# New Smoker (Costco/Outdoor Liesure), First Post, Questions



## barhoram (Nov 3, 2010)

Hi All.   New to the forum. New to Smoking. I've had my smoker for a couple of weeks now.  Unit is the same unit that is pictued here (Stainless, seperate drawer for water/chips):














Overall, I've been very pleased with it.  I do have a question though for the experts on here.   The chip box (appears to be porcelean, rectangular, no top) sits between the burner and water tray.  It can be positioned anywhere from side to side.  I started out with it all the way to the right and furtherst away from the burner/flame.  It took quite a bit of time to finally get warmed up enough to smoke.   The next time, I put it right over top of the burner, and it seemed to catch fire and smoke too much...more burn than smoke.  My question is that is it typical for the chip box to be over the flame or to the side?  I'm using chunks of hickory w/ bark (from Home Depot).    Also, when should the chunks be replaced?  If they catch fire, should I take them out, or stop the fire with water and continue to use?


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## mballi3011 (Nov 3, 2010)

First off Welcome Barhoram to SMF. Nice smoker too. You'll like it here for there are alot of really good folks here that would just love to help you with just about anything to do with smoking. Now there are alot of proven recipes for some amazing things here too. So if you need sign up for the E-Course it's free and it will give you the basics of smoking and some good methods to use also. So the next big thing for you to do is go out and get you something to smoke and if you happen to have any questions just post it here and we will be happy to answer them for you.

Welcome To Your New Addiction


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## thunderdome (Nov 3, 2010)

I've never seen that type of smoker. Always cool to see new ones, and Costco usually sells quality. Make sure to ask plenty of questions and post lots of pics!


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## beer-b-q (Nov 3, 2010)

Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us.
 

This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.
 

For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out *Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse*.

Click Here it's *"FREE"* ... 5 Day eCourseE


----------



## deannc (Nov 3, 2010)

Welcome aboard and congrats on the new smoker!  I'm not familiar with your exact smoker, however, my box sits right over the flame in my propane smoker.  How many wood chunks are you putting in?  What temps?  I generally start out with 4 or 5 chunks and after maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours I'll slip another one or two in.


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## pineywoods (Nov 3, 2010)

Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. I haven't seen that smoker yet but most of the verticals I've seen the chip pan is right over the burner if you can move yours I'd play around and see where it works best. Remember your looking for thin blue smoke (TBS) or no smoke and just the smell of the wood. If you can smell the wood so can the meat. Have fun and happy smoking.

I also moved your thread to the Roll Call section so you can get a proper welcome to the forum


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## cwalk (Nov 3, 2010)

try using less chips in your pan and keep it directly over burner. welcome


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## barhoram (Nov 4, 2010)

Thanks for all of the replies.

I've already done a few smokes so far....just trying to fine tune my process :)     My wife actually suprised me with the smoker one afternoon as a birthday present a few days early. I had been eyeing the smoker in the Costco store for a couple of weeks...but didn't know she picked up on it. Needless to say, what a very pleasant suprise!

Let's see, the first run was smoked chicken legs.  Fabulous. The Kids (4) and us really enjoyed them, and with chicken legs, got a great sense for the pink color smoking will do to the meat. Everyone was impressed how moist they were and how good the light hickory flavor made the legs.

The second run was actually quite a test as we had 20 or so people over for a birthday paty.   To compliment the menu, I smoked baby backs and chicken wings.   Now baby backs are a favorite of mine, so I was eager to see how these would turn out.   I used the 2-2-1 method with a St. Louis rub found in my Smoke and Spice recipe book.  For the wings, I whipped up a quick rub that I found online.   Over the 4 or 5 hours, I did get one instance where the chunks caught fire good. However, both the wings and the ribs came out looking and tasting fantastic.    I lightly sauced the ribs over the last hour with Sweet Baby Ray's and served them up with a choice of a few different sauces (a couple of reds, mustard based, etc).   The wings and the ribs both got devoured. I really love what the 2-2-1 does for the ribs.  They were tender with some bark and hold up to cutting and a bite, but you can clean them to the bone with ease!  Lots of compliments on both.

The thrid run was another test of sorts, as I did a whole turkey.  I threw on some ribs as well for an appetizer.  This worked to perfection as the turkey still had an hour or two when the ribs were done.    Did the 2-2-1 again, but didn't have any apple juice.  No sweat, I used some grape juice, and I think they actually may have tasted even better than before!  Again, they were devoured!  As for the turkey, I used the same rub as I used on the wings above, and lightly coated the skin with some oil every hour or so.  It tasted fantastic. I may have been a little on the dry side....or it wasn't as moist as I was expecting. Still very good none the less.  It did pretty much fall apart as we carved it....so my son couldn't eat the turkey leg that he was expecting.  Perhaps I will try apple juice/rum mix instead of oil next time.   The best part, though, was the gravy the drippings I captued made!  Wow...the light smokey flavor was perfect.  We also made turkey/veg soup with the left overs and the smokey flavor made its way through to that as well. We froze several helping, and my wife and kids love it.

