Do you have a Weber Grill and wish you had a Smoker?  My wife and I got married recently and got a gas grill as a gift.  We already had a Weber kettle grill and the ‘ol lady but the kaibosh on a smoker so it was on her to find a suitable replacement.

Bam!  She found the Smokenator 1000.  It has been a great substitute, errrr, primer for a full-fledged smoker.  So I just smoked some fantastic ribs with the Smokenator and my Weber grill.  Go down to you local meat market and grab a rack or ribs.  Ribs aren’t the only meat that you can smoke with the Smokenator it’s just what we’ve used a few times now.

The key to the whole smoke is lump charcoal, make sure you get lump instead of Kingsford if you can help it.  I live in the Phoenix area and I was able to grab a 20 lb bag of lump charcoal for $6 at my local Fry’s grocery store.

The key to the whole system is temperature, make sure you get a smoker thermometer, instead of the recommended meat thermometer and a clip.  The smoker thermometer is slightly larger than the hole in the Weber lid.  It does fit nicely at angle or using the locking nut to hold it in place.  This is one of those exercises where you DO need to read the Smokenator Manual fully before starting.  Make sure you understand the process of controlling the temperature.

I’ve used the Smokenator twice now and I really like it as an alternative or temporary solution to having a smoker.  The main thing I need to work on is controlling temperature.  I think the area for improvement is in keeping the coals consistently hot and keeping a good flow through the entire 4 hour smoke. Another item you might want if you’re cooking multiple racks of ribs is the Hovergrill for the Smokenator.

If you follow the directions that were provided with the manual, then you’ll have no problem.

Here’s a great You Tube Video about the dry run which is very important, you need to do the test run, I cannot stress it enough!!