Tarmac

Hi Phil, Thanks for your response. You are right. I think that's why they discontinued this product in 2014. I've scanned the original instructions which came with it, you'll see the second water pan is for coal :(. Steffan

Okay, I've finally got around to adding the mods suggested (Thank you Wade). I added a new air damper to the bottom of the Ash bowl which I hoped along with a wire rack would help with achieving a higher temp. The temp certainly does get higher now which is the good news, I'm able to smoke at 250F which I couldn't do last week at all, the smoker wouldn't burn hot enough. However, maintaining a steady temp is still a work in progress. I've managed to maintain it for around 70 mins with minimal variation, but after that it'll drop like a stone by 20-30F unless I move all the coals around and rebuild the fire. And on a side note the gap between the fuel bowl and water pan is tiny, around 2cm. If I choc the coal bowl I can't get the water pan in 😕. At the moment I'm having to use only one level of cooking as the second tier holds the water pan. I can't help but feel this is far more work than should be necessary with a smoker, given I'm trying not to take the lid off. As I've said before, I had much less of a problem with my Weber Kettle. I'm genuinely wondering whether this 2nd hand ProQ Amigo smoker was too hasty a purchase. I certainly wouldn't recommend it, even with the mods. It might be time for ebay... 🤔

So that's where my water pan has gone??? 🤣

Hi Phil, I'm another from Notts; but Southern compared to you in Gotham. Nice to see there's a few Notts folk here Steff

Thank you By the way, is the earth not flat then? 🤔😉

Hi Everyone, Thank you for getting back to me so quickly, it's greatly appreciated. Icefever, appreciate the guidance. On my first two outings, I wouldn't recommend the Amigo. Temperature control is non existent. Coming from a Weber with both lower and higher vents I found it much easier to stabilise the temp on that than the Amigo. Wade: Phenomenal advice; thank you. I'm happy to make some mods. I paid £60 for it and according to the seller has only been used once. She threw in three bags of chips too. I'd like to make it work, and know that modifications are the only way to go in order to do that. I was wondering if there was an oversized fire bowl I could buy to plug the air-gap on the sides below? I've already added the wire rack because I couldn't see how the air would get to the coals properly. I also noticed that if I removed the first tier grill rack and moved the water pan to the second tier so to speak, the smoker would run hotter because I could use more coal. I could still add coal during the cooking through the lower door too which made things easier. However, I still couldn't get it above 250F. On the subject of the suggested damper, do you mean fixing the suggested damper to the bottom of the fire bowl? And then drilling 2 or 3 say 12-14mm holes similar to a top vent on a weber? Happy to do that if it helps control the heat. Justin: Thanks for the warm welcome I had a 1KG Briskett which ordinarily takes about 6 hours to cook on the Weber. On the Amigo I did ten hours, then the final part wrapped in foil in the oven on account of it being too dark and late. The food tasted great, but amazingly not as smokey as it did on the Webber. I used 4 x Maple chunks and 2 x Oak chunks. On the Weber I used 2 or each (four in total) and it was far smokier in flavour than on the Amigo which I was surprised by. Thank you for your warm welcomes and great advice so far Steff

Hi, I saw this forum and thought it best to start a topic here. I'm a first-timer so please be gentle. I'm Steff and have been smoking meat for a few years now. I started on a Weber Kettle and had pretty good results. I then decided to upgrade to a bullet smoker recently and purchased a second hand ProQ Amigo. Smoking on the Amigo has taken me back to the beginning of my smoking journey. Having been able to sustain good temperature control on the Weber, I find the Amigo harder to do this with. I followed the same procedure as smoking on a Kettle: Chimney Starter, onto a some fresh charcoal, heat to temp and then add the water pan then of course the meat. However, I've noticed the temp drop quickly even with boiling water in the pan. Is this supposed to happen? I'm also concerned that the double grill racks place the water pan directly above the coal, which in my mind doesn't leave a lot of space for the fire to burn. It almost seems too close. If I'm missing something blindingly obvious please share, I'd really like to get to the stage where I can smoke on the Amigo and grill on the Weber at the same time. Any help gratefully received, Faithfully, Steffan

Hi, I saw this newbie thread and thought it best to enter here. I'm a first-time so please be gentle. I'm Steff and like Paul a newbie when it comes to smoking meat. I started on a Weber Kettle and had pretty good results. I then decided to upgrade to a bullet smoker and purchased a second hand ProQ Amigo. Smoking on the Amigo has taken me back to the beginning of my smoking journey. Having been able to sustain good temperature control on the Weber, I find the Amigo harder to do this with. I followed the same procedure as smoking on a BBQ: Chimney Starter, onto a some fresh coal, heat to temp and then add the water pan then of course the meat. However, I've noticed the temp drop very rapidly even with boiling water in the pan. Is this supposed to happen? I'm also concerned that the double grill racks place the water pan directly above the coal, which in my mind doesn't leave a lot of space for the fire to burn. If I'm missing something blindingly obvious please share, I'd really like to get to the stage where I can smoke on the Amigo and grill on the Weber at the same time. Any help gratefully received, Faithfully, Steffan