Smokenator1000 Kettle Barbecue to Smoker Converter

It did just what it said it would do once I got the vent openings right to maintain the temperature. The coal burnt for the full 6 hours as claimed and the leg of pork I did as the test run was really nice. The only slight issue is that you need to top up the water container every hour or so, but that is a tiny effort compared to paying 4 or 5 times as much for a dedicated smoker with top and bottom vents. Ideal for someone like me who likes to BBQ and wants to smoke occasionally.

While in some ways it seems like you're not getting much for you money, it is amazing. I have a smoker as well and now prefer using the Smokenator in my Weber. I will say this, the instructions that come with it are rubbish; you're better off going to YouTube or just search the Net for ideas. Lately I've been using mine to smoke turkey legs. I used a combo of different woods for flavors, smoke them for about five hours, wrap in foil for at least 30 minutes, strip the meat off, chop it, and mix it in with mac and cheese. You cannot believe how good this tastes.

this is amazing! i have started to dabble with smoking food on my Weber one touch using the Weber method with little success. this gadget however has vastly improved my ability to smoke food on it! its simple to use and set-up.There are plenty of videos out on the web to show this but the instructions were able to point me in the right direction to begin with.On my first attempt i hot smoked a turkey leg in ideal weather conditions and this held temperature between 100C and 115C with out doing anything accept following the guidance!The following week i tried whole a chicken. this time the weather was chillier and damp with occasional drizzle. Sure enough the smokenator produced the same great results and after several hours of cooking i had a perfectly smoked chicken. the only time the temperature fluctuated was when i forgot to top up the the water bath and the temperature started to creep up. this was simple to sort and the temperature of the oven soon returned to normal.overall, as a beginner to this kind of cooking technique this device has made smoking simple and affordable, i wont smoke all the time so there was no point for me to buy an expensive purpose built smoker. however it has made my Weber more versatile and opened up an new avenue of cooking for me!if you are interested in smoking, already own an appropriate bbq and want reliable results without spending the earth this is the way forward!

This does seem to be quite expensive for a bit of bent stainless steel and a water pan and skewer, but the results are amazing. As other reviews have stated you will get a better idea of how to use it on YouTube. Very happy and enjoying using different woods and meats and rubs to good effect. Would recommend fitting a temperature gauge to the lid of the kettle just for ease of use and I use a blowtorch to light the briquettes in situ as well as adding hot water to the water pan.

Works well. You can get some really tasty smoked meats with minimal effort. One star knocked off as it's a pain to get new coal in.

Great item, was s little bit fiddly to get it to sit in properly at the start but once in it was very secure and will not budge, I placed the water dish on the grill rather than in the holder as I felt it took up precious briquette space:) would highly recommend this, worked flawlessly on 13hr smoke

I have used a Weber Smokeymountain now for a year and have learned to use water to regulate temperature. I used the Smokenator to smoke ribs today and the results are excellent, it is easy to control the temperature and probably easier to manage than a smokeymountain which you can't open without it getting too hot.

This is one cool piece of kit, it creates more surface area on your grill using less fuel than you would normally get with stacking your coals with brilliant results every time, (easy to clean to) so it gets a big thumbs up from me..

