harry Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Hello all I'm looking to buy my first smoker but torn between which one to get, I keep reading the fornetto is better made the the ProQ but seems harder to get parts and accessories in the UK. Any advice would be much appreciated ? or anyone who has had experience with either ?. Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icefever Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Harry hi. I'm a ProQ user so I would have to say go ProQ.... Ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 Thanks Ice for the reply, appreciate it. Definitely leaning that way, just wondered if anyone could persuade me through personal experience. Cheers Harry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 I have used the WSM and ProQ and my preference is for the ProQ. I did see the Fornetto in a DIY store at the end of last year and I was impressed. I have not used one yet but I would not be afraid to buy one. If you want tried and tested though then the ProQ would probably be a safer bet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 8 hours ago, Wade said: I have used the WSM and ProQ and my preference is for the ProQ. Just to clarify this a little... The cooks on the WSM and the ProQ work out equally well. The reason I prefer the ProQ is because you can split the smoker body to get easy access to the bottom cooking rack. Purely for convenience during a cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomcat Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Hi all, Great to meat other like minded people! I was in the same position a couple of months ago. I was cooking a lot on my weber kettle and a small open fire rotisserie however i found myself enjoying more the low and slow cooks. I had the slow and sear but i was finding that i had to fight the air vents more that i wanted to and temps were not that stable. I tried to stabilise them by getting an ash catcher which helps a bit from the draft (i had the basic version) and although it was better i decided to go for a smoker. WSM was my choice but i didn't want to spend so much money till i get my skills up and frankly testing myself if this is what i enjoy doing. After i rejected the idea of a stick smoker (space + cost for a good one) i decided to go for a bullet smoker. I was looking at cheaper alternatives but still good quality like proq, napoleon and came across fornetto. It looks like it's more widespread in australia. I found the 18'' razzo around £200 delivered in ebay, so i went for it as i liked the stainless steel grates, the baskets for more cooking space and it seemed like a reasonable quality. The 22'' was around £70 more so with the benefitnof hindsight i would have gone for that. Fornetto is a good quality bullet smoker and i found myself using it almost every week in all sorts of weather, and it's great holding temp. I cook with heat beads, only foiled water pan (tried water and sand) and on a full basket with minion doughnut method i will get 6-8 hrs and still have briquettes unlit depending on the weather. When i used water i would hardly have any coals left for the same time. I normally have the three bottom vents just cracked open and the top fully open. However just this weekend i have experimented with having only one bottom fully opened and only adjusting the top vent (Harry Soo method) with great results and far less hassle having to bend and adjust all 3 vents. With water you can cook steadily at 225-250f max, while without water i have cooked at 325f consistently without a problem. Overall i'm really happy with the fire and temperature control. I also like the fact that it's modular and you get easy access to the other cooking grates although this is when for me there are a couple of even better ifs. The baskets are great idea but if you want to rotate your grates throughout the cook is not that easy as you have to move the meat. Also it's more fiddly if you want to top up water as you need to take one ring out and then move the baskets. Another ebi would be if you can rotate the grates like the wsm just in case you have any hot spots in the cooker. Most of the times i smoke one meat at the time and since it's modular i was using it without a ring as a small smoker. However the meat did not have a great bark underneath since it was directly above the water pan and although i don't run with water it looks like heat and smoke is not getting in the bottom grate as well as the top (i guess i expect to be the same in any bullet smoker ?). I have since cooked only on top rack and although i have done only babybacks the bark underneath looked fine although you don't really get much bark n the bone side. On size, i could fit 2 baby backs, a large pork butt (struggling to find small bosrton butt cut in uk) a lamp shoulder, but i couldn't fit easily spare ribs hence uses the bottom rack. I have only done a small two piece supermarket brisket, as during covid 19 my online order of a point end was not delivered, but not so sure that it can take easily a full packer brisket 5-6kgs One think to consider is that fornetto does not have a large online community like wsm so although the principles are the same and the techniques are transferable. I don't think the above are a showstopper however one problem i have is that the ash from the coals is coming out of the vents (not a lot but still) which