The last batches of ribs were so good, I tried them again last weekend and this is where I ran into issues with the chunks catching fire too much.   There were directly over the flame in the chip tray...an hour in or so, I noticed the flames, and the temp was 350ish. I replace them with new chunks and the same thing happened. Too much white smoke, too hot.   In the end, I ended up finishing with the chunks all the way to the side of the smoker...away from the flame, and I didn't seem to get enough smoke. Needless to say, the ribs weren't as tender (got too hot i suspect) and didn't have much smoke flavor at all.   I guess I need to experiment with the placement of the chip pan. However becasue of the way it sits under the water tray, there isn't much room to replace it with a can or cast iron skillet.

So now we've done ribs, wings, turkey, and chicken legs.  Next up I want to try pulled pork. Thinking about trying a boston butt. Can't wait!


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## phlunkie (Nov 4, 2010)

can you post a model number and/or more pictures. I am trying to find it on costcos site but no luck.


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## barhoram (Nov 4, 2010)

Hi. I was never able to find it at Costco online.  It was at the store only...and only one of the two stores in town even had it.     I'll see if I can take some additional pictures and post sometime soon.  I actually swiped the two posted from someone online..but mine is identical.    I like the fact that it is stainless and the chip/water pan is seperate so you can tend to those without opening the main door.  I checked the on board thermometer vs my digital and it seemed right on.  In 40deg weather yesterday it got up to 259 w/ nothing in it but some water...so it's not super hot, but I suppose thats what the grill is for.   It is made my Outdoor Leisure, but not listed on thier site.  Their tech support did return an email from me, so it is definitely thier's.   I would ultimately like to convert it to natural gas as it is right there for my grill....but tech support doesnt sell a kit and just replied that it can be convertd...have a professional do it.   Any professionals on here? :)


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## caiguar (Nov 6, 2010)

Wow that is a great looking smoker, would love to see more pictures of it.  how much was it, what are the dimensions of it? if your wood catches fire every now and then, I would suggest you wrap the chunks in foil paper, that should care of that problem.


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## mikedom (Nov 6, 2010)

I know when I used my gas grill for smoking, I would wrap chips/chunks of wood in aluminum foil and poke a few holes in the top to give me just enoough smoke without them catching fire.  Maybe something like that would work for you.  Then just replace the foil pack with a new one when its done burning.


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## barhoram (Nov 6, 2010)

I'll see if I can snap a few pictures tomorrow....as I plan of doing a bit of smoking....have some odds

and ends (wings, chicken breasts, legs and a small rack of ribs) that we need to use.

The smoker retailed for $299...that I thought was a good deal.  Got ours for $250 as it was

the last one..and open box display :)


----------



## old poi dog (Nov 6, 2010)

> So now we've done ribs, wings, turkey, and chicken legs.  Next up I want to try pulled pork. Thinking about trying a boston butt. Can't wait!


Go for it.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Welcome to the forum.... Don't forget the Q-views when you can.


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## SmokinAl (Nov 7, 2010)

welcome to smf. great people here. could you post some pics of the inside of your smoker, never seen that kind before.

Al


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## scarbelly (Nov 7, 2010)

Welcome to SMF. Sounds like you are off to a great start. Like others have indicated you kind of have to play with the heat source and the wood to see what works best in your smoker. Good luck with the Butt and be sure to post the qview for us


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## meateater (Nov 7, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.


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## buhi (Nov 22, 2010)

Just picked one of these up this weekend from a closeout store (Outdoor Life Products Model 41170) - got an incredible deal - $99. Needs a replacement hinge pin, but I'm not complaining. First smoke yesterday was a bunch of chicken wings and a whole chicken with mesquite. Box held steady at 235 for the entire time. Still need to get comfortable with it (my normal cooker is a modified Brinkmann Smoke King Deluxe), but this is the first time ever I spent most of my time during a smoke reading instead of tending the fire... I could get used to LP.

Cooking a standing rib roast in this thing on Thanksgiving.


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## nwoutdoorsman (Dec 4, 2013)

Be sure to soak your chips well before you use them.  If the wood chips are good and soaked before you put them in, they should work well placed down by the burner.

I try to add freshly soaked chips before the old run out.  That will help keep the old chips from flaming toward the end.

Hope this helps!


