# Callow Smoker Review



## wade

When I was made aware of the Callow smoker I must confess to being a little sceptical. It is being sold for ~£85 and in the pictures it looked quite small. It is being marketed as:


> We have taken all of the design flaws form the binkmann range of smokers along with their good designs and created our own, which is a fantastic cost and will suit new comers to food smoking and the experienced alike.


I ordered it and 2 days later it was delivered...













Callow Arrived.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






*What was in the box?*

The smoker was well packed and came in a surprisingly small box. Although it needs to be assembled there are relatively few components and the whole smoker can be assembled within about 20 minutes using only a cross-head screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

Unpacking



The quality of the unit is very good and compares favourably with the  WSM and ProQ Frontier. The Callow only has a 14" cooking cooking grate though which may restrict using some of the larger cuts of meat

Assembly



The fire basket has plenty of air holes which enabled an even charcoal burn and the bottom and top vents were of good quality which allowed for simple fine temperature control.

The water/sand pan was a good distance above the coals with sufficient gap around to give a good heat flow into the cooking chamber

One possible negative point was the small air gap around the door when it was closed. However during the temperature profiling this did not appear to cause any problems.













Callow Door Seal.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






Below are pictures of the smoker layers













Callow Fire Basket.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017


















Callow Water bath.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017


















Callow Bottom Rack.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017


















Callow Top Rack.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017


















Callow hanging rack.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






*Firing up the Callow*



I used only 2 Kg of Heat Beads in Minion for the initial test, with hot water in the water tray. With all vents fully open the smoker took about 60 minutes to get up to temperature (100-110 C) by which time the bottom vents were 7/8 closed. Without any adjustments it maintained this temperature for over 8 hours. At one point there was a period of gusty wind that caused the temperature to rise slightly.













Callow Temperature Log.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






The following morning when the smoker was taken apart it was clear that the fire had burned evenly and almost completely

*Cold smoking*

The callow worked very well as a cold smoker using both the AMNPS and the ProQ smoke generators













Callow AMNPS.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017


















Callow ProQ.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017


















Callow Cold Smoker.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






*Lid thermometer*

This was the only part that let the smoker down - however this is a common weak point with many models of smoker. When the smoker was up to cooking temperature (based upon the measurement from a calibrated Thermadata Smoke, the lid thermometer was indicating a temperature that was 35 C too low. If this thermometer had been used to regulate cooking temperature then this would have resulted in the temperature in the cooking chamber being much too high.













Callow Thermometer.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






*Summary*

I was really impressed with both the build quality and usability of the Callow Smoker and would recommend it to anyone starting out smoking or for established smokers who are looking for inexpensive additional cooking space.


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## molove

What a great review Wade. I wish these had been available when I was first interested in smoking, I couldn't afford a WSM so bought a Brinkmann which was dreadful, one of these would have been perfect.


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## steve johnson

Hmm I think I may be able to recycle my £30 tectake on and replace it with the callow one without the wife noticing if I schedule delivery right. Thanks for the heads up wade  great report


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## smokin monkey

Great review Wade, (even though I watched the videos with no sound! As I am in noisy plant room).  

I can see some of these making an appearance at the Smokers Weekend!  In two minds if to get one? Got one of those cheap smokers i picked up for 10.00, but this looks far better.


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## smokin monkey

So tempting to get one, so it can be my first review on my new Blog Site, hotcoalsbbq.co.uk


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## martyn c

Nice review Wade, looks a good unit


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## jimjams

Great review. I wan't to buy one to upgrade from simple slow smokes on my Weber kettle.
I found it for £99.99 online in 2 places, but can'f find it as cheap as you mentioned.

Do you have a link to buy it for £85?

Thanks for you help.


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## wade

A word of warning when cooking with the Callow using the inbuilt lid thermometer. In all three units that I have seen the lid thermometer is so inaccurate that using it to smoke will result in severely overcooked food. The manufacturers are aware and are currently trying to resolve this with their suppliers.

Thermometer 1













Callow Thermometer.jpg



__ wade
__ Mar 14, 2017






Thermometer 2













ST Temperature Sm.jpg



__ wade
__ Apr 1, 2017






Thermometer 3













Thermometer calibration.jpg



__ wade
__ Apr 1, 2017


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## smokin monkey

Nice update Wade. Good to see they are looking into the problem.


