Post by Don Thompson on Mar 17, 2009 13:12:27 GMT -5
Hi Don,
Just thought I'd let you know the Smokenator 1000 arrived on schedule and I think it's an excellent product.
I'm using it for the 3rd time right now -- pecan-smoking 2-1/2 racks of dry-rubbed baby backs (on the regular food support grill only) -- and the thing's holding steady at about 240ºF.
I had pretty good luck right from the beginning, even though I didn't heed your good advice to do a dry run first. (Hey, why play it safe when you can risk ruining $50 worth of meat instead?) Anyway, they were delicious!
My Weber has a tight fitting lid and I'm able to run with the bottom vents nearly wide open and only use the top vents for temperature control. Thanks to your excellent instructions I figured it's important to relax and resist monkeying around too much and understand that any air flow adjustment takes awhile to reach it's full effect. I can see how one might over-correct in both directions and the result would be some wildly oscillating temps. The biggest temperature swings seem to be related to the fuel burn itself -- at the very beginning right after the charcoal is started and when it's stirred later on with the skewer.
As with any good cooking tool, the Smokenator 1000 lets me focus on the task at hand without demanding too much attention itself. Two thumbs up!
Next week... alder-smoked salmon!
Cheers,
J.E.
Just thought I'd let you know the Smokenator 1000 arrived on schedule and I think it's an excellent product.
I'm using it for the 3rd time right now -- pecan-smoking 2-1/2 racks of dry-rubbed baby backs (on the regular food support grill only) -- and the thing's holding steady at about 240ºF.
I had pretty good luck right from the beginning, even though I didn't heed your good advice to do a dry run first. (Hey, why play it safe when you can risk ruining $50 worth of meat instead?) Anyway, they were delicious!
My Weber has a tight fitting lid and I'm able to run with the bottom vents nearly wide open and only use the top vents for temperature control. Thanks to your excellent instructions I figured it's important to relax and resist monkeying around too much and understand that any air flow adjustment takes awhile to reach it's full effect. I can see how one might over-correct in both directions and the result would be some wildly oscillating temps. The biggest temperature swings seem to be related to the fuel burn itself -- at the very beginning right after the charcoal is started and when it's stirred later on with the skewer.
As with any good cooking tool, the Smokenator 1000 lets me focus on the task at hand without demanding too much attention itself. Two thumbs up!
Next week... alder-smoked salmon!
Cheers,
J.E.