Posts Tagged ‘sq36 smoker’

Are you dreaming of starting a part-time barbecue business but don’t have the cash or time to pull it off right now?

Or perhaps you’ve figured out how to cook amazing barbecue and now you’re hearing things like, “you should do this for a business” or “would you cook for us at our family get-together?” but all you’ve got is backyard toys like a small charcoal grill and offset smoker?

Well, I’ve been there and done that… and I’ve learned that it is possible to feed quite a few people with my Meadow Creek SQ36 Smoker and BBQ26S Chicken Cooker.

In 2014 I had the privilege of cooking for two different local businesses. Since I’m just a backyarder, my equipment is small, and the kitchen I was using in our rented apartment was crowded. In spite of that, I was able to make a decent chunk of cash without investing in any more equipment.

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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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