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## joel75

Hi wade, I can vouch for this mine is way way out, so pleased I brought the digital thermometer!..jo


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## wade

I have now been using the Callow smoker regularly at home and for BBQ demonstrations for several weeks and felt that I needed to post an update.

Several people had reported that they were having difficulty getting the Callow up to temperature for hot smoke roasting. As I have really only been using it at ~110 C this had not been a problem for me. I therefore did some more testing over the weekend. 

Firstly, when you look at the position of the air vents compared with the bottom of the fire bowl  you notice that they are positioned slightly above.













Callow Air Vents 1.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017


















Callow Air Vents 2.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






My initial thoughts were that maybe the air is entering the side vents and is hitting the hot sides of the fire bowl and then immediately rising upwards - resulting in insufficient air passing down and through the coals.

During the trials below all of the top and bottom vents were left wide open. Once the lit coals had been added the neither the lid or the doors were opened during the logging period.

This theory was explored by using a fixed weight of Head Beads in a Minion - 1.5 Kg unlit with 10 fully lit in the centre. Firstly with the Callow unmodified and then with a ring of tinfoil blocking the gap around the firebowl - forcing the air downwards and up through the coals. 













Callow Temp Test 1.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017


















Callow Temp Test 2.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






These photos were taken after ~90 minutes of each test













Minion Temp Log.JPG



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






As you can see the temperature rose steadily over the first hour and with both methods the temperature stabilised at about 175-185 C. From the graph it does appear that with the foil seal the temperature rose slightly faster after the first 30 minutes. The difference though is slight and may not be significant. With both Minions it still took the Callow over 1 hour to get fully up to temperature. In normal "every day" use this time would probably be extended further if the lid or doors are opened.

In both of the Minion tests the Callow eventually reached similar maximum temperatures and so the next test was to see what was the maximum temperature that the Callow would reach. To test this I repeated the above tests with 1.5 Kg Heat Beads that had been fully lit.













Fully Lit Temp Log.JPG



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






When using fully lit coals the Callow reached a stable temperature of 150-165 C after about 10 minutes. The unfoiled (control) trial actually rose and stabilised slightly faster than the foiled trial.

The next thing to test was whether the maximum temperature was proportional to the amount of coals being used. I therefore repeated the above control test but using 3.0 Kg of fully lit Heat Beads.













Heat Beads 1_5 Kg.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017


















Heat Beads 3_0 Kg.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017


















Coals weight Temp Log.JPG



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






You will see that using twice the amount of lit coals did result in an initial increase in maximum temperature - after 6 minutes the 1.5 Kg of coals had reached 165 C whereas the 3 Kg had reached 190 C. After about 15 minutes though both of the temperatures had stabilised to between 160-170 C. These results (combined with the previous trial results) indicates that amount of coals in the fire bowl has little practical effect on the maximum temperature of the smoker.













All Logs.JPG



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






A couple of issues that I am finding with the Callow after several weeks use

Several people have reported to me that the screws connecting to the handle fall out easily under normal use. This also happened to mine last weekend. Callow are aware of this issue and are updating the handle design. If you have any problems with yours then please contact Callow and they will send you a replacement.













Callow Handle.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017






This is a little more worrying - After only a few weeks of cooking I am seeing some rust appearing along the top of the door opening on the main body. This has been reported to Callow.













Callow Door Rust.jpg



__ wade
__ May 2, 2017


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## smokin monkey

Great update Wade.


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## dl8860

Hi Wade.

This is a fantastic review, thanks for your efforts.

I was wondering if you had any further updates since your last post?

Has the performance of the smoker continued to impress?

What is the rust situation like, has it got worse?

How has Callow's CS been since?

Many thanks


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## wade

Hi dl

A summary of the review has been published in the UK BBQ magazine https://view.joomag.com/uk-bbq-mag-summer-2017/0952880001488447148?short. There are no real updates other than it is working well as a smoker and it is easy to use. I am still using it with the handle taped and I have replaced the thermometer with a more accurate one. The rust line is still there and does not appear to have increased significantly. I have put some stove rope around the door opening to seal it better.

As a first inexpensive smoker it works well to get those new to smoking up and running. For cooking one or two pieces of meat at a time it is great and will feed a family easily. If you are catering for larger crowds then you may struggle unless you have additional cooking space.

I cannot fault Callow customer services. They have responded quickly and efficiently with issues and I know they welcome feedback - both positive and negative. I understand that they are looking at having a larger "pro" model developed too, but this will not be for a while.


