Posts Tagged ‘barbecue smokers’

It’s really important to compare apples to apples and not apples to lemons. It’s often the details that determine whether an offset smoker is fun, cool, and easy to use. Here are seven marks of a smoker that will give you many years of dependable service and keep a smile on your face.

Stainless Steel Grates

Meadow Creek uses strictly food grade stainless steel for their food grates. This adds to the cost of your equipment initially, but you can rest assured that the investment will pay off in the long run. Stainless steel grates do not rust, so they make cleanup easier and eliminate any contamination from rusty grates. Unlike regular steel grates, which will likely be rusty before you cook on them once, you can clean these grates with a pressure washer or oven cleaner, and get them perfectly clean for the next run without worrying about rust.

Double Sliding Grates

Meadow Creek’s tank smokers have at least two removable sliding grates. Some even slide out on either side for easier access—really sweet compared to setting the top grate on top of the bottom one.

Door Latches

How many times have you seen smokers arriving at competitions and barbecue events with bungee straps on the doors? Meadow Creek uses positive lock latches that close the doors tightly and keep them closed.

Warming Box

Meadow Creek’s offset smoker trailers come standard with a warming box. These are really handy to keep things warm while you finish smoking the ribs or cook beans on the top of the firebox. Upgrade it to live smoke to expand your cooking space. (See “Making Sense of the Options” inside the 2015 Meadow Creek Buyer Guide.)

Removable Ash Pan

Meadow Creek’s offset smokers have a removable ash pan (drawer), which makes it easy to remove the ashes during or after your cook. There is a vent on each side of the firebox below the fire grate. Your fire will burn more consistently when the ashes in the firebox can fall through a grate into an ash pan and the air can draft up from beneath the fire grate.

Trailer License

Meadow Creek is a certified trailer manufacturer, though not all BBQ trailer makers are. Each trailer comes with a VIN number attached and a certificate of origin is available upon request, which makes it easy to register the trailer. You can rest assured it’s road-safe with a professional design, road-worthy wheels, and lights.

Reverse Flow Draft

Meadow Creek tank smokers (TS models) have reverse flow draft and a curved tank end, which helps a lot in maintaining consistent temperature throughout the cook and from one end of the smoker to another.

Browse these smokers in our online store here: Meadow Creek Smokers

I’ve been cooking on Meadow Creek’s offset SQ36 smoker for several years. Before I moved to PA, I swapped my older SQ36 with a display model we had in the warehouse. Since I take a lot of pictures for my blog, I wanted to upgrade to the latest design.

To break in the SQ36, I cooked a pile of food for a Friday night barbecue dinner—two whole chickens, two pork butts, a pork tenderloin, a rack of ribs, some chicken breasts, two meat loaves, a few pounds of loose sausage, and a pan of beans. All this fit on the SQ36 at the same time. In the kitchen, my wife made scalloped potatoes, veggies and dip, and a couple of ice cream desserts.

It was so much fun playing with my smoker and cooking all this food. I got plenty of positive comments and strengthened some friendships. Good barbecue can do that, you know.

There are many types of smokers on the market. They vary in size, fuel type, airflow, etc. The SQ36 is an offset charcoal or wood fired smoker, sometimes called a “stick burner.” The offset design places the firebox on the side instead of under the grate. The air draws in through the firebox vents and enters the smoking chamber through a distribution channel that tries to equalize the temperature from one end to the other. The stack draws air from the smoker at the bottom left.

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