Meadow Creek: A Thriving, Advancing Brand
May 23rd, 2012Before you invest lots of money in equipment, you should ask yourself, Will I be able to get replacement parts? Where will I turn if I need service? It’s good to think about future support in case you lose a cooking grate or can’t get your rig up to temperature.
Meadow Creek is an example of a thriving, advancing brand. They are constantly looking for ways to improve their equipment, and Melvin (the owner at Meadow Creek) is always there to help resolve problems, such as freight damage and other unfortunate situations.
Beyond the changes I mention in this blog post, Meadow Creek is already working on more changes, such as better paint and solid rubber tires for the small models.
New Style Cooking Grates
Meadow Creek is switching from expanded metal grates to a sturdy welded rod grate (see the photos above). It is a big change and one they gave much thought to. There are basically three reasons for changing:
- No sharp corners means no one will get cut handling them.
- Less stick surface means faster clean-up.
- No waste in manufacturing means better cost control.
They have already switched grates on the chicken cookers and pig roasters. The smokers will probably be switched over in a few months.
On the chicken cooker trailers, the grate mesh has 7/8″ spaces. The smaller chicken cookers, pig roasters, and smokers will have 1/2″ spacing.
Screens in Ultimate Caterer
Now you can opt to close the side panels of your Ultimate Caterer with screen to keep your cooking area free from flies and other pests.
TS120 and TS250 Grates
Meadow Creek realized that the tank smoker trailer models had too much dead space at the ends of the grates. They have added about 6″ to the length of the doors and grates. Everything else stayed the same, except they’ve added more cooking surface.
Extra space in the TS250 (approx):
- 2 more briskets
- 4 more racks of ribs
- 6 more butts
Charcoal Insert on PRGs
This new charcoal insert for the gas pig roasters comes with a series of holes along the top, which means you can cook with both charcoal and gas at the same time. (Sweet!)
For example, you could start the cook with charcoal/wood to get a delicious smoke flavor; once it starts dropping in temperature, turn on the gas for the rest of the time.
In Conclusion
Like I said, Meadow Creek is always trying to improve their offset smokers, pig roasters, chicken cookers, and grills. They have proved to me and the barbecue industry that they are truly a thriving, advancing brand.
Have fun,
Lavern Gingerich
Tags: meadow creek updates
June 5th, 2012 at 5:24 pm
I think changing the cooking grate is a mistake- An option to buy either would be nice. The expanded Metal design is proven to work, and the change is disappointing.
December 14th, 2015 at 8:30 pm
@Doug, I agree, I have been looking for a new smoker and this change without the option is disappointing.
January 8th, 2016 at 9:00 am
Why do you find it disappointing? It’s a bit of a mind-shift, but have you seen these in real-life? They are stiff and built to endure many years of use. They won’t get wavy like the expanded metal grates did and they work excellent. Just because one style is proven to work doesn’t mean it’s the best or only option out there.
February 10th, 2016 at 6:19 am
@Lavern, We have had the wire cooking grate style on our chicken racks in out fire department for 35 years now. We built them out of 304 stainless steel rod and welded them up and I have to say that style is much better than the expanded metal. The expanded metal will bend, bow, has sharp edges and is hard to clean. We have many racks and I can’t even begin to tell you how many cases of chicken halves they have cooked in that 35 years. The fire dept. owns them and we let the boy scouts, masons, youth group and the church us it many times during the year besides what we do on our fire dept. BBQs. I have personally seen the racks out live two BBQ pits with our racks on them. My TS250 has the same SS rod system in it and the change was made just before I purchased it and I was very happy to see that instead of the expanded metal. One of my good friends has expanded metal in his BBQ pit and I have cooked on it. The expanded metal is in no way better than the SS rod grate, just cleaning the expanded grate with a wire brush it will catch the brush and pull the bristles out of the brush and leaving them on your cooking surface. I don’t really like to eat wire bristles in my food. So all in all with my experience the new racks are stronger, safer and much easier to clean.
February 22nd, 2016 at 9:59 am
Thanks, Russ, for chiming in here with your opinion. 🙂
June 13th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Was just about to proceed with the purchase on the BBQ42 and fortunately I clicked on this link describing the changes you made to the cooking grates. Can not believe you changed the cooking grate, being able to flip 40lbs of meat with one simple motion was the one thing that sold me on your grill. Without it you are just another large charcoal “box” grill.
June 22nd, 2012 at 2:53 pm
No, you are misunderstanding. The chicken cookers still have sandwich grates. It’s just that Meadow Creek switched from expanded metal to rectangle openings. It’s still stainless steel, but easier to clean up and safer to use, and more efficient to make.
February 9th, 2014 at 10:33 am
Do you have pictures of the new models?
February 14th, 2014 at 11:49 am
What did you want to see? You can see the new grates if you browse some of the latest photo galleries and blog posts. Here is an example of a chicken cooker with new grates.
August 3rd, 2014 at 5:54 pm
It seems to me the parallel mesh grates would not work as well when grilling. Vegetables, shrimp, fries, etc would slip through easier, plus the resistance from the expanded metal would make it easier to flip burgers, wings, etc without them ‘sliding’ around.
August 4th, 2014 at 6:52 am
Shrimp (not on skewers) and small pieces of vegetables and fries should be done in a grilling pan or wok. As for flipping burgers, on the BBQ26S Chicken Cooker for example, the bars contacting the meat run left to right so you have some grip for getting beneath the meat.
November 16th, 2014 at 8:33 am
I will look at Lang now….expanded metal is and will always be more durable than the cheap ones you use now.
Can we still order one with expanded metal. If not …that will be a big factor in who’s product I purchase.
Is this so with ALL your smokers. I was going to purchase a TS250 and a gas pig cooker this spring and I DO NOT want the wire trays.
December 12th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
The cookers are all using the steel rod grates. Have you seen them in real life? They are very sturdy and nicer to use and clean than the expanded metal ones. Check it out in real life and reconsider your opinion. 🙂
December 25th, 2014 at 9:24 pm
I was ready to purchase for my business but those new changes are not what I want. Sorry but that was a huge mistake!
December 30th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
Sorry about that.
June 24th, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Wow. That’s exciting. Stainless steel rods of that diameter are actually stronger and more robust than expanded metal. I may have to reconsider to meadow creek
January 8th, 2016 at 8:32 am
@Joe Hanna, Yes, I don’t think most of the people complaining about this understand how heavy and sturdy these new grates are. They are also very sleek and they look great!
August 7th, 2015 at 7:59 am
I have had a CD120G Caterer’s Delight for about 5 years with expanded metal grate,great cooker. Last year I bought a 42″ Roaster (gas) with the new grate. I have found out that when you are trying to pick up a Boston Butt that might be stick on the new grate that your spatula will slide under the grate making it harder to lift off the grill. I slide the spatula from right to left to get the meat off and that is when it goes under the grate. If I slide it from front to back it is not a bad. Also, I think that clean up on the new grate takes longer. It is much easier to scrape and pressure wash the expanded metal than the new grate that is round. With all that said it is still a GREAT GRILL.
April 26th, 2017 at 5:36 pm
I HATE Expanded Metal Grates.
1. They a a pain in the butt to clean with a brush.
2.Over time they warp.
I have 2 chicken cookers and will be ordering a 3rd one soon.
I love the new grate
1. Easy to clean
2. Durable