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It’s a great product! Congrats on getting one ordered. I may order a second one. The quality of the BBQ is pretty amazing, of course I’ve put in days and days working on it. You can see more pictures of the BBQ on our Instagram page. You’ll notice the perfect brisket bark and the beautiful brick red color of the ribs, pork belly. That color is a big indicator of a smoker that is cooking very evenly. Also feel free to reach out if you need any tips once you get yours up and running I got almost 5 years experience running mine.

With this large of a cooking chamber, you definitely need a full load of charcoal/wood to get the pit up to temperature, so can’t really run just one side. So, I use a 40lb bag of chunk charcoal for each cook, ($20 Lazzari) that will last over 12 hours. I add full logs of wood for flavor, usually 1-2 splits per 90 minutes. For me, the key is really try to maximize everything that needs to get cooked at once so you’re not running small loads. This pit is definitely a workhorse. Great investment.

@hardtimesbbq5265 thank you for the info that indeed makes sense!

Hi there, no maintenance issues, it’s held up great. I think if I were to build my own, I’d insulate the firebox. But that’s about the only thing that could be improved.

Temp control is pretty easy, has firebox dampers on each side but I actually use the firebox clean outs that are located on the bottom of the firebox as the dampers, I find that this really helps to regulate the temperature. Creates a strong draft from the bottom of the firebox. As far as efficiency, I use chunk charcoal and one bag will easily push through a 12 hour cook. I add wood as needed, depending on how much smoke I want. It does not have an insulated firebox, but for cooking quality and flavor that might actually be a good thing. I am hearing a lot of guys in the barbecue world finally starting to understand that they’re not supposed to be ‘oven’ cooking their food with a hyper efficient fire, sometimes this results in no flavor, certainly very little smoke. Yeah three years in with this particular pit and I’m very satisfied. The market puts on the briskets is amazing. Ribs and chicken are amazing. I think it’s because of the even cooking effect of the rotisserie.

I’m finishing 3 years of cooking on mine. It’s a great pit, definitely has a learning curve to get the most out of it. Mine has 3 years of hard use and it’s done great with minimal maintenance. Feel free to let me know any questions if you’re considering picking one up. This thing has the capacity of a 1000 gallon off-set, so that’s a big plus.

@hardtimesbbq5265 Thank you will do. I need a large functioning pit at home and I would like to have one installed on my trailer. I dont want to by 2, so I have to decide where is it going to go.

Bark is always great; this video was taken about 2-3 hours into the cook, bark really sets about hour 4-6. If you're interested in a Judge, give me a call or text me, 530-718-2697, I'll give you all the pros and cons from my experience of cooking commercially for 3 years on it. We're on Instagram @hardtimesbbq also, you can reach out there.

For sure, it's a workhorse!

I think the 5’ Judge, this model is about $12,000 currently. American Barbecue Systems, ABS, can give a current price sheet. It’s been well worth it that’s for sure.

This smoker has a much larger firebox that the Pit Boss. I haven't attempted or needed to try to insulate with firebrick. I'm in California, so no real cold weather cooking issues at all that would require insulation. I've cooked in cold December rain storms with no real problems at all regarding my fire. With that being said, if that had been an option, to have a insulated firebox, I would have gotten that for sure. I think an insulated firebox would be much more efficient in terms of charcoal and wood consumption. I use chunk coal and full log splits, usually oak and almond wood, burns hot.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 Thanks for your response, hope you are well

If you check out my other videos, I have a few reviews on this pit, it's been great. I'll be posting another long-term review soon. This thing has been quite a workhorse, sometimes fire's burning for 3 straight days at a time. I'd post more videos, but not a lot of time for that when you're cooking for events!

Thanks! Ideally 130-135 is a good temp to pull and rest. You can even pull at 125 because once it rests, the internal temp will come up. Definitely important to let it rest a good 10 min after you pull it.

So not a lot of maintenance. Maybe once a year I adjust the rotisserie pulley belt. Outside of that, just cleaning up the firebox and the cook chamber, grates, standard clean up. I will be posting a new review now that I’ve been cooking commercially on this for 3 years.

Yes! I’m going to post a new long term review soon. It’s a work horse, food quality is great!

Glad your well and still cooking . Thanks for the response. Cant wait to see the review

Ha! No, not sure if you saw the beautiful turkeys that came off that cook. Every cooker has different thermodynamics and wind effects draft. Most of the talk of “dirty smoke” on internet is BS.

Right on, me too! Loaded it up last weekend with 48 racks at a rib festival, drew quite a crowd when I opened the doors and put on the rib show! Lots of fun!

If you think this was exciting, you should see part 2! Part 3 is coming soon, I've been practicing for weeks... not quite right yet!

Great presentation

Yes, exactly! Pork casings and Meat! brand 15 lb sausage stuffer, works great!

Yep! I watch your videos and comment, great advice for catering, very helpful! I'm going to try to post more videos of this ABS cooker. It's a workhorse and I'll have it running sometimes 3 days straight!

