Well, it's nothing like what you guys have in this thread, but this is my first real grill (for one reason or another, I've only ever used propane and I was ready to put an end to that). This thing has a lot of fairly positive reviews so I decided to dive in and give it a try. It's doing it's first seasoning burn right now and I might try to do some chicken on it tonight. I liked the idea of keeping one side of it for propane because my wife isn't interested in ever doing the charcoal thing by herself. While I do most of the cooking, she does sometimes use the grill.
Let me know your thoughts on this one. I've been looking at the smoker only model but wasn't sure if the quality was good enough. It seemed solid but time is the ultimate factor. I was originally looking at one of the char broil models at Lowes/home depot but I heard enough bad things to hold off.
I'm smoking a few chicken breasts right now as a test run. I read in a few reviews that you should use RTV sealant to seal off the fire box and the chimney. I opted to not do that and to just give the seams a thick coat of Canola before seasoning it. That seems to have worked because I don't have any leaks around those areas, but I definitely have a ton of leakage from the lids. I'll be buying this to seal the lids with (probably won't use the RTV that comes with it but I like that this strip is 1/2" rather than 1") https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BF8V6D...e6&pd_rd_r=MZKWJF0YBWFZVWBYG2Y9&pd_rd_w=k3u8D I might look at lowering the chimney to the cooking surface, but that's probably not the most important thing right now. Overall it seems pretty well built. I'll get a better answer for you as I get to use it more. This is my first experience with a smoker.
The food came out good. I smoked some vegetables in a tin-foil boat with some salt and butter and they came out amazingly well. Because the breasts were different sizes and I wasn't babysitting things, some of the chicken was a bit dry but the ticker pieces still had some juice in them. That's entirely my fault. I ordered the fire tape stuff as I believe that's going to be my biggest issue with keeping my temperature consistent in the box. I might also look into buying, or making a baffle/diffuser to help even out the heat. Though I didn't really see a huge spike from one side to the other (it's a small smoke box compared to the full size Highlander or Longhorn) and I think that's mainly due to size. I think once I'm able to control the temperature better, I'll end up with much better results.
This thing definitely earned its keep this weekend. Every single meal was cooked on it except for breakfast. We had my son's 4th birthday party on Saturday and it was running all day. My brother in law smoked ribs on it, then we tossed on the chicken with direct heat and then steaks for dinner. Not to mention the dogs, burgers and everything else. I've still got some leakage but that's because the thickness of the nomex tape makes it too thick towards the hinges. I may take it off and make a gasket using the silicone, I've read that it's harder to do but with some patience you get much better results. Honestly, once I fix up the lid leaks, I don't plan on making any other "mods" to this. It seems to do everything pretty well. Just this weekend I've gone through 2.5 bags of charcoal, 3/4 of a 25lb bag of split hickory logs and a full 600 cu. in. bag of hickory chunks.
I'm glad to see its working out for you. I'm probably going to pull the trigger on one myself. I'll go with the smoker only model since I already have a gas grill. The food looks awesome and I guess that's really what's important!
I thought you had a buddy that's a master welder? Why not have him weld up the leaks Food looks awesome BTW
Giving this a shot. Venison backstrap smothered in garlic butter and wrapped in bacon. I'll be smoking it with apple chunks. If it turns out terrible, it was my wife's idea.
I was fortunate enough to have someone give me a Masterbuilt electric smoker. I've never used a smoker before now but I absolutely LOVE this thing. I've smoked whole turkeys several times, chickens, salmon, pork lions etc., and they all turn out fantastic! I use fresh rosemary, lemon balm, thyme, oregano, and other herbs from my herb gardens. I also harvest my own red maple wood, which is a mild smoke flavor, that even my relatives who hate "smoked foods" thought was amazing. I think the best thing you can do is use fresh herbs, real wood you collect, process, and soak, and keep your seasoning simple. Another must do for larger meats like whole turkeys is to salt brine them overnight before cooking. I just finished cooking a Pork Butt that I seasoned with Sage, oregano, basil, garlic, S&P (mixed in olive oil) and smoked it with cedar wood. If you put barbeque sauce on my pork butt I will slap you!
That should be awesome! Just don't overcook it! Well done is destroyed! If you have someone who refuses to eat "raw" meat, just make them a brown gravy to disguise the properly cooked venison.
I bought one of these wireless remote meat thermometers off ebay. It works great but...You MUST make sure the meat probe is inserted in the correct location, make SURE it's fully inserted up to the 90° bend, and NEVER let the probe get even remotely close to the fire. I made the mistake of using it on my grill and destroyed my first probe. If you don't get the probe completely inserted it will give you a false reading because it's averaging the air inside the smoker along with the meat. I have a second digital meat thermometer that I use to spot check when the remote probe tells me it's done. https://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_...id=182476584513&&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2658
This was about 30 minutes into it And this was about an hour in. Internal temp was right at 135* on the thick piece. Looking for around 150*
Lol I have my wife "learned" by now. She understands it's supposed to be pink, finally. Her mom is a "well-done with a side of char" type of person. It hurts me to cook red meat for her.
God this sounds like my fiance and her mom. First time I was served prime rib "well done" I made them both aware of the error of their ways.
Her mom also loves to smother everything in liberal amounts of Lawry Salt and Garlic. I started to offer to cook every time we go there now, just so I don't have to taste that ****.
Guys! This **** came out PERFECT! I pulled it off right at 150* on the small one and 145* for the big one. The meat is super tender, and the BBQ sauce completely sets it off. Next time I want to cover it in spinach and feta before the bacon goes on just to see how that goes.