Ribs on the Vintage 1981 Coleman Bullet!

So for a long time I've been meaning to fire up the ol' Coleman Company bullet smoker as a treat for the brethren. It truly is a unique smoker that to this day I swear is a child of Mr. WSM and Mrs. ECB.

Its your basic water smoke design (fire in bottom, water pan, rack 'o meat x2, a lid) with a manufacture date of Dec of 1981. Yep.....the old girl is going on 35 years young! :becky: Today, I loaded her up with some kingsford (normally I exclusively use stubbs but the KBB was bought for me) threw on some cut spares seasoned with some Famous Dave's I had in the back pantry, and let her ride at about 250-275 with a chunk of hickory, cherry, and a quartered onion. Ribs turned out absolutely, clean off the bone, perfect!

So, as a spring treat to all you farkers, may I present to you, the Vintage Coleman Bullet! :biggrin1:

















Apologies if you wanted more food shots, I guess if there are enough requests I'll be forced to commission her for another cook! :drama: :thumb:

Thanks for looking!!

Gnarlbecue said:

That thing looks cool!

How does it perform?

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Like a Cadillac! :becky:

By far, my favorite smoker I've ever cooked on. Will easily cook for 6-8 hours on a load of charcoal at 250-275 with 2 or 3 intake adjustments throughout the cook. She is my "no frills, no electronics" cooker for days when I literally let the smoker do all the work. My pit barrel is an easy cooker to use, but this Coleman almost cooks by itself.

Only downside is small capacity and no side door to access 2nd lower grate.

Sausage Warrior said:

Have you been the owner all this time? that has been a well loved and taken care of smoker and I can see she still has got it after all these years. I wish I still look like I did 35 years ago.

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Unfortunately I'm not. I picked it up off CL about 6 years ago. It was my first "smoker" that wasn't a kettle or gasser with a chip box. It came from an older gentleman who was the original owner who used it 2 or 3 times a year to smoke fish in. It was cleaned top to bottom after every cook, and it shows. He sold it to me for the steep price of $15! :thumb:

Grain Belt said:

flyingbassman5,

Great cook! I have always enjoyed your posts. I recall some nice venison posts as well. That cooker is a great nod to some roots of backyard cooking in the midwest. I have done many similar cooks on an old ECB-style Mecco my dad and I got at an auction for $1. I even use an old broiler pan as a meat tray like you do to pull meat off the grill.

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Thanks! It really is a true "meat and potatoes" kind of cooker :biggrin1:

I don't use a broiler pan all the time, but it sure does seem to be pretty handy when I need a large tray! And now that you mention it, this guy usually is my dedicated venison cooker. Although those are usually pretty short cooks so when I do venison roasts or loins, I don't really get a chance to let 'er rip all day like I do with ribs.