This pit is built by American Barbecue Systems out of Olathe Kansas; great products

Thanks! Yes for sure, 3 across- 20 pounders too, I can fit 24, 17-20 pounders on the 8 racks. I got 4 big ones in there right now along with 16 racks of St. Louis ribs. Got the ribs on the left side and the briskets on the right side. It is an amazing smoker, thinking of getting a second one. If you think about it, the 1000 gallon off-set has the same capacity and you have to move the meat around and avoid hot spots; none of that with a rotisserie.

I cook on a Pitmaker magnum sniper, which I love, but I love the looks and capacity and the rotisserie of the judge. Thank you for responding. I think I know what I’m buying next if I can talk the wife into it. Keep the vids coming.

I have never used the plates during a cook. I use the plates if the cook is over and I'm shutting the fire down for the night. I'll close the damper doors between the firebox and the pit chamber, close the air intakes on the side of the firebox and put the plates on to help shut off all oxygen to the remaining coals. The only thing I use to adjust my temp is the air intake on each side of the firebox. If I want more heat, I open them a little wider and close them if I need to bring the temp down.

I have the pitboss , I find that when I put my plates on the temp comes up faster. I will try another cook with the plates . Thanks

@@pitmastertoby2598 Yeah, looks like your Pit Boss puts beautiful color on the meat, good videos! I used off-set cookers for years and the rotisserie is much better, love the way these ABS cookers cook evenly.

The only thing bad about the judge, is I need 2 judges! Yeah, so all wood barbecue, no gas, no pellets, all wood rotisserie, holds a huge amount of food, cooks even; because of the rotisserie, no hot spots, no dark spots, no flipping or moving meat. Integrated LED light for those long, late night cooks, shelves where you need them when it's time to wrap. I've looked at some of these other junk rotisseries; let's have the door open up and then use a kick stand to hold the heavy door and have to duck under the door to try to get in and work with the meat. These Judge doors open to the side, out of the say, full access to 8 racks that are 5' long. Few weeks ago, we moved a whole large lamb in and out with no problems. So yes, the Judge is doing great.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 that's awesome! I love ABS products but there isn't a whole lot of videos about them. Thank you for your video and all the information. I look forward to you making more videos of cooks on it, we appreciate it👍

Hey there, comes with 8 racks set up 2 racks per rotisserie arm, 4 arms, racks are 5' long and they are wide enough to hold standard large catering pan and enough clearance between racks for butts and briskets, whole chickens. They are set up to add an additional 4 racks by adding a 3rd rack per each of the 4 arms for a total of 12 racks. This reduces the height to about 4-6" per rack which is ok if you are loading lots of ribs and or chicken, but not tall enough for brisket or pork butts.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 I believe I will order mine tmw what’s the price

@@2mmagana I think they are about 6-7k for the model I have, the 5' judge. You can check out the ABS Smoker website and also give Mark a call at ABS, very helpful; Mine is configured with the storage cage on the front which is great, also has the propane tank holders up front. I use that cage to store wood, and the top of the cage can be used as space to wrap briskets or ribs. Pretty cool set up.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 Ok thanks I’ll call them tomorrow

@@hardtimesbbq5265 So yours is the 4 ft and if it is how many slabs of ribs fit and pork shoulders brisket

I grill for a total cook time of about 45 minutes. I move them in and out of direct fire. 25-30 min grilling over direct fire, flipping every 3-5 min and then indirect or warm side for 15-20 more minutes.

As a clown, you’re an authority on jokes! Look here Bozo, if you don’t like watching chicken on a rotisserie there’s something wrong with you.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 lol

That is a Dexter Basics 12”, sometimes called a breaking knife because it makes quick work of large cuts of meat. Probably about $40-50 bucks. Dexter makes great food service commercial knives.

Yup! LOL...I was thinking the same thing!

I think it's about $6,500. I have a lot more pictures and BBQ videos posted on my Instagram account, @hardtimesbbq. I researched rotisseries over the years before buying this, companies came and went, glad I got the ABS. Great design, I really would not change anything about the design after 8 months of heavy use. Real wood makes such a difference and the big firebox design with dampers between the cooking chamber and the firebox on this thing makes temp and smoke control easy. Yeah my brother in law is looking at the All-Star actually. I think there's a lot of bang for the buck in the small Pit Boss rotisserie, those things are cool too, might actually get one for smaller cooks.

Have you pulled this on the road? If so how did it handle?

​@@paulhughes8364 Handles great on the freeway or around town. It's long enough and heavy enough that it doesn't bounce around or shimmy on the road, pulls easy. I use my 2005 Acura MDX suv or my 2018 Chrysler Pacifica minivan, no problem. If driving a distance, I remove the rotisserie shelves so they don't get bounced around.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 good to hear. I started off wanting the pitboss but after rethinking it,decided to go for the 5' judge. Wife approved so its gonna happen lol.

@@paulhughes8364 Always a good feeling when you get the approval!

Made from cast aluminum; if it was going to kill us, it would have killed us by now! The old PK's like ours were made in the U.S.A, the new ones are made in China unfortunately.

Actually, yes, it's prepped for gas assist in the firebox; not sure the cost, but I could remove the plug and set up myself if necessary.

@@hardtimesbbq5265 tkns for the quick reply