Some managment help from the multitude

Welcome to the groups and congrats on the purchase. Looks like you've been a member for a while (actually a lurker?) so hopefully we helped with your quest for a CS.

Couple of suggestions.

1. Read ALL of the postings under Cookshack Owners.

2. Read ALL the postings in the Owners Archive.

3. Relax. A lot of your answers are already there in the forum. Keep in mind, this is a WELL MADE UNIT. I keep my Smokette outside all year (but Oklahoma only get's into the single digits above zero on a rare day).

The insulation (is it 1200 degrees? Stuart?) does a great job of not only keeping the heat in, but the cold out. It also means while the unit is "smoking" you won't feel any appreciable temperature increase on the outside of the smoker. (another reason to buy a cookshack). You will need to protect the surface from grease, when you open the door, grease and other stuff will make it's way onto the floor. You can leave it outside and use it year round (keep the snow from going inside the vent hold and protect the electrical cord).

There are a couple of "cart" pictures out there in those forums.

Hope that helps.

Smokin'

Many thanks Smokin'for the reassurance. Yep I've been a member for quite some time; in fact it was finding the website and the forum while surfing "barbecue sites" that resulted in my interest and my (wife's) purchase of the Smokette. I used a Weber WS for a time but I was dissapointed some with the volumes but more with the difficulty of simply managing it in a densly populated restricted urban environment. By the way contrary to popular myth about Canada, Toronto is probably a lot warmer than Oklahoma in the winter; Lake Ontario is quite a temperature buffer, we rearely get single digit temperatures and when we do people start maoning about a new ice age. Will check the owners forum for more tips, can't wait till this weekend and my first ribs.

so you mean all those references in movies to Canada being the "great white north" aren't accurate?

Probably similar to everyone thinking Oklahoma is just like what you read in Grapes of Wrath and the movie with Henry Fonda.

I hear you!

Don't forget to season it before you use it.

Well, my smokette is outside on my deck in New Hampshire, where subzero winter temps are not at all uncommon. I plan to leave it out there all winter...and use it too. It'll be interesting to see how it performs in such temps. I shovel off my deck anyway because the Weber gas grill is out there (right across from the CS). Can be difficult at times to keep up with the snow, but I try. This will be my first winter with the CS. One thing I'm a little worried about is the Smokette cover, where the documentation said it was good down to 20 degrees. It's already been colder than that at my house, like last night! I have another old grill cover that I might throw over the CS and its cover to protect both from the snow, ice, and cold. By the way, if your first attempt in the CS is to make ribs, you might want to read some of the recent postings on that subject. They are a very difficult thing to get right, in my opinion. You might want to start with something easier (pork butt!).

Color me Lazy! I have my Smokette on a wheeled metal cart. The surface under her is a sheet of UHMW or whatever. I found a stove hood at a garage sale and got it for nothing. Traded a can of smoked salmon! Plumbed that in to the garage and am smoking as we speak, with a fine raging snowstorm outside. In my house slippers! Ho Hum... Just another day in The Far North!

Hi, Nahum,

Let's see if I can help ...

You can leave your Smokette outside, but in a protected area, such as under the eaves of your house. Protect it from precipitation by covering it with a tarp or something. We sell covers but you can use anything that keeps moisture off the smoker.

If you put it on a cart, make sure that it is a very stable unit, because the Smokette will make it top heavy. We are working on a cart design that will pass UL safety standards -- can't tell you how long that might take so don't start placing orders!

The Smokette is surrounded by either 850 or 1000 degree insulation, I can't remember which, (yes, I know that I am supposed to know these things, but I am middle aged and out of estrogen so my memory is shot) except for the bottom. The legs won't get hot, and you don't have to put it on a fireproof surface.

I have mine on an old garden potting bench that is made of 2x4s. It's not moveable but for me that works fine. The potting bench has plenty of surface space for setting down trays of meat, and other supplies. I keep wood on the bottom shelf.

I'd like to hear how others have their smokers "set up".

Donna

I live in Minneapolis and left my Smokette outside all winter, covered up of course when not in use. I went to Home Depot and bought a stand for a table saw to set my Smokette on. It works real well since the stand is made for something top heavy. i think it cost me about $29.

I put wheels on my smokette so I can keep it in my garage under my workbench and just roll it out to the patio when it's cooking. Wanted to mount wheels without modifying the smokette, and do the whole thing for free out of my hardware "junk" bin. So, I found some radiator hose that just fit inside the legs, cut 4 1.5" pieces and bolted them to a couple pieces of angle iron, with large washers on the other end of the hoses. I poked the hoses into the legs and tightened the bolts, expanding the hoses for a tight fit. Drilled holes for an axle at the end of the angle iron, added large wheels from an old lawn edger at the back, and put rubber crutch feet on the front. Now I can just tip the unit up a bit and wheel it in and out, and it fits neatly under the bench.

PS. My concern was not so much the weather, but that someone else might enjoy using my smoker - at their house!!

quote:

713
posted November 02, 2001 04:14 PM
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I put wheels on my smokette so I can keep it in my garage under my workbench and just roll it out to the patio when it's cooking. Wanted to mount wheels without modifying the smokette, and do the whole thing for free out of my hardware "junk" bin. So,

Yo, Stuart, you gettin this? The man's got an innovation......

You ought to award forum members for the many lucrative innovations they offer. Dogonit!

Forgot to mention - the wheels are about 4" in diameter. They're more or less underneath the back wall of the smokette, inboard of the smokette legs and extend about 3/4" behind the back. They raise the smokette about 2" higher. I just tip the oven back and roll it like a hand truck.

Used the larger wheels because casters tend to get stuck in my brick patio.

If a lot more stability was required, like if the oven was on a taller stand, I'd arrange it so the wheels only contacted the ground when the thing was tipped back, like the stand for a Ryobi table saw.Ryobi Stand

I bought a shelving system at the local wholesale club (brand names I've seen are gorilla shelf and metro wire ) its the stell shelving you often see in restaurants. And it comes with wheels. Set up the shelves so to allow the smokette to sit a few feet off the ground, but not too high because of that top heavy issue. The additional shelves hold all my supplies--four plastic bins for wood, a bin for polders, a bin for gloves and other accessories. I have hooks for my bbq tools (tongs, basting brush, spatula). I even rigged up one of those rubbermaid holders for plastic wrap and aluminum foil. When I want to smoke, I just roll the whole unit out to the front of the garage door to let the smoke escape and roll it back in when I'm done. Might be a little obsessive, but I really do love the convenience of my set-up. Looks slick too!!!

okay, now that you have CS's, go get a digital camera, sounds like some neat rigs out there, we'd love to see photos.

Smokin'

quote:

Originally posted by Andi:
[qb]Color me Lazy! I have my Smokette on a wheeled metal cart. The surface under her is a sheet of UHMW or whatever. I found a stove hood at a garage sale and got it for nothing. Traded a can of smoked salmon! Plumbed that in to the garage and am smoking as we speak, with a fine raging snowstorm outside. In my house slippers! Ho Hum... Just another day in The Far North! [/qb]

SOOOO, I take it the ol OHIO range hood idea worked ok. Happy indoor smoking!!!!!