----------



## gary s (Dec 4, 2013)

[h1]*





	

		
			
		

		
	
Hello and welcome from East Texas. This is a great site, lots of information and great people that are willing to throw in their two cents worth on about anything.   *[/h1][h1]  [/h1][h1]*Gary*[/h1]


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## barhoram (Nov 3, 2010)

Hi All.   New to the forum. New to Smoking. I've had my smoker for a couple of weeks now.  Unit is the same unit that is pictued here (Stainless, seperate drawer for water/chips):














Overall, I've been very pleased with it.  I do have a question though for the experts on here.   The chip box (appears to be porcelean, rectangular, no top) sits between the burner and water tray.  It can be positioned anywhere from side to side.  I started out with it all the way to the right and furtherst away from the burner/flame.  It took quite a bit of time to finally get warmed up enough to smoke.   The next time, I put it right over top of the burner, and it seemed to catch fire and smoke too much...more burn than smoke.  My question is that is it typical for the chip box to be over the flame or to the side?  I'm using chunks of hickory w/ bark (from Home Depot).    Also, when should the chunks be replaced?  If they catch fire, should I take them out, or stop the fire with water and continue to use?


----------



## mballi3011 (Nov 3, 2010)

First off Welcome Barhoram to SMF. Nice smoker too. You'll like it here for there are alot of really good folks here that would just love to help you with just about anything to do with smoking. Now there are alot of proven recipes for some amazing things here too. So if you need sign up for the E-Course it's free and it will give you the basics of smoking and some good methods to use also. So the next big thing for you to do is go out and get you something to smoke and if you happen to have any questions just post it here and we will be happy to answer them for you.

Welcome To Your New Addiction


----------



## thunderdome (Nov 3, 2010)

I've never seen that type of smoker. Always cool to see new ones, and Costco usually sells quality. Make sure to ask plenty of questions and post lots of pics!


----------



## beer-b-q (Nov 3, 2010)

Welcome to SMF, Glad to have you with us.
 

This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.
 

For those of you new to Smoking, be sure to check out *Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse*.

Click Here it's *"FREE"* ... 5 Day eCourseE


----------



## deannc (Nov 3, 2010)

Welcome aboard and congrats on the new smoker!  I'm not familiar with your exact smoker, however, my box sits right over the flame in my propane smoker.  How many wood chunks are you putting in?  What temps?  I generally start out with 4 or 5 chunks and after maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours I'll slip another one or two in.


----------



## pineywoods (Nov 3, 2010)

Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. I haven't seen that smoker yet but most of the verticals I've seen the chip pan is right over the burner if you can move yours I'd play around and see where it works best. Remember your looking for thin blue smoke (TBS) or no smoke and just the smell of the wood. If you can smell the wood so can the meat. Have fun and happy smoking.

I also moved your thread to the Roll Call section so you can get a proper welcome to the forum


----------



## cwalk (Nov 3, 2010)

try using less chips in your pan and keep it directly over burner. welcome


----------



## barhoram (Nov 4, 2010)

Thanks for all of the replies.

I've already done a few smokes so far....just trying to fine tune my process :)     My wife actually suprised me with the smoker one afternoon as a birthday present a few days early. I had been eyeing the smoker in the Costco store for a couple of weeks...but didn't know she picked up on it. Needless to say, what a very pleasant suprise!

Let's see, the first run was smoked chicken legs.  Fabulous. The Kids (4) and us really enjoyed them, and with chicken legs, got a great sense for the pink color smoking will do to the meat. Everyone was impressed how moist they were and how good the light hickory flavor made the legs.

The second run was actually quite a test as we had 20 or so people over for a birthday paty.   To compliment the menu, I smoked baby backs and chicken wings.   Now baby backs are a favorite of mine, so I was eager to see how these would turn out.   I used the 2-2-1 method with a St. Louis rub found in my Smoke and Spice recipe book.  For the wings, I whipped up a quick rub that I found online.   Over the 4 or 5 hours, I did get one instance where the chunks caught fire good. However, both the wings and the ribs came out looking and tasting fantastic.    I lightly sauced the ribs over the last hour with Sweet Baby Ray's and served them up with a choice of a few different sauces (a couple of reds, mustard based, etc).   The wings and the ribs both got devoured. I really love what the 2-2-1 does for the ribs.  They were tender with some bark and hold up to cutting and a bite, but you can clean them to the bone with ease!  Lots of compliments on both.

The thrid run was another test of sorts, as I did a whole turkey.  I threw on some ribs as well for an appetizer.  This worked to perfection as the turkey still had an hour or two when the ribs were done.    Did the 2-2-1 again, but didn't have any apple juice.  No sweat, I used some grape juice, and I think they actually may have tasted even better than before!  Again, they were devoured!  As for the turkey, I used the same rub as I used on the wings above, and lightly coated the skin with some oil every hour or so.  It tasted fantastic. I may have been a little on the dry side....or it wasn't as moist as I was expecting. Still very good none the less.  It did pretty much fall apart as we carved it....so my son couldn't eat the turkey leg that he was expecting.  Perhaps I will try apple juice/rum mix instead of oil next time.   The best part, though, was the gravy the drippings I captued made!  Wow...the light smokey flavor was perfect.  We also made turkey/veg soup with the left overs and the smokey flavor made its way through to that as well. We froze several helping, and my wife and kids love it.

