Franklin BBQ Pit

The pit is perfect. I’m in the process of honing my fire keeping skills before I smoke a brisket.

After more than 25 years of professional barbecue, I’ve cooked on just about everything. The Franklin smoker stands out for all the right reasons: quality, simplicity, and practicality. There are no gimmicks—just a well-built pit designed to produce exceptional barbecue.

I learned the craft on custom smokers very similar to this one, and the key is the heavy-gauge steel. That thickness holds heat, drafts properly, and delivers the consistency serious pitmasters look for. The Franklin smoker gets those fundamentals right.

Aaron Franklin is a class act, and it shows in the design. Every detail reflects a deep understanding of what matters when you’re cooking with live fire. If you’re looking for a smoker built by someone who truly understands barbecue, this is it

Lots of people talk crap about us who spend the money on this pit. IT’S SO WORTH IT. Because of the grate (fire box door) and the stack, it’s as efficient as a pellet grill with controlled temperature. Would I buy it again…absolutely. Extremely well made and worth every penny.

First cook. I thought it would be a good idea to try my first cook on any offset on a group of 22 good friends who are foodies on Memorial Day just to make sure expectations would be high. I started my day at 3am and cooked a brisket, pork butt, 4 racks of pork ribs, 1 rack of beef ribs, 3 whole chickens, and some sausage. I have cooked on Komodo grills for a while now and this is a wholly different experience. Since I knew I was totally over doing the food volume I stopped at Costco and picked up a restaurant size bag of takeout boxes. It’s all gone!! Everything I served was amazing. Now I know what bark on a brisket really is. The quality of the results is obviously not because of my skill set. Your cooker in both quality of construction and design is clearly the result of someone who was fortunate enough to find his life’s passion and turn it into a business. Congratulations to you on a job well done. By the way clean up of the grill was a breeze especially compared to a Komodo. Love that!!

The purchase experience was great. Since I live fairly close, I bought directly from Franklin

This pit is everything it is advertised to be. The construction and welds are high quality, and the thick steel fire box and cook box really work to retain heat. I did heat up the smoker initially just to get a feel for how the temperature would behave before actually trying to cook anything, and was impressed how little wood was needed to keep the temperature at a good spot. The next day, I cooked up some ribs using a custom rub and local peach wood sticks for fuel. For the cook, the temperature was consistent without any extra effort with the door and air inflow. The family said they were the best ribs I have made yet!

First off, the quality of the grill is top-shelf! The welds look like they could pass the depth test for a nuclear submarine! It has taken me 2 cooking sessions to become comfortable controlling the fire temperature. I have found that using small, thin logs of post oak works well. The way the heat is evenly distributed throughout the cooking chamber is remarkable. I would buy this pit again without hesitation!

Absolute best smoker ive utikized and for so many reasons. The design and the build being the premise of it all. Im just humbled and challenged by this smoker. Food has been slappin great.

It is so beautiful! The quality of the food has been superb. I can’t wait until I get good at using it. Lol. I do wish you could close down the fire box vents.

Fantastic smoker

Wondering how to access the complimentary masterclass with Mr Franklin

Best purchase I've ever made and, without question, the best smoker I've ever owned. The craftsmanship, attention to detail, and quality are second to none. Every cook has exceeded my expectations. Thank you for building such an incredible piece of equipment—it truly is a work of art.

I was extremely pleased with the entire process from placing the order, receiving updates on the shipment, seeing that it was well prepared for shipping, and the quality of the product once I received it. I look forward to using the pit for many years to come. Cheers!

It’s an awesome purchase. I’m very happy with all the information and how easy it was to purchase. Customer service is amazing and you can tell. They’re very proud of their product. Can’t wait to enjoy this for many years to come.

Everything meets highest standards- including delivery. It’s so refreshing to see a product that is built like this.
Thanks Aaron, et al!

Never cooked on such a large offset. Windy day, 48 degrees, still found fire management simple. Cooked an awesome brisket. 16lbs of heaven!

First cook is still in progress. Best pork butt I have ever cooked. Brisket is still cooking 9hrs in. Fabrication is top notch!

Overall experience has been awesome, so far. Got my pit last Friday … uncrating and set-up was super simple, great instructions provided by Franklin, and i was set-up in no time to run a cook on Sunday. Even with splits that were probably (definitely) a bit too short, the cook went smoothly and our 3 racks of ribs (all 3!) turned out great. Fire management was super easy, even with a ton of wind.

Only complaint so far is that larger casters would be helpful, at least for our application with a gravel / uneven driveway. But that’s a minor nit and won’t really matter, once the pit is in its permanent spot.

I have a pellet grill, and egg and now a stick burner. It is already my favorite!
I may not go back to the others!

I did a lot of research before buying my first offset smoker. I could not be more happy with the choice I made with the Franklin pit. The craftsmanship is unbelievable. This is an incredible iconic functional work of art in every sense. I could not be more pleased with it. And the customer service at Franklin pits is second to none. It is a company that clearly takes great pride in every aspect of their products and service. The owners manual that came with the pit was in itself a bonus gift of information. This is sure to be an
heirloom that will go to one of my boys who is already diving into barbecue! Thank you Franklin Pits!

The wait did not disappoint! The smoker arrived on a pallet and even the quality of wood and construction of the pallet are a testament of the attention to detail. The smoker itself was unbelievable in terms of the quality and appearance. Truly a work of art. Can’t wait to get it into the backyard and fire it up and learn the nuances of how it cooks thank you so much Franklin BBQ pits. Still can’t wait to come out to Austin to visit the restaurant

I have been following videos on how to season then I will give it a test run once it’s season will try pork ribs and chicken
Thanks Mr Franklin

I am very pleased that I purchased the Franklin offset smoker. I had almost no prior experience with smokers of any kind and yet from the very first attempt we enjoyed excellent food from our Franklin smoker. Very easy to use and delicious results!

The pit is a work of art. It’s pure pleasure to use. Set up was easy and smooth and every detail carefully thought out. The entire experience from purchase to use was outstanding quality and customer service.

This smoker wants to produce clean smoke. By far the easiest I’ve ever cooked on. Thermometer is spot on. I cooked ribs and they came out perfect. I absolutely love this smoker.
It’s my 10th grill so of course I named it Bo Derek.

Absolutely wonderful. I used it for the first time on Christmas, cooked a Prime rib. It cooked just like Aaron explained. I couldn’t be happier with this rig.