A BBQ forum review by an experienced home BBQ Chef, Tom in Sparta, Tennessee, posted his comments over at
Sharky's Grilling Forums using the Smokenator for the first time in June, 2008. The rib pictures are excellent!
ChiliBrown in Rodeo, California Wrote up a piece in his
Mad Meat Genius blog, look for the July 11th review. Great picture of a excellent pork roast.
John C in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania did a very good overview of the Smokenator in June, here at
Scott's Poker Table. He asked the question what is a fair test of the Smokenator? His answer, " ... the whole setup should be so consistent that a fair first test would be to see if I got good results first time out using the manual." Read to find out. Alot of great pictures
Bryan in Fort Myers Beach area in Florida 03/24/08
Hi Don, what a great product, received the Smokenator at about 3:00 on Friday, went out and bought 12 lbs of ribs, smoked for 6 hours and seared on grill they where awesome, didn't stop there, went out and bought 2 chickens and cooked them on Saturday, fantastic, then for the finale, on Sunday got the kettle going at 8am and smoked a 15 lb turkey for 7 hours, the guests raved over it. Don you have a great product, Thank you.
Chuck in Scottsboro, Alabama 02/12/08
I got the Smokenator today. I bought a couple of 5 pound chickens before it got here, so I was thrilled to see it arrive. I looked at every available retail store for the Taylor thermometer, but could not find one. Time was short, so I made the decision to go for it. I rubbed the birds with KC Masterpiece sweet rub, and I followed the directions when lighting my Kingsford charcoal. I also used fresh hickory chunks. I found a firewood seller who basically gave me a log. I kept my bottom vents wide open, and I kept the top near the recommended setting. I checked and filled the water every half hour or so, and I poked the coals every now and then. I put them on at 3 PM. It was approx. 50 degrees outside and breezy. At 7:45 PM they were done. These were the best birds I've ever done at home, and they were better than any I've ever had at a BBQ joint! Without a thermometer, and cooking in cool and breezy conditions, I succeeded! Thanks for a great product!
From Jim in New Haven, Indiana 12/31/07
Hello Don,
I want to thank you for developing such a fool-proof way of maintaining low temps in the grill. I tried my Smokenator out for the
first time last night. I started out with a 7 pound boneless pork butt. The smokenator performed flawlessly. I could maintain the 230-240F pretty much with my eyes closed. I used the Mitch's Fantastic Barbeque Rub on the pork butt. That gave it so much flavor.
My wife and kids couldn't stop sampling the cooked pork butt. It was 28F outside with minimal wind. I had to make small adjustments to allow for slightly more combustion air. I do thank-you for including a baseline chart of how much each vent needs to be opened to maintain a certain temperature. This helped me out a lot. I would have never started out with the vents closed down that much. I was even skeptical to start out that way even though the directions told me too.
From Andrew in Bloomington, IN 08/20/07
I felt kind of silly spending over $50 (including shipping) for a piece of sheet metal, but I do
not regret it after using this. The Smokenator Man obviously did his home work because it maintains
a consistent 230 degree temperature inside my Weber kettle--perfect for lovely smoky pulled pork
goodness! The time he spent in researching the settings, and writing the instruction manual makes
this a worthwhile purchase. The construction is top notch - a nice sturdy piece of stainless steel
that conforms perfectly to the interior of the grill.
One caveat--The instructions are written for the "modern" Weber 22 ½' grills - the types with the
one touch ash removal system. I have a caveman model, old school grill (circa 1997) that has the
3 round vents similar to the vent on the kettle lid. The extensive tables in the manual and a
little high school geometry allowed me to find the temperature "sweet spot" for my grill.
I have also used my Smokenator with the ring that came with my Weber rotisserie (see my review for
that device.) This allows for a much larger cooking chamber -perfect when smoking a lot of food
for a crowd.
