Customer Reviews

Tom Douglas by Pinzon Metal Grill Smoker Box

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a Texan (Texaswomyn, right?) so I love smoked meat. Brisket, chicken, ribs, pork chops, beef roast, etc. We've got smokers: two big 'ole charcoal smokers, a big 'ole propane/electric smoker, and I've even got one of them Cameron stove top smokers, (I'm gonna drop the bad grammar now) so I was quite curious about this smoker accessory. First off, it's small. I mean, Rhode Island small. It's about 6 inches long, 3 inches wide and maybe 1.5 inches tall, so the wood you use to smoke with has to be chipped up very small and it doesn't hold a lot; I didn't weigh or measure what it holds but it's probably not over a cup of chips. One big problem is that small quantity of wood doesn't last long enough to provide a good "smoke" flavor and create that highly desired smoke ring on meat.

If your only desire is for a hint of smoke to mask the charcoal (and heaven forbid - charcoal lighter fluid) taste from your grilled steak or chicken breast, then this little box will do that, to a small degree. Be sure you soak the wood first so it lasts a little longer and smokes a little more.

And hey, Rhode Island - no offense, OK ya'll?

I finally got a chance to use this, and well, this is one of those products that you don't really need. For the amount of smoke flavor that it puts out, soaked wood chips wrapped in a piece of aluminum foil will work just as well. It's a cute little box that holds a small amount of wood chips and delivers an equally small amount of smoke. If you just like to have gadgets and cool looking tools then this will fit the bill. Otherwise, save your money and invest in a roll of heavy duty aluminum foil to fashion your own smoker box and call it a day.

By the way, the lid is sort of hard to get off, and I broke a nail in the process.

Good little smoker for burgers or hotdogs. Don't expect this to make large portions of meat taste smokey. It produces a moderate amount of smoke but is no substitute for a real smoker. Not a bad buy for the price. Adds extra flavor to burgers, steaks, and hotdogs.

I already have a bigger box-style smoker already. I also have the Cameron stove top smoker. This "Tom Douglas by Pinzon Metal Grill Smoker Box" is kind of small, about you palm size.

However, it's a really well constructed little box...a little bit on the elegant side. Specifically, there is no sharp edge or sharp corner that could be scratch your skin. The holes on the top and bottom are on the smaller size too.

Due to the small size, it won't hold big amount of wood chips. Be expecting to refill wood chips for long cooking.

The cover is a little tight and hard to open and close. I believe the intent is to make sure the cover does not open if you throw it into the charcol. For my big smoker box, I have to carefully lay it down in the grill to keep the cover close.

While trying to refill wood chips during cooking, I put the box in water to cool it down first and then open it safely. This extra step does not add too much hassle, as the bucket for soaking wood chips is usually nearby.

I wouldn't recommend to put smoker box (any smoker box) right on top of the charcoal, as the wood chips will burn out too fast and don't have sufficient time to smoke the food and you will be busy in refilling wood chips.

All in all, a well made nice little smoker box.

This is a nicely constructed box--sturdy and easy to open and close--but I found it too small to add much smoke flavor to my grilling. I used it on top of the grates, with the lid closed. I think, though, that using some aluminum foil would do just as good of a job, and you could just throw it out after use.

This is a well constructed little wood box. The metal is solid and there are grates on top and bottom which is nice. It can hold about a large handful of wood chips.

The cover is difficult to open and close. It would be unsafe to try to remove the cover when it is hot. You certainly can use it without the top though which would work just as well.

This box is not meant for slow-cooked smoking or barbecue-ing given the small size. It can't really handle big wood chunks which work well during smoking.

The situation I can see this box being useful is for high heat grilling where you are looking for some real wood smoked flavor. You can place this smoker box right on the grates and shut your grill lid to create a smoky environment for your food. Leave the smoker box cover off which allows you to refill the box while cooking.

The thing is you can easily replicate the function of this box by wrapping up wood chips in some aluminum foil which is far cheaper and easier to clean up (just throw it away).

This little box is a handy size and it's built strong. I don't see it burning through for years, and the lid fits well. The lid is easy to get on and off when the box is hot or cold.

I've used it 3 times. I set it on the grate over the coals each time, not IN the coals. The first two times I was grilling indirect at lower temperatures. The first time I soaked my chips. All the while I was cooking I had a light aroma from the chips. That's what you want. Thin wispy smoke, that can be hard to see. If you can smell the wood, you're smoking. You don't want lots of white smoke pouring out of your vents. Anyway.... Next time I had the same set up, except I soaked half the chips, and placed them in this chip box with some dry chips. I got a little smoke for a little while, and then the dry chips all went up at once for a short, intense, smoke bomb. The third time I was grilling proper, lots of coal, good and hot. I don't know what happened. I used soaked chips, and put it over the coals. But I got no smoke. The chips were all burned out when I checked it later. I guess they must have flashed and burned up real fast at that temperature (500*)

Chips don't work well with hot intense grilling temperatures. They make these boxes to help, but I've never seen one that worked real well. I will continue to use it when I grill indirect I suppose.

This is a great idea - particularly if you will use it for herbs. However, it's pretty small so if you are looking for something to put wood pieces in this isn't the best choice. Also, it comes with no instructions/recommendations. I presume that you put water as well as the herbs in it, but don't know for sure.

My main gripe about this box is the shape. For my gas grill, there is a long narrow spot for smoker boxes where this guy won't fit well. On the other hand, maybe this oval shape was well-researched to optimized smoking capabilities? I have no idea because the product literature says nothing in detail about why the box is designed as an oval and why it centralizes the air holes in the middle. A little more information about the design rationale would be helpful. I am going to test this box however more to see if it really does perform better than my other box and/or compare it against wrapping wood chips in aluminum foil with a few poked holes.

I'm a user of small grills -- not those great big monstrosities that you use for a backyard barbeque (wish I had one, though!) -- so this size smoker is good for me. If I did have a much larger grill, I might want more than one of these cause you can't get that many chips in it. It's a very heavy, sturdy box, so I anticipate it lasting a long time. I wet the chips, as one of Tom's tips suggested, and I was happy with the amount of smoke that I got -- nice smoky flavor on my chicken. I'm new to smoking, and just recently got a grill with a top (as opposed to the Hibachi I was using) so I'm anxious to try the smoker again with it using different meats!