Water smoker grill?

[burniebrewer]

I was helping my sister move yesterday and the previous homeowner threw away a water smoker grill. Yeah, I swallowed my pride and took it home (along with an XBox in the trash). Basically, you put a pan of charcoal at the bottom with a pan of water above it and the grill grates above that. Anybody have one of these and have any cooking suggestions for me?

[InsomniacInkRoss]

That sounds more like steamer to me? Wouldn't you put wet/damp wood chunks above the charcoal to smolder? All I really know about smoking is that it takes a while, and the wood has to be monitored and replaced throughout.

[burniebrewer]

http://common3.csnimages.com/lf/1/hash/1739/205074/1/Charcoal+Combo+Water+Smoker+%2F+Grill.jpg

This is about what it looks like. There are 2 pans for the bottom and 2 grates for the top. Coals go all the way down, water goes in the next pan and the grill grates go at the top 2 levels.

I'm not real familiar with how it all works, but I couldn't let it go in the garbage--especially with the price (free) being right.

 

[hawing]

With apologies for this tangent...does the Xbox work?

[burniebrewer]

I have yet to try it out. The only thing not in the garbage were controllers. This guy was a major computer guy, I bet there were 100 different kinds of cables in 2 bins by the curb.

 

There were also three computer servers, some palm computers and most impressively, a set of 1986 Minnesota Twins baseball cards with Kirby Puckett and Frank Viola being the top 2 cards....a fine commentary on today's youth, my 9 year old nephew just laughed at me when I showed him the cards and said they were only worth "like 50 cents". Ugh

 

I intend to hook up the Xbox tomorrow, however, I have no games or controllers, so it's a cheap risk to take. Being that I'm not a gamer, I have no idea what the worth of this is,it just seemed stupid to throw away without trying. In all honesty, I was much happier to walk away with 2 cases of beer as payment for a (gag) Packers grill I won at a golf outing.

[logan82]

My guess is that you put the charcoal in the bottom and the wood in the next tray with some water.

[Beerambassador]

I had one. You put the charcoal in the bottom level and throw some wood chunks (I'd use chunks, not chips) on the coals. Water, or whatever other liquid goes in the next tray.

 

I didn't like mine. It was a major pain in the ass to clean and I had a hard time maintaining a good smoking temperature. Mine was a pretty cheap one, but it had bad air flow and the coals tended to want to extinguish themselves. I've had better smoking results with a plain old Weber charcoal grill.

[burniebrewer]

Hmm, not exactly a glowing review. I guess I'll give it a try and if I don't like it, back to the curb it goes.

[endaround]

Its fine for what it does. The water does prevent there from getting a "true" smoke but not really a big deal. Lining the water pan with foil helps a lot with the cleaning. The water pan is really there to collect drippings from falling on the fire.