Kettle with Smokenator and PartyQ


 
N

Nate B

New member
Hi all,

I have been using a Performer Silver with the Smokenator this past year with great results. As it got colder, I decided to add a PartyQ to help keep the temperature even for cooks in the Winter. I smoked a Turkey for Christmas dinner and noticed the dome temperature and the PartyQ temperature were about 100 degrees off, with the blower puffing air constantly. The temperature probe for the PartyQ was clipped to the cooking grate, in between the meat and the Smokenator, but a few inches away from the cold meat. The blower running constantly drained the batteries pretty quickly. I saw another thread which mentioned to check the calibration of the PartyQ in a pot of boiling water, which I will do.

This seems to be a fairly popular combination, but the search only brought up 3 threads here. Does anyone have any tips or pictures of the same setup you would like to share? I don't have a picture of my setup handy, but I'll share one of my recent bird instead.

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Bumping this thread with an update. I have a brisket going today and this setup is working much better. It is warmer today, so perhaps the PartyQ was getting off from the cold air on my previous attempt. I have the Smokenator at 0900 and the PartyQ at 0600. The probe for the PartyQ seems to work best clipped above the grate, between the meat and the Smokenator baffle. Currently it is keeping the temperature on the grate around 225 with the dome temperature registering a little above 250. I'm happy with this now.


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edit with the finished product after 11.5 hours at 225 F:

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Hey Nate, just wondering how come you use the smokenator instead of throwing chunks of wood directly on the coals? Is it more efficient or less of a hassle or? I've never tried the smokenator, but I have tried other smoke boxes with very poor results compared to chunks directly on the coals. My brother in law is thinking of getting one for his gas grill though.
 
The smokenator for the Weber Kettle is nothing more than a stainless steel baffle which serves as a heat shield for the meat and holds a water pan. If you follow the instructions with the Smokenator, you stack unlit charcoal and your wood pieces on the small side of the baffle away from the meat. Place 10-12 hot coals on top and a pan of water. The hot coals should burn down and light the unlit coals. Add the PartyQ to stoke the coals and it keeps the temperature in the Kettle nice and even.

Of course, you can bank the coals to one side or use fire bricks to accomplish the same goal. I like the convenience of the one piece baffle to keep everything in place. It also allows you to use the grate for the coals for more meat, or easily fit a whole turkey in the kettle.

http://www.smokenator.com/
 
Nate B said:
noticed the dome temperature and the PartyQ temperature were about 100 degrees off, with the blower puffing air constantly. The temperature probe for the PartyQ was clipped to the cooking grate, in between the meat and the Smokenator, but a few inches away from the cold meat. The blower running constantly drained the batteries pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

Well, they say the dome thermometers are cheap, unreliable, and should be ignored. I also have a Performer and Smokenator and have been thinking of adding the PartyQ. Are you saying the batteries died from that one use? I see people online have done several cooks and had yet to replace the batteries. How has it been so far? Any more use with it?
 
I have a Smokenator and use a Auber unit. It works good for me. I drilled the mounting hole just under the charcoal grate. You cover the grate with foil and the air is diverted straight to the bottom of the Smokenator.
 
Sorry, I have not checked this thread for a while. Yes, this setup is working well now. I used it to bake some beans in a pot last weekend and it kept a nice even 300 without breaking sweat. I also an 8 hour cook with a pork butt and better battery life. It works great when blowing in warm air. I will have to rig something else up in the Winter.
 
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