I was unable to use any of the other smokers I had bought. Fire too hot, fire too cold stuff. Bought an
Akorn at Lowes for $300 and it has lasted me ten years. I keep it out of the rain of course as if it gets wet it will have issues eventually. It’s metal not ceramic.
The grate is 19 3/4” in diameter, cast iron, and if it breaks you will probably never find a replacement. They will sell you a replacement but it is almost as much as a new grill. Just be very careful not to let it fall like mine did. A piece broke off and I live with that. The second level thingie is OK I guess. You can put two racks on the lower and drape one over the top and do three racks. With a rib rack thingie you might get four in there. I roll them into balls and get three on there easily. Not for large crowds.
There are lots of modifications people have done to these units. Most are useless attempts to tighten the sealing of the unit. It does not need to be any tighter than it comes. It works well with some small leaks here and there. I use a stainless steel colander as an ash bucket. That works the charm. I put my lump in that, light part of it with a torch, and set it inside and let the cooker bring it all up to temp. No need to use a chimney unless you are grilling on it, and need hot coals right away, which I never do. Just light some of the charcoal and let the air flow do the work.
I bought a PID thingie and it can maintain 225 for at least 16 hours and still have some charcoal left in the colander. I take that thing out, shake it, and add more when ready for next cook. This keeps the inside pretty much free of powdery dust. You can clean it easily enough without the colander but I would suggest using it. Of course you can just dump lump down into the bottom and skip the colander, but I see no advantage to doing that. A super long cook maybe.
Mine has fallen over a couple of times and was no worse for wear. If it had been ceramic it would have been a disaster. The wheel caught just so and over it went.
The idea behind these are that you enjoy complete control over air flow. This was so easy for me that I got it first try. The lower vent works in coordination with the upper and you can dial in temps very easily. There are several ways of doing this. Both open just a tad. Both open a bunch. One open more than the other can also produce nice results. Experimentation is needed of course. Unlike a ceramic unit, if you accidentally overshoot, it will cool back down quickly without postponing everything for several hours waiting. It will operate at 200 degrees but any lower and you are probably going to snuff out the fire. I mean you might could do it, but I haven’t really tried.
Because there is very little air flow through these, there is less drying out of the meat. No need for water bowls and such. I have read complaints that it does not offer a smokey enough flavor, but I have no such complaint. I get good smoke rings and flavors. I have even used coconut charcoal for a more delicate flavor when smoking fish. If you enjoy a heavy smoky flavor I could understand you being somewhat disappointed. It doesn’t dump harsh smoke the entire time. I get a nice blue wispy smoke after it has come up to temp.
I bought a Weber grate, 16” I think, and it fit down inside onto the interior flanges beautifully. There I can lay a pizza stone on top for a deflector. This works really well. Of course just about anything can be used as a deflector. Also, I bought a set of
Grill Grates and trimmed the edges to fit inside a round bowl and they work well. These can be used for grilling steaks and such down inside the unit.
The seal around the rim has held up nicely, but I don’t do hot cooks. Pizza making would probably shorten the lifespan and require a replacement. Easy enough. Mine did catch on fire when the grease built up. That booger got flat out hot. Speaking of which, there is a great habit to develop. Burping. When you go to open the unit, lift the lid slightly, then open it all the way. People have reported face flamage episodes when lifting quickly to look at progress. Just know it is possible that this might happen. Burp it.
I think you will enjoy the unit overall. It is very quick and easy to get started. Produces consistently reliable results. Lasts a good long while if kept dry. Cost has remained steady for ten years at $300. They sell more expensive
Akorns but I am not really keen on what makes them more expensive. Like I said the PID works great, but you don’t really need it. It sends poofs of air inside occasionally to keep the charcoal at temp. Adjusting the vents does the same thing, just not intermittent air.
If you think this style is for you, maybe you should look into some of the ceramic units. Komado Joes are super expensive as are the Big Green Eggs. China is sending over cheaper units now days and some look to be pretty nice. Primo makes a nice oval shaped unit that better fits ribs, but their top of the line is easily $2,000. Still keep in mind that these things are likely to last a lifetime, and if that’s your life, well maybe you deserve something nice. Some cost $6000 ( Komodo Dragon) and up and are designed to last several lifetimes. Works of art actually, that sit in your yard rain or shine because they weigh so much. You should at least look at some of them before buying anything. Lots of options, non as inexpensive as the
Akorn though. Komado Joe came out with a $500 kettle cooker thingie. I examined one at Lowes and it is metal with a ceramic firebox.. Big Deal. I went from excited to blah as soon as I looked under the hood.
I mean I cannot promise that you will like cooking on one of these, but I sure do. Hard for me to dump a large amount of cash into an expensive unit when I still have my
Akorn. Now should that wheel catch just so again……hmmmmmmm.
