubby. I don't compete but use mine to cook for family and friends and it is about the perfect size cooker to have. I am glad I didn't go with the Chubby cause I'd been trying to sell it and order the Party.

My 2 cents....

Vinny

[trueque]

Always, always go bigger ... spend your money once.

[RickC]

Always, always go bigger ... spend your money once.

Yea, but the nice thing about a Backwoods Smoker is that you can nearly always get what you paid for it when you move up to a larger Backwoods. I would bet that if I put my Chubby up for sale now that it would be gone before the end of the week.

[abangs]

Reddog,
Did you ever pick up a Chubby or a Party???

[Boyz Club Rulez]

I bought and have had my Chubby for about a year. Its fine for a small family. I cook for a family of five and if its ribs, the Chubby is too packed. I'm currently looking to upgrade to a Party. My advice, save a few more cents and go Party. If you ever cook for friends coming over the Chubby is not enough. Btw, these are great cookers. I cook here in Pa all during the winter with no problems.