Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)With family holidays approaching and a desire for me to feed them without spending 4 days chained to the oven, I purchased one of these suckers.
It was easy to assemble, thankfully - normally, my assembly processes are fueled by profanity, bruised appendages, and eventually, whiskey. I had this up and running in about 15 minutes, though.
My first attempt was to really put it through it's paces, with one of the mroe difficult cuts of meat to get right - a beef brisket. Worse, it was a cheap beef brisket bought from a grocery, trimmed of fat, a little on the small side, and generally not the kind I normally get before I BBQ things.
I gave it a quick rub, put it on the grate, put the top on, and proceeded to light the charcoal. I adjusted the cooking time by proportionality - the instruction booklet lists 5lb and 12lb briskets, I only had a 3lb - sat back, and waited.
A little over an hour later, it was done.
At first, I was concerned that it lacked the smokiness I had come to love about a good BBQ brisket. I had loaded the thing with hickory chips after all. I realized that the main difference was that with my normal smoker, enough smoke leaks out that the whole neighborhood can smell smouldering wood, whereas with this thing, it's pretty sealed up. Once I got up close and personal with the meat, it did have a fair amount of smoke flavor and aroma, although not as much as when I actually use my smoker (although I didn't smoke my clothes, hair, and nostrils in the process).
The meat was tender. Not quite the falling-apart, oh-my-god tender a good 12 hours in a low smoker can get you, but it was good enough for some brisket sandwiches and I simply can't argue with the fact that it was done in an hour. Didn't quite get the nice crust on the outside that a dry smoke will give either, but even with my smoker I've never quite gotten that right.
I figured that giving it a small, overly lean, underseasoned brisket would be a pretty rough test on the new cooker - a good rub hides a multitude of sins, and a good fatty brisket isn't as apt to dry out - and the Orion performed admirably. As mentioned, it wasn't the best brisket I'd ever had, but for an hour of my evening and no constant checking and flipping, I'm well-impressed.
On the downside, it pretty much requires an entire bag of charcoal per run, which can add up after a while. I don't intend to use this for day-to-day grilling, though, so this won't be as much of a problem.
I'm excited to try it out on poultry, which should be an easier task.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Orion Cooker/Smoker
Our new Orion Cooker uses its patented cooking system to create convection current within the main cooking cylinder. As a result, meat cooks faster and stays moist as the Orion smokes and steams your food at the same time. A 20 lb. turkey is ready in two hours. The expert chef in you can explore new flavors by adding apple juice, wine or beer - or experiment with flavored wood chips. Constructed of stainless steel, the Orion comes with three cooking grates, poultry stand, lifting handle and three rib hangers. Measures 35" tall and 18" in diameter fully assembled. Great for meat (try a rib recipe!), fish and poultry.
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