First time using

[jhip]

I purchased my Smokenator last week, got it in a few days and could not wait to use it. I did not choose to do a dry run, but chose to try my nemisis, beef brisket. I have done brisket many times and it was always a crap shoot as to how it was going to come out. But the Smokenator changed all of that. I did it for 6 hours at around 240, then wrapped it up in foil, put it in the oven for another 1.5, then back on the grill for another hour or so to develop the crust. This brisket came out absolutley perfect, incredibly juicy and was the best I have ever done. Could not say enough about this product, it is fantastic!

[nortana]

I ordered my smokenator 3 days before I went on my 1 week vacation so I could be assured it would be here when I had planned to smoke ribs. It got here the day after I left.........so delivery is very quick.
Cudo's to don on the fast service.
I have been smoking ribs for about 4 yrs and always had decent ribs, but, for a 1st time attempt with 3 racks of ribs, these were great !!!!
I used my old standby rub and smoked at 220 degrees for 8hrs and 40 minutes. I kept the adding water to the liquid tray, adding brickets and spritzing the ribs with apple juice during the process.
I guess what I am saying is that it was sooooo easy to hold a constant temperature that is was a no fail smoke.
gary

[solajosee]

I am a rookie in the art of Low and Slow BBQing. Yesterday I tried for the 1st time the Smokenator. At the beginning I was a little anxious to see if I was going to be able to control the temperature at 230-240. The breeze was my biggest concern. Wind speed was like 20mph when I start the charcoals. Using Don instructions, I decided to close the lower vent to 3/8" and adjust the upper vent. The product worked like a charm. It maintains the temperature between 230 and 240 for about 5 hours. After that, I decided to let it work dry in order to develop a crust on my ribs. Amazing results.

One suggestion that I may have, will be to have a handle in the water pan. In this way you can remove it without the risk of burning yourself. It was difficult for me trying to get the water pan out in order to spread the charcoals evenly across the kettle.

Thanks again to Don for all his wonderful advises over emails and for an excellent product.

Jose

[delapaco]

Aug 2, 2009 9:09:17 GMT -5 solajosee said:

One suggestion that I may have, will be to have a handle in the water pan. In this way you can remove it without the risk of burning yourself. It was difficult for me trying to get the water pan out in order to spread the charcoals evenly across the kettle.

Hey Jose. In my experience - don't bother. Use the metal poker provided and prod around in the holes and diagonally beneath the waterpan without removing it. That is sufficient.

/Paco

[jdauria]

Just received my Smokenator last week and used it for the first time over the weekend as I smoked two whole chickens for pulled chicken. It worked like a charm! Following a test run with just charcoal and noticing that my temps were too hot because my Weber bowl is out of round, I used the binder clips on the first cook. It held the lid down and while some smoke escaped out the side, I was able to maintain a constant 230 degree temp over the 4.5 hour cook time. Since I was not doing that long of a smoke, I did not fill with 50-60 pieces of charcoal and only put in about 40 and then added 3-4 at the 2 hour and 4 hour marks to keep temp up. The chickens were so moist. I would recommend this product to anyone who owns a kettle grill!

[windy138]

It is perfect. I can cook many things from it. My family is very happy when I buy and cook it





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[ipullgees]

I was skeptical before I ordered the smokenator, but for the price versus other smoker options, I decided to give it a try. Was I surprised! It works perfectly as advertised. I followed the instructions exactly and got excellent results on two slabs of ribs, a whole chicken and a six pound turkey breast. The smokenator worked great. I just sold my Brinkmann vertical smoker and have my Brinkmann horizontal smoker listed on Craig's list. Don't need their headaches any longer. Granted, I can't smoke as much meat at one time, but I don't need to.

[lsutiger]

One suggestion that I may have, will be to have a handle in the water pan. In this way you can remove it without the risk of burning yourself. It was difficult for me trying to get the water pan out in order to spread the charcoals evenly across the kettle.

I starting using a small foil pan over the water pan hole. Works great and can 2-3 uses out of it. Much easier to move when stirring/adding coals.

[ecripps]

lsutiger - You don't need to remove the pan to stir/add coals. Use the rod to knock the ash off and drop new coals down the two round holes. The sweep the ash by opening and closing the lower vent. I've used a baster to get the water out of the pan.