Callow Smoker - Low cost bullet smoker

[Icefever]

Charlie hi & welcome,  you do have to take the smaller size grill dia into any decision when buying a bullet type smoker.

I've got the ProQ frontier and I do have to cut ribs in half when I do them.....tri-tip, poultry are ok....but they do work very well. It's been mentioned on here before that when you visit any BBQ team events almost all use bullet type.

Most bullet have two grill racks and cooking for 6 should be no problem at all.

 

Ice.

 

 

[Charlie]

Thanks Ice

[Smokin Monkey]

Hi Charlie, and once again welcome to the forum.

First issue to be addressed, should be why you are struggling to maintain temperature in your Weber.

Weber’s are normally pretty good at holding a steady temperature.

[Justin]

Hi Charlie. You can get low temps with the minion method on a weber kettle. Basically a moon of weber briquettes stacked two or three wide maybe and 6 to 10 lit briquettes at one end.  A water tray between the moon and the meat (not at the same level vertcally necessarily) will ensure the heat is kept indirect. You can also put wood chunks along the briquette moon and it will happily smoke away as it progressively burns  should happily maintain temp for 12 to 20 hours depending how big the moon of briquettes is.

That way it will slowly  burn around the moon of briquettes and not too many will be lit at once.

Worth researching and trying.

 

[Justin]

The callow is a budget model and you will end up modifying it. It provides a good leanrng experience but a pro q bullet and weber smokey mountain work out of the box. That said plenty modify wsms with stove rope, a lid hinge,  wheels etc.

[Charlie]

Hi Chaps,

I had used what was referred to as a "snake" but I found the temperature was going up and down, I will try that minion technique, I can see that this would provide more stability that the snake but yet a lower temperature than a full starter of coal.

I will likely end up getting a smoker alongside my weber, as often I would like to do some standard grilling, so I end up doing 2 cooks on different days (I would prefer being able to do a low and slow in parrallel of a normall bbq grilling).

But your point means that if I had something bigger I could still use my weber with the minion method.

Thank you, 

[shanta]

Certainly would not place in stove at higher temp. That would hazard it drying out. I value you left 12 hours and that is fine however a greater brisket and a low temps O permit 16 to 18 hours, thus the put it on the prior night, on the off chance that it finish prior that is fine wrap and put in coolbox and it will unwind and god delicate, Plus it is beautiful virus cuts as well. Like a meat silverside I did a few days ago, the virus cut the following days was progressively delicate and increasingly delectable, same the a top back end I did a weekend ago. It is wonderful and delicate. super sandwiches with olives and tomato

Edited February 25, 2020 by Smokin Monkey
Admin edit to remove external links

[Mikey B]

Just wondering if anyone has an email address for Callow that I can use to contact them about the missing parts on my smoker. Been trying to get in touch with them since Friday but no one is manning the phones and I can’t use my smoker until I get the missing damper 😔

thanks

Mikey B

[dl8860]

Hi Mikey,

I spoke with Scott at Callow over email a year or so ago

Scott@callowretail.co.uk

in cc was Molly, just in case Scott isn't about currently

molly@callowretail.co.uk

Communication was prompt and friendly so I'm sure once you get through they will sort you out.

That's a real shame you missed out on a weekend of cooking, hope they can get you something in time for this bout of good weather. Trying to think of something useful you could use as a substitute damper but nothing is jumping out at me, might be a few other members here who are more imaginative than me can come up with something!

Edited April 22, 2020 by dl8860

[Mikey B]

1 hour ago, dl8860 said:

Hi Mikey,

I spoke with Scott at Callow over email a year or so ago

Scott@callowretail.co.uk

in cc was Molly, just in case Scott isn't about currently

molly@callowretail.co.uk

Communication was prompt and friendly so I'm sure once you get through they will sort you out.

That's a real shame you missed out on a weekend of cooking, hope they can get you something in time for this bout of good weather. Trying to think of something useful you could use as a substitute damper but nothing is jumping out at me, might be a few other members here who are more imaginative than me can come up with something!

Thanks, I’ve fired them an email and hopefully I can get it sorted. It’s breaking my heart that we’ve got this great weather and my new kit is just sitting on my patio looking pretty

Mikey B

[Smokin Monkey]

5 hours ago, Mikey B said:

Just wondering if anyone has an email address for Callow that I can use to contact them about the missing parts on my smoker. Been trying to get in touch with them since Friday but no one is manning the phones and I can’t use my smoker until I get the missing damper 😔

thanks

Mikey B

What part is missing, take a picture of where it is supposed to be, and we will see if we can get you up a running.

