Callow Smoker - Low cost bullet smoker

[valve90210]

Just had a look at the instructions Wade posted, looks to be a lot of changes have been made, not just the new side vents. There's an additional vent in the base, the original had 3 this one has 4, there's an extra vent in the lid, and the holes in the sides of the fire basket. Certainly a lot of potential for hugely increased airflow. I'll be very interested to see the results of the testing Wade's been doing.

Personally I haven't had a problem reaching 110C with my original Callow, in fact that's pretty much where it wants to stay at all times! It's the higher temperatures that have been harder to reach though that's probably down to my newbie smoking skills.

[Wade]

On 16/01/2018 at 1:59 PM, dl8860 said:

I got a callow smoker for Christmas and built it yesterday, looking forward to getting some use in soon but off on holiday for a week tomorrow.

Anyway this thread caught my attention, especially about the new version and the improvements. Mine came in a cook4all branded box, but it doesn't seem to have the improvements listed on the gardengiftshop website as:

So that's a bit confusing if they are saying the new ones are branded as Cook4all, but mine came branded as that as certainly doesn't have the improvements. Mine was purchased sometime in early December from Amazon. Got the £69 price, and confident I can make some mods to help it, as well as not relying on the stock thermometer, so not too fussed really, just curious.

I have just been informed that the previous batch of Callow smokers were also branded as Cook4All and not just the new model. As the one I am testing was one of the first shipped out of the new batch I think that it is highly probable that yours is the older model. That should not be a problem though as it is still a very good smoker and you will produce good food in it. You just need to remember that you can use the Minion method when cooking Low and Slow but you will need to use a chimney of fully lit charcoal to hot roast. Also use good quality briquettes as they will give you a good consistent heat.

[Wade]

I have now completed my review on the latest Callow/Cook4All smoker updates. You can find it here

http://www.woodsmokeforum.uk/topic/373-callow-cook4all-2018-vertical-smoker-review/

[Justin]

On 8/25/2017 at 4:24 PM, Djtebbs said:

This has got me thinking.  My wife is going to hate this forum. I really like the look of this smoker at that price. Would lover a WSM but just can't justify that.

Check the garden centers in the off season.  I managed to find a wsm at half price in one of wyelvales clear the warehouse events. could not believe it so snapped it  up

Edited July 12, 2018 by Justin
typos

[Wade]

You can get some great bargains at "the end of the BBQ season" !!! You just need to be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time...

[Justin]

Yes that is one of my favorite tactics, and find a garden center that is slightly second steering not one of the premium ones with massive footfall.  Slight second string tend to overstock and sometimes it ends with big sales...my local wyelvales is like that, decent place but not not top string.  They always have and out of season sale to make room for the Christmas stuff so they put the prices down  as they plan Christmas displays ( and sometimes so me good stuff appears like the WSM), it does not last long but now and again I get lucky.  WSM was my best success

[Wade]

Just to let people know that the new version of the Cook4All / Callow smoker is now shipping. More information will be posted here soon once I have had a chance to test it.

http://www.woodsmokeforum.uk/topic/653-the-new-2018-model-callow-cook4all-is-now-shipping/?tab=comments#comment-3444

[Smeg]

Hello all,

Just joined to forum as I have received a new Callow vertical smoker this week and there appear to have been more changes since the last review posted here.  Pictures attached, but most notably:

• The sliding rear vent has been removed
• Charcoal basket has been changed to have a slotted base rather than holes
• 3 vents at the bottom, positioned below the charcoal basket

I've had a test run with it today, but this is my first time using a smoker so I have predictably had some trouble controlling the temperature - should note it was very windy day to boot.  I started out with 40 unlit briquettes and 20 lit briquettes and ended up mostly around 120c with one bottom vent closed and the remaining two cracked 1/8 open, but had peaked as high as 160c when I left bottom vents 1/4 open.  Fuel lasted around 4.5 hours (Sainsburys own brand charcoal).

Presumably I burnt too hot and would have got longer out of the fuel had I did a better job of keeping the temperature down.  Should I be expecting to add extra briquettes to go past 4/4.5 hours with the amount stated?

[Justin]

A tip use is to have a base point to work from and that is 3 bottom vents open to width of pencil. I put pencil in vent and close to that aperture. Then top vent wide open. See what that settled at and work from there. I allow up to an hour to get to a styled temp setting and then it stays rock solid for ages 10 to 16 hours. I try and shelter from wind. Breeze is ok

[Smeg]

How many lit coals would you start off with?

