Maven's Law #1: Anything utilizing the "N" in replace of "and" is most likely awesome. The Brinkmann Smoke N' Grill is no exception. I'm new to the world of smoking, like a 13 year old punk bumming his first Newport off his buddy, doing his best not to cough up an embarrassing cloud of shame.I relied on the Slavin' Maven for the initial due diligence on this puppy. He did a fair amount of research, and we concluded that for 39.99, this number would probably get the job done. There are other more expensive smokers out there ranging in the $200's, (Weber etc) and they offer additional features and added size, but for $40 bucks this thing was a no brainer.
I purchased this at the Home Depot, and also picked up a generic smoker cover, which fits the Brinkmann like a charm, and rib rack, which fits perfectly on either rack, both at Lowes. I picked up a bag of Cowboy Lump Charcoal, and a bag of Hickory wood chunks.
The smoker took about 20 minutes and two Coronas to put together. You just need a screwdriver and a lime to get the job done. The smoker from top to bottom has a charcoal pan, which can hold about 3/4s of a bag of charcoal, plenty big. Above that sits the water pan, which holds a decent amount of water. Then directly above the water pan sits the first grill rack. Above that a second grill rack, and then the lid with the temperature gauge. The unit can also quickly convert to a charcoal grill by moving the charcoal pan to either the middle layer (for charcoal grilling using the top grill), or right below the top grill for searing, haven't mavened that yet.
I put in about 3/4s of the lump charcoal, and 3 chunks of hickory that I had soaked in water over night. I decided to pilot this unit with three racks of baby back ribs.
I drenched the coals in lighter fluid, let it soak in for about 20 minutes, and filled the water pan up to the brim with water. Then I lit the thing and watched the glory take shape. About 20 minutes later, the coals had turned gray at which point I added the hickory chunks and put the ribs on the racks.
I bought the ribs at BJs, removed the membranes from the bone side with a knife and paper towel to grab the slippery substance. I then coated the ribs with a Dijon mustard to act as a "glue" for the rub. I then applied a healthy coat of Bone Suckin Sacue dry rub. I put two racks in the rack holder on the first grill level, and one rack bone side down on the top rack. I cut the racks in half to fit them in the smoker and rib rack.
I smoked the ribs for a total of eight hours. Throughout the process I kept an eye on the temperature gauge, which I assumed was a good idea to keep in the "Ideal" range in the middle. If it got too hot (which it did about 45 minutes in, most likely due to the hickory burning), I removed the lid to let the heat out and it quickly regulated back to "Ideal". About every hour or hour and a half I added around 10 lumps of charcoal and a chunk or two of hickory to keep the heat up. There is an access door that will let you add charcoal and wood using tongs on the bottom half of the unit. About half way through I added some water to the pan to keep it full, that was the only time I needed to add water.
I smoked the ribs for 7 hours, then removed them, and brushed on some Bone Suckin Sauce thicker style, and wrapped the ribs in foil, and returned them to the smoker for 1 additional hour, making an 8 hour total smoking time.
The ribs were outstanding, falling off the bone tender and altogether a little slice of fat guy heaven.
Here are a few pros and cons on the smoker:
Cons:
- The temperature gauge only displays three options, I forget exactly but something like warm, ideal, hot. Why couldn't they just add actual temp numbers and highlight the ideal range in green or something?
- The temperature gauge somehow filled with smoke and turned the glass brown, rendering the display almost unreadable.
- There was no real way to regulate the temperature, due to lack of vents that could open and close
- Can't empty the old charcoal dust/leftovers mid smoke, which can build up over 8 hours.
- Price - at 40 bucks, you really can't go wrong.
- Decent amount of space for the overall size of this thing. With two grill surfaces, you can easily fit up to 5 racks of ribs using rib racks, or a couple of big ticket items. The smoker itself is a bullet shape only coming up to my waist, doesn't take up a lot of real estate
For $40, this is a great way to enter the world of smoking. If you plan on becoming a pro smoker, you may want to skip this model and opt for something larger with more ventilation features. For me, a casual smoker and lover of all things once living and now smoked, this is the perfect option for the occasional cookout with friends.
You may also like:
Lowe's sells a "Gourmet" version of the Brinkmann Smoke N Grill for $65, I saw it in the store, looks like this version may have a few features that the Home Depot one doesn't. I can't remember exactly, but I think it had a removable bottom and vents, which would solve a few of my cons. Next time I'm there I'll confirm and keep you posted, but this may be worth the extra $25 bucks for this model if so.
Interesting to note:
Amazon sells the Brinkmann for much more, usually they have very competitive prices. Only a Maven Wannabe pulls the trigger without price checking first. Also interesting to note: Amazon always suggests several items you might also like to purchase. For the Brinkmann, they suggest a few books on smoking, BBQ sauce, a charcoal chimney starter (recommended by The Giant Maven if you don't like starter fluid) and Levis Men's 505 Jeans. All they really needed to include was some mustache wax and a chainsaw, and this would fit the shopping cart profile of a real man.