3 reasons to buy this:
1. Cheaper than buying a new smoker
2. Saves room on my patio--Made my Weber Kettle even more of a multi tasker.
3. Easier to tend than Brinkman barrel smoker or Weber Smoky Mountain, as the fueling and food
handling are done at waist level--no bending over or crawling around on the ground.
From Meathead of Amazingribs.com 07/05/07
Check out Craig's site,
Amazingribs.com, you are going to find a very accessible site whose goal it to introduce
you to the art of slow cooking the most succulent object of low and slow cooking the rib. Craig personally
tested the Smokenator and gave it a "Hot Suff Award" because the Smokenator "advanced the art"
of low and slow cooking in the Weber.
From Richard in Olympia, WA 07/17/07
I'm looking forward to putting it to good use. I also have a Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker
but with it just being my wife and I, we typically don't want to eat as much food as the WSM
is capable of producing. Then, if you just do one item, it is a lot of work and cleanup just
for one piece of meat. Your product is exactly what I'm looking for. Richard
From Alan in Great Neck, NY 07/09/07
Don,
Success! I got to finally use my Smokenator this past Saturday. I made a 13lb. turkey and it
came out great. The good news is you wrote in the pamphlet that it could take up to 6 hours,
and that’s what it took…the next time I will have to start earlier in the day. The unexpected
result, my wife loves the smoked turkey legs that are sold at Disney and Hershey parks, and
she said mine were just as good. I was very impressed with the ease with which I could use the
Smokenator, I can’t wait to go out again. Thanks for your asking how it was going with the unit,
and if you have some recipes you can refer me to, that would be appreciated.
Alan
From Doug in SC 07/02/07
Hi Don,
Received the Smokenator in plenty of time to take to
the bbq class. People were very interested in it and
we ended up putting 2 slabs of ribs on the grill. We
had the rest of them in a Stumps and a Stumps clone.
The ones cooked with the Smokenator were by far the
best looking ribs of all of them. I didn't finished
them the way I wanted because of time so they didn't
win the contest but everyone was amazed at how good
they looked. I'm glad I purchased the Smokenator and
plan on using it often.
Thanks again Don!
Doug
From Mike also in SC 06/03/07
Hi Don,
I like the product and have used it to smoke:
Pork shoulders for Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ
Whole turkeys and boneless turkey breasts
Baby back ribs and spare ribs
Whole chickens and chicken wings.
I especially find the grill extension to be most useful because I never
smoke anything in small quantities so the extra space provides more room.
Mike
Smokenator 1000 Review, Part 2
........The Smokenator itself is very professionally made and of sturdy construction, not some shoddy piece of metal that you might find
from other “corporate” sources (who have the resources to build these things for as little as possible), so if you’re concerned that
the Smokenator, despite being made by a lone individual, is cheap - don’t be. Don’t let the price fool you, this is a quality piece
of grilling equipment.
The beauty of the Smokenator is that it builds onto your existing grill, which means you don’t have to store the smoker when you’re
not using it. Sure, for the same price you can buy a bargain basement smoker but you’ll have to store it when you’re not using it.
With the Smokenator, you don’t have that much to store and you get basically an entire smoking guide - something I doubt that
corporate smoker is going to give you. Grill Maestro Smokenator Review Part 2
JW BBQ Blog April, 2007
These poor chicken breasts didn't stand a chance........
I can't say enough about Don and his Smokenator. It is a simple system that really turns the Weber kettle into an even
more versatile piece of barbecue gear. Don's instructions are excellent and a great guideline to getting started using your
Weber kettle as a water smoker.
Next on the Smokenator agenda will be a Tri-Tip roast I think. I'll let you know. Whatever it is it's going to kick ass
because that's what the Smokenator and Weber kettle do! JW BBQ Chicken Breast-Smokenator style! JW BBQ Smokenator in da houz!