[Mikey B]

23 minutes ago, Smokin Monkey said:

What part is missing, take a picture of where it is supposed to be, and we will see if we can get you up a running.

It one of the dampers for the lower vents and the nut/bolt to match. I’m guessing things were pre packed so they could be boxed up easily but someone forgot to add the extra parts when they moved from 3 vents in the base to 4.

Mikey B

[dl8860]

If it's one of the lower vents then I imagine you could just cover it up with something and use the other three vents. Anything like a curved piece of terracotta pot or similar that you could put on the inside to try and cover most of the gap might be enough to damp down the airflow enough to allow you to achieve the right temps using the other working vents.

I guess it's a mark 3 callow?

[Mikey B]

1 minute ago, dl8860 said:

If it's one of the lower vents then I imagine you could just cover it up with something and use the other three vents. Anything like a curved piece of terracotta pot or similar that you could put on the inside to try and cover most of the gap might be enough to damp down the airflow enough to allow you to achieve the right temps using the other working vents.

I guess it's a mark 3 callow?

I’m honestly not sure which revision it is, how many have there been? Lol

I'd hope it’s the latest model since it’s only a week old and it came direct from Callow

I poached a screenshot from Wade’s review as I’m not near my own smoker to take a picture at the moment

Mikey B

[dl8860]

I think mk3 is the latest.

Honestly thinking about it I reckon you could just crack on without it. You have 4 bottom vents total, just close up the other 3 more than you otherwise would and you should be good.

Maybe try a test run before you put anything on to cook, but on my mk1 I often need all 3 bottom vents fully open anyway to get to 250F. I know the airflow in later revisions is better, but I don't think it would be impossible to manage with one 'fully open' all the time.

[Mikey B]

I’ve just had an email back from Scott, he’s going to send the part out tomorrow 👍 

so I can get it cured ASAP and have me some smokey fun on my next day off work

Thanks everyone for the help and advice getting this sorted 😁

Mikey B

[Smokin Monkey]

Hi Mikey, you can do the cure without the bottom vent.

Also is the top vent the same size as the bottom ones? If it is or somewhere near, fit it to bottom, then cut one out of something like cardboard for the top, or even tin foil, as it’s not as hot at the top.

[Mikey B]

12 hours ago, Smokin Monkey said:

Hi Mikey, you can do the cure without the bottom vent.

Also is the top vent the same size as the bottom ones? If it is or somewhere near, fit it to bottom, then cut one out of something like cardboard for the top, or even tin foil, as it’s not as hot at the top.

Scott is sending me the damper by Royal Mail first class so it should turn up by Saturday at the latest, I won’t have time to do anything with it till Saturday afternoon anyway but thanks for the recommendation. I’ll keep it in mind in case of something similar happening in the future 👍

Mikey B

[dl8860]

Good luck getting up and running. Be sure to post back if you have any other questions or just want to show off your results!

[Mikey B]

2 hours ago, dl8860 said:

Good luck getting up and running. Be sure to post back if you have any other questions or just want to show off your results!

I’ll definitely post some pictures once it’s up and running. I ordered some of the self adhesive thermal door tape I saw on Wade’s post from Vitcas

Mikey B

[Ovlovers80]

Hi, I've had a Callow for about a year now, (the 4 vent base version), but due to house move Iv'e only just got round to firing up this week, so I had a dry run/ curing/ priming two days ago, just charcoal and wood chunks, no water or meat and the temp topped at about 250c, so I was pleased, thinking I'm going to have to shut down to reduce the temperature for cooking, I then carried out a boiling water test on the thermometer and it showed spot on 100c, although I am going to get a digital thermometer, they're not easy to get at the moment, Amazon shows not currently available for the models I'm interested in, anyway today I've gone ahead and started what I planned to be an 8 hour smoke with a pork shoulder butt, the same charcoal/ wood chunk fire, and water pan full with hot water, however I'm frustrated to find the temp topped out at about 120c after about 15min, then reduced to about 105c, now 2.5hrs in and I'm struggling to maintain much above 100c,  all vents fully open, I've tried allowing the fuel to reduce, tried adding more fuel but I am unable to increase the temp, I'd prefer about 125c - 130c, am I missing something, I'd welcome your suggestions/ tips, as you guys seem pretty clued up on the callow, I appreciate this is my first run and it's very much a learning curve, but I would have thought I could have achieved higher temps.

Pete.