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## fubarphill

Great to get an update from you on this Wade.

I found when doing my first smoke in the Callow I was struggling to maintain a temp over 100c. I did pack the surrounding gap of the coal pan with foil like you did in your high temp testing and it definitely helped to get it slightly higher.

I think you are definitely right about the air vents/air flow.

I was also finding that ash wasn't falling through the holes in the pan as fast as I'd have liked so seemed to smother the briquettes a little.

I am thinking of drilling some additional holes in the pan, probably around the sides and maybe a handful more in the bottom and continue to pack with foil. I've noticed looking at other smokers (particularly the WSM) that they often have holes in the sides as well as the bottom so there must be something to it!

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts though before I get trigger happy with my drill! :)


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## reti

Is there a better entry bang for buck smoker than the Callow? I'm new around here but have lurked for a wee while. I'd like to dip my toes into smoking meat, without the ~£300 investment of a Weber so this one takes my interest.


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## wade

Hi Reti

I am still doing some test modifications on the Callow to see if I can get to the higher temperatures using a Minion. I have also just heard that the new, more accurate, thermometers have just arrived and I am awaiting a couple of them to test.

One BBQ/ Smoker that many of us started on is a Weber 22" (57cm) Kettle. That will grill, roast, low-and-slow smoke and also cold smoke. You can pick up a new one for about £150. At the end of the summer the DIY stores sometimes have them on sale for even less.

http://www.bbqworld.co.uk/weber-barbecues/charcoal/weber-original-kettle-barbecues.asp

I have roasted my Christmas turkey on the Weber Kettle for more than 10 years, It is great for pulled pork, ribs and brisket, and it was where I cold smoked my first cheese and salmon.


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## reti

Thanks for that Wade. I did notice the Weber stuff has a great following - always tonnes of tutorial videos on youtube.

Is it fair to say that in order to smoke food on a Weber Kettle you'd need either to buy a slow n sear (or similar) or DIY bricks and foil in order to create the two zone for a long cook?

Additionally, are these any less 'set and forget' than a dedicated smoker? Some of the videos on the kettles I saw seemed to suggest you need to top up the coals every few hours where as this might not be necessary on something like the callow. Don't call me lazy (
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






) but there's something appealing about throwing a load of coals in it at the start and letting it do it's thing (while keeping an eye on the temp from time to time).

I do already have a standard drum BBQ for grilling, so I'm not necessarily looking for something to replace that with a future purchase (perhaps this somewhat mitigates some of the advantage of the kettle?). With this in mind would you still recommend a Weber over the callow for any particular reason?


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## wade

Hi Reti - Out of interest, which part of the UK are you from?

The Weber will smoke food without you needing to buy any special gadgets. The most important tool will be a dual probe digital thermometer to ensure that you are cooking at the desired temperature and also some heat resistant aluminium foil adhesive tape.

When cooking low-and-slow on the Weber you will be burning your charcoal in a modified Minion method - or snake. To do this you will make a line of briquettes (I recommend Head Beads or Weber briquettes) about 1/3 of the way around the circumference of the charcoal grate, 3 deep and 2-3 high













NatureSnake2.jpeg



__ wade
__ Apr 21, 2016


















NaturePork1.jpeg



__ wade
__ Apr 21, 2016






You will then place 6-8 fully lit briquettes at one end and any flavouring wood/pellets along the top of the unlit coals. To help ensure that the heat is deflected into the cooking chamber (and not just up the side and out of the top vent) you place a double thickness of foil on the cooking grate immediately above. The meat sits on the cooking grate over a foil tray - to catch the rendered fat. If you want to put hot water in the foil tray then that is fine too.

One thing that you cannot see from the pictures above is that the two air vents that are below the coals are left as standard, however the 3rd air vent that is under the meat is blocked off on the outside using the sticky aluminium tape. Once the meat is cooked this is then easily removed.

Fully open the bottom and top vents and place on the lid, Monitor the cooking chamber temperature until it gets to about 3/4 of your target and then start to close down the bottom vents. You should then be able to easily get it to stabilise at the desired cooking temperature. Once stable you should only need to check it once an hour or so. The snake that you see above will last 6-8 hours at about 110 C. As it begins to look as if the temperature will fall, rake all of the unburned coals to one end and then rebuild the snake and let it burn back. This will give you another 6-8 hours. For speed you can just place new coals on top of the hot embers but if you do this make sure that you watch the temperature for a while so that it does not over shoot.