means that either i overload the basket or the firebox is to shallow and the vents are low. That's the only thing that i can find due to design. Perhaps the 22'' is better In this. Although temp control is good and you don't have to fiddle a lot with the vents (always a good excuse to stay next to the smoker and drink beers) i have in order a basic temp fan control. Now i only use the smoker and weber rotisserie on the kettle for mainly chicken, although lump shoulder is also coming out amazing (but that's a different post:)) Hope that helps 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skagg2000 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 As some will know, I have both the ProQ & the Razzo 22". Fornetto allegedly took the ProQ design & improved upon it. Certainly the build quality is better with the Fornetto, with better quality materials used in the construction. The 22" is a hungry beast & takes a fair amount of fuel to keep it going for long periods at a steady temperature. They don't seem to travel to well & can suffer with transit damage & buckling / warping of the stackers. If you can get one at a clearance price they are a bargain, although they are getting few & far between. Homebase brought them into the UK stores when Bunnings owned them, hence the Australian connection. One thing with the Razzo you can raise the fire basket which is great for cooking over a direct heat without the need to bend over or get on your knees to use the firebasket in the bottom of the bowl on the Proq. Whilst the Fornetto is nicely built, which is my daily smoker? The ProQ, more due to it being 18" than 22" Cheers n Gone Nick 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotv Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Some nice write ups there and information from both of you 👍 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 On 5/9/2020 at 2:30 PM, Tomcat said: Hi all, Great to meat other like minded people! I was in the same position a couple of months ago. I was cooking a lot on my weber kettle and a small open fire rotisserie however i found myself enjoying more the low and slow cooks. I had the slow and sear but i was finding that i had to fight the air vents more that i wanted to and temps were not that stable. I tried to stabilise them by getting an ash catcher which helps a bit from the draft (i had the basic version) and although it was better i decided to go for a smoker. WSM was my choice but i didn't want to spend so much money till i get my skills up and frankly testing myself if this is what i enjoy doing. After i rejected the idea of a stick smoker (space + cost for a good one) i decided to go for a bullet smoker. I was looking at cheaper alternatives but still good quality like proq, napoleon and came across fornetto. It looks like it's more widespread in australia. I found the 18'' razzo around £200 delivered in ebay, so i went for it as i liked the stainless steel grates, the baskets for more cooking space and it seemed like a reasonable quality. The 22'' was around £70 more so with the benefitnof hindsight i would have gone for that. Fornetto is a good quality bullet smoker and i found myself using it almost every week in all sorts of weather, and it's great holding temp. I cook with heat beads, only foiled water pan (tried water and sand) and on a full basket with minion doughnut method i will get 6-8 hrs and still have briquettes unlit depending on the weather. When i used water i would hardly have any coals left for the same time. I normally have the three bottom vents just cracked open and the top fully open. However just this weekend i have experimented with having only one bottom fully opened and only adjusting the top vent (Harry Soo method) with great results and far less hassle having to bend and adjust all 3 vents. With water you can cook steadily at 225-250f max, while without water i have cooked at 325f consistently without a problem. Overall i'm really happy with the fire and temperature control. I also like the fact that it's modular and you get easy access to the other cooking grates although this is when for me there are a couple of even better ifs. The baskets are great idea but if you want to rotate your grates throughout the cook is not that easy as you have to move the meat. Also it's more fiddly if you want to top up water as you need to take one ring out and then move the baskets. Another ebi would be if you can rotate the grates like the wsm just in case you have any hot spots in the cooker. Most of the times i smoke one meat at the time and since it's modular i was using it without a ring as a small smoker. However the meat did not have a great bark underneath since it was directly above the water pan and although i don't run with water it looks like heat and smoke is not getting in the bottom grate as well as the top (i guess i expect to be the same in any bullet smoker ?). I have since cooked only on top rack and although i have done only babybacks the bark underneath looked fine although you don't really get much bark n the bone side. On size, i could fit 2 baby backs, a large pork butt (struggling to find small bosrton butt cut in uk) a lamp shoulder, but i couldn't fit easily spare ribs hence uses the bottom rack. I have only done a small two piece supermarket brisket, as during covid 19 my online order of a point end was not delivered, but not so