My new smoker!

With a drive-by description of water smokers out of the way, I'm anxious to describe the unit I bought, along with the curious path that got me there.

Some years ago, I had a cheap — maybe $60 — Char-Broil charcoal smoker much like the one to the right, though mine was a bit taller. It had two stacked grills, was generally made of relatively thin metal, and had a mostly useless dial-type thermometer in the lid. It just felt cheap all the way around, and I just threw it away when I moved in late 2008.

With Char-broil's taller model no longer available, I started to look more widely for a replacement, and the first place to go in the grilling world is Weber, who always seems to get it right. They have a line of "Smokey Mountain Cooker™" charcoal smokers that looks like the usual high Weber quality, but at $299 for the unit with a pair of 18.5" grills, and $399 for the dual 22" grills, this wasn't going to be a casual purchase; I was determined to put my hands and eyes on one personally before laying out this kind of cash.

After calling around to Home Depots and Lowes in the area, I finally called BBQ Galore. They're a chain specializing in exactly this kind of thing, and though they're certainly knowledgeable in the products, I can also expect to pay full retail. Since I knew what I wanted, I was trying to avoid that. We'll return to just how much I actually knew shortly.

They had only a 22" Weber unit in stock, and it was beautiful.

Rock solid feel, built like a tank, and with a great attention to detail, it was obvious why Weber warrants a higher price than the cheap stuff. And this larger 22" unit was HUGE, it could easily smoke two small children.

I was sure I couldn't use the bigger one — I had nowhere to put it — and I was hemming and hawing about what else to do: I knew what I wanted, and it wasn't here.

Or so I thought.

The salesman was exceptionally knowledgeable about everything smoking and grilling, and we talked for quite a while about the smoking world. I'd had great success in the past, but with a very narrow focus (smoked salmon, mainly), and it was useful to hear the advice of a pro even though he was in a sales-y position.

As I was about to leave, he finally pointed to a completely different kind of unit, a store-brand "Grand Cafe Smoker", which is a propane-powered unit that looks like a small stainless steel refrigerator with two doors, and with a retail price of $550. This was completely outside my budget.

But this model had gotten obviously banged up in transit, with some large and relatively unsightly dents, but in a way that would not affect the actual operation of the smoker, so it was going to go for some kind of discount.

I was shocked when he said the reduced price: $250.

This really got me thinking, though I was pretty sure I didn't want a gas (or electric) powered unit. But after yet more hemming and hawing, I decided to buy it, leaving a discussion of the heat source for another post.

I came back the next day, with my neighbor and his truck in tow, and brought it home after stopping by Home Depot for a coupla tanks of propane.

I love this smoker far more than I expected to.

It came with a meager instruction manual and a good cover that actually covers the mounted propane tank. There are two good-sized wheels on the back, along with a handle, to allow rolling it into position and putting it away easily — this is very convenient.

Edit - the unit is 20 inches square, and about 42 inches tall.

The wood chips go in a slide-in tray mounted just above the flame burners, but there is no direct contact with flame on wood (it has no trouble generating plenty of smoke).

The water tray, just above the chips and burner, is a good size and slides out on rollers. It's very convenient.

There is fiberglass insulation all around in the walls and the doors, so it does a very good job at retaining heat, making it quite a bit less sensitive to the outdoor temperature. Even the built-like-a-tank Weber has just a single layer of steel between the inside and the outside.

There is a useless dial-type thermometer in the roof of the unit, which I never use because, well, it's useless.

I'll have much more to say about this in later posts, but I really have to give props to BBQ Galore. It was absolutely obvious that everybody in there truly knows and loves grilling and smoking, and they had used all the products they sell.

Yes, one can save money by going to Home Depot or that ilk, but you're unlikely to get such good advice.

Though I'll still probably swing by Home Depot for wood chips or a grill brush — they're right around the corner — next time I buy a major piece of equipment, I'll go out of my way to get good advice from trained professionals.

Comments

[Suni]

Loved the line about grilling two small children :) Another great posting, BTW!

[Grandma Friedl]

I'd be curious to know how much this weighs, and roughly how tall and wide. Can get only rough idea comparing it to propane tank. And wonder how smoked chicken livers would taste. (You remember how I love smoked oysters) Do people even smoke chicken livers? Never heard of it before, but could be tasty.