Orion Cooker

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dfergie said:
After thoughts... I had the smoke taste in my mouth most of the night after cooking so I think next time I will put about half the amount of hickory or mesquite chips in...
Click to expand...

I find it's hard to oversmoke with hickory, but easy with mesquite, IME.

I smoked 3 boston butts (2pm to 8:30am) a couple of weeks ago and thought I was going to overdo it with the hickory but I found the smoke slightly lacking, I wish I'd have added mesquite with the hickory (a lot), maple, & apple.

Your smoker looks good, and since you're cooking with what appears to be a similar device to mine I'll link you to the virtual weber bullet for some more recipes to try!

Cooking Topics - The Virtual Weber Bullet

The Virtual Weber Bullet - For the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker enthusiast
 
Thanks for the links:) all of the chips do not burn, so I just add a few everytime I cook with good results and I mix Hickory with Mesquite... will have to go out back on my land and find some "fresh" mesquite... I tried a brisket the other day and it was tough, so I will use my old smoker for those, next thing new I want to try in it is fish...
 
dfergie said:
Thanks for the links:) all of the chips do not burn, so I just add a few everytime I cook with good results and I mix Hickory with Mesquite... will have to go out back on my land and find some "fresh" mesquite... I tried a brisket the other day and it was tough, so I will use my old smoker for those, next thing new I want to try in it is fish...
Click to expand...

Fish is very good smoked. Everytime I see this thread, I get hungry :D
 
salmon is incredible...

I've been wanting to try a brisket for a long time - have planned on doing one for the last couple of weekends but didn't get around to it. I'll do one soon.

Another cut I want to try soon is the beef tenderloin & tri-tip.

charcoal & smoking is addictive, isn't it LOL. Anyone need some full propane tanks?? I have 3 of 'em at the side of the house.

OT - one thing I've found that helps light the coals is Pam cooking spray on paper towels or paper grocery bags, it burns forever & starts reliably without having to use lighter fluid.
 
The thing I am loving about the Orion cooker, with my Brinkman smoker It takes at least 5.5 hours and constantly checking fire and keeping it going (like a campfire) the Orion, you light the coals and from the instant you light them (unless windy) the cooking times in the instructions are right on the money... the longest cook I had was a little over 1.5 hours... and usually the coals are good for another cook, these guys knew their stuff :D I have cooked fish on the grill, cooked them in foil with a strip of bacon etc... gonna have to get my brother away from his granddaughters softball tournaments long enough to go fishing and see how Catfish tastes smoked.
 
Based on dfergie's excellent review and recommendation, I just picked up an Orion Cooker at Home Depot tonight, for $129. Its a surprise anniversary gift for my wife (our 15th is tomorrow). She loves to smoke meat (and I love to eat it!), but she rarely does, because it takes so long.

I am excited to get this thing up and running and cooking this weekend!
 
Finally got to cook last night, it had rained yesterday but I thought the coals were dry... not... started at 7:15 checked at 9pm then finally pulled at 9:30pm... First time cooking a cut up chicken along with a pork roast. I only used a handful of hickory chips so not much smoke flavor for the chicken but it came out really good, saving pork roast to reheat tonight.
Rub used: Garlic and Onion powder mixed with seasoning salt and Black Pepper. Brushed BBQ sauce on before the cook...
 
Cooked our first chicken on it; but did not use enough wood chips. The chicken was veyr moist, but did not taste smoked. It tasted like... well, chicken ;)

Tomorow we will do pork ribs, and will double the wood-chips. Hoping that works out better.
 
I have been watching this thread for some time now and it it is always interesting to see the next reply. If you do not mind, from time to time I will post suggestions and recipes. One thought that comes to mind is---are you soaking your wood chips in water prior to cooking. If so, leave the wood chips dry----the smoke will be stronger. Try this recipe for beef brisket.

Beef Brisket

12-14 lbs beef brisket
Marinate beef brisket for 24 hours in apple cider vinegar.
Prior to cooking remove brisket from vinegar, pat dry and apply dry rub.

