Customer Reviews

Smokenator 1000 - Transform Your 22" Weber Kettle Into Efficient Smoker

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 ˝' 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.

If you believe in reviews, this is a no-brainer, folks. This thing was a gift and as a master BBQ-er and smoker (IMHO <grin>) I was really skeptical. A skeptic no more.

Want super-stable low smoking temperatures out of your Weber? Want to never have to worry about scorched or dry edges? Want people to tell you that, "This is the best xxxxx I've ever tasted!" ?

Then, this is your secret weapon. I've used mine so much that the stainless steel is black.

Believe me (and all the other reviewers,) you will wonder where this gizmo has been all your life.

Why didn't I think of this.......I've used a Weber for many years and this has to be the best thing for someone who loves a Weber kettle to cook on! I've kept a constant temp of about 240-250 for well over 6 hours without having to touch the kettle. Why wouldn't you want one??

When I bought my Weber I was torn between it and the Smokey Mountain.
I settled for the kettle as most of the time I would be grilling and I had read reviews that you could also use it as a smoker with the right techniques.
After 1.5 years of trying with various results - some bad some good but never great, (The meat tended to dry out - even when I used foil in the last part of the cook), I got this for fathers day.

First time use over July 4, no practice run as I was already familiar with my kettle and trying for low temps.
Results were beyond belief - Maintained constant 225F temp with no effort or intervention for hours at a time - only opened the lid to replenish liquid or add fuel. Meat was so moist - this was perfect for the Chicken but personally for the ribs I thought it was a little too moist (go figure) - The instructions did indicate that the liquid could be removed for the last hour of cooking - but after my previous attempts of always dried ribs - I kept the liquid in to the end. Next time I will remove for the last 0.5 hour of the cook.

If you have tried like me to smoke with a kettle using all the tips and tricks, save yourself the effort and get this - it works like a charm and now I really feel I made the correct choice for my needs by not buying the smoker.

So refreshing that a product actually delivers what it states - Awesome

Like everyone else says this thing works great! I have 3 real smokers and this one works just as well as the real thing. I have found that not using the water pan that comes with smokenator and putting one of webers small drip pans on the grate above the smokenator gives the best results.

I mainly use it to do a rack of ribs, chicken, and other small items. The smokenator is a lot easier to use for small item than firing up the big smoker. It takes a good hour for it to come up to 225 but the results are great. The directions are well written and should be followed for the best results.

I keep the smokenator in the kettle at all times. It really does not take much room it leaves plenty of room for coals when grilling. Bottom line is if you buy it, take the time to figure it out you will love it.

I read with interest Johnny Mach's review of this product, having purchased it several months ago at the beginning our our barbeque season. His suggestion to incorporate "pavers" (a type of brick) into the Weber 22 inch grill really sounds better.

I have an interest in thermodynamics, chemistry, and cooking. The idea of using a "heat sink" in this process really makes sense. This is because I found that having to add charcoal briquettes (and water) every hour or so can be rather tedious, even once I mastered the tricks of setting the vents on the grill to regulate the air flow based on the temperature, using a candy thermometer stuck in the top vent. It took a little time and effort to determine just what vent settings worked for my Weber 22 inch grill. 1/4 open on the top, and half open on the bottom ended up to be the best settings for my grill, and they worked when you had the charcoal bin full, for about 1 hour, as the manual describes. The problem is, with the coals barely burning due to oxygen deprivation when you go to add more fuel and water,(every hour) the temperature drop is way more than I am comfortable with, from a food safety perspective. After you open the lid and add charcoal, and stir it up, you have to open up the vents all the way, and I even found that cracking the lid a little helped, to ventilate the charcoal enough to get enough heat going and get the (dome) temperature up to 250 F again in less than 20 minutes.

The weber rotisserie

Weber 2290 22-1/2-Inch Charcoal Kettle Rotisserie

Really has always worked better for me. I have been using mine for 5 years now, it it still does great. Just like you would cook a chicken, load the ribs in the spit. You can even give them a twist to have a spiral effect. Put a water pan under the rotisserie, in the center, and regulate the heat by the number of coals you add. No need to fuss with the vents (leave them both wide open). Start with 24 briquettes and add 12 every hour. Sprinkle some applewood or hickory chips on the coals every now and then, and there, in 4-5 hours you have excellent smoked/barbequed ribs.