[Wade]

Hi Smeg. Yes a lot of work has gone into the design changes of the new Callow/Cook4All to improve its temperature control at both high and low temperatures. The previous model - with the side vents and the 4 bottom vents was a bit of an "black sheep" designwise but it did pave the way to some of features in the latest model.

You mention the side vents going. These actually performed no useful purpose and I am not sure why they were added. The problem with the previous design was that it was a challenge bringing it up to higher hot smoking temperatures (160-180 C) but it was great at maintaining the low-and-slow temperatures of 110-120 C. The side vents did nothing to address this issue - in fact they made the problem worse. If you own one of these then it is best to tape the side vents permanently closed with aluminium tape.

The bottom vents have stayed in their lowered position but have been reduced back to 3 in number. The previous model had 4 vents which was shown to be overkill and also made the temperature control much more fiddly. You may also notice that the vents now have longer handle tabs to make them easier to control.

The top vents have remained at the two that were introduced in the previous version. This is because the air flow was being restricted when using only one - which was preventing the unit from reaching the higher temperatures. This, in conjunction with the redesigned fire basket, have been the two most important design changes to help with the wide range temperature control.

The instruction manual has also been vastly improved with the new model.

The quality of briquette really affects the cooking time. Most of the supermarket briquettes are not dense and burn quite quickly. Next time try either Heat Beads or Weber briquettes and I think you will find they last a lot longer. Also if you are going for low-and-slow (110-120 C) start with 50 unlit briquettes and 10 lit. It is much easier to bring the temperature up than it is to hold it down.

[Tabs]

The Callow got me in to smoking about 2 years ago. Totally blind purchase at the time but it was a steep learning curve that got me hooked!

Unsure if it's been covered but I found making a few modifications to the charcoal basket helped extend the cooking range, leading to well over 10 hours without refueling at temps like 250°f. Simply involved adding a thin roll of expanded metal from Wickes to create a taller capacity. It's a bit McGuyver but it works. Also Swiss cheesed the sides of the basket to add more airflow. In hindsight it would been better to use a 15-20mm hole drill rather than a 10mm bit.

Doing both of these mods meant I could switch to restaurant grade lumpwood for longer cooks.

[Wade]

Hi Tabs - you will have the original Callow. This was the first one I bought and I still use it today too. From the sounds of it you have hit most of the important Mods for that model. I do like the extended fire bowl . When I first started trying to achieve the higher temperatures I too drilled 15mm holes around the side of the basket. I then went one step further and replaced the whole of the fire basket base with perforated steel. This made a big difference.

The new Callow model comes with a totally redesigned firebox which allows the increased air flow and has a larger charcoal capacity.

The next important step was to increase the size of the top vent. The single vent was insufficient to allow enough air to pass through the smoker. If you only have the single top vent you may want to remove the vent cover and enlarge the holes in the top dome. Both the previous versions of the Callow and the new version have 2 top vents.

I see that you are using foil to plug the gap between the door and the body. That works - but you may want to try some stove rope around the door as this will give you a better seal all the way round.

I was hoping that the new model would come with stove rope around the door as standard however they do now offer it as an accessory.

You can see how much use it has been getting over the past couple of years ?

 

[Smeg]

Wade,

Where do you see the stove rope accessory? I bought my smoker from Amazon and don't see anything obvious. There is certainly an appreciable gap around the door.

 

Are there any mods you feel are still relevant on the latest version?

[Icefever]

@Smeg Hi ...I bought mine from Amazon....I have both rope and the flat type..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=fire+rope+for+stoves&sprefix=fire+rope%2Caps%2C161&crid=F0OA67YLJPYB

[Wade]

7 hours ago, Smeg said:

Where do you see the stove rope accessory? I bought my smoker from Amazon and don't see anything obvious. There is certainly an appreciable gap around the door.

If you go to the Callow page in their store and scroll to the bottom you will see it in the section "You may also like"

You can also buy it directly from Vitcas - which is where I buy mine. You are looking for the "Tape Black Self Adhesive" and you need the 10mm x 2mm. Is is currently £1.86 per metre including VAT. You can get by with 1m but it would be safer to get 2m. There are shipping costs of £3.50 on top of that though.

It is the same as the "Stove Thermal Tape Black - 10mm (Self Adhesive)-per Meter- VITCAS" in @Icefever's link but there it costs £3.78 per metre with free delivery.If you only want 1m then Amazon is cheaper but if you want 2m then buying direct from Vitcas is cheaper. Swings and roundabouts...

When applying the stove rope you can apply it either to the inside of the door ot on the body around the door. Before you do just make sure that the surface is clean and grease free. Once stuck the self adhesive tape stays put. I have had mine on for a couple of years now and it is still firmly attached.