The last batches of ribs were so good, I tried them again last weekend and this is where I ran into issues with the chunks catching fire too much.   There were directly over the flame in the chip tray...an hour in or so, I noticed the flames, and the temp was 350ish. I replace them with new chunks and the same thing happened. Too much white smoke, too hot.   In the end, I ended up finishing with the chunks all the way to the side of the smoker...away from the flame, and I didn't seem to get enough smoke. Needless to say, the ribs weren't as tender (got too hot i suspect) and didn't have much smoke flavor at all.   I guess I need to experiment with the placement of the chip pan. However becasue of the way it sits under the water tray, there isn't much room to replace it with a can or cast iron skillet.

So now we've done ribs, wings, turkey, and chicken legs.  Next up I want to try pulled pork. Thinking about trying a boston butt. Can't wait!


----------



## phlunkie (Nov 4, 2010)

can you post a model number and/or more pictures. I am trying to find it on costcos site but no luck.


----------



## barhoram (Nov 4, 2010)

Hi. I was never able to find it at Costco online.  It was at the store only...and only one of the two stores in town even had it.     I'll see if I can take some additional pictures and post sometime soon.  I actually swiped the two posted from someone online..but mine is identical.    I like the fact that it is stainless and the chip/water pan is seperate so you can tend to those without opening the main door.  I checked the on board thermometer vs my digital and it seemed right on.  In 40deg weather yesterday it got up to 259 w/ nothing in it but some water...so it's not super hot, but I suppose thats what the grill is for.   It is made my Outdoor Leisure, but not listed on thier site.  Their tech support did return an email from me, so it is definitely thier's.   I would ultimately like to convert it to natural gas as it is right there for my grill....but tech support doesnt sell a kit and just replied that it can be convertd...have a professional do it.   Any professionals on here? :)


----------



## caiguar (Nov 6, 2010)

Wow that is a great looking smoker, would love to see more pictures of it.  how much was it, what are the dimensions of it? if your wood catches fire every now and then, I would suggest you wrap the chunks in foil paper, that should care of that problem.


----------



## mikedom (Nov 6, 2010)

I know when I used my gas grill for smoking, I would wrap chips/chunks of wood in aluminum foil and poke a few holes in the top to give me just enoough smoke without them catching fire.  Maybe something like that would work for you.  Then just replace the foil pack with a new one when its done burning.


----------



## barhoram (Nov 6, 2010)

I'll see if I can snap a few pictures tomorrow....as I plan of doing a bit of smoking....have some odds

and ends (wings, chicken breasts, legs and a small rack of ribs) that we need to use.

The smoker retailed for $299...that I thought was a good deal.  Got ours for $250 as it was

the last one..and open box display :)


----------



## old poi dog (Nov 6, 2010)

> So now we've done ribs, wings, turkey, and chicken legs.  Next up I want to try pulled pork. Thinking about trying a boston butt. Can't wait!


Go for it.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Welcome to the forum.... Don't forget the Q-views when you can.


----------



## SmokinAl (Nov 7, 2010)

welcome to smf. great people here. could you post some pics of the inside of your smoker, never seen that kind before.

Al


----------



## scarbelly (Nov 7, 2010)

Welcome to SMF. Sounds like you are off to a great start. Like others have indicated you kind of have to play with the heat source and the wood to see what works best in your smoker. Good luck with the Butt and be sure to post the qview for us


----------



## meateater (Nov 7, 2010)

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.


----------



## buhi (Nov 22, 2010)

Just picked one of these up this weekend from a closeout store (Outdoor Life Products Model 41170) - got an incredible deal - $99. Needs a replacement hinge pin, but I'm not complaining. First smoke yesterday was a bunch of chicken wings and a whole chicken with mesquite. Box held steady at 235 for the entire time. Still need to get comfortable with it (my normal cooker is a modified Brinkmann Smoke King Deluxe), but this is the first time ever I spent most of my time during a smoke reading instead of tending the fire... I could get used to LP.

Cooking a standing rib roast in this thing on Thanksgiving.


----------



## nwoutdoorsman (Dec 4, 2013)

Be sure to soak your chips well before you use them.  If the wood chips are good and soaked before you put them in, they should work well placed down by the burner.

I try to add freshly soaked chips before the old run out.  That will help keep the old chips from flaming toward the end.

Hope this helps!


----------



## gary s (Dec 4, 2013)

[h1]*





	

		
			
		

		
	
Hello and welcome from East Texas. This is a great site, lots of information and great people that are willing to throw in their two cents worth on about anything.   *[/h1][h1]  [/h1][h1]*Gary*[/h1]


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