Meadow Creek SQ36 Offset Smoker

[smokeasaurus]

The Meadow Creek SQ36 has arrived for its review.

First impressions: The features and quality of this off-set are second to none. The Amish know how to make a quality pit over at Meadow Creek. The only welding that I have seen better is by the craftsman over at Yoder Smokers. Lets look at some of the features of this smoker while it is still clean.

Very stout packaging. This 400 lb skid traveled from Pennsylvania to Southern California without a scratch on it


Got the packaging off and this is purdy.....purdy darn manly 


Stainless cooking grate


Charcoal pan insert (this thing is freaking heavy)


When it is time to smoke, take out the pan and here is the welded in heat and smoke diffuser


Vents on each side of the 1/4" fire-box. note the welded in pc of expanded steel to keep everything safe and inside the fire-box


Rear door of the fire-box. i like the 1/4" M on the back-side and the unique locking feature


Note the pull out ash-tray which will come in handy when using briquettes. This smoker was designed to use wood of course and charcoal briquettes if you are so inclined. The charcoal pan is extra beefy


This is the view from the fire-box looking through the welded in heat and smoke diffuser that runs to the other end of the smoking chamber out the smokestack. Meadow Creek claims the unit runs even temperatures from one side to the other allowing you to use the entire cooking surface in the smoking chamber


Speaking of the smokestack


One of the many standard features is the grease drain valve


and the icing on the cake is the instruction manual and a DVD (which I am gonna go watch and report on tomorrow.


It is gonna take a while for me to post cooking pics. Unlike the Camp Chef Pellet Grill, I have to learn this pit before I can honestly say how it cooks...so give Old Smoke a week or two and in the meantime...I give you one last peak at a sweet looking smoker...the Meadow Creek SQ36

[teesquare]

Officially jealous.....

[smokeasaurus]

Tee, you are more than welcome to swing by and give her a whirl.........

[teesquare]

Yeah...I will be right over!

[smokeasaurus]

My brother had some rib-eyes thawed out and rubbed with Cabelas Mountain Man Bourbon Rub and said lets get that new pit dirty.
Can't disagree with that.

I had to double up on the charcoal in the grilling pan because the cooking grate is raised by an extra 3 inches and the meat would not cook. Looks like grilling on this rig will require a tab bit more charcoal to get my grill on


Steaks came out good. Got some learning to do to get the steaks more purdy looking. Gonna hit the hay early and learn how to run the pit for lo and slo tomorrow..........

[smokeasaurus]

Want everyone to know that the instruction manual that came with the pit did not cover my model. It covered all the other units and did have information about seasoning the pit and cleaning it. Nothing in there that we all don't already know. Not a deal breaker but it would have been handy to have some guidelines for the new off-set owner.

The DVD was a nice little overview of the Meadow Creek product line and I found it on-line for everyone to see.

[smokeasaurus]

Talked to the Mfg and they suggested starting off with 8 lbs of briquettes and all the vents wide open..so i did


in 15 minutes the smoker was at 225 so I backed off the -2- vents on the fire-box to 1' open.

and then something strange happened: the pit climbed to 350 degrees....huh...on an off-set

I called the mfg ( you can actually call em at the factory and they will help you ) I love Amish Craftsmen 

I was asked what my smokestack was set at. Smokestack is always wide open I replied. Not on this pit you dont I was told.

When I back off the firebox vents I am supposed to set the smokestack about halfway. He had me just crack the smokestack and he waited on the phone with me until the temps started going down. He told me the heat diffuser that runs to the smokestack draws so well that if I want to smoke crispy chicken just leave all vents open and the pit will run around 400. He says to start off tomorrow with 5 lbs of charcoal and when I back off the vents around 225 to also vent down the smokestack.

So after the pit got under 300, I added maybe 15 briquettes and the smoker settled in around 230 and held. I then added wood chunks the next re-load, went to 250 and then back down to 230. I then added a couple of mini splits for another reload and it climbed just under 275 then stabilized right around 250. The last re-load I did, I added some more briquettes and a couple of wood chunks and she stayed around 250 the entire time. No huge bellows of smoke, a little heavy at the start of the reload but did not last long.

This is turning out to be a efficient and easy off-set to use. Gonna do what the factory said on tomorrows trial run and will post back tomorrow evening.

[smokeasaurus]

Forgot to mention that I complained about the high amount of charcoal I had to use last night when using the optional charcoal pan. I was told to simply turn the cooking grate upside down. That will lower the cooking grate by almost 3 inches...........brillliant 

I figure if you talk to the folk that designed and make the pit, they will know exactly how to fix whatever issues you have...and that is the case with Meadow Creek........

