Customer Reviews

Charcoal Companion Stainless Steel Gas Grill Smoker Box with Lid

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I never used a smoker box before and I suspect MOST OF YOU already know this information.
This review is meant to those few people who did not know, but would have figured it out on their own.
I'm trying to save them some time.

Bottom Line:

Do NOT fill to the top ... it will not smoke.
I would start with 1/2 cup of soaked wood chips.
Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

I would NOT use more wood than the lid turned upside down, would hold to the top.
I guess that would be about 1.5 cups

Note that 1/2 cup will give off a LOT MORE smoke than 1-1/2 cups but for a shorter time.

Thus you will have to experiment with how much wood to place into the container.

Note that more smoke will die out sooner but then again it may last long enough.

EXPERIMENT

Check out for yourself the difference between 1/2 cup and 1-1/2 cups.
I tried non-soaked (dry) chips and I tried soaked for 30 minutes.


By the way, the chips I was using was from Char-Broil...

One other note is that this box has holes in the bottom of the pan and the corners of the pan are NOT CLOSED.
The metal is folded. Thus it will not hold water but is that really a bad thing. More inlet air for smoking maybe?

U P D A T E 6 - 1 7 - 2 0 1 0 :

I would purchase this item again ...
I grab ONE - TWO handfuls of Charboil wood chip ... throw them into the bottom of the pan (JUST BARELY COVERING THE BOTTOM ...
run tap water over them ... let the water drain thru the holes in the bottom and in the corners that are bent upwards.
This takes about one minute to drain and the holes are small enough that wood particles will NOT wind up in your drain pipes.
I place the box on the grill and start the grill for preheating.

In ten minutes the Weber Q 320 is up to 500 deg F and the chips are starting to smoke.

not a bad smoker for the price. I would have like something a bit wider. I have a Weber Genesis and I have to put it slightly slanted in order to balance it on top of the primary burner. Overall not bad for the price. Even when your grill is cool, don't pick this thing up with your hands until at least 3 hrs later, the metal retains heat for a long time and the wood embers even though not smoking, will be still burning hot. Try using a tool to flip open the lid first to check that no embers left, wood should be grey ash, if it is black, there may be some heat let in it.

just bought a new gas grill after using a charcoal grill for some time. I missed the smoke flavor we got with the wood chips we used with the coals. But I discovered with one of these boxes we could still use the wood chips. This works great. Highly recommend.

like this one a little better because it is easier to add more wood chips than the one that is under the grills

Mine warped on the first use, and the top won't close. Maybe this might work on one of those wimpy gas grills, but not hardwood lump charcoal.

What could be better. A good, long lasting box that works great and is inexpensive. Don't worry about cleaning it as it works best dirty and dark.

I also do not soak my woodchips and add a bit of smoke to most everything I grill including burgers and steak.

The product was well built with Sturdy steel. I used it multiples times with very good effect. Easy to clean. And a great price!

Does just what it says it does! I put damp mesquite chips in the box, put the box in the gas BBQ, and get great smokey flavored meat.

I couldn't get this thing to produce smoke no matter what I did. More wood chips, fewer wood chips, dripping wet wood chips, drained wood chips . . . no smoke. BUT, when you open the box, the chips are burned!!! What day of combustion class did I miss?

I had no idea what this mysterious "box" was when I found it in an attic one day. After numerous hours looking at it, I discovered that it could be 'opened' and inside was a watch and I believed that it was a "mystery gift box" that one gets in the mail but then I remembered I had put the watch inside it a few years back, anyways, the box is an average steel Platinum box, smells like mesquite chips and with not much functionality, other than to sit around and do nothing.