Party Q by BBQ Guru

[trevor77]

Is this a tool worth investing in?  I'm just starting out smoking and I don't want to spend the money on anything more advanced.  There are others I've seen in the same price range but I don't have access to buy them in store anywhere and shipping makes them not worth it.  But I was in a BBQ store (here in Canada) and they only had a couple Party Q's left.    The guy working there said they would be getting a new shipment sometime in April but the price would be going up by $30- $40 because our dollar here sucks compared to the US dollar.  I was just wondering if this is worth the money 

Thanks

 

[bmaddox]

It all comes down to preference. I prefer a more hands off smoke while others greatly enjoy tending to the fire. If you want to be hands off and are using a charcoal smoker than you will need a control unit of some sort.

 

[trevor77]

Good point.  Maybe I'll get a few smokes under my belt first before I decide how hands on/off I like to be

 

[bruno994]

What are you going to be using it on?

 

[trevor77]

It would be on a Napoleon Apollo.  It uses the same set as the WSM

 

[bruno994]

You should be happy with it on that setup.  Not exactly a whole lot of fire management going on anyway with that setup.

 

[trevor77]

I bought it used and did a test run with it empty it worked pretty good.  It took around 45 mins to heat up with the temps outside around 34F.  I let it run for 5 hours and was able to keep the temps around 235-240.  Temps started to spike a bit until I realized the pan was out of water.  Once I added more it came down again.

smoker1.JPG

• trevor77
• Apr 1, 2015

 

[timberjet]

You might try sand in your water pan. Never runs out. Just make sure and cover it up with foil for easy cleanup. There is no water needed in your smoker.

 

[trevor77]

Thanks for the tip