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Smokenator
Posted:
03 Apr 2015, 18:36by Burnt2acrisp
Hi all. Apologies because I guess these have been discussed before, but just wondered what the concensus was on the Smokenator and whether they're worth the money?. I have an OTP and have struggled a bit to maintain constant temps for slow cooks over a long period. I Know the WSM is supposedly better for the long and slow cooking, but given I don't really do enough of it to warrant the cost of a WSM, I wondered if this would give me a reasonable 'half way house'?
Also Are there any down sides to it?
Cheers everyone
Paul.
Re: Smokenator
Posted:
04 Apr 2015, 19:12by Scantily
From comments I've read and my own experience smoking on my 57cm OTP, the smokenator seems entirely pointless.
Adding coals is difficult, you have to top up the tiny water vessel frequently, and you can achieve the same level of temperature control yourself without spending £100.
Master the fuse method and know where to set your bottom vents for your desired temp.
Apologies if you know all this, but this is a very educational read -
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_techniq ... oking.html
Re: Smokenator
Posted:
05 Apr 2015, 19:09by Burnt2acrisp
Hi, thanks for the information. I'll stick to the snake/fuse method. I've had some varied success with that in the past, so guess I'll just keep trying till perfect.
Re: Smokenator
Posted:
08 Apr 2015, 20:20by TheRub
Hi, I've found that using a brick as a heat baffle has helped with the long slow cooks on my OTP.
Most of my cooks were running too fast. The brick seems to help stop radiated heat getting to the meat and has made it easier to regulate the temperature (that's my theory and I'm sticking to it).
The down side is that the brick does restrict the volume available for the coals so the coals need to topped up more regularly.
The longest cook I've done with the brick in place is about 7 hours and I was impressed with the results.
From what I can tell of the Smokenator is that it does the same thing but looks prettier.
Re: Smokenator
Posted:
24 Apr 2015, 10:52by AndyHull
Hi Burnt2acrisp,
I have found a good way to get the fuse method to work, i posted this a while back and it works perfect for me.
I did yet another Pork shoulder yesterday, it took 14 hours and i had to foil it in the end as the stall was the mother of all stalls!
Anyhow, it turned out very nice in the end and that was useing the snake method and this was the first time i had completely cooked one on tht OTP without transfereing it to the house oven to finish it.
I have a metal ring with a dividing plate to stop the snake burning from both ends that sits on the coal grate and i litterally chuck the briquettes all the way round it and leave enough room at the begining to allow the 12ish lit coals to go to start the fuse.
I can cook for at least 18hours (cooked for 14hrs and there was still a quarter of the coals left) at a temp between 225f - 300f without adding any more coals this way and yesterday i litterally left it completely untouched appart from checking the temp through the top vent (was building a fence) until 8pm until i had to foil it.
The snake method is the only method i use now for low and slow and i don't see a reason to try any other method as this one works for me.
I'll try and post a pic of my setup for your viewing pleasure
Andy
Re: Smokenator
Posted:
24 Apr 2015, 11:58by PDC7
The smokenator is currently selling on amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smokenator-1000 ... smokenatorHowever I don't use one, and prefer the snake method, but one thing I only recently learned is...you cant just use a few coals to start, you really do need to start with about 12 lit coals
Re: Smokenator
Posted:
25 Apr 2015, 15:11by Burnt2acrisp
Thanks Andy for the information. You mention in the post that you might have a picture....would be really grateful if you've got one. Also, please could you let me know where I might be able to get the ring from? Sounds like a great way of holding all the coals in place!
Thanks
Paul.