[smokeasaurus]

Got the lo and slo figured out so tossed in some chicken thighs rubbed with Cabelas Mountain Man Bourbon Rub


Used the entire cooking surface....IN AN OFFSET!!!  ARE YOU NUTS SMOKE?   


Spritzed em with apple juice every 20 minutes and in just under 2 hours they were done. Slathered a little sauce on em towards the end.


Pops fried up some O-brian Taters and supper is ready


So how the the SQ-36 work.....darn good. Started with 5 lbs of Kingsford and when the pit reached 220, I backed the firebox dampers down to 1 inch open and closed the smokestak to 1/2 open ( I am gonna have to get used to adjusting the smokestack)

the pit climbed to 240 and stabilized. I added 6 Apple chunks and a Apple mini split. I had to wait for the smoke to subside before I could place the chicken in the pit. The wood smoked more than I wanted but when it subsided, I had a nice base of wood coals. I placed in the chicken and the pit stayed at 250. When it went down to around 230, I added a couple more chunks and a mini split. No smoke problem this time. I figure the wood coal base is much hotter than the Kingsford base the wood burned clean. I have a bunch of chunks I got to use up so this will be my method until I only have splits left. The smoker held very consistent temps. I played with the vents a bit and opened up a tad and opened the smokestack to 3/1 open and the pit climbed to 275 and held to crisp up the skin a bit. I only reloaded 3 times. I could have re-fueled one time less if I was adding two mini-splits but I have to use up the chunks. I would also like to mention that when I added more wood I kept the door slightly cracked a couple of minutes to get a hotter burn going (got that from Very Old Dog and Jaxon...thanks guys) 

The heat diffuser is awesome. The chicken cooked evenly from one end to the other. Unheard of in an off-set.

I have never used an off-set that is so user-friendly. Of course this is only one cook but I am gaining some confidence in this smoker.

[smokeasaurus]

I need to fire up the smoker early tomorrow morning and the fire-box will have to wait. So I figure I could at least get the smoking chamber ready.

Super easy to clean. I doubled up some paper towels and using a paint scraper I ran the grease right into the grease valve opening and it poured into a bucket. I replaced the HD foil I lined the top of the diffuser with and I am ready to just get some ashes out in the morning and I am back smoking.  This is working out quite well..........more cooks to go.....

[smokeasaurus]

This Daylight Savings time is for the birds. Cant sleep...what to do........fire up the Meadow Creek SQ36 and do some more product review 

I started the fire with 5 lbs of Kingsford and a bunch of small various wood chunks. Pit got to temp (250) in only 15 minutes and stabilized. I think I have found a way to use up my small chunks.

Got three chuck roasts rubbed down with Meadow Creeks Black Pepper Brisket Rub


Onto the smoker they go.....gonna use pecan splits and large chunks the rest of the way


By reflex I want to put all the meat on the smokestack side. Being able to use the entire cooking surface is really nice 

[smokeasaurus]

Okie Dokie, 7 hours later the chuckies are at 170 internal


added to the vegetable medley and into the oven

[smokeasaurus]

Not everything is smooth sailing down Meadow Creek.

This happened yesterday where the paint bubbled off the top of the fire-box. Smoking chamber was only at 275. Today I had it dialed in at 250 and I got this


did a little scraping


also had a leak coming down the rear leg on the fire box side




unacceptable for a 1100 dollar pit, will contact Meadow Creek tomorrow and will keep everyone posted  :'(

[smokeasaurus]

Got the pepper stout beef all ready to go. As you can tell, a little leak has not hurt this pits performance 

[smokeasaurus]

Talked to Meadow Creek and all is well. Inside the firebox where the opening is to the smoke chamber, that is not welded. I had the meat over on that side and the grease seeped through into the end of the smoke diffuser (which is spot welded) and ran between the firebox and smoker chamber till it found a place to exit.

The SQ36 does not have a slight slope to it towards the smokestack side like most off-sets do. In fact the grease spigot is mounted dead center. I noticed last night when I cleaned the smoking chamber that the grease doesn't run to any side since it is level.

As to the fire-box. Nature of the beast. Recommended the use of mineral spirits on the bare metal before repainting or another alternative. Let the pit peel away on the fire-box and season it with peanut oil. It will season like a cast-iron skillet and no rust and no more paint peeling.