Cactus1 January, 2007
Just writing to tell you how pleased I am with the Smokenator 1000 that my wife purchased for me for Christmas. Used it for
the 1st time yesterday to cook a 4 1/2 lb. brisket flat. In your set up instructions, you noted that it was developed with
an ambient temp of 90 degrees with low California humidity. I set mine up, in the Chicago suburbs with an ambient temperater
of approximately 40 degrees. I did not know what to expect with this temperature difference. I lit 30 Kingsford briquettes
and figured I could make adjustments for temperature differences - I set my bottom vent approximately 1/2 open and my top vent
approximately 1/8 inch open. Took about 10 minutes for my Weber to come up to 250 using a Pyrex instant read thermometer
inserted into the bottom right top vent hole and 225 on the grill surface using a Pyrex oven thermometer. I had no trouble
holding these temperatures for a 6 hour cook. I did add 8 briquettes ! at the 1 1/2, 3, and 4 1/2 hour marks. I also refilled
my water pan at these times. I started with 1/2 cup wine aged oak chips and added 1/2 cup at the 1 1/2 hour and 3 hour marks.
I wrapped my brisket at the 4/1/2 hour mark for the final 1 1/2 hours. This was the best brisket I have ever done - juicy,
tender, very flavorful - very nice smoke ring. I cannot wait to use my Smokenator again and I will use it often. You have
a great product and I think others need to know about it.
Curt in Palm Desert,CA January,2007
Many thanks for the shipping notice and the priority-shipping. Two of the units are for my son and son-in-law,
both of whom are Weber aficionados.
I thought I would start small and work up, so my first run with the Smokenator was Monday with a small 2.5 lb tri-tip .....
one of my favorite cuts of meat which I would normally cook indirectly for about 90 minutes. Following your instructions,
and using hickory chips, I cooked it for 3 hours at 230F to 250F and was blown away with the result ...... just amazing.
I judge doneness as much by texture (softness or rigidity) as by meat thermometers, or formulas, and I had a bit of trouble
convincing myself that the roast was done. This because it was still very soft which, using the Weber indirect method,
would mean too rare.
But having confidence in the info you sent, and remembering a Texan friend of mine who has a large smoker and does a lot of
brisket which is still, for lack of a better word, very "wiggly" when done, I brought it to the kitchen, let it rest for about
15 minutes, then cut off an end piece. The tenderness and moistness of the meat was hard to believe ...... cotton candy had
nothing on this little roast. So needless to say, I am now a Smokenator evangelist.
Brian in Berwyn, PA I've read up on the Smokenator, and some thought that it was a gimmick.
I have only used it once, but I felt as if it was easy to use, and temperature control was easy. I'll be using it again!
Stuart in Oregon September, 2006
Don,
Nicely designed and well made. My first smoked salmon turned out quite well.
I appreciate all the effort that went into the instructions.
Regards,
Stuart
MEN IN APRONS May 15, 2006: If you are fortunate enough to have a kettle-style charcoal grill, but unfortunate enough not to have a giant professional smoker, then you might want to try The Smokenator 1000. This handly gadget will instantly transform your kettle grill into a lean mean, smoking machine with no effort whatsoever. You can get Smokey Mountain flavor from a basic kettle and probably use less charcoal in the process.
...... It's funny how such a simple curved piece of steel can help you do wonders with barbecue. Check out the The Smokenator 1000. on the web and pick up yours today.
MEN IN APRONS
BBQ REPORT May 11, 2006:
A water smoker is the ideal cooker for slow cooking lean meats like chicken and and turkey. Indirect heat lowers the temperature, extending the cooking time, while a water pan provide a nice moist cooking environment. That means no basting is necessary. But not everyone is serious enough to have multiple grills and pits and smokers laying around, especially since most people tend to grill more frequently then barbecue. That’s where this gadget comes in.
The difference between a water smoker and a charcoal grill comes down to two things. Heat and moisture. The Smokenator 1000 is a cleverly designed stainless steel insert that snaps into your existing grill, effectively providing you with a setup that looks like it will work well for smoking.......................
We received a sample from the manufacturer, and in the next couple of weeks I’ll be putting it through its paces. I’ll fill you in on what I learn, and see how this compares to my Brinkman “bullet” style water smoker. BBQ Report.