Fill drip pan halfway with half apple cider vinegar and half water. Place mesquite wood chips between drip pan and cooking cylinder.
Place brisket on 1st and 2nd grates (grate above drip pan and the middle grate).

Add charcoal to upper and lower charcoal ring (use 13.5 lb bag). Place lid on cooking cylinder and light. Come back after 4 ½ hours and enjoy!

If you should have any questions when cooking, feel free to give me a call 404-313-8878. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend. If this is a problem with me posting, let me know and I will stop.

Thanks,


Christian Fitzgerald
The Orion Cooker
 
:welcometo SatelliteGuys, we had the pork roast tonight and everyone loved it... it had just a hint of smoke flavor to it and was pretty much perfect. I don't wet my chips but usually have some left over from last cook that I reuse, I may change that policy and use fresh chips everytime. Post away :) we welcome new members and we always like new input and have a review forum coming soon that we may include a catagory to include products such as this.
 
rockymtnhigh said:
Cooked our first chicken on it; but did not use enough wood chips. The chicken was veyr moist, but did not taste smoked. It tasted like... well, chicken ;)

Tomorow we will do pork ribs, and will double the wood-chips. Hoping that works out better.
Click to expand...
My fault :) I warned rocky to be sparing with the chips...
 
Orion1 said:
I have been watching this thread for some time now and it it is always interesting to see the next reply. If you do not mind, from time to time I will post suggestions and recipes. One thought that comes to mind is---are you soaking your wood chips in water prior to cooking. If so, leave the wood chips dry----the smoke will be stronger. Try this recipe for beef brisket.

Beef Brisket

12-14 lbs beef brisket
Marinate beef brisket for 24 hours in apple cider vinegar.
Prior to cooking remove brisket from vinegar, pat dry and apply dry rub.

Fill drip pan halfway with half apple cider vinegar and half water. Place mesquite wood chips between drip pan and cooking cylinder.
Place brisket on 1st and 2nd grates (grate above drip pan and the middle grate).

Add charcoal to upper and lower charcoal ring (use 13.5 lb bag). Place lid on cooking cylinder and light. Come back after 4 ½ hours and enjoy!

If you should have any questions when cooking, feel free to give me a call 404-313-8878. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend. If this is a problem with me posting, let me know and I will stop.

Thanks,


Christian Fitzgerald
The Orion Cooker
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for posting. I read your post, and my wife immediately said "Print that please!"


For the ribs we are doing tonight, do you recommend starting with a dry drip pan, or put some water in it. We will put more wood chips in.

I was impressed with how moist the chicken was last night, for sure.

And yes, :welcome to SatelliteGuys; do feel free to post whenever -- we welcome your input!
 
Second attempt in progress. Baby Back ribs. Used more mesquite wood chips (dry) today than yesterday.

The apple cider vineager brisket looks good - on the list of things to try, but the ribs were already bought :)

1h15min and counting... :D
 
The verdict :up :up :up

The ribs were incredible; we put more than enough mesquite chips in, and it was moist, had a great smoky taste. It was cooked perfectly. I had to pull myself away from the dinner table, lest I completely blow my diet :) (But there is enough left for dinner tomorrow!)

Julie had a great rub that she put on the ribs, and while she made a barbecue sauce to put on them when they were done, it did not need it. Just perfect the way it was.

I am going to need to start buying charcoal in bulk. :)

Julie and Nick are outside roasting marshmallows on the coals for desert.

Everybody should have one of these cookers.
 
In case, anyone is interested, here is the recipe for the rub for the baby back ribs.

For 2 racks of spareribs:

Be sure to peel off the white membrane on the ribs before preparing.

2 Tbsp. of cinnamon
2 Tbsp. of kosher salt
2 Tbsp. of coarse black pepper
1 Tbsp. of ground cloves
1 Tbsp of ground coriander

combine those ingredients, and rub on both sides of the ribs. Cover and refrigerate one hour, and then put on the smoker; 1 hour 15 minutes on the Orion; much longer on any other smoker.
 

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