I’ve been grilling out for close to forty years. I’ve owned MANY grills and numerous smokers. I don’t fire up my PRESENT smoker much anymore because it's gas. I MUCH prefer the flavor of food cooked with charcoal.I’m no pit master, but I know what’s good or what’s bad in a grill’s performance. I won’t go into detail on that, though. This is no GRILL review. I WILL say that’s I AM cheapskate. That’s why it took me a few minutes to invest $70 in this Smokenator.I’ve experimented with various ways of smoking using my old Weber Performer. I’ve fashioned aluminum foil in some IMAGINATIVE ways to comprise a setup that offered some formula of heat supply and burn rate of the coals which suited me. No matter what contrived method I’d attempted, temperature regulation and how long the charcoal lasts was always a concern. I got pretty good at that, but it was still inconsistent and tedious.So this evening, I monitored my first SHORT smoke using this Smokenator. Just some pork chops and chicken cuts. Off and on, I monitored the dome temperature and the smoke emanating from the Weber for well over an hour. I must say: This Smokenator worked VERY well. The kettle temperature remained near my 225-250° desired temperature for longer than I’d expected it would. The smoke kept coming for longer than I’d anticipated too.AGAIN: Small cuts. No pork butt, brisket, whole chicken…or turkey. Just 8-10 pieces of chicken and pork chops. Now I’m tempted to smoke a larger cut of meat…for the first time EVER in my Weber. If it’s NOT so great, then I’ll update this. Meanwhile, I DO approve of the Smokenator’s performance.For those who are new to smoking meats - bear in mind that the water in the pan (and the air you let in) are KEY factors of temperature regulation. The water absorbs a huge amount of heat at its 212° boiling point. Of course, the steam it gives off is also 212°. This helps to keep the grill’s temperature roughly in the desired 225-250° temperature range for smoking.I’ll note that the water pan is small, so it needs refilling after an hour or so. The hint that I got was when I saw the grill’s temperature rising to above 250°. I popped the top and saw the water was getting low. I added more water and…fifteen minutes later - the cook temp settled back down closer to 225°.All in all, I think the Smokenator is a worthwhile purchase if you own a Weber dome grill and you want to infuse that smoky flavor into your cookouts. Even if you actually own a full-sized smoker, this device allows an opportunity for a MUCH scaled-down smoking session - VERSUS the compulsion to go buy a hundred dollars of big hunks of meat merely to justify firing up the big smoker.

Wow, what a great device. I was really skeptical when I placed the order especially with the price but a friend said he liked his. It is just my wife and I and we don’t need a big smoker or one of the expensive eggs. I was very concerned with maintaining a good temperature but boy I was pleasantly surprised. I did a test run as the directions said and I found that I was having a hard time keeping the temp below 300. I was running 350 for a while before I started figuring out how my dampers worked with the ambit temp and winds. I felt pretty good and I fired it up for a Thanksgiving prime rib roast. I just didn’t know how long it would take with colder temps today and less wind. I was able to maintain 300 dome temp and held steady temp around 220 at the roast. Just after 3 hours my digital wireless thermometer in the roast reached 130 degrees and I removed it. I then dumped a chimney full of hot coals in the center of the Weber and browned/crisped up the outer part then let it rest for 20 minutes. Oh my goodness! It was fantastic with just the right charcoal grill flavor! I am so impressed and excited to use it again. I am attaching a photo but it is not a scratch and sniff photo. Sorry!

Biggest dislike which is actually a pro; this is for low temp smoking! It’s so hard to get the offset temp (where your meat is going to be) above 275. I am used to just offsetting the coals to one side lighting a couple and having the temp around 350-400 which isn’t actually smoking but it cooked my food faster. I am truly having to do low and slows having this in the Webber. I am pushed to become a better pit master haha, even thinking about doing a brisket. Although the coals don’t last as long I’d say around 4-5 hours MAX before you need to add more

This is the best deal ever! I've heard some comp!aunts about it takes longer to cookj with this. What don't y'all get about low and slow? Follow the follow the directions sit back have a few beers and wait for some delicious food. I've smoked chicken, ribs, country ribs, salmon. This is the easiest way to control your heat in a Weber Kettle and I've been using a Weber for 40 years! And for you folks complaining about it taking too long to cook your food? Maybe y'all just need to go on down to Mickey D's and get a McRib

It works really well... but that story for charcoal to last 6 hours in the array with out adding more is superstitious, maybe a spirt feeds more charcoal or maybe it's fairies and gnomes... because with perfect ventilation setup one has to feed the unit after 3 hours.But other than this the thing is great! I love it and I recommend it.Tested it with a brisket (9 hours)... and the result was impressive. I was thinking about buying a Smokey Mountain, which would have taken up space I don't have... but now I can survive at least another full year.