With either the Callow or the Weber Kettle it should be at least 6 (and up to 10) hours before you need to add more coals. Those adding more regularly are either deliberately cooking at higher temperatures, cannot effectively control their burn, or are using cheap briquettes or possibly lumpwood.


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## wade

reti said:


> I do already have a standard drum BBQ for grilling, so I'm not necessarily looking for something to replace that with a future purchase (perhaps this somewhat mitigates some of the advantage of the kettle?). With this in mind would you still recommend a Weber over the callow for any particular reason?


At the moment, until the few issues with the Callow are fixed, I would probably suggest going for the Weber Kettle. I specify the Weber as it had much higher cooking clearance in the lid than many of the cheaper alternative kettles. The Callow is obviously cheaper and does the low and slow really well. It is the higher temperature roasts that we are having difficulty with. Once we have sorted these mods out then I am sure that the Callow will be a good all-rounder too but there is still some unknowns here at the moment. Callow are working very closely with us though to get these issues sorted.


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## reti

Wow, thanks so much for the comprehensive response Wade. I'm based in SW London. Bound to annoy my in-close-proximity neighbors who are trying to dry their washing outside in the weekends! I think you have sold me on a Weber, I didn't realise such long cooks were possible with one. I've created a few saved searches on Gumtree and Ebay; thinking i'll try get something second hand if there are some in good condition around.

I bought a cheap probe thermo for testing meat temperatures some time ago - I suspect that for £5 there will be a fairly large margin of error. Sounds like I should add a better one to my shopping list. I'll do some research.

Keen to hear how the callow improves over time, it does seem to look pretty good on paper at that price point given it's about 3 times cheaper than a smokey mountain.


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## smokin monkey

reti said:


> I bought a cheap probe thermo for testing meat temperatures some time ago - I suspect that for £5 there will be a fairly large margin of error. Sounds like I should add a better one to my shopping list. I'll do some research.



Best way to check it, boil a kettle a place probe into it. Should be 100'C if it's within + - 2'C it's a good enough!


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## wade

reti said:


> I bought a cheap probe thermo for testing meat temperatures some time ago - I suspect that for £5 there will be a fairly large margin of error. Sounds like I should add a better one to my shopping list. I'll do some research.


You may like to look at this - Inkbird IBT-2X Wireless Bluetooth BBQ Thermometer


It costs £23.95 from Amazon and is a dual probe thermometer - that links to your Apple or Android phone by Bluetooth. It can be used stand alone but the phone app allows you to set high and low alarms and also gives you a nice temperature log/graph over time. A friend of mine has been using one and I have just bought one to compare with a couple of other temperature loggers for the next UK BBQ magazine.


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## martyn c

I mistakenly  bought the single probe one and left it out in the rain, I'm now looking for a 2 probe model


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## mitch kingsland

Hi, I've just spent the day attempting to smoke a pork shoulder in my new Callow. The big issue I had was getting the temperature anywhere near 100degrees C. In fact, mid 80's was the average.....However....when I eventually conceded defeat after 5 hours of less than adequate cooking, and removed both the meat (to the oven) AND the water tray......the temperature SHOT UP to 125-130 degrees.....and stayed there.....it's still there 4 hours later!!!!! My conclusion being that I had  probably overloaded the charcoal tray which was then too close to the bottom of the water tray and therefore restricting air circulation. Next time I'm going to put the water in a container on the lower of the two cooking racks and see how this works. Never really expected my first attempt to be terribly successful, but valuable lessons learned I think.


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## PaulM

Hi

Purely thanks to this thread, I'm 3 hours into my first ever smoke using this very piece of kit.

Complete novice but hope to become an addict.

Just wanted to say thank you for the advice!

Cheers

Paul


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## wade

Hi Paul - I am glad you are getting on with it :)


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## kanadias

Hi Guys- I'm completely new to the forum and hoping to dip my toes into the world of smoking as I finally have a garden (the joys of living in London). I have been through a few threads and this one caught my eye as I am still undecided on where to start off my smoking journey. 

I have been looking into this Callow smoker, as I have also been looking into the WSM. The Callow is 1/4 the price of the WSM at the moment.

Was hoping to get some opinions as to which side of the fence I fall over to.

Thanks!


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## smokin monkey

HI Kanadias, I think Callow have brought a new version out, I would go for this unit. Wade should be able to update you on this.


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