A question for Smoke EZ owners


 
L

Lew

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As I posted in another thread, I got a Smoke EZ new in the box off craigslist (I wanted to add a 22.5" WSM to my stable but couldn't afford it). I've noticed that the Cajun Bandit and Smoke EZ have different ways of arranging the charcoal: the Smoke EZ in a horseshoe around the fire ring with a small water pan over it, and the Cajun Bandit inside the smoke ring with a large water pan over it like the WSM.

With the Smoke EZ setup, part of the cooking grate will be directly over the coals. My gut tells me this will create a hot spot. Four questions:

1. Has anybody here actually used a Smoke EZ?
2. If you have, have you noticed a hot spot where the cooking grate is directly over the burning horseshoe?
3. Have you tried setting it up like a Cajun Bandit, putting the charcoal inside the fire ring and a larger water bowl or other heat sync over it?
4. Am I a traitor now that my deck isn't "all Weber all the time?"

Last year I asked Buddy Foster of Smoke EZ about the hot spot. He said it was fine but if I was worried, I could use a pizza pan on the bottom rack as a heat diffuser. I'm going to play with it this weekend and I'll figure it out, but input from users would be a huge shortcut.
 
Lew, I'm not a Smoke EZ owner/user but I think I can help with some general answers.

Regardless of whether you are using a WSM or one of the Kettle mod kits like the Cajun Bandit or Smoke EZ, you are going to get an updraft of heat around the edge of the cooker. There isn't any way around it as that is were the heat is going to go. The only thing you can do is be aware of it and try to keep as much of the food out of that updraft as possible. I think you'll encounter a stronger updraft if the charcoal is around the outside of the ring but it's hard to tell just how different it will be so you may need to do some testing.

As for you being a traitor, no way! Getting the maximum use out of your Weber gear is good stuff so if this allows you to get the results you are hoping for and keeping your costs down at the same time, it's all good!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vincent Carrocci:
Lew, I'm not a Smoke EZ owner/user but I think I can help with some general answers.

Regardless of whether you are using a WSM or one of the Kettle mod kits like the Cajun Bandit or Smoke EZ, you are going to get an updraft of heat around the edge of the cooker. There isn't any way around it as that is were the heat is going to go. The only thing you can do is be aware of it and try to keep as much of the food out of that updraft as possible. I think you'll encounter a stronger updraft if the charcoal is around the outside of the ring but it's hard to tell just how different it will be so you may need to do some testing.

As for you being a traitor, no way! Getting the maximum use out of your Weber gear is good stuff so if this allows you to get the results you are hoping for and keeping your costs down at the same time, it's all good! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I know about the heat around the edges of the WSM and I put foil under any meat that touches the outside 1"-2" of the cooking grate. My concern is that direct heat will produce an even larger hot spot. I'm sure my concern is unfounded. They wouldn't recommend the method unless it had been thoroughly tested. I just wanted user feedback to shorten my learning curve.

I was just kidding about the Weber thing. When people first see my deck, they laugh and say things like, "think you have enough grills?" or, "are you a Weber rep or something?"
 
Lew, a few months back I was curious about the Smoke EZ and had the pleasure of speaking with Buddy. What a great guy, and I probably would've grabbed one off CL as well if the price was right.

I'd just use cheap charcoal and biscuits out of the can to test it like you would any other smoker. Let us know how it cooks.
 
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