Smoking Meats on a GGA?


 

SteveBuzzard

New member
I saw that Zifa Grills, a German vendor that has quite a few accessories for GGA’s, offers a smoke box that apparently sits on top their flavorizer bar. Their products are mostly stainless. I believe their are a couple of standoffs that rest on the flavorizer, then the smoke box sits on them.


I am thinking of buying this set-up, a.) if they will ship to the U.S., and b.) if I could get an honest assessment from an actual user. Also, wondering if I should just use the mini smoke tube I already own?

They also have some drip trays and a skewer holder that have piqued my interest, but as always, before splashing out on products, especially on those coming from across the world (shipping prices) , I really would like to get first hand accounts from people who’ve actually used them.

Anyone who has used these products care to comment? Also, your best tips for smoking on a GGA? Thank you
 
Steve, a low cost and effective solution for smoking in a GGA would probably be getting a cheap smoker box (or an aluminum foil packet) filled with wood chips and setting it off to one side in the GGA.

I do own a mini smoke tube, but I have never tried to smoke meats in my GGAs. My experience with my mini smoke tube is that if the cooker does not have good or augmented airflow, i.e. a fan, the pellets extinguish prematurely.

I have two GGAs with Zifa Grills FlavorBars in each of them. I do not have their drip trays or smoker holder/box kit.

The Zifa Grills smoker holder/box kit may work, but you will have grill grate clearance issues unless you also purchase their roti holder/stack.

As far as my purchasing experience with Zifa Grills, I've bought products from Zifa Grills three times so far, once when I lived in Germany about several years ago and twice while in the U.S., most recently a couple of weeks ago.

Shipping is via DHL International departing Germany and then the package transfers to a local carrier once reaching the U.S. The local carrier for my most recent shipment was USPS and they required my signature upon delivery.

Shipping took about a week from the time I placed my order (16 June) to delivery (22 June).

The shipping cost to the East Coast was 76.99 EUR (83.06 USD) for six products, which I'm sure is dependent on the total weight of the package.

Not cheap, but considering the substantial weight of the package and the fact that their products are unique to the American market, made it worth it to me the two times I've had their products shipped to the U.S.

I have nothing but good things to say about Zifa Grills products. Most recently, I posted a cook using Zifa Grills products here: https://tvwbb.com/threads/lid-up-go-anywhere-grilling.98538/

Anyway, I hope this helps. Let us know what you ultimately go with for smoking on the GGA.
 
Steve, a low cost and effective solution for smoking in a GGA would probably be getting a cheap smoker box (or an aluminum foil packet) filled with wood chips and setting it off to one side in the GGA.

I do own a mini smoke tube, but I have never tried to smoke meats in my GGAs. My experience with my mini smoke tube is that if the cooker does not have good or augmented airflow, i.e. a fan, the pellets extinguish prematurely.

I have two GGAs with Zifa Grills FlavorBars in each of them. I do not have their drip trays or smoker holder/box kit.

The Zifa Grills smoker holder/box kit may work, but you will have grill grate clearance issues unless you also purchase their roti holder/stack.

As far as my purchasing experience with Zifa Grills, I've bought products from Zifa Grills three times so far, once when I lived in Germany about several years ago and twice while in the U.S., most recently a couple of weeks ago.

Shipping is via DHL International departing Germany and then the package transfers to a local carrier once reaching the U.S. The local carrier for my most recent shipment was USPS and they required my signature upon delivery.

Shipping took about a week from the time I placed my order (16 June) to delivery (22 June).

The shipping cost to the East Coast was 76.99 EUR (83.06 USD) for six products, which I'm sure is dependent on the total weight of the package.

Not cheap, but considering the substantial weight of the package and the fact that their products are unique to the American market, made it worth it to me the two times I've had their products shipped to the U.S.

I have nothing but good things to say about Zifa Grills products. Most recently, I posted a cook using Zifa Grills products here: https://tvwbb.com/threads/lid-up-go-anywhere-grilling.98538/

Anyway, I hope this helps. Let us know what you ultimately go with for smoking on the GGA.
Thank you for the in-depth reply. I have a new, older version GGA, it came with the old style flavorizer bar, steel grate. I bought the Craycort cast iron grill grates. I’m surmising, though, that in order to use both their grease trays and smoker box, I’d have to also buy their flavorizer bar. I do not mind doing that at all, but if the Zilla Grills grease trays are only marginally effective, or their smoke box is not too effective, I would just stick with my mini smoke tube and simply clean the grill afterwards. I only want/need to get a little smoke flavor in burgers/chicken/sausages, mostly on the road when traveling. When smoking tri-tip, pork butts, or brisket, we do that at home on our Recteq smoker. I will never take a charcoal grill on the road when traveling, and of course a gas grill is a compromise.
 
Thank you for the in-depth reply. I have a new, older version GGA, it came with the old style flavorizer bar, steel grate. I bought the Craycort cast iron grill grates. I’m surmising, though, that in order to use both their grease trays and smoker box, I’d have to also buy their flavorizer bar. I do not mind doing that at all, but if the Zilla Grills grease trays are only marginally effective, or their smoke box is not too effective, I would just stick with my mini smoke tube and simply clean the grill afterwards. I only want/need to get a little smoke flavor in burgers/chicken/sausages, mostly on the road when traveling. When smoking tri-tip, pork butts, or brisket, we do that at home on our Recteq smoker. I will never take a charcoal grill on the road when traveling, and of course a gas grill is a compromise.
Steve, I think your Craycort grates, original Flavorizer bar, and mini smoke tube are perfect for what you want to do (burgers/chicken/sausages) on the road.
 
Smoking on a GGA is doable! Consider sticking with your smoke tube for now, but if you want a longer smoke time, check with Zifa Grills (they're German) about their smoke box and shipping to the US. For any smoker box, remember to soak your wood chips and set up a two-zone heat zone on your GGA for indirect heat. Good luck!
How do you do two zones on a GGA? I know about doing that on charcoal grills, not sure about on a GGA?
 

 

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