My Smokey Joe has had one of the legs rust off and I decided to replace it. Lowe's had it's bigger brother on sale so I picked up the Jumbo Joe instead. Seems slightly less well constructed that it's predecessor and I threw away the lid holder which I didn't see any point to having.

Should be perfect for searing the ribeye cap steaks I'm sous vide-ing tomorrow for grandpa's birthday. I wouldn't have been able to fit the eight steaks on its little brother and didn't want to do it on the gas Genesis. Plan on searing on combo of charcoal and pear wood. I plan on cooking some burgers on it tonight to season it before the steaks tomorrow.

Anyone own one? Did you like it? Can anyone compare to the Smokey Joe?

RIP Smokey. You've served me well.



PS was marked down at my local Lowe's from $60 to $30 if anyone needs a tailgating grill. It did not show the discounted price online.

#### Post first use review - excellent tailgater or grill for small family. If you see one at the same price I got mine, get it. ####

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Skins2881,

I've used one several times. It works very well, just like any charcoal weber. Despite the shorter height and distance from the grate to the coals, flare ups weren't a problem. I did the entire grate covered with Italian Sausage one time, the entire grate entirely covered with hot dogs on it another......charcoal lasts a good amount of time in it. Having to bend over to flip everything can be a pain in the rear on it, if you can set it on something it's better. Also you have to really kneel down to see the bottom vent to restrict it if you want to. I cooked for 10 people on it, 3 different times. The one thing you do have to be careful about with it, is if it's windy, very small lit ashes do fall out of the vent on the bottom and miss the aluminum pan and fall on the ground. I would only worry about that if the grill is on top of very dry grass.... on concrete, they'll go out in seconds.

My old smokie joe served us well just like yours did for you. I've never used his larger brother as after my smokie joe "died" I went to the, I forget if its a 24 or 26", and love it.

Many fond memories of Smokie!

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I've used one several times. It works very well, just like any charcoal weber. Despite the shorter height and distance from the grate to the coals, flare ups weren't a problem. I did the entire grate covered with Italian Sausage one time, the entire grate entirely covered with hot dogs on it another......charcoal lasts a good amount of time in it. Having to bend over to flip everything can be a pain in the rear on it, if you can set it on something it's better. Also you have to really kneel down to see the bottom vent to restrict it if you want to. I cooked for 10 people on it, 3 different times. The one thing you do have to be careful about with it, is if it's windy, very small lit ashes do fall out of the vent on the bottom and miss the aluminum pan and fall on the ground. I would only worry about that if the grill is on top of very dry grass.... on concrete, they'll go out in seconds.

Good to hear. Ashes shouldn't be a problem, I use it in the driveway most times and this one has an ash collector twice the size of the Smokey. Also the small distance from coals to grate is actually a plus for me as I am looking for searing and a full sized Weber would require a crap ton of coals or a searing basket. I'm now using sous vide machine for half+ 0of the times I cook meat.

I use the smokey Joe most of the time grilling (just two of us) and for searing use upside down chimney with Joe's grate on top. This should allow me a little more flexibility to cook for 4-8 people where the smokey was limited to four for most things.

I’m a Weber grill fan. Be sure to register your grill because I’m here to tell you that they stand behind their products. I have a Weber at our camp that is left out in the elements year round (picture two feet of snow on its table) and when the table cracked, I shot them an email with its serial #, and even though it was a year beyond the 10 year warranty they sent me an entire new table & hardware within a week.

My newer Weber Performer at home suffered a broken grill support on the kettle last summer. I sent them an email with its serial # and within a week an entire new bottom kettle was at my door.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I've used one several times. It works very well, just like any charcoal weber. Despite the shorter height and distance from the grate to the coals, flare ups weren't a problem. I did the entire grate covered with Italian Sausage one time, the entire grate entirely covered with hot dogs on it another......charcoal lasts a good amount of time in it. Having to bend over to flip everything can be a pain in the rear on it, if you can set it on something it's better. Also you have to really kneel down to see the bottom vent to restrict it if you want to. I cooked for 10 people on it, 3 different times. The one thing you do have to be careful about with it, is if it's windy, very small lit ashes do fall out of the vent on the bottom and miss the aluminum pan and fall on the ground. I would only worry about that if the grill is on top of very dry grass.... on concrete, they'll go out in seconds.

Good to hear. Ashes shouldn't be a problem, I use it in the driveway most times and this one has an ash collector twice the size of the Smokey. Also the small distance from coals to grate is actually a plus for me as I am looking for searing and a full sized Weber would require a crap ton of coals or a searing basket. I'm now using sous vide machine for half+ 0of the times I cook meat.

