Militant83
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- May 5, 2011
- Location
- Circleville, OH
Well I fired up the T&K Gravity feed today and cook a rack of spares and a reverse seared london broil. I have now done a few cooks on the TK with and without my CyberQ Cloud. I hadn't done a review on the smoker yet so while showing off the cook I'll do a bit of a review as well.
I'll start with the Cyber Q cloud. This thing works great and takes any frustration out of controlling temps. It is very much set it and forget it. I do believe I need to get a wifi booster though. When I go in parts of the house I lose connection and have to reconnect. But I couldn't be happier with this device and glad I spent the money on it. It kept the pit rolling steady between 50-60 degrees. The teltru was reading about 20 degrees less than the guru, not sure why but I trusted the guru over the teltru and everything came out great.
Now on to the TK, I will say that it was difficult without the guru to regulate temps on this cooker. I'm not sure id that is due to my inexperience with the cooker or not. But for me the couple cooks I had without the guru were a pain to keep temps stable. But as soon as I got the guru everything has been great, it cooks like a dream. It likes to hold steady between 250-260 and recovers fairly quickly when the door is opened. I have noticed which from what I have read is typical with gravity feeds is that the smoke profile is weaker than that of other cookers I have used. So to combat that I tried to use a smokin wedgie to put more smoke in the chamber but it would not stay lit. Not sure if the cooker is too sealed to keep the pellets going and not giving them enough air flow or the draft through the cooker was too strong and kept putting the pellets out.. So combined with a controller of some sort it is a great cooker.
The cooker is built like a tank, although it does have some cosmetic blemishes. However, I didn't expect it to be perfect being built buy a guy in his garage with limited fabrication tools and probably limited fabrication experience. It is well worth what it cost and is a deal compared to other comparable models.
Finally today's cook, on the menu for today was a rack of spares, reverse seared london broil and a couple sides. The ribs got a light base coat of Weber's Garlic Habanero seasoning and a coat of Twisted Q's Crooked Pig and sauced in a homemade vinegar based sauce. I kept it simple with the beef and just hit it with an all purpose Texas style beef rub that I mixed up of Kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
The ribs came out great. But since the beef was mainly for the wife and kids it had to be cooked to their doneness level, which is too done for my liking. It finished out at about medium and was very juicy. Below are some pics from the cook.
Dont mind the food probe in this the probe is just lying on the rack at this point.
I'll start with the Cyber Q cloud. This thing works great and takes any frustration out of controlling temps. It is very much set it and forget it. I do believe I need to get a wifi booster though. When I go in parts of the house I lose connection and have to reconnect. But I couldn't be happier with this device and glad I spent the money on it. It kept the pit rolling steady between 50-60 degrees. The teltru was reading about 20 degrees less than the guru, not sure why but I trusted the guru over the teltru and everything came out great.
Now on to the TK, I will say that it was difficult without the guru to regulate temps on this cooker. I'm not sure id that is due to my inexperience with the cooker or not. But for me the couple cooks I had without the guru were a pain to keep temps stable. But as soon as I got the guru everything has been great, it cooks like a dream. It likes to hold steady between 250-260 and recovers fairly quickly when the door is opened. I have noticed which from what I have read is typical with gravity feeds is that the smoke profile is weaker than that of other cookers I have used. So to combat that I tried to use a smokin wedgie to put more smoke in the chamber but it would not stay lit. Not sure if the cooker is too sealed to keep the pellets going and not giving them enough air flow or the draft through the cooker was too strong and kept putting the pellets out.. So combined with a controller of some sort it is a great cooker.
The cooker is built like a tank, although it does have some cosmetic blemishes. However, I didn't expect it to be perfect being built buy a guy in his garage with limited fabrication tools and probably limited fabrication experience. It is well worth what it cost and is a deal compared to other comparable models.
Finally today's cook, on the menu for today was a rack of spares, reverse seared london broil and a couple sides. The ribs got a light base coat of Weber's Garlic Habanero seasoning and a coat of Twisted Q's Crooked Pig and sauced in a homemade vinegar based sauce. I kept it simple with the beef and just hit it with an all purpose Texas style beef rub that I mixed up of Kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
The ribs came out great. But since the beef was mainly for the wife and kids it had to be cooked to their doneness level, which is too done for my liking. It finished out at about medium and was very juicy. Below are some pics from the cook.
Dont mind the food probe in this the probe is just lying on the rack at this point.
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