If you are willing to spend 60 bucks on a bent piece of stainless steel, then do yourself a favor and save up another $60 for the Weber rotisserie attachment for the 22 inch Weber grill.

One more thing, this device has you pile up all the charcoal directly against one side of the Weber 22 inch grill's bottom bowl. Now, I know that the Weber ceramic coating is fired at 5000 degrees , but I doubt it was really designed to stand up to this kind of heat stress, for 8-10 hours at a time. The basic design involves putting the coal on a grate, not lining the bowl with red hot charcoal. I think the "lump" charcoal burns even hotter. This leads me to the reason I am posting this tonight. The area of the bowl with the red hot coals pressing into it gets extremely hot, much hotter than I was used to with conventional grilling/smoking. This leads to a significant hazard during use as I discovered when I reached down, in the dark, to open the bottom vent. I just brushed the side of the bowl with my hand, but man, I'm branded for life now. Forewarned is forearmed.

Don, the man who makes and sells this product knows customer service. I ordered this on a Monday evening, and I had it in Fridays' mail. Also, I had one question, which I emailed him on a Sunday night, and he answered the same night.

Now, about the product. This item is well built, and is pretty dummy proof. I did not know it, but the thermometer that I had recently installed from a major home improvement store was flaky. At times it reads 100 degrees higher than actual. Even so, following the directions and setting the vent as per the manual gave me great results. I have a bullet style water smoker already, and the smokenator is giving me better results. The results are also superior to just stacking up coals on the left and the right with a pan seperating them. For just a few bucks, you can get this with the hovergrill. The hovergrill really gives you a lot more space if you ever smoke more than a couple of items at once.

I recommend this to anyone. But it would be especially usesful if you can't afford, or have no desire to buy a dedicated smoker. Over all, I recommend this over any bullet smoker.

The ability to lower the temperature to that 210-230 degree range, and cook long and slow without drying out the meat is now within reach for Weber kettle owners with the Smokenator 1000! Mine was delivered about 1:00 Saturday, and I had two pork tenderloins smoking by 2:00. Easy to set up, and Don's directions are easy to follow - the man didn't miss a trick! The tenderloins turned out perfect. I cannot wait to cook the meats that I've been missing - brisket, ribs, whole turkeys, the sky's the limit now! If you love cooking on your Weber charcoal kettle, you're really going to love this product.

I wanted to wait awhile and work with the Smokenator 1000 before I posted a review. I've had it ~ a month or so, and have smoked a salmon fillet, whole chickens, and a 16 lbs. turkey. All items have come out excellent. I'm a BBQ novice, and even more so when it comes to charcoal grills (I'm used to LP). I wanted to expand my repertoire of outdoor cooking, but didn't want to spend money on a dedicated smoker. And like other reviwers, I balked at spending that much on what I thought was just a glorified bent piece of sheet metal. I decided, after a lot of thought, to just bite the bullet and order it.

I'm glad I did!

Though simple in execution, the Smokentator 1000 comes with GREAT instructions - I mean, these things are written down to the point of being crazy! The creator of this thing (I think his name is Don) really made it fool proof (I know - I'm usually the fool!) He even posted a video on a popular free video website that starts with a 'Y' and ends with a 'tube' that shows how to get this puppy lit.

I'm continually impressed with how well this device holds a temperature and for how long. And the results are just great - my family thought my grilling abilities were just a notch above mediocre, but they really dig the stuff this device produces.

I guess whether you decide to spend the dough for sheet metal is up to you, but the amount of research this guy did into making it easy to use for anybody, for me, justifies the purchase price. I'm happy I've got it, bottom line.

By the way - the instructions recommend doing a trial run without food to see how your kettle performs. Definitely do this! I discovered my lid was slightly warped and leaked smoke (nothing that a couple binder clips couldn't fix). It helps you know what to expect from your grill.

That's my $0.02. I hope you found it helpful.

Cheers!

Incredible product. I live in Germany, and have smoked up some ribs Kansas City-style with my new Smokenator. Obviously, this is a part of American culture that most people over here have never experienced before, and boy, is it a hit! The only difficulty is that it took me a while to figure out how many briquettes would fit into the Smokenator (the briquettes I buy must be significantly bigger than Kingsford brand).

This is without doubt the BEST Weber kettle accessory that one can purchase! First get a pair of tongs and a spatula, after that get the Smokenator!