I use the smokey Joe most of the time grilling (just two of us) and for searing use upside down chimney with Joe's grate on top. This should allow me a little more flexibility to cook for 4-8 people where the smokey was limited to four for most things.

Then it should work out perfectly for what you're doing. I have the Weber gold and if I want to sear I just put coals on 1/2 the grill and doubled up and it seems to work well without using a ton of them......

Tried out my new grill Saturday with a test batch of burgers to season it before the main event. Burgers were absolutely delicious. Now having popped it's cherry and seasoned it was ready for the big day. Cap steaks for grandpa's birthday.

These were seasoned with S&P, freeze dried garlic, and fresh thyme. Then put into sous vide machine for ~1.5 hrs. Then seared on my new jumbo Joe.





The coals died down a bit while I was cooking mom's chicken (so sad she can't eat red meat, I'd be completely crushed). So my searing too a bit longer than expected. I also put them all tightly packed in broiler pan which I assume held the heat a bit and caused them to rise in temperature. Ended up closer to medium instead of med rare, about 140°. Still in the end some of the best steaks I've had, got nothing but compliments. Other than my fiancée, no one at the table had ever tried a cap steak. Everyone ate every bite of theirs.



It was served with taters made in style from recent potato thread, roasted veggies, salad, and some wegmans rolls.

No protection pics because I think one or more of my family members may have had a heart attack if I attempted that.

Damn, you're making me hungry. Those look great.

Mouth Watering - Check

I'm looking at a Weber Performer series. High $$$, I know...

quote:

Everyone ate every bite of theirs.

Because you clearly ROCKED it! Whadjya think of the hasselbacks? Did you get enough olive oil and seasonings down in there and a crispy exterior? Everything looks great!

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
RIP Smokey. You've served me well.



####

My brother took my old Smokey Joe years ago and never returned it ...
I guess he got to feeling bad about it because he recently bought me the Jumbo Joe. I haven't got it out of the box yet.

But your steaks look awesome!
... and may be the inspiration I needed to break out the Jumbo Joe!

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:

quote:

Everyone ate every bite of theirs.

Because you clearly ROCKED it! Whadjya think of the hasselbacks? Did you get enough olive oil and seasonings down in there and a crispy exterior? Everything looks great!

The hassleback potatoes are awesome. I do have trouble getting the seasoning and oil in cracks. One thing I did to combat that was make infused olive oil with rosemary and thyme beforehand so at least I get the flavor in there. To the infused oil I added S&P, Paprika, and Garlic Powder.

Any tips for getting it in there better?

I love how these things turn out crispy almost fried like on the outside and creamy like mashed potatoes on the insides. This is the fourth time I've made them since that thread.

Also grandpa called this morning and said his was definitely med rare, so I must have gotten the only one that was on the medium side since both uncles and fiancée said theirs was perfect too. I'm way to hard on myself.

===

Chellim, it's a great little grill for cooking for small numbers. I easily fit all eight of those steaks on there. So I'd guess it would fit about as many burgers, maybe 6-8 depending on size (I like big ass burgers).

My big Weber might be seeing even less use.

quote:

My big Weber might be seeing even less use.

Same here....

How long do you cook the potatoes for on the grill? You slice them most of the way through the potato?

I make potato chips in the oven. Slice them 1/4-3/8" thick dunk them in olive oil to just coat them and I put garlic salt (or old bay or whatever, usually garlic salt) on them, then on a cookie sheet in the oven at 450F for 20 minutes, flipping once...……. your rosemary mixture would work well also/instead of the garlic salt.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Mouth Watering - Check

I'm looking at a Weber Performer series. High $$$, I know...

I have one and it is worth every penny of the cost. I really like the propane charcoal starter and I'm thinking of adding the optional rotisserie. It's one of those buy once, cry once type of purchases.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
How long do you cook the potatoes for on the grill? You slice them most of the way through the potato?

I make potato chips in the oven. Slice them 1/4-3/8" thick dunk them in olive oil to just coat them and I put garlic salt (or old bay or whatever, usually garlic salt) on them, then on a cookie sheet in the oven at 450F for 20 minutes, flipping once...……. your rosemary mixture would work well also/instead of the garlic salt.

Done in the oven. Here's just one recipe, there's a million online. Super easy and makes a baked potato slightly fancier with different textures and the ability to season the inside of it. The above link answers one of my questions which was how to make them spread more. Wash them in cold water to remove excess starches.