BBQ Equipment: Charbroil Double Door Smoker and Grill

I'm back from an OK weekend. I hope you guys had a good one.

First up, I want to congratulate my friends Nancy and Greg from Purple Turtle Caterers for winning the I Love BBQ Festival in Lake Placid, NY this weekend. Great job guys! Congrats also to my buddies over at I Smell Smoke for taking an unusual second place; I Smell Smoke wins so often it must have come as a real shocker!

For me, I wound up having to work on Saturday, but on Sunday I raided my garage and took out and reassembled my Charbroil Double Door Smoker and Grill. (Yeah the name STILL sucks)

The fine folks over at Charbroil sent this offset smoker to us back for the Paul Kirk Pit Master's Class in October, but due to various shipping issues, it came too late for the class. After a brief stop at RUB, the smoker meandered its way to my garage in Brooklyn where it sat until this weekend.

Here's some info from Charbroil on the grill itself:

• Double door access reduces smoke and heat loss


• Center Door Stop removes providing full access to cooking chamber


• Cast iron porcelain-coated cooking grates for even heat distribution


• 738 sq. in. total cooking surface area in cooking chamber and firebox


• Removable Ash Drawer simplifies clean-up


• Firebox door with damper provides access and heat control


• Removable front shelf and lower storage rack


• Chrome-plated spring-style handles


• Cast iron wheels with rubber tread


• Top-mounted smoke stack tumbles flavorizing smoke within the firebox


• Heavy-gauge steel construction for years of reliable cooking performance


• Bonus Veggie Rack and Water Marinade Pan included!

My game plan was to smoke a couple of racks of ribs, but after seasoning the grill with vegetable oil and doing a test burn, I discovered that my ribs were still frozen solid. Damn. I could get around this, but that would mean eating very late. Then the wife called and said we needed to travel to the end of Long Island and retrieve the daughter. Double damn. I was really looking forward to finally using this beast.

Oh well, I did grill up some chicken on the Weber Kettle for dinner. You'll have to wait a few more days for the ribs and the review of the Charbroil Double Door Smoker and Grill. Talk to you later.