[Icefever]

for that link Wade, I do need more for the offset.....and I'm wondering if this Webber will need any??? (we'll find out later today)   Seems to me that a large section of bbq/smokers don't worry that much about smoke leaking.

 

Ice

[Wade]

7 hours ago, Smeg said:

Are there any mods you feel are still relevant on the latest version?

There should not be any more mods required with the new design (famous last words ?) but you will need to develop your techniques for temperature control depending on the charcoal/briquette you are using.

The manual suggests two starting ratios of unlit to lit coals depending on the cooking temperature you are wanting to achieve. If you are using standard briquettes then this is a good place to begin. If you are using hot briquettes (like Heat Beads) then use fewer lit briquettes to begin with. It is always easier to wait a little longer for the temperature to rise than it is to bring it back down after it has overshot.

To make temperature control easier at lower temperatures start with one of the bottom vents completely closed and only adjust using the other two. Depending on the charcoal you may even find you can leave two of them completely closed.

If you find that the temperature is running too hot then close one of the top vents. This works in conjunction with the bottom vents to control air flow through the smoker.

[Wade]

@Smeg - what do you think of the updated manual?

[Wade]

44 minutes ago, Icefever said:

for that link Wade, I do need more for the offset.....and I'm wondering if this Webber will need any??? (we'll find out later today)   Seems to me that a large section of bbq/smokers don't worry that much about smoke leaking.

I do not bother to seal my kettle BBQs. The cooking volume is relatively small and the design means that the heat has already reached the cooking grate before it reaches a place where it can leak out. With the offsets and the bullet smokers the sealing is not really about letting smoke escape but it is to provide more stable temperature control and for fuel efficiency.

With an offset it is important to seal around the firebox lid to ensure that as much of the hot air/smoke as possible passes through the cooking chamber. The air flows through due to a combination of convection and also (in well designed smokers) by draw created by the flue. A bad fitting firebox lid will allow some of the hot gasses to escape before reaching the food. Sealing around the cooking chamber door is about minimising heat loss and also preventing cold air from entering the chamber causing draughts (especially on breezy days) which will affect temperature stability around the meat. Bad fitting cooking chamber seals (especially on offsets where the whole of the top lifts up) will increase the heat gradient along the length of the cooking area.

With a bullet smoker it is also more about preventing cold air/draughts from entering the cooking chamber than it is preventing any smoke from escaping. With a poorly fitting side door you can visibly see the smoke escaping from the top but what is less apparent is the cool air entering the cooking chamber from around the bottom. This makes the charcoal less efficient by making it work harder to maintain the required temperature and on breezy days the cold air can blow in through the gap making the internal cooling temperature less stable. It can also increase the temperature gradient between the top and bottom cooking grates. A good example of this was when I was testing the previous version of the Callow - the one with the side vents. I was able to get a reasonably stable cooking temperature with the side vents closed but when they were opened the cooking temperature immediately dropped and became more erratic. When I sealed the side vents completely with aluminium tape the cooking temperature was more stable than even with the vents closed.

Does it prevent you from producing great food if the smoker is not sealed? in most cases no it does not. What the leaks will do though is use more fuel and make your life more challenging by having to concentrate more on maintaining stable cooking temperatures.

 

[Smeg]

@Wade the manual is OK. There are a few odd things, like the instructions to clip the smoker body onto the base then lower the water pan in over the lit coals. Sounds like a recipe for the burn ward if your hand slipped.

[Wade]

That is very true 

[Artroy]

Well guys I now have my callow and I’m impressed, I’m still having issues getting in up to temp I’m currently using a mix of lump wood and brickettes, as they were on offer at my local international shop. Would I be better off using just one or the other ? I have also fitted some stove Rope this weekend and it’s helping a bit, hoping for a bit of advice on this one! Also where do people get there charcoal once the cold weather hits? 

[Smokin Monkey]

@Wade will be able to help you with this.

[Icefever]

8 hours ago, Artroy said:

Also where do people get there charcoal once the cold weather hits?

I shall be after fuel over the coming months also,  I would think places like these will supply us through the winter...

https://www.wowbbq.co.uk/categories/fuel/product/aussie-heat-beads-10kg/HB10KG~HB10KG

https://www.bbqworld.co.uk/heat-beads/australian-heat-beads-10kg-bag.asp

https://hotsmoked.co.uk/charcoals/aussie-heat-beads-10kg.html

 

Keep an eye on these as they have a price drop every now & then, that's when to buy, also work out the cost of 3 or 4 bags and you get free P&P.

Ice