sure that it can take easily a full packer brisket 5-6kgs One think to consider is that fornetto does not have a large online community like wsm so although the principles are the same and the techniques are transferable. I don't think the above are a showstopper however one problem i have is that the ash from the coals is coming out of the vents (not a lot but still) which means that either i overload the basket or the firebox is to shallow and the vents are low. That's the only thing that i can find due to design. Perhaps the 22'' is better In this. Although temp control is good and you don't have to fiddle a lot with the vents (always a good excuse to stay next to the smoker and drink beers) i have in order a basic temp fan control. Now i only use the smoker and weber rotisserie on the kettle for mainly chicken, although lump shoulder is also coming out amazing (but that's a different post:)) Hope that helps On 5/9/2020 at 2:59 PM, Skagg2000 said: As some will know, I have both the ProQ & the Razzo 22". Fornetto allegedly took the ProQ design & improved upon it. Certainly the build quality is better with the Fornetto, with better quality materials used in the construction. The 22" is a hungry beast & takes a fair amount of fuel to keep it going for long periods at a steady temperature. They don't seem to travel to well & can suffer with transit damage & buckling / warping of the stackers. If you can get one at a clearance price they are a bargain, although they are getting few & far between. Homebase brought them into the UK stores when Bunnings owned them, hence the Australian connection. One thing with the Razzo you can raise the fire basket which is great for cooking over a direct heat without the need to bend over or get on your knees to use the firebasket in the bottom of the bowl on the Proq. Whilst the Fornetto is nicely built, which is my daily smoker? The ProQ, more due to it being 18" than 22" Cheers n Gone Nick Meant to say thanks for these errors ups ages ago as I got a good deal on a Fornetto Razzo 22. So thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U can do that again Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Napoleon Apollo is similar/same as Pro Q. Happy on all fronts so far. Found a decent deal at Beds BBQ centre, mentioned on previous posts. Have the larger version, as like to entertain, but on occasions drop out the 2 rings and use as a kettle, easy to transport. Good luck negotiating the minefield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul6057 Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Trying to buy a smoker at this time of year in the current circumstances seems impossible, nowhere really has stock. How would you rate the Napoleon compared to the Pro Q? They look the same, the only main difference I can tell is that some websites have the Napoleon in stock now, whereas I can't seem to find a Pro Q Ranger or 37cm WSM in stock anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U can do that again Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Was in similar situation, wanting bullet smoker, so went for what was available, Napoleon Apollo 300. Decent review on amazing ribs, mates in the US who are serious about BBQ including ones with BBQ businesses rate Napoleon product highly, it’s what they chose to use/buy themselves mainly but they are mainly gassers. Had no issues with the product, have got good results, modded it to take the temp probe, step drill took all of a minute, using fire seal to improve smoke retention but it wasn’t horrific to begin with, just one area on one ring, have tried different combinations of rings & place on the clock face to get the best fit. Would I get another Napoleon, YES, thinking about a 200 just for fish ....... Pay you money & take your choice, got mine with cover & 5kgs of charcoal from Beds BBQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul6057 Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Thanks, I'm looking at the 200 as I want something smaller than my 57cm WSM. Ideally I was looking at the smaller Pro Q or the 37 WSM, but I don't understand how the 37cm WSM is £360, whereas the 42cm Napoleon or Pro Q are around £299. Seems like a coin toss between the Pro Q and the Napoleon, especially as the smaller Pro Q isn't available at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 10 minutes ago, paul6057 said: Thanks, I'm looking at the 200 as I want something smaller than my 57cm WSM. Ideally I was looking at the smaller Pro Q or the 37 WSM, but I don't understand how the 37cm WSM is £360, whereas the 42cm Napoleon or Pro Q are around £299. Seems like a coin toss between the Pro Q and the Napoleon, especially as the smaller Pro Q isn't available at the moment. Proq make the Napoleon smoker, so they're the same quality. Shelly, can probably get an 18 inch fornetto razzo on eBay, discontinued stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripple Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 2 hours ago, Deano said: Proq make the Napoleon smoker, so they're the same quality. Shelly, can probably get an 18 inch fornetto razzo on eBay, discontinued stock. I have just got a Razzo 18 of eBay and very pleased but it looks like they have now sold out, there is a second hand 22 in Birmingham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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